Hi everyone,
Hope this is the right section for this as I don't know if it's a hardware problem specifically. I grew up with an Amstrad CPC 6128 and i'm having a bit of a nostalgia trip right now so have been searching eBay to snap one up after all these years. I've found one i'm interested in, however the seller says that the characters @?@~`¬ appear on screen when typing. Does anyone know if this is a simple fix like something has become disconnected / some kind of 'numlock' being turned on or is it a symptom of a bigger problem with the innards of the machine degrading?
I haven't used an Amstrad in years so I have no idea. I've been reading through the manual (what memories!) but have thusfar come up empty. I'm keen to make an offer on this item but would prefer to err on the side of caution first. I would appreciate any help you can give. Thank you for your time.
P.S. Been having a read around and this forum is great. Just the place to hang out when I get my CPC;-)
Hi there and welcome to our forum.
Your problem sounds for me like an AY-soundchip or PPI-problem.
(The keyboard input is handled by the soundchip's IO ports)
But hard to say without checking the real hardware.
Dodgy connection on the flat cable.
Although I have to say, when I first opened the thread and read Markus' reply, I thought he was being sarcastic. I use the "Modern Dark" design and the first post is then blank (unreadable due to text and background colour being almost identical) :D
Bryce.
Quote from: Bryce on 18:09, 19 March 11
Although I have to say, when I first opened the thread and read Markus' reply, I thought he was being sarcastic.
You can read? Really? Since? :police:
Yes, the modern style is weird here. Also the other dark theme here. (I forgot it's name)
Third-party themes are unsupported, because there are manual modifications done on the main one and it'd be awful to have to do all of them. If, however, you prefer a specific one, let me know and I'll try and make it work.
Ahem, back on topic, welcome to our little community mate - it's always great to rediscover one's youth love, and I certainly hope you'll be sticking around :)
Right, then, if it was a bad AY chip wouldn't it probably cause random characters? I'd go with the cable theory (maybe accumulated dirt?). What price are you looking at? It's probably going to be worth it since 'faulty' machines sell for cheap and if it's the cable it's easy to fix. OTOH if it's the AY, not very much so.
Thanks for the replies guys, and sure, i'll be sticking around=)
I might just take a punt at it and see what happens. It's currently an auction but there have been no bids so i've proposed that the seller put it up as Buy It Now. This is the first that's landed in my inbox and has a delivery option, most are 'pick up only' due to the monitor and I haven't gotten round to learning to drive yet!
I don't know what sort of price range I should be looking at though. At the moment I can probably go to £200 tops but payday is next week=D I don't know what the average is. I'm sure RetroGamer do a listings thing in the back of their magazines but i've leafed through a few of my latest copies and don't see it. Here's the listing by the way incase anyone else is interested:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Amstrad-CPC6128-Computer-dsic-with-games_W0QQitemZ180641129671QQcategoryZ4193QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp3286.m7QQ_trkparmsZalgo%3DLVI%26itu%3DUCI%26otn%3D3%26po%3DLVI%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D7852147280841242162#ht_1042wt_1105
No man! If you're willing to spend 200 quid I've got a couple to sell you, and will even throw in free delivery for good measure :D
Imagine that the rarest of them all, the 6128 *PLUS* model, sells for around GBP100. And that's considered quite a bit in the CPC scene. I haven't been following the ebay cpc auctions for a while now, so maybe they're a bit rarer nowadays but I doubt it'd ever go above 50...
The photo looks quite good though, I'd hit that beauty ;)
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Amstrad-CPC6128-Computer-dsic-games-/180641129671?pt=UK_VintageComputing_RL&hash=item2a0f0ce4c7#ht_1086wt_1156
Yeah, thought I had seen ones go for less than £100 but could find any to convince myself.
If you're serious about selling me one (I only need one!) then i'll gladly pay you over average for the sake of nostalgia and because you're a fellow retro-enthusiast;-) Just drop me a pm and we can sort something out. If not, I can always take a stab at that auction and, if I win, see if I can fix it, which might be a learning experience in itself. There will be other auctions anyway so i'll track one down eventually=)
Cheers
You should be able to get a CPC6128 for about £20-£30 and £12-£20 for delivery in the UK.
A couple of weeks ago someone got 4xcpc 464, 3 cpc6128 and a cpc664 for £125, no monitors and pick up only, but an absolute bargain.
At the moment almost all of my machines are stowed away. But, do try getting that one (or the other I posted a link to - it's not pickup-only and seems to work fine), postage would certainly be much cheaper; and if it doesn't work I'll try and locate a cheap one here in Greece for you and send it over for no profit. Shouldn't be too hard, the CPC was really popular here :)
Quote from: straydogstrut on 22:56, 19 March 11
Yeah, thought I had seen ones go for less than £100 but could find any to convince myself.
If you're serious about selling me one (I only need one!) then i'll gladly pay you over average for the sake of nostalgia and because you're a fellow retro-enthusiast;-) Just drop me a pm and we can sort something out. If not, I can always take a stab at that auction and, if I win, see if I can fix it, which might be a learning experience in itself. There will be other auctions anyway so i'll track one down eventually=)
Cheers
Thanks for the other examples Steve, gives me a better idea of what to expect.
Thanks Gryzor, although it looks like you linked to the same auction?lol I'll take a stab at it anyway. I'll be at work when the auction ends but will either set a maximum bid or let my beloved spend all my money:-O
Ooh - apologies, obviously copied the wrong url. I do think I saw another one on .co.uk -try looking in the Amstrad vintage computers section...
Left it to my future-Mrs to bid on while I was at work and she let it get away for a measly £21 - Why??!
The search continues=D
Quote from: straydogstrut on 22:53, 21 March 11
Left it to my future-Mrs to bid on while I was at work and she let it get away for a measly £21 - Why??!
Because she's clever! ;)
(I hardly was afraid she would yell now "Darling! Sorry, but your CPC was too expensive, but look here! I got a C64 for £1,99")
Then I'd be furious!.......... That's way too much to pay for a C64 :D
Bryce.