OT? What 8bit Microprocessors still available new?

From: Ethan Dicks <dickset_at_amanda.spole.gov>
Date: Fri Feb 20 04:42:57 2004

On Thu, Feb 19, 2004 at 03:04:51PM -0800, Ron Hudson wrote:
> Please! only sacrifice non working machines, Dinosaurs may have been as
> common as dirt once, but you don't see many of them now. I understand
> that at least for C64 the main failure point is the SID chip...

A dead SID chip does not equal a dead machine (it's still useful for lots
of software, even some games like Zork). The thing that I've see die
(besides the occasional DRAM) is the 82S100 PLA. It runs hot and it's at
the hub of the machine. When it dies, you get a black screen.

I got a dead SX64 once for $20 - bad PLA. It took longer to crack the case
than to diagnose the problem. What also dies on _those_ is the keyboard
(low-quality membrane). I haven't done it yet, but I'm tempted to turn a
C-64 case and KB into an external KB for an SX64, so I have a spare.

-ethan


-- 
Ethan Dicks, A-130-S      Current South Pole Weather at 20-Feb-2004 10:31 Z
South Pole Station
PSC 468 Box 400       Temp   -47 F (-43.9 C)    Windchill    -95.5 F (-70.8 C)
APO AP 96598          Wind  13.1 kts Grid 054   Barometer 692.1 mb (10171. ft)
Ethan.Dicks_at_amanda.spole.gov     http://penguincentral.com/penguincentral.html
Received on Fri Feb 20 2004 - 04:42:57 GMT

This archive was generated by hypermail 2.3.0 : Fri Oct 10 2014 - 23:36:43 BST