NerdishTeen Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 i recently bought a TI-99/4a at a garage sale, it came with a lot of stuff. when i turn it on and look at the screen, all I see are 2 color bars (never distorted). when i press enter, nothing, when i press 1, nothing but now if i type "echo some text" it will randomly display random little graphics at small places on the screen. I am using a CRT tv and would appreciate any help what so ever. I DONT want to buy a new console, i want to repair this one I have Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tremoloman2006 Posted June 9, 2012 Share Posted June 9, 2012 How about posting some pics of the issue? Honestly, it may just save you a lot of grief to buy a console of fleabay. They sell for next to nothing and are great systems. Don't know why they are so overlooked but I love 'em! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Gemintronic Posted June 9, 2012 Share Posted June 9, 2012 I've got 99 video problems but a TI ain't one. Have you checked for bad caps son? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oracle_jedi Posted June 9, 2012 Share Posted June 9, 2012 (edited) Possibly video memory failure. The 16K of video RAM was also used by TI BASIC to store program data. Hence when you enter commands it causes further unexpected behaviour. Have to agree with tremoloman2006 here. TI consoles are plentiful and usually extremely reliable. Best option might be to find another unit rather than try to troubleshoot the one you have. They are cheap because TI sold something like three million of them, and being built like tanks, they have a much higher survival rate than computers from many other manufacturers. Edited June 9, 2012 by oracle_jedi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tursi Posted June 9, 2012 Share Posted June 9, 2012 I'll echo Oracle_Jedi -- the most common failure case with the 99/4A these days is the video RAM going, and that'll produce symptoms like you describe. The VRAM is soldered in and replacing it is non-trivial (though sometimes you can get away with piggy-backing good chips - didn't believe that one till I tried it ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NerdishTeen Posted June 10, 2012 Author Share Posted June 10, 2012 i filmed the problem and put it on here https://dl.dropbox.com/u/72671460/2011-06-10%2018.48.42.mov if the problem is too hard to fix, yes i will buy a new console. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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