SnapCraft

Ever try changing the sound chip? (AY-3-8912)

Ohh, a Mario's Tennis "For Display Only" box... I got one of those too. Makes the collection more complete. Nice!

OK so I have few Intellivisions. I decided to try to repair the 2 that are not working. Both went to black screen after turning on and after hitting reset. I fixed one by replacing transistors Q1 and Q2. I did the same on the Tele-Games and it still isn't working. Here's what it is doing -- 1) After turning it on it does not display "Matel Electronics presents". Everything else is there. The color test, the title of the cart, and copyright. No glitches. (Is that normal for Tele-Games? I highly doubt it.) 2) I can leave it on that screen forever, no problems. 3) Once I select a "speed" (as most Intellivision games) it goes to the game for 1 second then either black screens or glitches as seen in pic. Here's what I've done -- 1) Cleaned everything. 2) Replaced Q1, Q2 and both of those mother caps at the top of the power supply board. 3) I've tried the mother board with a working power source and power board. I've also swapped good chips with it (only the easily removable ones). I'm stumped.

How bad is it getting? Even if you DO find something...ughhh...pass.

I figured that. Bummer. Just got my LTO Flash and it's like being a kid again getting a "new" game each time with all these homebrews. thanks.

Am I blind? Is the Copter Command rom still free and on this thread? I can't find it in Post #1.

Happy to see the "green screen" overlay was somewhat common back then? I though of removing mine, but never did. Thought the glue/tape would strip the grey paint. Would love to see the guy bring in his TRS80 to have his monitor replaced with a green screen only to see this.

So here's my problem: I have a Tandy 1000 HX with a CM-11 monitor (beauty!). I don't have the expansion memory so I'm only limited to 256K. Still waiting on one... Is there a website that lists games that take advantage of Tandy's enhanced graphics and how much memory they need? If not, can some of you list some obscure ones? Desperately need a title that uses Tandy's graphics with 256K. Thanks

Haven't been here in a while... Regarding the K'Nex -- Had to comment on this: How the hell do you justify it to the wife? Especially after exposing the kids to it? I agree, it's cool! But I'd be in the dog house for a while if I brought that beast home.

Couple questions. 1) Why does it seem like disk usage/storage is minimal for the Coco (which came out later) than the TRS80 Model I through 4 lineup? It appears to be more of a cartridge and cassette media computer. Why??? 2) I finally got a FD502 for my Coco. Does anybody know if the Hxc Floppy works with the Coco? thanks.

I'd advise against a 810. May look good cosmetically next to the 800, but I've gone through 3 looking for one to read/write with stability. The 1050 is dramatically superior.

Does anyone have the high-res files of this poster? The Synapse one, not the Infocom poster. Can you please email me it? I really want to print one out professionally.

My mistake. Pretty pathetic for a man to be "complete" by getting a video game system. A insignificant system too. Those go for $5 at the flea markets. "Complete" with a Turbografx CD? Maybe... Jeez, I'd like to get to know Mr. Wei first. Seems like a scam. Buyer beware!

I swear, the late 2010's will go down as the Dark Days of retro collecting. The Wei. Wasn't that the code name for the prototype? You might have passed on gold! Other than that, Merry Christmas!

Few goodies: PSP 2001, Excellent condition, $15 PSP 3001, a 1/2 inch deep scratch on screen, but works, $15 Boxed complete original White Wii, $25 Zelda Twilight Princess Wii, "Nintendo Selects" Ed., $10

OK. I replaced the ribbon cables (both) with hard-wires (tried two different Disk Drive Cards). Still I get the first few tracks to boot up. NewDOS/80, TrsDOS, and Zaxxon (bootable), for example, all display their "ready" prompts. However, once I type "L"oad for Zaxxon, or any DOS command the track counter goes haywire and jumps passed the available count. The HxC ultimately crashes. Like it's getting corrupt data... Any other suggestions?

I have been working on my TRS 80 Model III's for some time now. Plural. I own 3 of these monsters. All the innards relatively work (one dead keyboard). I have accumulated 3 Drive Controller Cards. One old style (much longer than the others with a bigger 4 prong power plug) and two regular ones. I have swapped chips, tried to find problems with a temp gun, used many different drive-to-card cables, and used several motherboard-to-card ribbons. I even hooked a HxC Floppy to it. I have about 5 drives. NONE of the cards work with my floppy drives. I am 99% sure it's the cards. My latest card gives me a "Diskette?" prompt with the HxC plugged in (closest I've ever been). Zaxxon is the only disk to boot, after you hit "L"oad new game the tracks count past available tracks! (ie, 120/80 on the HxC display) The HxC is fine. I'm able to use it on a 4P. Although cool, a 4P is extremely annoying (disks need to be transferred to 4P format). When plugged in, drives do light up and spin for about 5 seconds, but I get a "Cass?" prompt. Is it possible to go 0 for 3 on Disk Cards? What really pisses me off is that for all this money I could have gotten a FreHD. However, that's "cheating" in my book. Please help.

Somewhat on topic. I had an interesting conversation with a flea marketer recently. He said he passes on anything pre-Nintendo because there is no market for Atari, Intelli, Coleco, etc. A lot of "flippers" believe / see this. What happens to the stuff? I heard some trash them . This is good and bad for us 45+ year-olds looking for that nostalgia. The low demand keeps the prices down (compared to NES carts -- jeez!!!), but I think a lot are getting tossed. Really thinking of just eBaying to fill in the missing holes of my 2600 collection.

Reminds me of Chris Farley (late Phil Hartman in it too) in SNL's Clarence Thomas skit. Soft-core is the way to go. http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/cold-opening/n10108 ...yeah it's a slow year for retro collectors.

Your cable goes in the hole in the middle, duh. But buyer beware, it probably has a virus.

The Apple IIgs used 3rd party 3.5's. Applied Engineering made a very reliable one. Maybe it's for that?

Swap meet find: Pioneer Plasma 43" flat screen TV. $50! No dead pixels, no burn-in. It'll be great for the man-cave. Complete Wii w/ 2 Wiimotes & Nunchucks, $20. Works.

PS3 80 GB fat 4-usb port. $15 I see these a lot, but they usually look beat up and are stripped of anything good. On this one the memory card flap was broken off, but the screws for the HD were there and the warranty sticker looked untouched. Took a gamble. It works. Reads discs. Longevity test seems OK. Also, Dragon's Lair PC CD-Rom, $1.

Holy crap moly! Are we talking 8-tracks? I see 8 track players all the time at thrift/swap meets. Fixing them usually isn't that big of a deal. Open them up, clean the heads, and replace the weak (maybe even broken) rubber belt (you can find them on ebay). I love playing Star Wars OST on it. You could even go nostalgic and get an original 2XL. I still have all my tapes for it.