This a special edition of the Commodore C64, celebrating the 1.000.000th sale of the C64 in Germany. This is one of the most desirable Commodore items. There are about 300 golden Commodore C64 produced. The numbers from 1.000.000 until 1.000.100 were for the staff of the Commodore factory Braunschweig.

The rest was given to hard- en software companies, magazine-publishers and distributors. The C64 is a computer system with a keyboard, external power-supply and a motherboard. On the motherboard you will find a MOS 6510 processor, RAM / ROM memory, MOS 6569 VIC-II video chip, MOS 6581 SID sound chip and twice a MOS 6526 CIA. PAL version.

source: ebay.de richardlagendijk.nl

Autopsy:

In 1990 Amstrad introduced the “Plus” range which tweaked the hardware in many ways and added a cartridge slot to all models. The Plus included the 464 Plus, 6128 Plus and the GX4000 video game console (which is a cut down Plus without the keyboard nor support for non-cartridge media). All of the range included a cartridge slot and additional hardware improvements.

Most improvements were to the video display which saw an increase in palette to 4096 colours and gained the capability of hardware sprites. Splitting the display into two separate windows and pixel scrolling both became full supported hardware features although both were possible on the non-”Plus” hardware using clever programming of the existing Motorola 6845. An automatic DMA transfer system for feeding the sound chip was also added but the sound chip itself remained unchanged. Additionally, the BASIC command set for disc access was improved.

These models did not do very well in the marketplace, failing to attract any substantial third party support. The 8-bit technology behind the Plus was starting to look a little out of date by 1990 and users resented the substantial price hike for cartridge games compared to their tape and disc counterparts. However, the Plus machines did sell well in France where Amstrad still had a large following due to the success of the classic CPC range there.

The range was officially titled as ‘Amstrad 464 Plus’, ‘Amstrad 6128 Plus’ and ‘GX4000′ and the ‘CPC’ (standing for Colour Personal Computer) abbreviation used in the older generation was dropped. However, many Amstrad users refer to the Plus range as ‘CPC Plus’ or ‘CPC+’ due to the inherent similarities of the two ranges.

from: cpcwiki.eu

This is an old Commodore VIC-20 Home Computer (PAL) with a “Microgramma Extended Fonts” keyboard. The same keyboard is also used in the Commodore PET computer.

The “PET” style keyboard used on the VIC-1001 and early VIC-20s

The keyboards used in VIC-20 computers were manufactured for Commodore by Matsushita Corporation of Japan. Those used on the very first VIC-20s were almost completely flat-topped and identical in shape to that of Commodore’s PET computer (however, on the VIC-20 the PET’s number pad was replaced by four wide function keys).

The keyboards on later VIC-20s were manufactured with slightly concave tops. The concavity of the “F” and “J” keys was slightly more prominent to provide tactile feedback for touch-typists seeking the “home” position.

Commodore VIC-20 8-bit Home Computer

The VIC-20 (Germany: VC-20; Japan: VIC-1001) is an 8-bit home computer which was sold by Commodore Business Machines. The VIC-20 was announced in 1980, roughly three years after Commodore’s first personal computer, the PET. The VIC-20 was the first computer of any description to sell one million units.

The VIC-20 was intended to be more economical than the PET computer. It was equipped with only 5 kB of RAM (of this, only 3.5 KB were available to the BASIC programmer) and used the same MOS 6502 CPU as the PET. The VIC-20′s video chip, the MOS Technology VIC, was a general-purpose color video chip designed by Al Charpentier in 1977 and intended for use in inexpensive display terminals and game consoles, but Commodore could not find a market for the chip. As the Apple II gained momentum with the advent of VisiCalc in 1979, Jack Tramiel wanted a product that would compete in the same segment, to be presented at the January 1980 CES. For this reason Chuck Peddle and Bill Seiler started to design a computer named TOI (The Other Intellect).

