It's alive! It's aliiiiiive!!!

rork · Post by **rork** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 9:29 pm

...and I have a photo to prove it...

(please also read below)

Most of you probably remember my thread about my broken VIC. A little update for you: I finally got some time to replace the capacitor and the suspected faulty chips!

After making a couple of practice runs on the cap on my other VIC-20 motherboard, I thought I was confident enough to attempt doing it on the main computer. Given that this was my first job like that ever, I think I did pretty well.

Then, I proceeded to test the two chips that, according to Ray Carlsen's "VIC20 Diagnostics and Repair" guide, could be causing all the trouble. Turns out it was the 901486-01 ROM BASIC!

I replaced it and my VIC is alive again (see the photo)! I hope it stays this way. I'm so freaking happy!!!

But, I already have two new problems. First of all, it looks like the picture quality is pretty bad. I don't know if the photo above shows it, but the colors are pretty washed out and the shadows behind the characters are really deep. Any input on that? Maybe I'm blind, but I looked for the trimmers that nippur72 talked about in another thread and I couldn't find them...

Also, it looks like my 1571 decided to die on me today. I just copied the Box and Pong games (posted here by some of you

) onto a floppy, connected the drive back to my VIC, and... couldn't read anything on the disk. At first, I thought that maybe the disk was defective, but then I realized that the locking handle on the drive went "limp" (it doesn't stay up anymore) and that I can't read any disks. I'm too tired now to play with it and try to see what's wrong, so maybe you guys have some hints. Anything like that happened to anybody else?

Thanks everybody who helped me with my VIC! Thank you for patiently answering my questions and giving me hints! Especially Eslapion--thanks for all your help, man!

OK, I think I'm going to sleep now...

ral-clan · Post by **ral-clan** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 10:32 pm

Congratulations.

Your picture problems are common. The pots are inside a metal box in the centre of the VIC motherboard. You have to carefully but firmly pry off the top of the metal RF shielding. If you have needle-nose pliers, you can gently bend away some of the metal fingers that are gripping onto the "walls" of the RF shielding. You don't need to replace the top once removed, as the absence of this top will actually keep your VIC chip cooler.

As for the disk latch being lazy....sounds like it simply isn't "biting" onto the metal rod anymore. The plastic on the inside of the latch is stripped (I think). I've heard this is a common problem....and not a serious one (easily fixed). I don't own any of these drives, so I'm not sure what is normally used. I assume a type of glue would work, but you don't want anything that will be too permanent (i.e. epoxy) should you ever need to get the drive apart again. I'm sure an internet search will turn up something.

Isn't that the way it is with Commodore stuff? You get something fixed only to have something else fail at almost the exact same moment. It's like there are little gremlins laughing at you.

It can be very exhausting and exasperating.

eslapion · Post by **eslapion** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 1:59 am

If you are certain it is the BASIC ROM that is faulty then it is easy for me to make you a replacement and then you could have 2 functional VICs.

I could even throw in a little goody to make you really happy.

PM me your snail mail address.

Schema · Post by **Schema** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 2:59 pm

It's quite simple to fix the picture quality. Here's a little pictorial.

http://www.jammingsignal.com/vic20/video/

rork · Post by **rork** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 9:12 pm

eslapion:
Thanks for your offer! PM sent.

ral-clan and Schema:
Thanks for your hints on the picture quality, guys! I'll play with it tomorrow or on Saturday. I just came back from work and I'm beat now.

At least, I managed to fix my floppy drive today. Turns out it was very trivial. The little metal prong that connects the latch to the actual mechanism slipped out. I put it back in place and everything works fine!

As a proof, my wife losing a game of Pong to me:

and enjoying the Box game:

By the way, both these games are great! Thanks Jeff-20, nbla000, and Nippur72!

gklinger · Post by **gklinger** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 3:45 am

Your wife plays VIC-20 games with you? Wow. She's awesome. I've been trying to get my girlfriend hooked on Commodore games. So far, no go but I'm going to keep trying. I think she's getting curious.

eslapion · Post by **eslapion** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 5:27 am

rork wrote:As a proof, my wife losing a game of Pong to me:

I notice on your pictures you got yourself one of these great Wico joysticks.

I also notice you leave your computers on the carpet. That's a problem because:
a) Carpet is a source of damaging static electricity
b) Carpet blocks the cool air vents at the bottom of these old machines. Old machines like that do not have fans and so they cool using convection where cool air comes in from the bottom and hot air exits at the top.

Boray · Post by **Boray** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 6:27 am

Cool guitar!

rork · Post by **rork** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 1:19 pm

gklinger wrote:Your wife plays VIC-20 games with you? Wow. She's awesome. I've been trying to get my girlfriend hooked on Commodore games. So far, no go but I'm going to keep trying. I think she's getting curious.

Yep, she's one of us now.

At first, she was making fun of me and now it's like "let me play, let ME play!"

eslapion wrote:I notice on your pictures you got yourself one of these great Wico joysticks.

Ironically, this is the best working joystick I have. I still haven't gotten around to checking and fixing the other ones (Quick Shots).

eslapion wrote:I also notice you leave your computers on the carpet. That's a problem...

Yeah, that's a very good point. I was too lazy to work out a better setup, I guess.

That will change today, I promise.

Speaking of hot, I noticed that the VIC, after being on for about an hour, starts running really hot. I've been thinking about installing some heat sinks (as Ray Carlsen suggests on his web site). Have any of you guys done that? Well, perhaps just lifting it off the floor will help.

Boray wrote:Cool guitar!

Thanks, Boray! That's another hobby of mine. It's just one among several others I own and play. I know that you play as well. I think I remember hearing an electric guitar in one of your songs. What brand(s) do you like the best? I'm a B.C. Rich fan-boy (although I'm currently having some problems with my latest purchase from them). I also like Kramer a lot (hence the one in the picture). Oops, I'm getting off-topic here...

Boray · Post by **Boray** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 3:31 pm

rork wrote:What brand(s) do you like the best?

I have an Ibanez, but I'm thinking of buying a Telecaster too...

ral-clan · Post by **ral-clan** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 9:01 pm

rork wrote:
eslapion wrote:I notice on your pictures you got yourself one of these great Wico joysticks.
Ironically, this is the best working joystick I have. I still haven't gotten around to checking and fixing the other ones (Quick Shots).

The WICO bat joysticks are the absolute best joysticks I have ever owned. I have never had one fail and am still using my original from 20 years ago. They are truly arcade quality (WICO makes arcade controllers).

Boray · Post by **Boray** » Sat Dec 30, 2006 11:36 am

I have one of those too, but I like the Tac-2 better...

gklinger · Post by **gklinger** » Sat Dec 30, 2006 12:05 pm

Mark me down as another fan of the WICO joysticks although for some games I preferred the Bat model whereas for others, I found the 'Ball' was easier to use. I started with a WICO Bat and then bought a 3-in-1 which allowed you to change the red plastic part to suit your mood or the game you were playing. That was the ultimate joystick. I really wish I still had one. I've been looking for ages but I have yet to find one for sale anywhere.

Post by **Jeff-20** » Sat Dec 30, 2006 12:45 pm

I have one and rarely use it. It feels too large. I prefer the original atari 2600 joystick.

rork · Post by **rork** » Sat Dec 30, 2006 1:06 pm

Boray wrote:
rork wrote:What brand(s) do you like the best?
I have an Ibanez, but I'm thinking of buying a Telecaster too...

Cool! I like Ibanez. I'm thinking about adding one to my collection one day, too.

Personally, I'm not that hot on Fender, but I know some people who would kill for a Start or a Tele. I'm sure they're great guitars. It's just a matter of preference.