Amstrad 464 with numerous faults

[MugUK]

Hi! new member of forum but an old hand on the Atari ST scene/side of things.

Back in '87 I ported the C64 graphics for Out Of This World by Reaktor on Amstrad/Spectrum and it paid for my Atari ST, so I didn't look back.  Until now

I've just bought this (sold as seen) off ePrey mainly because it came with a bucketload of cassette games.  It was delivered tonight, I powered it up and:

   
• The monitor cable is a bit flaky - mostly displays the text in red.  I can waggle it about (and the cable!) and it will display the stock text in yellow.
• Tape deck refuses to budge, but will happily FF & REW without any problems.
• Main error is with the keyboard.  ESC key is loose and, it would seem, permanently switched on along with a few other keys, including SHIFT (no numbers, just the symbols).

Is it a basket-case and I've just paid money for a wad of games?  I was sooo looking forward to playing Cascade's Cassette 50
Or, is it worth persevering with and getting someone to look at it?
Any help appreciated.

[steve]

Anything can be repaired.

I read on Amiga forums that they expect not only to replace the battery for the real time clock but also replace all the capacitors as well,
With CPC's we just expect them to work without trouble.

[MugUK]

I've got my eye on a few possible replacements plus there's always my friends at the Retro Computer Museum.  I'm sure they'd love a challenge

It's either that or this becomes a donor machine for something else

[Badstarr]

I may be stating the obvious, but if you are new to the CPC you may not know that the tape will not begin turning until you have typed RUN" (or CONTROL and ENTER) and then pressed any key (there is some debate as to which key "any" is  ) If you have tried this already and are having no luck, I would suspect the relay is jammed or has failed completely, possibly the motor has died (but you have already confirmed FF/RW are working), or it could be a simple loose connection. You should be able to rule out the relay by bypassing it though but its usually fairly obvious if this is the problem as you wont hear a 'click' as you press 'any' key.

[Bryce]

That's not broken, it's just not properly "serviced":

- Tape - As Badstarr said, you need to "tell" the tape to start. If it still doesn't start, the chances are you need to change the belt.
- Monitor - Clean the contacts and check the pins inside the CPC Socket, if they've spread too far apart they won't make proper contact, you can bend them back to a better position with a small screwdriver. Worst case, the Socket might have a dry-joint on the PCB, in this case re-solder the contacts under the socket.
- Keyboard - Probably dirt, dismantle it completely and clean it.

Bryce.

[MugUK]

As above, it's more likely a basket-case after opening it up, blowing the dust out of it, checking the cables are connecting snugly and trying again.

The ESC key is loose and the entire keyboard is stuck in caps lock mode (even the numbers are only giving back the !£$% chars).  If I press A it immediately goes down two lines and then displays the A character.

If I try the Ctrl & small Enter, it asks me to start the tape and press any key, but whatever key I press it just displays 'Break' and the tape doesn't move at all.

My previous experience was with a 6128 as I was colouring in xferred C64 graphics on the Amstrad using OCP Art Studio and whatever the programmers tools I was given back then   So I think I might be better off looking for a 6128 and just seeing if anyone at the Retro Computer Museum is in need of some spare parts and/or has got the time and energy to fix this

I got my interest back in the Amstrad after seeing the Batman demo last year

[CanonMan]

MugUK, where are you located?

If you're local to me I could possibly have a look at it for you

[MugUK]

I'm in Warrington.  The machine was on ePrey down the road, so I thought I'd take a punt

[ralferoo]

TBH, I'd not bother fixing it outright and just keep it for spares.

It sounds like the main board is basically working fine though, which is a good starting point for transplantation into a non-working 464. These are cheap as chips. I got one for 99p for instance and I've never paid more than a tenner for a working 464 for that matter.

[CanonMan]

I'm in Warrington.  The machine was on ePrey down the road, so I thought I'd take a punt

That's a pity, you're slightly too far up the M6 for me to call round 

[MugUK]

I paid £20 for it with the 50+ games (OK, 100 games if I add 'Cascade 50' into the total  !).  But as it's a duffer, it will, as mentioned above, probably get used to fix / repair other machines at the Retro Computer Museum.

