So what's wrong with my PET 9000?

[7800fan]

I have a SuperPET sitting around gathering dust because it's not quite 100% working. It does have waterloo board ad the security chip is installed. From what I can find on Google, mine may be the later single board version and not the more common (but still rare overall) 3 boards version. In the 3 boards version, there are 2 big board plus a small board with the security chip. Mine has all on one board which makes for much easier removal if I need to.

 

When I have it set to 6809 mode, it boots up to a menu but I can't do anything further because it requires disk drives ($100+ on eBay for working drive, and AFAIK no IEEE488 adapter for serial disk drive like Commodore 1541) and no disks with language to run with. If I try to choose anything from the menu, it complains about file not found and goes back to menu. It seems like waterloo board is working fine at hardware level but I can't test it fully.

 

When I set it to 6502 mode, I get either interrupt screen like the PET crashed on booting up, or I get partial Commodore screen that doesn't display the blinking cursor like it's stuck at the end of initial boot screen.

 

When I disconnect the waterloo board and move the 6502 CPU into the socket to make it a regular 8032 PET, I still get the same problem, which seems to rule out problem with waterloo board.

 

This PET also has another issue, some keys don't work. I just need to take it apart and really clean everything, that usually solves the problem.

 

Any idea? TBH I really don't want to spend a lot on this PET, the only PET I really grew up and liked are the early 2000 and 4000 series with smaller monitor. Looking on eBay, it seems working SuperPET is going between $800 and 1500, and the board set about $250. (interesting a 30 year old computer is worth more than a new laptop)

Edited April 28, 2015 by 7800fan

[awhite2600]

I have a SuperPET sitting around gathering dust because it's not quite 100% working. It does have waterloo board ad the security chip is installed. From what I can find on Google, mine may be the later single board version and not the more common (but still rare overall) 3 boards version. In the 3 boards version, there are 2 big board plus a small board with the security chip. Mine has all on one board which makes for much easier removal if I need to.

 

When I have it set to 6809 mode, it boots up to a menu but I can't do anything further because it requires disk drives ($100+ on eBay for working drive, and AFAIK no IEEE488 adapter for serial disk drive like Commodore 1541) and no disks with language to run with. If I try to choose anything from the menu, it complains about file not found and goes back to menu. It seems like waterloo board is working fine at hardware level but I can't test it fully.

 

When I set it to 6502 mode, I get either interrupt screen like the PET crashed on booting up, or I get partial Commodore screen that doesn't display the blinking cursor like it's stuck at the end of initial boot screen.

 

When I disconnect the waterloo board and move the 6502 CPU into the socket to make it a regular 8032 PET, I still get the same problem, which seems to rule out problem with waterloo board.

 

This PET also has another issue, some keys don't work. I just need to take it apart and really clean everything, that usually solves the problem.

 

Any idea? TBH I really don't want to spend a lot on this PET, the only PET I really grew up and liked are the early 2000 and 4000 series with smaller monitor. Looking on eBay, it seems working SuperPET is going between $800 and 1500, and the board set about $250. (interesting a 30 year old computer is worth more than a new laptop)

 

I used PETs quite a bit back in the early '80s. I've tinkered with the SuperPET that we have on display at the Personal Computer Museum but am not too familiar with the 6809 side of things. If removing the Waterloo board results in the computer still crashing then it sounds like a problem with either the 6502 itself or another component on the motherboard. Have you tried reseating all of the chips or checking for bad solder joints.

 

I have an 8032 that I am in the process of getting back in shape. It worked well when I bought it about 20 years ago. Like yours, many of the keys are not working after many years in storage. Taking the keyboard apart and cleaning the keys may help. You often have to carefully resurface the rubber contacts on each key. That's what I need to do. A friend mentioned that a gentle scrub with a Magic Eraser will often restore the contacts. I still need to try this.

 

A lower cost alternative to a Commodore disk drive is the PETdisk. I have one of these myself. It works great with 40xx and 80xx PETs and is reasonably priced. I don't know if it will support the language disks needed for the SuperPET.

Edited April 28, 2015 by awhite2600

[carlsson]

+1 for reseating all removable chips. It more often than not solves problems.

 

As for alternative storage devices, the PETdisk may still be available for purchase. The petSD doesn't seem to be available, although a revised version is under development/manufacturing.

 

Theoretically, there is an adapter that allows you to connect a 1541 to the tape connector, but as far as I know nobody has bothered writing any firmware to make it useable on the PET series. There is firmware for the CBM-II series though, so it couldn't be that far for anyone with the desire to port it. I don't know if you could use it with a more advanced OS on the 6809 board though, perhaps best suited for simple file access.