You shouldn’t turn on an Amiga that has been off for about thirty years without first running the usual Recap, but also following this simple rule it is not said that everything works as expected.

After the Recap i have realized that the RGB / Composite and RF output were not working properly.

From the RGB output the BLUE color was missing while the composite video and consequently RF show only a black screen.

After various measurements i came to the conclusion that the VP-101 (U30) DAC had to be replaced.

Once the DAC was replaced, the RGB output started working perfectly again, while the Composite/RF video signal they still didn’t work.

The failed component for the Composite/RF video output is the Z222 delay line, bypassing the delay line on the pins of the same one i have a “decent” composite signal but it’s not good, unfortunately this component is not easy to find, it could be solved by performing a “hack” i.e. by installing a different RGB Encoder that doesn’t need the delay lines and with some modifications on the PCB.

The game is worth the candle ? when will we use the Composite/RF video output ? probably never.

Gallery of the repair:

Commodore 64 (ASSY 250466) Repair

Defect:

• Black Screen and then Black Screen :-D

Replaced parts:

• 1 x Power Switch
• 1 x PLA 906114 (U17)

Commodore 64 (ASSY 250407) Repair

Defect:

• Garbled Screen and then No Sound.

Replaced parts:

• 2 x MOS 7708 [74LS257] (U13/U25)
• 1 x MOS 7709 [74LS258] (U14)
• 1 x MOS 6581 (U18)

Commodore 64C (ASSY 250469 REV-A) Repair

Defect:

• Garbled Screen.

Replaced parts:

• 1 x 4066 (U21)

This Amiga 1200 was sent to me by a friend to made the usual replacement of the capacitors and also overhaul everything and migrate the pcb to a new case with a new colored keyboard.

Works that have been done:

• Replacement of all electrolytic capacitors.
• Cleaning the expansion connector which was oxidized in some parts.
• General cleaning of the PCB.
• Kickstart OS3.2 installation
• Replacement electrolytic capacitor in the Panasonic JU-253-043P Floppy Drive
• Floppy Drive Cleaning.
• Greasing of Floppy Drive mechanical parts with silicone grease.
• Painting of the Floppy Disk eject button with matt Black color (Only the black button for Chinon Floppy Drive is supplied with the new case)
• CF Card adapter fixing.
• Installazione PCB and colored keyboard in the new case.
• Functioning test with Floppy Disk and CF Card.

Gallery:

12►

This drive has two different problems.

• The Floppy Drive just did not turn on.
• The motor spinning always, regardless of whether a Floppy Disk was inserted or not.

Repair:

The Floppy Drive could not work because the FUSE inside the external power supply (transformer) was missing. :-D

The second problem was caused by the RAM-I/O-Timer (RIOT) 6532 which had decided to stop working.

Replaced the RIOT and made a good cleaning and greased some mechanical parts with silicone grease, everything has started again to work better than before. :-D

Gallery of the repair:

This poor Commodore 64 already been previously repaired by me but soffer of these new problems.

• Out of Memory
• Black Screen
• No Cursor.
• Garbage screen.

The problem of the black screen at irregular intervals with the out of memory was solved by replacing the CPU 6510, as soon as the CPU warms up a little more than normal the computer displayed only a black screen, cooling the CPU still did not work but at least something was displayed.

The problem of the out of memory are 4 dead ram + 1 previously replaced and i have decided to put in a socket the remain 3.

Last problem, there was no cursor and sometimes a garbage screen was displayed, as we all know the CIA 6526 in position U1 should be faulty due to the missing cursor.

Instead of CIA 6526 it was the socket of the 6569R3, replaced the socket the cursor is back and other annoying glitches disappeared.

Commodore Floppy Drive 1541 (1540050) Repair #1

Defects:

• Drive access problems (IEC): drive resets but the computer freez with a “searching for”
• The RED led flashes twice times then stops and start again and motor runs continuously.
• The RED led flashes repeatedly every second without stopping and motor runs continuously.

Replaced parts:

• Replaced 6522 (UC3)
• Replaced 6522 (UC2)
• Replaced 901229-03 ROM (UB4)

Commodore Floppy Drive 1541 (251830) Repair #2

Defects:

• The RED led flashes repeatedly every second without stopping and motor runs continuously.

Replaced parts:

• Replaced MOS 8713 [74LS04] (UC6)

The Amiga scene has been dead for me from several years, long life to the Commodore 64.

