The semi analog SID chip (Sound Interface Device) is an electronic music synthesizer and its distinctive sounds are easily recognized by any Commodore 64 owner. Back in the days, most SID tunes ended up in games or demos to basically support the graphics on the … Read more
The video signals coming from the Commodore 64 may be challenged by numerous factors including the version of VIC-II graphics chip being used and the applied display technology (e.g. LCD, LED, Plasma or CRT). The problems are easily recognized in the form of vertical lines (banding … Read more
During the light hours of the day, the machine looks just like any other Commodore 64 in a transparent Kickstarter case…. However, when entering the dark hours of the night, the case is transformed into an inferno of light – a dashing flashing Commodore 64!!! … Read more
Nothing beats the thrill of modding a mod!! The Switchless Reset Mod (link), in which an Arduino Pro Mini is used to do Warm or Cold Resets (Soft and Hard Resets), needed a little upgrade… Instead of just resetting the C64, I wanted to keep track … Read more
Some people just can’t be satisfied with how things were back in the good old days when Mario was called Jumpman and real computers ran on 8 bit. These high achievers keep tampering with the old hardware to make it perform even better compared to … Read more
Turning the Commodore 64 off and on every time it needs to be reset, may eventually cause the power switch to malfunction or even put unnecessary stress on the fragile chips. Because of this, people have been installing reset switches for years using a momentary … Read more
Repairing broken Commodore 64’s is usually a matter of qualified guesswork and quite often substitution of chips is the only practical way to diagnose a fault. At least that is the approach I’m using when trying to resurrect broken machines. The challenge with this method is … Read more
A broken Commodore 64C, with an Assy no. 250469 Rev. 4 short board, recently landed on my workbench (the repair job can be found here). The entire machine looks just like any other C64C machine I’ve put my hands on. Except for the keyboard! When compared to … Read more
A black screen Commodore 64C Version E short board (Assy no. 250469 Rev. 4) landed on my workbench a couple of days ago. Everything started out as a simple power switch replacement and memory IC swap, but ended up being a little more complicated than … Read more
I finally managed to get my hands on a Commodore 64C with an Assy 250469 Rev. B short board PCB inside. This was the last board I needed to complete my collection of Version E motherboards (Assy 250469 Rev. 3, 4, A, B & B-Games System). I … Read more