Gallery:

source: sleepingelephant.com/denial/wiki wikipedia

Some new games or tools (Cracked / Trained or Unrealeased) for Commodore 64 have been released from your favorites groups.

Titles:

• Aviator Arcade [16kb cartridge]
• Pixel City Skater
• Aviator Arcade +3
• Voivod Attack [16kb cartridge]
• Voivod Attack +5
• Cosmic Ark +4HFD 101% [pal/ntsc]
• Pixel City Skater [16kb cartridge]
• p0snake +2DP [pal/ntsc]
• p0snake [16kb cartridge]
• Honey Bee +6FD [pal/ntsc]
• Honey Bee Redux [16kb cartridge]
• C-2048 [16kb cartridge]
• C-2048 +
• C-2048 +HF [pal/ntsc]
• Race [16kb cartridge]
• Race
• Toyz [16kb cartridge]
• Cowboy Duel Junior +1F DE [english+german] [pal/ntsc]
• Blackjack aka Twenty-One (C64 & PLUS/4)
• Cowboy Duel Junior – Live Your Dream …Again!
• Falling [16kb cartridge]
• Falling &MHS
• Blackjack aka Twenty-One +1
• Falling [pal/ntsc]
• Falling +1H
• Toyz
• Falling
• Tiger Claw +3D
• Penultimate Fantasy [pal/ntsc]
• Tiger Claw [16kb cartridge]
• Mini Arcade: Climax [16kb cartridge]
• Brick Buster [16kb cartridge]
• Penultimate Fantasy [16kb cartridge]
• Mini Arcade: Climax +D
• Brick Buster +3D
• Penultimate Fantasy + [pal/ntsc]
• Penultimate Fantasy +
• Fickle [16kb cartridge]
• Tutti Frutti 64 V0.1 [16kb cartridge]
• Penultimate Fantasy 100% +3DF [pal/ntsc]
• Tutti Frutti 64 Preview +2
• Fickle +5D
• Brilliant Maze +2D
• Mini-Arcade: Climax +1FD [pal/ntsc]
• Attack of the Mutant Aliens +

Download: All Games in One Archive (3075)

source: csdb.dk

Repairs and calibrations made:

• After a few days of normal use of the Apple /// is died the Keyboard Encoder (341-0035-00). I have replaced the chip with the Keyboard Encoder SMC KR3600-075B1 which fortunately is still available.
• Removed the filter capacitor.
• Replaced the bulb of the power-on that is embedded in the keyboard.
• Replaced all rubber feets.
• Calibration of the Floppy Drive.
• Replaced some switches of the keyboard.

Repairing keyboard Apple ///:

It seems incredible but there is always a button that doesn’t work ;-D

I found on some keyboards of the TI-99/4A the same buttons but with the plunger much smaller. I have used the plunger of the Apple /// button on the TI-99/4a button and i have fixed the problem elegantly ;-D

Thank to my friend Ninetyniner Iuc for the donation of spare parts.

Gallery:

12►

The Apple III (often rendered as Apple ///) is a business-oriented personal computer produced and released by Apple Computer that was intended as the successor to the Apple II series, but was largely considered a failure in the market. Development work on the Apple III started in late 1978 under the guidance of Dr. Wendell Sander. It had the internal code name of “Sara”, named after Sander’s daughter. The machine was first announced and released on May 19, 1980, but due to serious stability issues that required a design overhaul and a recall of existing machines, it was formally reintroduced the following autumn. Development stopped and the Apple III was discontinued on April 24, 1984, and the III Plus was dropped from the Apple product line in September 1985.

The Apple III could be viewed as an enhanced Apple II – then the newest heir to a line of 8-bit machines dating back to 1976. However, the Apple III was not part of the Apple II line, but rather a close cousin. The key features business users wanted in a personal computer were a true typewriter-style upper/lowercase keyboard (as opposed to the Apple II which was based on a teletype keyboard) and 80 column display. In addition, the machine had to pass U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) qualifications for business equipment. In 1981, International Business Machines unveiled the IBM Personal Computer (IBM PC) – a completely new 16-bit design soon available in a wide range of inexpensive clones. The business market moved rapidly towards the PC DOS/MS-DOS platform, eventually pulling away from the Apple 8-bit computer line.

