motrucker

I remember reading something to that effect, but, I never heard anything to substantiate that story. Remember the old axiom to "never believe everything that is written" - or as some philosopher supposedly said "better nothing be written" . With some of the computers I have seen from Commodore, I would tend to believe they used every part they could.

The U.K. and the U.S. are, and were very different in their marketing. Here in the U.S., the Commodore C-64 was sold more as a computer than a game console - so all aspects of the C-64 were exploited here. I still have a half dozen working C-64s, but my C-128 sees more use, I have to admit. Here in the greater Washington D.C. - Baltimore MD area, there are still quite a few Commodore users, who use everything from the VIC 20 up to the Amiga. w

The link to Bombjack is an excellent source of manuals for all things Commodore. There is also: https://archive.org/details/commodore_c64_manuals That you may have already found, and there's also: http://www.commodore.ca/commodore-manuals/ And then there's also this site: http://project64.c64.org/hw/c64.html There's a related site to Project64, that I can't find right this minute. But, there are loads of good sites for our favorite computer these days. BTW, I almost fell out of my chair with your "some guy named Jim Butterfield" comment starting this thread off.

You likely have come very close with this idea. Commodore was well known for not wasting anything. This may well be the reason we see some earlier model chips used in later serial number computers. I've been using Commodore machine since 1983, non stop, so I have seen all sorts of odd "builds" from them.

As you can tell, the list of games for the C-64 is many, and quite varied for the types of games. www.lemon64.com is one of the better lists for games. I don't know if anyone has mentioned one of my personal favorite games; Wizball. But that's just one very good game, out of a thousand, or more. I find a bit odd that the C-64 is remembered more for games than anything. This machine could be programmed in quite a few computer languages, work as a word processor & DTP machine, spreadsheet, database, do your taxes and even run a GUI interface (GEOS). The Apple was supposed to the first, best "computer" there was. But it seems that the Commodore C-64 could do it all, and then some. And, does anyone remember Q-Link? One of the first on line services, and it was for the C-64! I'll get off my soapbox now, but this is all quite true.

An excellent answer! If you feel that you must check the PSU, make sure you do so with a load, or you won't get a usable answer. Indeed, if these are the old "black box" PSU (or the equivalent) I would advise against using them at all. They will destroy your C-64. I would rather go the el-cheapo, two wall wart idea that has been covered on so many forums. Sounds awful, but if you buy good wall wart PSUs. I don't know where you're located, but if in the U.S., use PSUs From this distributor: http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10001_10001_379623_-1 for the 5vdc side, and this for the 9vac side: http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10001_10001_112336_-1 This will give you and excellent C-64 PSU, at a very good price (for a new PSU!) Jameco.com is an excellent source for electronics hardware.

I only have about 30 cartridges, that are a mix of games, applications, and disk utilities like Fast Load, The Final Cartridge III+, and Super Snapshot, but I pick up carts when ever I see a fair deal. I use a cartridge expander usually> I use both the Cardco Cardboard 5, and an old CMD expander that allows an REU to rest out the back, rather than up in the air. As to the total number of what was made, Mayhem would be the person to ask.

Thank you all for this heads up. I was about to order a couple of things from this seller. Having never dealt with them, I was looking for some one who had. I just need a few keyboard plungers for a C-128, so it wouldn't have killed me, but..........

This problem is hard to pin point, without a multimeter, but the two suggestion so far are right on the money. Are you using an original "black brick" PSU? My money would be on the PSU, if this is an occasional problem.

Good to hear you got this problem sorted out. The C-128 is, by far, my favorite 8 bit computer. You might to look into adding the 64Kb VDC upgrade, and using a good size REU. These will expand what the 128 can do.

IIRC the 128 Dcr (metal case) is the only machine with 64K VDC. The 128D (plastic case) and C-128 both have 16Kb VDC.

