Can I fix Blank screen Amstrad PC2286-40 ? The computer from my first programming job.

[@RetroTheory]

What a great Amstrad Adventure, looking forward to the next episode.

[@leesmithsworkshop]

Thank you so much for the help. I can't believe I spent all that time with the ribbons connected wrong !

[@P5ychoFox]

I’m always on the look out for one of these. Lots of happy memories playing on one in 1990. I have the copy of Maniac Mansion I used to play but my uncle slung the 2086 years ago 😢

[@WhatHoSnorkers]

Great work getting it working! All those beeps must have been driving you mad!

[@leesmithsworkshop]

I didn't know I had the keyboard connected wrong until I checked the edit so half a day of messing about and asking people for help !!!!!

[@jay3fox]

I used to have this model of PC, it was a hand-me-down from my Aunt It was my first PC I ever had and I played with it to death, I wish I still had it. I spent hours playing on it mainly writing Qbasic Programs (I upgraded to DOS 6.22) it ran it quite well.

[@mausimus1]

This is the perfect type of humor for repair vids. 😂

[@leesmithsworkshop]

Thanks, it can be a very dry type of video so a few of us are trying to change this without going ott. It's also fun in the edit and i enjoy learning new skills in Davinci Resolve.

[@amstradretrogeek7681]

Great video, good job 👍 Normally on the PC2286, the hard disk type is either type 17 or type 49 for the 40MB hard disk. Type 4 is for the 65MB hard disk of the PC2386

[@leesmithsworkshop]

Yes I did find those details while searching, but none of them worked and I had to go with the one written on the case of the drive.

[@projectfanboy]

Have you tried Plastiweld on the broken clips? It doesn't work on all plastics but it is worth a go.

[@leesmithsworkshop]

I just have not had time to look at it. If it's ABS I can use acetone to weld it. I think it would be the very last thing to do once the keyboard is cleaned and 100% working so I don't have to take it apart again.

[@herbmyers805]

Beard looks good on you!

[@Pickle136]

nice pickup, any idea what the 40 is for (hard drive capacity?) also enjoy the humor as well ;-)

[@leesmithsworkshop]

Yes 40mb Hard drive

[@mogwaay]

Great stuff, well done on getting it working, looks like a really nice 286 machine to have in your collection. Weird arrangement inside the case with the PSU in the middle and the motherboard upside down 🙃!

[@leesmithsworkshop]

I wonder if they started with some other board or design and expanded on it ?

[@mogwaay]

@@leesmithsworkshop yeah it's really odd looking. I still rate Amstrad PCs, I think they were decent machines

[@TimberwolfK]

That takes me back... my stepdad had the "serious business" model, the PC2386/65 - and the same games on it, Flight Simulator 3 and Battle Chess (amongst others). F4 for full throttle, F7 twice to lower flaps, and then the arrow keys while hoping whoever played it last left "auto coordination" enabled :) - it's also got a weird combat mode which disappeared from the later flight sims, although I was never any good at it. That keyboard and layout also killed off much hope of upgradability, the best you could do was stick an 80387 in it, while the basic AT-case 286 I was given lasted all the way to a K6/200 with Voodoo II at which point finding compatible motherboards to give an upgrade path was a lot harder than just buying a new case and PSU.

[@leesmithsworkshop]

We had these and soon after started to build and sell custom PC anyway, this was my next role at the company.

[@AlanPope]

Nice one Lee. Was fun seeing references to RM on that floppy disk. I was surprised you got the hard drive spinning and managed to get some data off it. Will you be doing anything about the yellowing?

[@leesmithsworkshop]

in the summer I am going to do a load of retro bright outside.

[@preferredimage]

20:33 It didnt sound like you realised it was backwards before. was it only when you came to edit this you realised? Good catch though... So easily done.

[@leesmithsworkshop]

you are correct, it was only in the edit that I noticed I had it connected wrong. The actual fix was cleaning inside the membrane I am 100% sure of that.