Despite numerous stability issues and a recall that included the first 14,000 units off the assembly line, Apple was eventually able to produce a reliable and dependable version of the machine. However, damage to the computer’s reputation had already been done and it failed to do well commercially as a direct result. In the end, an estimated 65,000–75,000 Apple III computers were sold. The Apple III Plus brought this up to ~120,000. Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak stated that the primary reason for the Apple III’s failure was that the system was designed by Apple’s marketing department, unlike Apple’s previous engineering-driven projects. The Apple III’s failure led to Apple reevaluating their plan to phase out the Apple II, and eventual continuation of development of the older machine. As a result, later Apple II models incorporated some hardware, such as the Apple Scribe Printer, a thermal printer, and software technologies of the Apple III.

source: wikipedia

Some new games or tools (Cracked / Trained or Unrealeased) for Commodore 64 have been released from your favorites groups.

Titles:

• Paper Plane +1HFD 100% [pal/ntsc]
• Donkey Kong Junior +6HD [onefiled]
• Paper Plane +21D [crazy hack]
• Paper Plane
• Bruce Lee II Preview
• Donkey Kong Junior +5HD [onefiled]
• Bomb Fusion +32D [crazy hack]
• Laberinto [spanish]
• Donkey Kong Junior +3D [onefiled]
• Paper Plane &H [pal/ntsc]
• Rocky Memphis Preview 2 +1M
• Rocky Memphis Preview 2
• Rocky Memphis Preview 2 + [onefiled]
• Moonspire Preview +2
• Moonspire Preview
• X-Force +35D [crazy hack]
• Kanga +3D
• Rocky Memphis Preview 2 [pal/ntsc]
• Pandora +4DS +Pic
• Laberinto +2T

Download: All Games in One Archive (3067)

Gallery:

The Macintosh SE is a personal computer manufactured by Apple between March 1987 and October 1990.

This computer marked a significant improvement on the Macintosh Plus design and was introduced by Apple at the same time as the Macintosh II. It had a similar case to the original Macintosh computer, but with slight differences in color and styling.

Features:

The SE’s notable new features, compared to its similar predecessor the Macintosh Plus, were:

• First compact Macintosh with an internal drive bay for a hard disk (originally 20 MB or 40 MB) or a second floppy drive.
• First compact Macintosh that featured an expansion slot (SE stood for “System Expansion”).
• Used the Apple Desktop Bus (ADB), introduced with the Apple IIGS, for keyboard and mouse interface.
• Improved SCSI support with faster data throughput.
• Better reliability and longer life expectancy due to the addition of a cooling fan.

source: wikipedia

I have received a Commodore Amiga 500 to use as spare parts. I decided to restore because it’s a ASSY 312512 (Revision 3) with key-switch like IBM chiclet keyboards.

The cleaning took me a whole day but with a great satisfaction at the end of the work. The Commodore Amiga 500 works fine, the floppy drive reads very well and i have added a memory expansion (FAST RAM) of 512k.

Gallery of images (before and after cleaning):

Read more…

Tomasz “Tebe” Biela has released an update of the program Graph2Font v3.9.9.3 and the Atari Graphics Studio v2.9.9.

This project began many years ago as a simple graphics converter for Atari but over the years the features are significantly increased. The converter runs under Windows.

Download:

• Graph2Font v3.9.9.3 (Full) (1384)
• Graph2Font v3.9.9.3 (Lite) (1244)
• Atari Graphics Studio v2.9.9 (1278)

source: g2f.atari8.info

I thank my dear friend Ciro (www.ti99iuc.it) for giving me the Personal Computer Radio Shack Tandy 4000SX.