I'm interested in a 6128 and a HXC (as suggested by my friend from Atari Forum, Gryzor), so that's what I'm looking at.  Get the machine first and then look at the HXC.  I think all my machines are, in some way, SD-card assisted so might as well make sure my 6128 is too

Many thanks to all those above who've suggested bits and pieces to look at and try but here lies a semi-dead 464

[steve]

Getting a colour monitor for £20 incl.delivery is not bad, so don't think you have lost anything, especially if you get a CPC 6128 without monitor.

[MugUK]

Getting a colour monitor for £20 incl.delivery is not bad, so don't think you have lost anything, especially if you get a CPC 6128 without monitor.

Just need the cable fault fixing so that it doesn't keep displaying the text in red

I'm looking forward to revisiting my youth - albeit for not long back then as I had to hand the machine back after I'd finished the game conversion

[steve]

Fingers crossed, the fault will not appear with a 6128.

[MugUK]

Fingers crossed, the fault will not appear with a 6128.

I hope so as I won the auction I was watching on ePrey for one with a few disks thrown in.  A programming book and some other games are en route via eBid.  That CPCBasic looks like it could be useful for the 'old hacker' in me too.

Someone at Retro Computer Museum has sorted me out a spare cable so I can plug in a 3.5" drive to it, so looking forward to messing about with the machine.  Plus there's that dual-layer DVD I got off ePrey full of goodies to play with.

Looking forward to having some fun

[arnoldemu]

@MugUK: I saw your tagline under your forum picture.

Many years ago I've ripped some Atari ST tunes (mostly LAP, Mad Max, Count Zero) and converted to them to the CPC.. fun days !

[MugUK]

I spent years doing it - although it would take some time to remember how to do it these days!  I use DroidSound (on my Samsung) to listen to the tunes (not all work) from the SNDH collection.  Brings back a lot of memories of wading through a piece of Matt Furniss music (Domark games mostly) which would only run from a particular address and, by hand, moving it up into the higher areas of memory.  Those were the good old days

Kind of got lazy and rip the tunes out of Nintendo DS games these days so mates can do remixes of them

[MugUK]

This machine was donated to the RCM yesterday (inc. the monitor).   It was waiting by the front door of the flat, so it would be easier to move it into the car when I set off for RCM.

I'd been out last Thursday night for a friend's birthday meal and I had drunk some fine real ales.  I got back and, with a floaty head, went to bed as work beckoned in the morning.

Due to the way my flat is laid out, the bathroom is to the left of the front door.  Which is where the Amstrad was "waiting".  Needless to say, an early morning toilet trip without switching the lights on, with nothing on my feet plus a sulking Amstrad keyboard = one massive bruise and a broken nail on my middle toe.

I'm not going to upload a picture of my toe with the bruising as I wouldn't want to put you off your food - suffice to say, the Amstrad 464 got it's own back on me

[Gryzor]

...but the CPC survived, I suppose?

[MugUK]

No idea - it was the one I initially bought which had the broken ESC key and other faults.

It will either be fixed for use at RCM - or gutted (revenge will be mine!) and used to fix other machines




(my toe particular wants the 'gutting' option)

[arnoldemu]

This machine was donated to the RCM yesterday (inc. the monitor).   It was waiting by the front door of the flat, so it would be easier to move it into the car when I set off for RCM.

I'd been out last Thursday night for a friend's birthday meal and I had drunk some fine real ales.  I got back and, with a floaty head, went to bed as work beckoned in the morning.

Due to the way my flat is laid out, the bathroom is to the left of the front door.  Which is where the Amstrad was "waiting".  Needless to say, an early morning toilet trip without switching the lights on, with nothing on my feet plus a sulking Amstrad keyboard = one massive bruise and a broken nail on my middle toe.

I'm not going to upload a picture of my toe with the bruising as I wouldn't want to put you off your food - suffice to say, the Amstrad 464 got it's own back on me

Bad pun time:

C *Pee* C?

is the "number 1" key also broken?

It nailed you.

Err. that's it.



(for our non-UK visitors "number 1" is a another way of saying urinating. "number 2" for a bowel movement )