[@jimsimpson1006]

I remember using one of these back in the early 1990s and thinking, I hope Amstrad computers are better than their audio products!! Excellent work, really great to see that thing going again.

[@RetrogradeScene]

Good job getting it working! really like the way you show the screen with the keyboard overlayed!

[@leesmithsworkshop]

I really didn't do a good job of recording the actual work, the pc was too big for the desk so I had to make the most of what I had and even if I did show the full pc with screen you can't see it that well anyway. This was the best way I could think so it's not just a boring screen or a bad picture on a monitor.

[@TheWeepingCorpse]

Hello mate (its me Mark) you were and still are brilliant.

[@leesmithsworkshop]

Hi Mark, I am so glad you saw this and thanks 😄

[@TheWeepingCorpse]

@@leesmithsworkshop Lee, maybe we should chat soon. I'm running a company called Spinning Pixels Limited, it's very early days but I have been accepted by Nintendo. Can't say anything more here because of the NDA but you have some useful skills.

[@James_T_Quirk]

A for Effort, Nice to see Old Computers Fixed, but Having said that, & with Me having sold these Amstrad's in 90's, my advice is, pour concrete in FDD Opening until full, use as a anchor, to drag that screen to a depth, that Ballard could not get too ....

[@leesmithsworkshop]

haha thanks for the advice.

[@garryadamson8507]

Got to admit one of the major annoyances with using Amstrad PCs is the proprietary keyboard connection. I have a PC4386 myself and it really irks me that I cannot connect it to my kvm switch because of it. Would be nice if someone made an adapter so I could use a PS/2 keyboard with it.

[@leesmithsworkshop]

If I couldn't get mine working some sort of adapter was on my list, I have the document showing the basic protocols so it's possible and just needs the time.

[@Retrohertz]

@@leesmithsworkshop Hello. Any progress on this adapter? I have recently acquired a 4386 without any keyboard. Everything seems to work - it boots and the HD makes promising sounds - but I can't do anything with it. Such a waste.

[@Retrohertz]

@garryadamson8507 - any idea how to get to case off? I've removed the 4 screws from the 4386 case but I can't see a way to budge it. Thanks!

[@garryadamson8507]

@@Retrohertz Just remove the 4 screws on the bottom of the case (not the ones holding the feet on) and slide the top case towards the front of the machine. There are no other clips or locking mechanisms holding it in place. Keyboard and mouse have to be removed because they will be in the way and block it.

[@Colin_Ames]

Nice to see that you got it working.

[@andrewdickson1556]

the fact you have less than 3k subscribers (at time of writing) is a travesty. I love retro tech and this Channel should be up there with the rest of the retro KZbin scene. Your content is genuinely first class.

[@leesmithsworkshop]

Thank you for the very kind words. KZbin is making it very hard for smaller channels to get noticed especially in this subject.

[@bcg1976]

Will that power supply run without being connected to anything? I have a 2286 that has the same initial symptom. And I get a little fan spin and not much else irrespective of what is connected.

[@leesmithsworkshop]

I think it would need a Powergood signal like most new PSU when you connect the green wire to ground. I just never thought about that at the time and not having a service guide I didn't want to go sticking in paper clips like some APE.

[@bcg1976]

Can confirm that it does need a powergood signal. A handful of capacitors later and it's back in service.@@leesmithsworkshop

[@leesmithsworkshop]

@@bcg1976 well done. now be careful with those keyboard case clips.

[@wolfenstein722]

Hi Lee I have some old electronic equipment that I have to give up, BBC B, Atari 520ST, a VHS Ferguson and 800XL with a us doubler drive and some another equipment, would you be interested? How do I contact you?

[@leesmithsworkshop]

HI, I do have an email you can see on my profile, Are you thinking to donate them ? I am not in a position to buy any retro at the moment, but I know someone who is buying a lot.