R.Cade

I have a small Ti99/4a collection to play with. I used to have a PEB, but sold it to another enthusiast and got a NanoPEB instead. However, I still have the same problem. Why does disk management and loading programs have to be this hard? I mean, I have experience with most of the other classic platforms and the TI is by far the hardest to use. I really need separate Disk Manager II, Extended BASIC, and Editor Assembler carts to use it? There is seriously no way to get a disk catalog from BASIC or Editor Assembler carts? I have to catalog a disk with Disk Manager, and actually write it down to turn off the computer, put in another cart, then boot it? How can you know how to boot a given disk? 99% of the time I play with it for a while, get nothing but I/O errors from either typos (my fault, but the keyboard is tough to type on) or not knowing which option to use to load the program, then give up. Only occasionally can I get something to boot and run... Has nobody made a menu system for this so that everything can be easily loaded? </rant off>

What is there is not hardened CPU paste, it's glue/cement... That's why it's so hard to remove.

Based on the age and time period those were made, it's much more likely to be swollen/bad caps or damage caused by same.

I can't imagine it would actually help, but there is this page describing the process. http://www.computerrepairtips.net/how-to-reflow-a-laptop-motherboard/ Personally, I think that would just ruin it further.

They are from the era of bad caps, so they are usually dead by now in various random ways.

There is the "Atari" and the "Nintendo" which refers to the consoles. I've never (in conversation) heard them called the VCS, 2600 or the NES (either "ness" or Enn-Eee-Ess).

Not sure if there is a frequency fine-tuning pot inside the 2600, but that would be my guess. It is floating outside the color carrier specification...

Whatever lets you sleep at night.

The shareholders information in 1991 says 12 million sold in the "C64 Family". https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10157623821217516

I've collected serial number data for years and years, and based on what has been entered (about 2800 serials) I would estimate based on the lowest and highest numbers from each serial number series, that there could be up to about 13 million C64's out there that were made. The shareholder's report in 1992 supposedly says 17.x million (I need to find a copy). Now, that is not statistics (I am not a mathematician) and doesn't mean anything. There are many of the series with very little data, and someone could enter a number 1 million higher and then the numbers are all wrong. However, I did not count wildly seemingly wrong serials either that were way above the rest. I don't have data on C128's, and they include a C64 of course. I've heard there were 5 million of those made. I have no idea if that is true. There is also the SX, but I don't think that puts a huge dent in the numbers either. I would guess maybe another half million. Still that is WAY more than Apple or Atari ever sold. Apple only sold less than 5 million Apple II's across the entire line from the II to the IIc and Apple was known to exaggerate and just outright lie in their marketing. Serial numbers tell the real story. I don't know the Atari numbers, but I've heard maybe 2.5 million across all lines there also. However, if you're then going to talk about a "line" of computers, do you include the PET and VIC-20 in the Commodore "line"?

That is pretty neat. There is also a version that plays NES games (SMB!) and it seems like there was one like this for the SNES that plays some early C64 games and SID music.

How does that make it not a bootleg?

The Activision Classics for the PSX is very frame-skippy and bad, and the Playstation is a generation ahead of the Genesis/MD with a 33MHz MIPS R3000 CPU. Not saying it's impossible, but someone would have to be a very talented 68000 and 6502 assembly programmer and do it bare metal.

I have a couple of converted Microsoft optical "BUS" mice that I converted to Amiga. The BUS mice are easy, just cut the cable and rewire to the Amiga DB9.

Yes, motor/bearings need work or else if it is belt-driven it could just be slipping. You can use "belt dressing" or even a little brake fluid on the belt it and leave for a bit. If not, replace it (the belt).

That one does work very well on MiSTer

Not sure how great it is on mappers. I need to go through it and see...

The MiST FPGA box has a very good Astrocade core, and the Mess version for the original XBOX (MessOxtras) does a pretty good job.

Which version of ProDOS and is the IIe enhanced (65c02)? ProDOS 2.x (well, classic versions, not the new 2.4+) required a IIe enhanced, while 1.x will run on an original IIe, or a II with language card.

It also looks like you didn't do the other mods to improve the video output. Normally you would remove a couple of those resistors...

It probably only works on Windows XP, but that's just a guess based on the time it was released.

There is no answer other than getting a PAL 130xe or converting the NTSC one to it (whatever that takes), or getting an NTSC monitor to use.

This is all speculation, but why eat into the 2600 market share with another product losing money? I think the 2600 didn't make money until Space Invaders came out in 80 anyway... Commodore killed everyone in the price wars of 83. Nobody else could sell a computer for less than $200 and make money except them.

The K-Mart I grew up near had an Atari VCS and a TI99/4a kiosk. The Atari version only let you play the game for a minute or two before resetting to the menu, but the TI allowed you to play as long as you want. I recall TI Invaders and MunchMan. I don't recall how the carts were secured on the TI, if at all.

Maybe, but it is not "free roaming".