Taken from a deadly boredom i have decided to do this useless hardware update of one of my Amiga 1200.

• A1208 V3 8MB Expansion.
• OS3.2 CF Card.
• OS3.2 Kickstart.
• New membrane for the keyboard.
• Lightbrightning Case and Keyboard.
• CF Trapdoor.
• 4xIDE Buffered IDE interface.

I personally updated the A1208 memory expansion with the Clock section because i had the order wrong, old age strikes again.

This is just a small update to my post.

I added another useless thing to this update … unfortunately in this case it is useful because without the 4xIDE Buffered IDE interface
the CF<>IDE adapter inserted in the trapdoor on the right side of the amiga which uses an IDE cable longer than 10-15cm, DOESN’T WORK generating a mix of reading/writing errors from the CF.

Aware of the problem, i still wanted to try, in fact in an old Amiga 1200 i had the IDE-Fix Express with IDE-Express Adapter bought 12 years ago, then sold.

So i confirm it doesn’t work, even if they write exactly the opposite (see ebay announcements)

Gallery of the useless update:

source: amigaisdead.com amigastore.eu amigakit.amiga.store

The Texas Instruments Compact Computer 40 or CC-40 is a battery-operated portable computer developed by Texas Instruments and released in March 1983.

An improved model, the CC-40 Plus, was in the final stages of development and included a cassette port. The project was canceled when Texas Instruments discontinued the 99/4A and left the home computer field.

Repair:

The computer was compressed inside the shipping package, obviously it was very badly packed.

The PCB that is installed on top of one of the two motherboards of the computer (see photo) is broke, interrupting some pcb tracks, it was enough to reconstruct the pcb track and the computer started working again.

Gallery of the repair:

5 x TI-99/4A (PAL) motherboards with various defects repaired

Defect:

• TI-99/4a #1: The metal shield that protects the pcb is loose and some parts create short circuits on the pcb.
• TI-99/4a #2: TMS 9918 (U100) VDP inserted in the wrong way (:/), incredibly it did not burn.
• TI-99/4a #3: TMS 9900 (U600) Dead CPU.
• TI-99/4a #4: TMS 9900 (U600) Dead CPU.
• TI-99/4a #5: Apparently working. (Notes: left ON for over 4 hours did not present any problems)

Gallery of the repair:

I have not discovered absolutely anything new, it is all explained in these video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8P1OVj0IcqY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eBynrpdLdk

I’m absolutely against retrobright but i wanted to try with a yellowed Commodore VIC-20 / Amiga 1200 Keyboard and Amiga 1200 TOP Case.

Many people told me to try, but disagreeing with this technique, i never did, but later my friend Federico di Dato of Retrobitlab has tried it and actually seemed to work, i state that i did not believe it right away, the first thing i thought; it seemed like a cosmic bullshit.

Ok, i have to change my mind, it works!, below are the various phases and times of exposure to the sun (a beautiful sunny day!)

VIC-20 (front):

• Let’s start with the first photo just exposed under the sun, then 6 hours, +7 hours, 7 hours, so a total of 3 days = 20 hours.

VIC-20 (back):

• Let’s start with the first photo just exposed under the sun, then 2 and a half hours, 7 and a half hours so a total of 2 days = 10 hours.

Amiga 1200 Keyboard:

• Let’s start with the first photo just exposed under the sun, then 7 and a half hours x 3 days = 22 and a half hours.

Amiga 1200 TOP Case:

• Let’s start with the first photo just exposed under the sun, then 7 and a half hours x 3 days = 22 and a half hours.

I have not used any chemical product, there is nothing more to say.

Lightbrighting technique:

This is the usual post about replacing Amiga Electrolytic Capacitors.

Unlike the Amiga 1200 which had no problem with acid leaking from the capacitors but in any case i have replaced them, the Amiga 600 is in a dramatic state but with a little patience and a good cleaning everything started working perfectly again.

Yes, to remove the capacitors i did the much-hated “twist” of the component, ok, having said that, the job went well so don’t broken my balls, thanks.

Gallery of the repair:

In this post i will briefly try to summarize the history of the project “The Return of the Hybrid SID Player”.

I have always had the monkey to build a standalone SID Player that was not completely emulated, yes, i am a Purist of SID music and SID sound CHIP (6581/8580).