Your PSU board looks very different from my two 128 PSU here. obviously something else fried the resistor (and fuse). Could be the transformer, or it could also be the diode bridge (used as a rectifier)

There are tutorials on youtube that might help you: I hope this help you out.

Ray Carlsen makes some of the best you could buy, but they are expensive. He does make a cheap line: http://personalpages.tds.net/~rcarlsen/cbm/universal_ps/C128%20&%20C64/BARE%20BONES%20PS.jpg But for this idea, I would suggest making your own. Another option is find a Commodore 1764 PSU - I use one of these, and they are great! or, find a C-128 PSU and either splice on the C-64 cable, or buy an adapter. I would not buy the Basic Wayne type of PSU from ebay. I would not trust them.

I pretty much agree with CatPix. It isn't a problem with the fuse. You have a problem in the PSU. You don't say where you're from. The PSU for the C-128 are quite different depending on if they are 120 volt North American or 240 volt European, or ????. It might be the transformer, or a regulator. It is rarely a Capacitor in these power supplies. Are you good with a multimeter? that will tell you where the problem is.

I sure agree with that! Think of how many C-64s this could save.

CHecking the prices, it looks like they are almost the same for like models, ie the Super Saver of Ray Carlsen & the Sav64 from SkydivinGirl. they both cost about $55.00: From a post on Lemon 64 from SkydivinGirl: "Here are images of the prototype device. Please remember that this is a prototype so it has some cosmetic and other issues. I drilled the holes for the prototype so they are not exactly straight and you can see the aluminum on the edges of the holes. The factory cut holes will be properly cut and the same anodized black as the rest of the case. The LED will be lower and the reset switch will be closer to the outside of the case for easier access. As you can see in the images, I have powered the C64 using the 5VDC from my benchtop power supply along with a 9VAC adapter plugged into the barrel connector. I am taking pre-orders for the kits now! There are five SMD components but the rest of the device is through-hole soldering. I will pre-attach the SMD components to the PCB for anyone who is not capable of doing those components themselves. Please specify that you need this done when you pre-order. Here are the costs: $55.00 - Fully assembled, ready to use device. $42.50 – One complete kit. Everything you need to assemble one SaV64. There are two barrel connector options: 2.0x6.3mm (Accepts 2.1x5.5mm plug) or 2.5x6.3mm (Accepts 2.5x5.5mm plug). You can get two of the same or one of each."

aaascrapdogsunlimited are good to deal with, so you will not have any problems there. I don't know what the problem could be though - never seen that one before. Problems with this upgrade are extremely rare.

I think we all typed in programs from these magazine way back when. I used to have all of these mags, until a move and they were all lost. After that I used DLH Bombjack's site : http://www.bombjack.org/commodore/ But I may start using yours. Thanks for all the work.

I understand what you have said, but my take on what the OP wants is to able to write to the SD card from the Commodore computer, not the PC. This is a different kettle of fish, and I still haven't seen a resonably priced option for this.

What board did you get? I haven't that problem before.

I hope I am not to late with this advice. There is a great SD card device that uses the user port, and can even work with the C-128. I bought one of the UK1541 devices just a short time ago, but I am quite pleased with it: http://www.retrocollect.com/News/sd-card-loading-uk1541-adapter-announced-for-commodore-64.html You may be interested too.

Here is an interesting cartridge for checking your keyboard or joystick circuits. I have dealt with this seller quite a few times, and know him from Lemon 64: http://www.ebay.com/itm/COMMODORE-64-64C-Keyboard-Joystick-Tester-Cartridge-/161697378210?hash=item25a5ea2fa2 I haven't used this myself, but boulderdash stands behind all of his products. After I modified the Sega pads (six button models no less) I decided I didn't like using them. I prefer real joysticks. I usually use TAC 2 or slickstick joysticks. These are some very hearty joysticks, and can usually be found on ebay and other places. THis is, of course, only my opinion - for what it's worth.