u/Alekx2023

Hey everyone, I am new to commodore 64 so be patient I will do my best to explain all the important info.

I recently got a 1701 that required repair, I did a full recap and it is working beautifully. I also picked up an in box commodore 64 which seems to be in great cosmetic condition and very clean. I waited a month for a luma chroma cable to arrive (first one got lost in the mail). Upon plugging it in I discovered the commodore doesn’t display video.

Here are the troubleshooting steps I have taken.

AC Adapter voltage output was measured prior to use (measured and left on for an 1hr and measured again). The red LED light does come on as it should.

I connected an RF cable and hooked up to another tv and still no image.

Note: there is no flicker or audio signal that anything is attempting to get into the tv when switching on or off either RF or through luma chroma.

continuity tested the fuse and visually inspected and fuse is good

I measured the voltage of the CPU, PLA, and RAM and all measured 5.15v

I measured CPU PIN 1 (RESET) 0.02V
CIA PIN 32 (RESET) 0.04V
reset line resistance to ground 0L

NE556 Pin 4 5.15V
NE556 Pin 1 0V (When powered on)

the board is clean visually and no signs of leaking caps

when powered on for a minute I ran my finger across all chips, no hot or warm chips felt

I am looking for advice before I replace the NE556 chip. Is there a supplier I should go to for the chip? Is there any other work or parts I should do or replace while I am repairing this console that are prone to failure?

I figure this is some sort of reset hold preventing the console from starting.

appreciate any insight from the community

So i have an xbox 1.0 with a thomson drive and a foxlink PSU. I recapped the thomson drive and it can read discs again. I fixed trace rot from leaking cap with a jumper wire and the xbox power button now turns on and off the console.

after installing an aladdin modchip i was gaming and my game crashed after about 10 minutes of play. reset and worked fine. then a while in it crashed visually and audibly. I figured it was aladdin related. i reflowed all the lpc header and tried again. started having power issues. console would power down on its own, or power down and back on. I can’t seem to get past load now. I removed the aladdin chip but left the LPC header installed. it still glitches out at startup as shown in the photo. either visual artifacts, lots of audible feedback from glitching audio or power cycles/shut down.

I am starting to think its not aladdin mod related as ive checked out continuity etc and everything seemed normal from my LPC install.

is this possibly an underlying issue that i confused for my LPC install. What should I do next?

My plan was to reflow the PSU ac pins, i heard its a common failure point.

Caps look ok and dont want to invest a ton of time on recapping if i just scrap the xbox in the end.

could it be thermal paste related? i have been grabbing the heatsink to remove the board maybe that seperated the thermal paste causing the chip to overheat?

Im thinking reflow and new thermal paste as a next step. Maybe remove and check caps? But I don’t have a tool to check ESR.

chatgpt suggested i measure the 5v rail and observe for the crash. I was also thinking to check continuity at each LPC header pin downstream on board incase i damaged a socket during install without noticing.

looking for any and all troubleshooting advice vs just shotgunning a recap and hoping for the best

I had to reflow the aladdin header as I had lots of audio and visual glitches. after a few attempts i did cause some damage to the board but I am pretty sure that damage was not from original install.

anyways in the photo the top right and bottom right pin have continuity. Does that mean I have a problem or those pins should have continuity?

edit: continuity checked between start and finish of the suspicious trace from board damage and have continuity.

motherboard version is 1.0

pin 12 (GND) and pin 2 (GND) have continuity between each other. I am assuming this is normal

Console power cycles and sometimes will not display loading screen now.

Next step will be removing D0 wire and aladdin chip altogether. If problem exists still i may need to reflow my jumper cable which solved my trace rot from clock capacitor. if problem still exists i may just have to junk the xbox

I recapped the original xbox thomson drive. It went from never reading a disc to reliably reading discs.

The only problem is if left on load screens or idling it will sometimes crash out. for example load screens where you push start to continue. if you don’t press start in a couple minutes it crashed a can not read error. I may try further lens cleaning but think it’s just not destined to work fully again sadly.

anyone have similar thomson drive experience or knowledge to share?

I bought a commodore 1701 for $50 canadian ($35usd approx). The monitor was in good condition but had 2 picture issues. The screen would scroll and not lock into place with the V-hold. There was distortion evident on vertical linearity shown on the grid pattern.

I decided to take a chance on it for $50 and figured it would be a good TV to learn on.

After replacing all the capacitors with Console5 cap kit the issues were resolved and the screen looked crisp!

For a first timer working on a CRT monitor I was happy it was successful. Definitely learned a-lot about techniques for removing solder from capacitor legs. I was pretty careful to touch both cap legs to a grounded screwdriver after removing just incase they stored energy.

The B+ was sitting low at 103.8V and after adjusting to 110.5V the horizontal width aligned perfectly with the edges of the screen.

really impressed with the picture quality of this set and dig the 80’s vibe. The green led and commodore colours on the front really send it home

now I just need to get a commodore ready with a flash cart for loading a library onto. Trying to decide if i want to get a 1541 or the cassette attachment. I have a C64 already but no games or anything else for it.

Got this commodore for cheap as a project. Hoping a recap will solve this, been wanting to clean & fully service a CRT. Aside from the wavy grid pattern the screen rolls vertically down

any tips will help

Im new to console repair but want to get better at soldering for replacing capacitors and upgrade mods like RGB and some CRT work. Seems like a steep learning curve for CRT’s and circuitry.

XBOX would turn on as soon as plugged in and power button would not shut off or do anything. Is a 1.0 version motherboard.

After a ton of chatgpt, google, and youtube I diagnosed the failure. Clock capacitor leaked and damaged a trace.

I found a youtube video that showed where to check continuity on the top of the circuitry which made for a much easier wire repair.

This was the smallest terminal i’ve had to solder to. I removed the clock capacitor.

Next problem will be to solve the disc read error on the Thomson disc drive

The brand is not often discussed. I have an automatic Rodania 25039. I feel like I got great value between quality and cost. Seems like most if not all the options for mens watches are quartz movement online.

I am not a watch expert by any means but I have had mine for over 15 years and it meets my needs and didn’t cost thousands of dollars. Even after 15 years when I search the brand online I don’t get much information or discussion on it.

Are they more popular in other parts of the world?

Is it just another watch brand doing nothing special? Does the lack of automatic options deter people from buying this brand?

interested to hear some perspectives