R.Cade

No way you're getting a C64 in that shape with drive and monitor for $100 in modern times through mainstream sources like eBay, etc. Just the computer itself seems to go over $100 commonly, and the monitor another $100.

Complete system, cleaned and all working in that condition? We are getting near that kind of pricing... It looks nice.

It's all water under the bridge now... We all get along. No Atari/Commodore wars anymore, they both lost.

Find a local or semi-local vintage computer club. There must be someone near Austin.

Only if the drive does not need the TG43 signal, or the ATR-8000 generates it and you connect it. Otherwise you cannot write properly to the upper tracks where write current must be changed.

You would need an FDADAP. However, you will also need additional connectors and cables if you don't have them. http://www.dbit.com/fdadap.html Now, that's how you hook to a PC or a Kryoflux. I don't know about the ATR-8000.

Unfortunately, you don't control that. You don't "offer" a return... it's all automatic. If they say "not as described" then you pay shipping. I guess you could call eBay and argue about it... they are counting on your time being more valuable than that, which it should be. It can't cost more than $3.50 to ship that cart First Class, and $7 for Priority. Not worth the time... You can report the buyer for violating eBay policies, for what that is worth. Nothing happens that I know of, but if it makes you feel better... (That's likely all it is for).

True, it can be returned for any reason at all, including "changed my mind" or "found a better price". Which is complete BS on an auction site, but who are we kidding- it's not an auction site anymore.

Agreed, and I understand, and you understand. The issue is you allowed for doubt.

No, they got you. You took a picture that included things you didn't ship... Others are selling around the price you sold for that come with the box and SD card full of games, BTW. Illegal or not... Like I said... Don't get mad, just suck it up and resell it and learn the lesson. Put it in an old game case with a nice printed label and include a "blank SD card".

This is a fact of life selling on eBay, and I don't get mad about it anymore. Some buyers will send a wormy e-mail about how something isn't like they thought it was, and I feel like they are just fishing for partial refunds (if I didn't make a mistake). I don't do this, so I simply tell them I'm sorry that happened and to go through the return process and send it back to me if they aren't satisfied. Probably 80% of the time, they never return it. The few that do, I just test and relist it at a higher price to cover the shipping loss, or else sell it on the forums. Luckily, I haven't ever had someone go so far as to send me back something broken or swapped out... yet.

I had something to add here, but when I researched it I was incorrect. I knew Zellers was owned by a USA company, but apparently they sold it to HBC in 1976, well before Atari would have existed selling cartridges.

Warlords is turn-based? Are we talking about the original VCS game, also arcade?

Wow, that is a lot of dupes. That's like buying out the used bookstore... Is there actually more than about 20 unique games there? Friends don't let friends drink and eBay! EDIT: Wait, sorry. Stupid eBay showed another auction "like" yours. What you got is OK, just in rough shape. You overpaid some... a good bit maybe.

The way I do this is very similar to this photo, except I don't solder to those pins on U15 (?) directly, but on the 2nd two pads of the 4 pads below U14. Cleaner...

The PD doesn't care about you not receiving a package. Call eBay already and just get it fixed. If they see the tracking number sent was not delivered to your address, you win. Not a problem.

You will have to call them and sit on the phone for a while and argue your case. No way around it.

Thanks Mattsoft. I was able to make it work in my 600XL and bring it back to life. There were a couple of keys that would not work, but I swapped them around with ones that are not needed as much and it works fine. I still have a keyboard with a bad mylar now, and an empty 800XL case. I guess I will keep these as spares until I find more parts.

I have a little USB to serial board that I glued into an SIO shell, so it just has a USB micro port right on the plug. I plug in my phone charger on my desk to the 600XL and fire up RespQT and it's ready to go... Eight drives point and click. I think S-Video onto the 600 XL is just a couple of resistors more than I have... should be a 30 minute add-on. As it is now, I just tapped onto the composite signal going to the RF box and amplified it a little with a transistor.

I use a (homemade) composite-modded and RAM-upgraded 600XL with a dual-switched stock ROM and Hias hi-speed ROM for the OS. It's the smallest and most compatible. It could be further upgraded to S-video, but I haven't done that. The composite is pretty clear as it is on a Sony PVM. For storage, either a SIO2USB, SIO2SD (the newer Max version using the Arduino sheild) or my old compact SIO2SD someone made me a long time ago. With the hi-speed OS, I never really saw a reason to go to the cartridge storage solutions. I imagine they are faster... I had a first-gen MyIDE cartridge, but it was very unstable for me.

I can't imagine all the chips are dead. That just doesn't happen... It's more likely you have bent pins or put the chips in backwards. I see way too much solder in your original pictures with blobs and bridges. Do you have a friend you can take them to that knows something about electronics and soldering?

I've seen this on some composite mods with certain televisions. Is this a composite modded unit?

Is there just an easy patch to the ROM to make it cold boot no matter what? What use is the warm boot anyway- it's just an annoyance.

I hate owning things that are broken, so in the last month I fixed my Atari 520ST (corroded traces on board in floppy drive) and PET 8032 (bad ROM and some bad "fuse" resistors in the monitor board). Next, I just got an Amiga 3000T (tower) that has battery damage. It powers up, but black screen with occasionally blips of grey. I suspect the acid has taken out some of the traces under the battery that seem to go from the ROMs to some vias near the FPU, so I will start tracing there...

The 2600 can't display anything resembling a "photograph" without a lot of talented hacking. Are you wanting to create Polybius?