A Tricky Commodore PET Repair and a Lesson About Assumptions
1 min read
Summary
As time takes its toll on old computer components, issues will arise that were not considered when the machines were first built, meaning that some creative repair work may be called for to keep vintage hardware alive.
Among the most common difficulties, according to hacker and repair expert Ken Shirriff, are broken RAM and ROM chips, especially where the IC pins have become brittle and often remain stuck in the socket when trying to remove them.
Initial symptoms of problems can include RAM corruption or even seemingly random characters being displayed on screens.
In some cases, faulty programmers have been used to create replacement ROMs, resulting in the microprocessor being fed with the wrong data, while other problems can be traced to ancient bodge wires that were soldered with resin core solder.
Checking the pins of socketed ICs in pristine-looking machines that have never been used is also urged, along with tracing PCB traces for possible broken connections.