In recent years i have tried several SID Players and in the last period i have focused on Bakisha’s SID emulator (based on STM32F407VET6 MCU which i love) upgrading it by adding an ILI9341 OLED display and some information and sound light on the screen.

Using the same project, but this time using the STM32F401CCU6 MCU, i have added the possibility to run with a Real external SID (thank you Bakisha for the precious support).

Unfortunately the Player had remained in an embryonic stage, at least compared to what i had in mind and to the expectations that i believe should be had from a software of that type.

After searching on the net (to avoid wasting time reinventing the wheel) i found the Hybrid Sid Player project by Markus Gritsch, published on the Dangerousprototypes forum and released between 2011 – 2015.

Markus’s project included, in addition to the emulation of the SID also the use of a real external SID, an OLED display, a File Browser with the possibility of using a Rotary Encoder and VU-METER, SID Digi in PSID format (pre HVSC #50), and SID with multi Tunes, as well as a proprietary file format called DMP, which also allowed you to listen (after a simple conversion) the SID files in the new RSID format.

Unfortunately the CUI32 DEV Board on which the Player was developed has not been available from many years, so to assemble the project i have used the Olimex DEV Board PIC32-T795, based on the same MCU Microchip PIC32MX795F512H.

Everything ran pretty much immediately, but unfortunately some important features were missing. I thought of contacting Markus to find out if he was willing to continue with the project, but unfortunately he was no longer interested and, by the way, surprised that the source would also compile with the latest Microchip’s new MPLAB X IDE.

At that point i couldn’t help but slowly start reading and understanding the source code he wrote to add several features (which you can read in the changelog below).

Once i reached a good stability of the firmware i said to myself: now we need to do the PCB! i can’t keep everything on the breadboard, as it is definitely not recommended to work with Analog audio signals on a Breadboard, especially if you are a sound and SID purist!

Alone, however, i would never have been able to carry out such a project, i absolutely needed a hand. So i decided to contact Gianluca Renzi of RetroBit Lab, a person with an excellent experience in Electronics, PCB design and Programming. He liked my idea right away, and he took the project to heart by drawing the wiring diagram from scratch, taking care of the choice of components and taking care of some critical power supply sections. I am not going to list all the tests we have done but i guarantee you that they have been many!

Meticulous and paranoid both i and Gianluca, probably i’m more Paranoid than Gianluca :D, after several months, we were able to give birth to the prototype of the PCB that you can see below.

Currently there is no the PCB and the relative assembly of components, test its operation and in case of problems, apply some flying fixes, correct the wiring diagram and consequently the PCB.

The last step will be to write a short documentation and release everything on GITHUB, so that anyone can have the opportunity to build their own SID Player and, important note, to add features to the software, fix bugs or, why not, also rewrite everything from scratch! The PCB allows it and has been designed to be dynamic and adapt to the imagination and needs of the programmer.

Gallery:

Video:

…more video here.

Changelog:

The return of the Hybrid Sid Player by xAD/Nightfall & Gianluca Renzi (RetroBitLab)

Based on the Project and Hardware Schematic by Markus Gritsch released in the years 2011-2015 on the forum dangerousprototypes. Thanks Markus.

v1.03 – 01/04/2021

Updated:

- Reset Timer when the MODE key is pressed for the following modes: SEQUENTIAL – RANDOM – INTRO.
- Replaced the code for the EEPROM emulator with a real EEPROM 24LC256 (BitBang/I2c Mode). No more Timing Problem.

Added:

- Serial Debug via UART1 (RD3).
  The firmware will be released in two differents versions, one with the Debug enabled and one without.
- Splash Screen Logo.
- New fourth choice for the button MODE, it’s called The INTRO mode. (i like it!)
  It will play the first 15 seconds of the SID and then automatically select a new one at Random.
  If you like the SID you are listening to just press the MODE button to switch to Manual MODE and the SID will not change.
  This option remindful the old MP3 players that had the INTRO option to listen the first 30 seconds of the music track.
 
Fixed:

- Missing INCLUDE to remove the error “unable to resolve the symbol… tolower()” but MPLABX compile the code anyway :D
- The label of the SID Model Version in case the sid have subsongs is too large, fixed with a workaround. I am realizing now this OLED screen is too small :-D

Various:

- Cleaned up a bit the code with some unused functions.

v1.02 – 04/03/2021

Updated:

- Changed connection of Buttons [Previous|Next] (RB0 & RB1) because are conflict with the ICSP (thanks Gianluca Renzi [Te lo avevo detto! :D]) to RB3 and RB4,
  RB2 is already used by the MODE button.

