Notices by Bernie (codewiz@mstdn.io)

So... where am I?

@maxheadroom Nein! I'm in Odaiba, Tokyo.

I detached the #Plus4 keyboard to test the power LED with a battery: it works.

I cleaned the contacts with isopropyl and plugged the flat cable back on the board and now... IT WORKS! 🎉

Was it just an oxidized contact? I'm not sure.

Anyway, the tuner video signal is very noisy. I wrote this short program to test sound output.

First time I play with the BASIC V3.5 multimedia commands, and it's awesome! :commodore:

#commodore #retrocomputing #vintagecomputing

@root42 Even these C64 -> Plus4 adapters cost a lot, like 15 EUR + shipping.

Ok ok, I guess spending 2 hours repairing a PSU would cost more, but... isn't it more fun? 😂

@root42 Aha!

By the way, I found schematics and service manuals for the Plus 4, but couldn't find gerbers or pictures to help follow traces on the board. Know where to look?

Last night I carefully opened the #Commodore wedge PSU with flat screwdrivers, but the interior is filled with a potting resin which is stuck to the box.

I measured +5V after the regulator, but it drops as soon as I connect the #Plus4 board.

If the board was shorted, the fuse would have blown. So I guess the regulator is unable to source more than a few milliamps.

I couldn't make further progress without tools. I'm literally working from my mother's kitchen! 🤓

#electronics #vintagecomputing

@root42 The CPU is indeed a 6501R1, with a conspicuous "OK" drawn on it in purple. How do they die?

Anyway, the PSU appears to be broken (I'll post more details on the main thread).

In spite of its excellent conditions, this #Plus4 does not power up at all 😭

The AC fuse in the PSU and the DC one on the motherboard aren't blown, so my next suspect is the "wedge" power-supply.

These PSUs made by #Commodore in the '80s are known to fail often. Sometimes, they even output higher voltages on the +5V line which powers ALL the chips on the board! 😱

But this isn't the case: the power LED is steady off, and I measured near 0 volts on VCC pins.

#electronics #vintagecomputing

Yesterday I received a donation of #Commodore hardware from a childhood friend, including this lightly used #Plus4 in its original box, with perfectly preserved manuals.

#vintagecomputing #retrocomputing

@globalc lol, was this post meant to be published on theonion.com and the author accidentally used their work account? 😂

@toroidalcore Yeah, better luck next time!

Is it a scrub? The #NewGlenn countdown disappeared from the #BlueOrigin official livestream, with no comments (yet).

They keep delaying the countdown... Now T-30 minutes. When does the launch window close?

#NewGlenn ready to launch in T-23 minutes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOEPTWQrN7A

Found the perfect companion for my #Amiga 3000: this beautiful NEC MultiSync with a horizontal range of 31-110 kHz!

I pulled it from the basement of my house and tested it briefly: it still works, and the picture quality is perfect after degaussing the CRT and adjusting a few display controls ❤️

@ltning The first UNIX system I ever used was #NetBSD 0.9.

It ran on my #Amiga 4000/040 fully expanded to 16MB of Fast RAM + 2MB of Chip RAM ❤️

@ltning The first UNIX system I ever used was NetBSD 0.9.

It ran on my Amiga 4000/040 fully expanded to 16MB of Fast RAM + 2MB of Chip RAM ❤️

@jope @batteman AHA! It was in the release notes of intuition.library 48.3.

@jope @batteman Yes, I have actually seen the new floating menus of OS 3.3 long ago! I might even have photos to prove it!

@ij @jope @batteman I just recalled that some SCSI controllers implemented the TD64 device interface to handle large drives.

My HD images were all below 4GB though, so my WB partition got corrupted for a different reason.