Some photo:

Tandy 4000SX uses a intel 80386SX microprocessor at 16 megahertz, 32-bit CPU Offers true Intel 386 processing in a 286 hardware environment.

Tandy designed and engineered with full IBM PC/AT compatibility. Uses hardware and software compatible with the IBM standard for IBM PC/XT/AT computers.

source: radioshack.com

For this donation i thank: Andrea C. from Trieste.

Donated items:

• 1 x Apple Macintosh SE / Keyobard / Mouse / Cables
• 1 x Apple StyleWriter II / Cables
• 1 x Fenner MSX SPC-800
• 1 x Philips Quickdisk VY-0002
• 1 x Commodore 64 / Powersupply
• 1 x Bear Games Autovocabolario di Tedesco (MSX Software / TAPE)
• 1 x Bear Games Piramide Mortale Turbo (MSX Software / TAPE)
• 1 x Bear Games Il Tesoro di Argan Allunaggio (MSX Software / TAPE)
• 1 x Driller Tanks (MSX Software / TAPE)
• 1 x Antart (MSX Software / TAPE)
• 1 x A.M.C. / Dinamic (MSX Software / TAPE)

I received the Texas Instruments Expansion System (PEB) from a dear friend.

The Texas Instruments Expansion System (PEB) although fully functional, needs a restoration, for example; some parts of the top and bottom cover are rusty.

Some photos of the work that i have done:

Some new games or tools (Cracked / Trained or Unrealeased) for Commodore 64 have been released from your favorites groups.

Titles:

• Centipede Junior +1J
• Power Pyramids +31D [crazy hack]
• Helicopter Attack Preview +3E [pal/ntsc]
• Wacky Waste +2D
• Eggland +4
• International Karaoke +
• International Karaoke + [Extended Party Disk]
• Mr. Mephisto +5DGM 101%
• Dr Jones [swedish]
• Aviator Arcade Preview +2
• Aviator Arcade Preview +
• 4 Swedish Adventures [swedish]
• Darkland +2
• X-Force +6D [2in1 version]
• Donkey Kong Junior
• Donkey Kong Junior +6D
• Donkey Kong Junior +D
• 3D Roam +2D
• Penetrator Preview +
• Bandana City +22D [crazy hack]
• Donkey Kong Junior +3D [onefiled]
• Gravitrix Preview +2

Download: All Games in One Archive (3058)

I thank my dear friend Ciro (www.ti99iuc.it) for giving me the “Peripheral Expansion System” and for making me discover a whole new world of the Home Computer Texas Instruments TI-99/4A.

Gallery:

The Peripheral Expansion Box (aka P-Box or PEB) is a stable, silver/gray plastic and die-cast metal box containing eight slots for peripheral expansion cards and a compartment for a floppy drive or two drives of half height (“slim-line”, slim as understood in the 70ies and 80ies; today it is the normal height of 5,25″ drives for PCs).

The PEB offers space for 8 expansion cards. All slots are wired in parallel, and the power supply is designed to supply all cards including up to two floppy drives. Floppy drives may be put into the right compartment of the box.

With the appearance of hard disk controller cards, users tried to mount hard drives into the box into the floppy compartment. However, the power supply is not designed to sustain the current required for the hard drives; thus, a separate power supply is recommended.

All peripheral cards are expected to provide their own voltage regulators. Therefore, it is not recommended to replace the power supply by today’s PC switched power supplies, as those already provide regulated power which may cause the regulators on the cards to lower the voltage below the acceptable range.

Zoe playing at Ms.Pac man on the TI-99/4A:

source: ninerpedia.org

Commodore Amiga 600 (Black Screen) Repair

Defect:

• Black Screen.

Replaced parts:

• 4 x Electrolytic Capacitor 10uF 35v
• 2 x Electrolytic Capacitor 22uf 35v

Note:

The Amiga 600 Motherboard looks in good conditions; no traces of a acid leakage from capacitors, as usually happens on Amiga 600/1200/4000, but all had a too high ESR (Equivalent Series Resistance).