Just picked up this little beauty from Ireland

[beaker]

I've just picked up this beautiful example of an Amstrad CPC 464.

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It's got a few issues: mismatched screws, missing screws, broken plastic, deep scratches, melted plastic, broken tape counter, there was something rattling inside that I think is the azimuth screw.... oh and it doesn't power on.

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Cleaned up the motherboard and it doesn't look too horrible despite the wobbly power socket, the lack of screws and maybe a little track damage near the would SOUND.

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[Bryce]

What a shit repair job on the power socket!! It might be the cause for it not starting. The broken track on pin 21 of the AY goes to pin 37 of the 8255. If the track can't be fixed, connect a wire directly between the pins.

Hope you get it working.

Bryce.

[beaker]

Got the only screw holding the motherboard in place out and....  delamination 

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Here's the power socket from the other side

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[Bryce]

Ehhh, that power connector isn't connected to anything?

If the "bubbles" / "mountains" in the ground plain is what you mean with delaminating, then don't worry, this is normal, it's due to the crap hot-air leveling they used to do back then.

Bryce.

[beaker]

You's just jealous of the last person persons skills who tried to repair it 

Explains why I didn't they any power when I tried it, I take it they've destroyed the tracks (you can almost make out where they used to go)?

So 50/50 it will ever work again? I am wondering if some of the IC's have been cooked?

Cool Is there a technical term for the bubbles?

[Bryce]

99/1 it will work again

Bryce.

[redbox]

Those cost down motherboards are tiny.

Shame there is no sane way to attach a PS2 style keyboard to them.

[beaker]

lol, yeah I am wondering what else I can put inside it.

[gerald]

Shame there is no sane way to attach a PS2 style keyboard to them.

If you really need one and are ready for a bit of soldering, look there :
Is there any recent project to connect a PC (PS/2) keyboard to the CPC?

[MacDeath]

Pff, not even a 664... I am disapointed, you failed me for the last time...


now get a disk drive and +64K expansion and we're gonna tolk...

[arnoldemu]

Those cost down motherboards are tiny.

Shame there is no sane way to attach a PS2 style keyboard to them.

Yes, but that one isn't a cost down.

It's the revision before.

[beaker]

Pff, not even a 664... I am disapointed, you failed me for the last time...


now get a disk drive and +64K expansion and we're gonna tolk...

I'd love a CPC 664 but I've never seen one come up for sale in Ireland
Got the 64k RAM and just waiting for Bryce's replacement  DDI

Motherboard and a few other bits are ready to be shipped to Germany 

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Does anyone have any original screws I can buy off them? My OCD is going mental looking at what is currently being used. I have 2 possible original screws for the case and 4 wood screws, and 2 mismatched screws holding the motherboard down. The last one I think is the azimuth adjustment screw...

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[Bryce]

Aaarrgh!!! They are all wood screws, none of them belong on a CPC.

Bryce.

[beaker]

Even the silver ones that aren't countersunk? 
This was one seriously unloved little CPC...

[MacDeath]

What CRTC types do those "revisions/cut/cost down have ?


good ones or bad ones ?

[gerald]

What CRTC types do those "revisions/cut/cost down have ?


good ones or bad ones ?

Looks like a type 1 on the picture above

[beaker]

Yup, my revision 2 seems to be using a type 1...

[redbox]

What CRTC types do those "revisions/cut/cost down"

They have 'Type 4' being an ASIC chip.

Not sure how compatible they are but think they 'fail' the type 0/1 test.

[Bryce]

Even the silver ones that aren't countersunk? 
This was one seriously unloved little CPC...

Yes, even the non-countersunk ones don't look like original 464 screws.

Edit: Here is a picture of the standard screws used on the CPC. They are slightly gold coloured, they have a rounded head, they are always phillips type. The shaft is 12mm long, although the 6128 had one screw that was longer (15mm I think) and the 6128 disk drive had 2 similar screws that were shorter (8mm) and two black M3 0.5mm thread screws (the ones at the side of the case).

Bryce.

[arnoldemu]

They have 'Type 4' being an ASIC chip.

Not sure how compatible they are but think they 'fail' the type 0/1 test.

type 4 is closer to type 0, but not exactly.

type 4 = good
type 1 = good
type 0 = good
type 3 = good

type 2 = poor

[beaker]

So I went down the other end of the house to the Apple Mac to pay for a couple of Acorn Electrons and Plus 1 from Amibay, looked over and noticed the space bar was at a weird angle. Tried it and felt OK. Both sides pushed down by the same amount and came back up properly...

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Opened it up and someone has actually managed to bend the metal shielding 

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[Gryzor]

This crazy thread makes me wonder: why on earth did you get this?

[Bryce]

Dis-assemble the frame from the plastic part and bend it back straight and it'll be like new. I had an Atari 800XL with the same problem, the plastics will go back to being straight when you remount them.

The mainboard arrived here tonight. I've hooked it up to my test bench and it works fine, but the PCB is badly damaged around the power socket. It'll be difficult to get the orignal socket mounted as robust as it needs to be. There's not enough copper on the board so that the solder would hold it. I'll have to come up with something creative. Worst case it might have to be a fly-lead. But the rest all works fine. Sharp picture, sound is fine. Haven't checked the keyboard or loaded anything yet (I only had 15 Minutes), but I will do as soon as I have time. The repaired trace at the AY actually works, but I'll add a wire link under the PCB anyway to be 100% sure.

I'll post a few pictures of the progress as I get it done.

Bryce.

[00WReX]

I've also have a 464 that I received like that. But as Bryce said they straighten up just fine.
To be honest I'm surprised it does not happen more often.
Just think, 20 odd years ago the old CPC was carefully placed in the Shed/Garage/Attic wherever...
20 Years later it's sitting under 20Kgs of rubbish, until somebody decides to have a clean up and there it is beakers 464 ready to be loved again.
Brings a tear to the eye it does. 
Cheers,
Shane

[beaker]

Absolutely  It's an unloved machine that just needs a bit of TLC and a fair bit of plastic filler to bring it back.

@Bryce - great news on the motherboard, thanks  Can a socket be glued to the motherboard and wires taken from from the pins to the motherboard in place of the ruined trace? Just thinking the glue won't make it any worse at this point... Just thinking about the xbox 360 and reading they glue in the chips these days as well as solder them.

I'll give the keyboard repair a go this weekend, and give the whole lot a good clean. Did you just use brute force to straighten it? I was looking forward to using a (sledge) hammer....