Amiga.org
The "Not Quite Amiga but still computer related category" => Alternative Operating Systems => Topic started by: weirdami on December 24, 2003, 03:04:05 AM
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I just hooked up my Commodore 64 after it being in a box for many years and the blue screen it displays is blue and all, but the text that's on the screen wiggles and dances all funky so you can't read what the characters are. I loaded up Bubble Bobble (from memory knowing how to load stuff so not needing to see what I've typed), and it worked all right except the graphics are funky so you can't really play it. The sound is fine, just the graphics are goofy. Seems only the sprites and ASCII are affected because the border on the blue screen doesn't wiggle and dance.
The dancing ASCII is side to side, not up and down. For example, the cursor jumps left and right about 6 characters.
The ASCII wiggles seem localized to each character space (each character does it's own particular wiggle) and make it impossible to disinguish between characters unless you know what's supposed to be there and can figure it out anyway. Like the asterisks on the screen when you turn it on.
How to fix? :-? :-(
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Sounds like the character rom is going bad....cant remember the chip number right off hand, but if youve got the older brown keyboard its one of the long chips ont he left side next to where the keyboard plugs into the motherboard....
hope that helps a bit... :-)
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Are you using the RF out into your TV, or the composite video output?
It may just be a problem with the RF modulator.
Or it could be a problem with noise on the 5V power supply line, which may suggest dried out electrolytic capacitors in the ripple filter. If you have an oscilloscope handy you can see how much noise on is on the power supply lines.
The C64 contains lots of socketed ICs which can become intermittent over time. Just like in many Amigas.
Remove and reseat all the socketed devices inside.
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Remove and reseat all the socketed devices inside.
I did that and the problem didn't go away.
Are you using the RF out into your TV, or the composite video output?
RF. I figure it would be a problem in this area because the entire screen isn't all funky, just the ASCII and sprites. And probably the audio would be cheesed as well, right?
What else can I do besides reseating the chips?