C-128 troubleshooting

[+FujiSkunk]

Hey, all. I recently acquired a Commodore 128, my first after years of collecting Commodore 64 hardware and software. The system appears to be in great shape, and so far has worked flawlessly in 64 mode. In 128 mode, however, the space bar and the right shift key send the cursor backward (to the left) instead of doing what they're supposed to do. All other keys seem to work fine, and I can work around this by using the left shift key and the cursor-right keys, but I wouldn't mind fixing this if it's easy to do so. Anyone seen anything like this before?

Edited August 23, 2011 by FujiSkunk

[carmel_andrews]

Hey, all. I recently acquired a Commodore 128, my first after years of collecting Commodore 64 hardware and software. The system appears to be in great shape, and so far has worked flawlessly in 64 mode. In 128 mode, however, the space bar and the right shift key send the cursor backward (to the left) instead of doing what they're supposed to do. All other keys seem to work fine, and I can work around this by using the left shift key and the cursor-right keys, but I wouldn't mind fixing this if it's easy to do so. Anyone seen anything like this before?

 

 

 

 

 

Probably a dodgy keyboard or dodgy IC and or o/s (since the keyboard has issues in 128 mode), looks like you need a new IC or o/s or keyboard (see if you can find a broken 128 and half inch the keyboard or IC or o/s from that)

 

IC=integrated circuit (i.e chip)

Edited August 24, 2011 by carmel_andrews

[Shephda]

Hey, all. I recently acquired a Commodore 128, my first after years of collecting Commodore 64 hardware and software. The system appears to be in great shape, and so far has worked flawlessly in 64 mode. In 128 mode, however, the space bar and the right shift key send the cursor backward (to the left) instead of doing what they're supposed to do. All other keys seem to work fine, and I can work around this by using the left shift key and the cursor-right keys, but I wouldn't mind fixing this if it's easy to do so. Anyone seen anything like this before?

 

I would suspect the keyboard has had something spilled in it, or is just dirty.

Try cleaning the right side of the KB with compressed air and check of any dirt that may be in there. Since that part of the keyboard (the numeric keypad) is not used in 64 mode, the problem may only show up while in 128 mode.

 

You can take the case apart and remove the keyboard, clean it with a good cleaner, allow to dry for a day or two and see what happens. I've gone as far as soaking a KB in Oxyclean, rinsing with water, the letting it dry for a few days. Just remember to LET IT DRY before powering back up.

[+FujiSkunk]

Thanks for the tips, everyone. I'm heading out of town this weekend, so it will be a while before I can try any of these. I've cleaned keyboards before, so I'll definitely give that a shot. I didn't think about how it might be related to the numeric keypad, but that makes good sense, so I'll start there. Here's hopin'!