Fixed:

- Reset timer when the playing MODE is changed.
- SID Model Version displayed accidentally when the playing MODE is changed.
- Pseudo Random.
- *DMP (Dump) Custom File Format Broken in the previous version v1.01.

* The DMP is a custom file of the original RSID format after a conversion.
  More information here: http://dangerousprototypes.com/forum/index.php?topic=2197.msg41618#msg41618

Various:

- Optimizing code.

v1.01 – 23/02/2021

Added:

- Button MODE for choose how to play the song: MANUAL – SEQUENTIAL – RANDOM.
  Since can’t implement songlenghts, the song changes every 2 minutes.

v1.0 – 09/02/2021

Updated:

- Adjusted Brightness when is used a OLED Display 1.3″
- 2 Secs wait time for the SpashScreen.
- Modified Splash Screen.

Added:

- Button for Next SID in the same folder and it start from the first one when reach the last one.
- Button for Previous SID in the same folder and it start from the last one when reach the first one.
- SID Model Version when Playing a SID, displayed the firsten 3 seconds and then show again the play icon .

Todo:

- Draw a Circuit Diagram with some enhancements and make a Prototype PCB and share the project for all. *This is NOT a commercial project*

- Update the FATFS Library by ChaN
– http://elm-chan.org/fsw/ff/00index_e.html

- Add Illegal Opcodes to the 6502/6510 Emulator and also Optimizing the CPU Emulator.
– https://www.oric.org/ftp/ceo/ceomag/downloads///ebooks/nomoresecretsnmos6510.pdf
– http://www.oxyron.de/html/opcodes02.html

- SID Playlist.
- Realtime Switching 6581/8580 if ARMSID is used.
- Use the Button MODE to open an advanced setup menu.
- Loading files error handling.

- Add Firmware Upgrade via USB Pen Drive.
– https://www.eeweb.com/wp-content/uploads/articles-app-notes-files-pic32-bootloader-1335647102.pdf

Selcom Lemon II Floppy Drive Repair and Clean.

Defect: The Floppy Drive motor spins and the LED stays on but the R/W head does not move and don’t read anythings. This is a classic failure due to incorrect insertion of the Floppy Drive connector into the male connector on the side of the Floppy Drive Controller card.

By inserting the connector moved one row externally the supply consequently go to in the wrong places and the first IC to explode in the true sense of the word is the 74LS125 (see photo).

Replaced the component, everything has started to working again.

Taking advantage of the repair, i have cleaned the inside of the LEMON II Computer and done a DUMP of the EPROM, i also cleaned and lubrificate the mechanical parts of the Floppy Drive.

Gallery of the repair:

Download: Selcom Lemon II ROM EPROM Dump (1437)

2 x Atari Lynx II Repair and Recap.

The first Atari Lynx II did not turn on but when powering the console at 5v bypassing the power stage it worked properly.

I had to replace all the electrolytic capacitors and the critical components of the power stage.

• 1 x MOSFET MTDJ055E with a equivalent one.
• 2 x Transistor 2N3906.
• 1 x Zener Diode 1N5991B.
• 1 x 120 Ohm resistor.

The second Atari Lynx II working correctly so consequently i have only replaced the electrolytic capacitors.

Gallery of the repair:

Hybrid SID Player with a real SID 8580R5 running on Olimex PIC32-T795.

After trying the sid player of Bakisha and have added some features (es: Big LCD ILI9341 / Real Sid) of course with the help of Bakisha, thanks Branko

I also wanted to try the Hybrid SID Player by Markus Gritsch. The schematic (omitting some components) and the firmware are untouched and released some years ago (2011-2012) by Markus Gritsch on the forum of Dangerous Prototype.

Since the CUI32 DEV Board where is born the Hybrid SID Player is no longer available from many years, i have used the DEV Board PIC32-T795 from Olimex based on the same MCU the PIC32MX795F512H.

I have made a hack on the PIC32-T795 development board because the two pins used for the rotary encoder are not available because they are used for the RTC, i just had to remove the MHz Crystal and two capacitors from the PIC32-T795 board, so i have solder two wires directly on the dev board pcb.

The purpose of all these experiments is make some hardware changes and new implementations to the final project that i will choose and then make an all-in-one pcb and make it public to anyone who wants to build it.

Gallery:

Video: