motrucker

It's really hard to see what's going on. Is it possible a pin is stuck, and not returning into the head? (thus pulling the ribbon along). I don't know what else could be happening. If it's not the head, it must be the ribbon. These are cheap - try a new one? Wish I could be more help.

I used to use an SG-10 for years, and never had a problem like this. Maybe a photo or two might help?

Strange as it may seem, it really is that simple. That was a very common setup way back when.......

It seems that a lot of people tend to go off "half cocked" these days. Unless you know a subject extremely well, it's dangerous to make assumptions in any situation. On the whole, people's manner's are really bad today. What has happened to us? The "problem" between PAL and NTSC should be well known by now, since it's a thirty year old, plus, problem.

https://www.lemon64.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=44617&start=0 Here's the link that should work this time. My apologies for for including a link that didn't work.

I remember seeing a demo of the Spartan at our old Commodore User Group, in about mid 1986. It had all of the updates, and even had the 1541 board. Very interesting bit of hardware, if some what expensive. It did a very good job of running Apple ][ software, although IIRC they could not get the 1541 to work 100%. It took so long to be released, it was being referred to as vaporware back then. Here are some more thoughts on this add on; https://www.lemon64.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=44617&start=0

From this angle, could that ball be a track ball?

Both of the early joysticks are known as model #1311; http://www.zimmers.net/cbmpics/jjoysticks.html To the best of my knowledge neither is very desirable on the market, since they are both quite terrible.

While there are newer storage options, I would highly recommend getting a real 1571 to use with your "new" C-128. The 1571 is one of the best disk drives Commodore ever made, and makes a great partner for the C-128! You can speed up disk functions even more with Jiffy DOS, or Warp Speed or Mach 128 cartridges. I believe the C-128 is the best eight bit computer made, period.

There's always this option too. This gentleman has been doing calendars for years for the Commodore community. https://retroinvaders.com/es/retro-calendarios/2020.html

I can completely agree that an REU helps running CP/M on a C-128. It speeds up disk access except the initial boot. As far as I know, the original Commodore REU is what you will need. They can made larger though - I use a 2Mb REU. The Indus GT is a great drive, but is still a 1541 clone, and has the same limitations.

The only problem I see with the Atom is the price - $85.00 seems a tad high for what it is. I'm lucky, I still use a Commodore 1764 PSU - they are impossible to find these days though......

You can not beat Ray Carlsen's work, either in his power supplies or his eight bit repair work. I can see why some people overseas shy away due to the shipping costs, but that's life.

It felt great to beat Raid On Bungeling Bay (about thirty years ago!), but finally beating Beyond the Forbidden Forest was more fun. (also around thirty years back there).......

IIRC, Abacus Software (and Data Becker) had the Commodore ROMs listed in their books, in English. https://www.c64-wiki.com/wiki/Abacus_Software