Fixing the Amstrad CPC 464 cassette player and Coding

[@ChipGuy]

Typing and explaining the code in your second language english at the same time is highly advanced. You are a multitasking talent.

[@tsuikagura]

Came to the comments to say the same thing... I have a hard time speaking out loud the same exact letters I'm typing xD that's some useful skill!

[@juanr9446]

I would like to know what is your native language Sayaka

[@ChipGuy]

@@juanr9446 Look at the channel info. It says Italy.

[@Pyllolla]

​@@juanr9446Italian

[@DarthVader1977]

second*

[@alan_core]

We must protect this girl at all costs.

[@MrWaalkman]

Sorry, I like her, but I am focused on my cats. Priorities, you know.

[@Danielspss]

fr

[@PauloConstantino167]

@@MrWaalkman I am protecting my rats

[@MrWaalkman]

@@PauloConstantino167 Probably smarter than my cats... :)

[@saitama3135]

I prefer femminist with hate to every men in the world, and hair colored lol, just kidding.

[@plechaim]

It's cool seeing young people with these old computers

[@rsmrsm2000]

I was only 14 years old when this computer came out. What this girl does is incredible and her channel is one of my favorites. Congratulations, thanks for showing and we want more videos.

[@Sayakas_Digital_Attic]

Wow, it's amazing to hear that you have memories of this computer from when you were 14! Thank you so much for your kind words and for supporting my channel.

[@BaronOfDaker]

A knowledgeable woman, to be sure.

[@robdimambro1674]

The typing whilst talking is very impressive!

[@ChipGuy]

Talking in her second language even. Mind blowing.

[@mngbennett]

Hello from Victoria BC Canada. Thank you for another interesting project. Your camera work is great and who would have known that watching someone enter a program in basic would be as entertaining as you made it.

[@Sayakas_Digital_Attic]

Thank you so much for your kind words. I'm really glad you enjoyed the project and the camera work.

[@esalehtismaki]

That is one of the ways we got games in the 80's, finding the code printed somewhere. Another nice retro machine revitalized, good job!

[@respergu13]

Nowadays we can scan the basic or assembly code from the books and magazines to preserve them digitally. It’s cool to watch someone code and explain the basic code! 🎉

[@derchip5559]

Hello from Germany. Great work! I liked to see my very first computer again. In germany it was sold as "Schneider CPC464". I was about 10 years old and spend hours of typing BASIC-lines in this machine and playing games. Thank you for bringing back those memorys!

[@Sayakas_Digital_Attic]

Thank you for watching! I actually have a Schneider CPC464 too and I even have the original box!

[@NuntiusLegis]

@@Sayakas_Digital_Attic I am a C64 person, but always liked the design of the CPC464 - the shape, the built in tape drive, and the different but equally nice colour schemes of the Amstrad and the Schneider. Would have ended up wih the latter here in Germany if my peers wouldn't have had a C64 already. I even chose my waching machine becasue of the design. ;-)

[@Sketchingdraft]

I like the smell of electronics in the morning.🎞📽😊

[@stephaneneron]

@Sketchidraft I like the smell of napalm in the morning.... Classic Line ;)

[@MarkyShaw]

Take us back to the good ol’ days Sayaka!

[@ygstuff4898]

Your face of shock & joy when you heard the binary audio squeal from the tape, and when it read the catalogue from the disks -- so cute. And excellent work getting the CPC running.

[@Sayakas_Digital_Attic]

Thank you!

[@Arturo.H.M]

This computer changed my life, my friends, my wife, my family, my job,... are that they are today because a CPC464 crossed my path in the summer of 1985. Thak you very much, watching your channel makes me feel a mixture of admiration and pride. Saludos desde España.

[@BilisNegra]

Outside the UK, the Amstrad CPC line was quite popular in France and Spain in particular. I, well, my brothers and me had a 6128 back in the late 80's. Saludos de otro español.

[@TSteffi]

You coding snake in basic reminds me of something. 25 years ago, I was in jail. While there, I started my education in electronics. For a while, I got assigned to help with maintenance of electric stuff in the jail I was at. Mostly changing fluorescent tubes and stuff like that. And in the workshop of the master technician, there was a really old PC. It had a monochrome amber screen and not a lot on it. But it had a version of basic. Whithin a few days, I wrote a version of snake all by myself. That made quite the impression with a few people there. And with some more convincing, I was allowed to use a computer in the school block to learn C++ using books I had bought previously. For context for international viewers: this was in a youth jail in Germany around 2000. Probably wouldn't be possible in other places.

[@Sayakas_Digital_Attic]

Thank you for sharing your story. It's incredible how coding and technology can make such a positive impact in different circumstances. I'm glad my video could remind you of your journey in electronics and programming.

[@SianaGearz]

Thanks for sharing the story.

[@TSteffi]

@@Okurka. That is really not important. I did something bad, but that was in the last century. The last millennium even. I'm not going to put that out in public. But I accepted the fact that I had screwed up and had to pay for it. I used the opportunity to get an education. When I eventually got released early on probation, I rented out a room near that jail and finished it. I got the best grades of the class, and never came into conflict with the law again. For years after that, I tried working in the electronics industry, but that is a dying branch in Germany, since almost everything is made in China now. A few years ago I found a good position at a printing company, where I run the small run production and individual items. Mostly embroidery for work wear with company logos, or foil print for sports teams. I turned my profession into a hobby, and I am currently working on a retrobrew board for CP/M.

[@ogre706]

@@TSteffi Right on dude. We all have bad days and sometimes make a bad decision. What matters is what you are doing right now, and it sounds like you are doing good things these days. Good job. 👍

[@TSteffi]

@@Okurka. That depends on what you see as bad or not. The point is, it doesn't matter for the story. You would have no way to verify it anyways. I really wonder why you think it is important. My guess is that you are the kind of person who would judge me for what I did back then, regardless of what I did with my life since then. You are probably the kind of person who would just ignore 2 decades of paying taxes and living a righteous life, and rather judge me for what happened one night in my teens, and I paid for in full.

[@mikedavies7185]

Many great memories of the Amstrad CPC464, thanks for this superb video!

[@StartupSound]

Hi Sayaka, in order to clean the grooves from belt residue you can stretch and run dental floss soaked in alcohol through them, it's very efficient. I do it with my Walkman, works a treat. Best to use the plastic non fiber variety floss, it's tougher and applies more friction. Love your videos sweetie, auguri

[@aselvais]

Gosh the nostalgia for me again ... 😭... love it !

[@DirkHillbrecht]

Great video, thanks for sharing. As many viewers here, I also started programming on a CPC back in the mid-1980ies. This is a flashback into my youth and I am quite grateful for it. I still have my CPC 6128 and I know that I also must fix the floppy disk belt (at least). Back in the day, I taught myself programming not only in that BASIC, but mainly in Turbo Pascal 3.0 on CP/M and even a bit in assembler. The CPCs and their Z80 processor were quite nice machines as they were somehow still simple in their internal structures, but as the same quite capable for the time (and their affordable price). Thanks for bringing this back some mere 40 years later! 😊

[@ypey1]

How cute it this lady 😊 love the oldschool 8bit stuff, brings back memories. Atari guy here

[@loookas]

This is the computer where I learned to write my first program. I was 8 and I wanted to create videogames. After all those years nowdays I'm making a living making games! Hai fatto commuovere un povero vecchio :D sei una grande continua cosi!

[@cirorg4586]

What a great discovery. It's nice how easy is undertand you for those who aren't English native speakers and the way you explain everything.

[@SasukeJR]

The first frame of this video is almost exactly the same as the last frame 🙂 These videos are really endearing and sort of fulfill my own want to tinker with stuff before my time.

[@Sayakas_Digital_Attic]

Thanks for watching and for your kind words!

[@Braskus]

I'm watching this video for the 4th time.. I really enjoy how the code is being explained while it's written.

[@tste6759]

So smart and cute all in one package. Love to see this young lady working with old computers.

[@R.Daneel]

I love that you say epsilon for 'Y'. Don't let people correct you! It's better than the English word. Make it a trade-mark for yourself!

[@RuthvenMurgatroyd]

Upsilon surely.

[@puppypuppy170]

Wow, you brought back lots of memories for me. I was about 7 years old when I got the CPC464, and eventually began coding from just copying from the manual and experimenting. Frens and I loved it when it was turned off and imagining ourselves piloting a spaceship. Cool channel!

[@rod370]

Hi, Sayaka. When your video is on my home page. I have to watch it straight away. As I think they are that good. Stay safe to you and your loved ones.

[@lewzealand4717]

9:00 - 21:45 Reading code, typing code, describing what each piece of the code is doing. *At the same time.* Pls explain how up upgrade internal brain CPU to multi-core because mine is clearly stuck with a single Z80. 0.1 MHz for reference.

[@Sayakas_Digital_Attic]

Haha, upgrading to a multi-core brain CPU is a tricky business! But hey, a Z80 at 0.1 MHz still gets the job done!

[@ultimobean]

.....this is the kind of woman i need to find. Great work and your knowledge and abilities are impressive to a layman like myself.

[@thebaldconvict]

My poor partner has no interest in computers at all let alone retro but still sits happily listening to me ramble on for what must seem like decades haha She gets me back with her own topics which isn't quite so fun!

[@DerIchBinDa]

I found and married a woman like this, would not exchange her for a billion dollars! Best 20 years of my life!

[@SoldierPoet]

Awesome repair work! Have a wonderful day.

[@nickclarkuk]

Just casually presenting a video in your 2nd language while accurately copying code from a book. You are a genius!

[@Sayakas_Digital_Attic]

Thank you!

[@AKATEATime]

Nice work! Storage is important and now you have two working methods. I too was impressed with your ability to explain the program while typing what you were reading. 👍

[@wallsgreebo8352]

👍thumbs up for the t-shirt 🔥

[@Satscape]

If I remember correctly (I'm old..so maybe not), the only thing I didn't like about the CPC 464 was that you couldn't HEAR the program load, like you could with a ZX Spectrum. It was more re-assuring when you could hear it loading... and from the sound you could hear if the cassette tape was getting mangled up inside 😁 Great video!

[@robdimambro1674]

I think you could on the CPC, I remember when I got one for Xmas 1989 and distinctly remember the tones as I loaded Star Raiders II for the first time, very similar to the ZX spectrum with the header tones and speed loaders. The C64 you couldn't but you wouldn't want to with the loading music!

[@iainhay2823]

Definitely could hear it loading

[@bghoody5665]

I can't imagine being a young person in the 80s fascinated by tech from the 40s. Hey, look at this Slinky! Great job getting that dinosaur working, Sayaka. I think you had a problem with line 230.

[@SmartHomeCoding]

Very nice video, I also had the CPC 464 with the 3" drive and later a Vortex 5.25" drive. That was really a good time. I look forward to more videos about the CPC.

[@greenmoose_]

I loved my Amstrad CPC464 - it was my first ever computer! Really nice work keeping yours alive!

[@CarsandCats]

I remember typing in BASIC games out of magazines back in the early 80's. I started on the Radio Shack Color Computer (the silver one). That's also when I learned how to solder and did a piggyback 32k RAM upgrade. BYTE magazine was as thick as a phone book back then!

[@tonybennett7145]

Yet another great video Eleonora. Your English is very good, just like your repair skills. These videos are so helpful. keep up the good work please.

[@MrNetworx]

Awesome ! I still have a 464, I love this !

[@GeoffSeeley]

Good work explaining the code! It's always useful to understand someone else's code when you have to debug it! 😆

[@hotlineoperator]

Your superpowers have evolved to master mechanics as well..

[@CPCGameReviews]

I really admire your hardware skills! I had a problem with a broken tape counter on my Amstrad CPC464 last year and I tried to take the cassette player apart, but all I managed to do was disconnect a cable that was soldered to the CPC's speaker. 😦 Fortunately someone with much more experience than me was able to fix it. Typing the _Megaworm_ game brought back memories of spending many hours typing, and playing, listings that were published in magazines. It was my introduction to programming - along with many other viewers, no doubt. It looks like there's an error somewhere in your typing; I doubt the snake should be leaving a trail all over the screen. That was another "fun" aspect of typing listings - trying to debug them...

[@proteque]

Your videos gets better and better. Top quality on both presentation and technic as usual. Such a cool machine. The amstrads.was not common where I live so my interest for them has just started.

[@Sayakas_Digital_Attic]

I'm glad to hear you're enjoying the videos and finding the content engaging. It's great that your interest in Amstrads has sparked 😁

[@thomaswinston5142]

I considered the Amstrad 464 in 1984, but went for the C64 instead mainly because I was an interactive fiction geek and wanted the Infocom adventures which were not available on Amstrad. Great Video 👍

[@lawrencemonaghan926]

Just found this channel,what a refreshing this having a brilliant woman doing it,99%is all men ones I've found,I've subbed and rang the bell,keep up the good work buddy 💯

[@danibee535]

this is super cool, i used to play on my friend's cpc 464 as a kid :) (it was pretty old at the time, but neither of us had rich enough parents for a SNES or something!)

[@XENONEOMORPH1979]

i sold two totes of amsreads floppys and keyboard and momitors , including one tote of all the games , all i have left is the keyboard if anyone wants it free it is working you can have it but pay postage.i also have the piano keyboard , the other keyboard includes the complete take and all its cover within the module and works .

[@TheOGRalph]

Great video. Got one of these, with the colour monitor, that's been waiting for my attention for some time. This has reminded me to get on with it.

[@COMATRON.]

the cutening 😍and that attic looks so cozy

[@RocketRenton]

P.S Sayaka: There's a poker game in the rainbow coloured manual you have next to the monitor to the left, I know this as I compiled it at age 8, in 1989, it's in Basic, took me a few hours to do, if I remember correctly it's in the back of the manual before the appendix off memory. It's a fun little game once programmed, have fun. By the way, love the content, the CPC464 was my very 1st computer in 1988.

[@NuntiusLegis]

The zenith of my poker skills was with Strip Poker II on the C64.

[@wesleyhardingaming9739]

this girl is a gem!

[@thelostc]

The CPC464 is a good machine with the strong locomotive basic 😊 I've one 🎉 EXCELLENT video! 😉

[@KonsolKombat]

Its nice to see your happy face when your fixed drives works well ^,^

[@lovemadeinjapan]

Cool you get al fixed! I think there is still a bug in the Megaworm code, as it does not wipe out the trail.

[@rudolphvanthoff1391]

In 1987…ish I got a 6128…. A world of difference having the disc drive! A good friend hijacked the 464 to work with a Commodore 64 5.25” drive! He was a wizard with these…

[@Sayakas_Digital_Attic]

Your friend sounds like a real wizard indeed! Connecting a 464 to a Commodore 64 drive must have been quite the project. Do you still have your 6128?

[@rudolphvanthoff1391]

@@Sayakas_Digital_Atticsadly no. Back when I sold it it was a “has been”. I later got myself a 8086 genuine IBM that I pieced together from a couple of computers. My friend is still in touch and lives close to me. He sure was a wizard. He created a program to copy the disks. It read the deliberate bad sector and wrote it as a bad sector on the copy. Very intelligent man.

[@mudstuff]

Really enjoying your videos. This was my first computer and I just bought one again last week. My cassette deck works with some games but not others and I suspect it would benefit from new belts. The speaker is also barely audible so may need swapping. I am excited to make some small repairs and play with the system more.

[@andrewjones6693]

Neat repair! Thanks!

[@Tippi-ej5uh]

You're awesome So much knowledge

[@dadgarage7966]

That's a good game to procrastinate for a long time.

[@sgtjohnson1989]

Keep doing what you do. Wholesome, geeky content.

[@Ace_of_DiscaL]

Your shows are really inspiring me to finally COMPLETE my projects 😅 #Thanks

[@mixschnack]

Thank you for providing such great content.

[@EdgyNumber1]

Ahh, the DDI-1. Unobtainium, even back in '89. You broke yours, good luck finding another. I did really enjoy my CPC464 but, oh man did I miss BBC BASIC when I got the new machine.

[@arianaponytail]

you explaining as you code was super interesting!

[@drdoomslab]

Wow. HTF are you talking to the camera explaining how the code works while copying the code from a book? I'm sorry im a usless man that can only focus on one thing but im amazed at how well your explaining the coding while doing other things. And not in your native tounge by the sounds of things. You are also very cute. Cheers for the videos.

[@Sayakas_Digital_Attic]

I'm glad you appreciate the way I explain the code while working on it. It can be a bit challenging indeed😅

[@peatmoss4415]

Impressive..! You can type, talk and read all at the same time..! I can't chew gum and walk ..!

[@anon_y_mousse]

Definitely one of my favorite games that started me off with BASIC. Can you show how to interface it with a modern computer so you can copy a bunch of programs at once and backup whatever you do on the CPC to a modern computer?

[@Retroguyuk75]

I've always loved the key colours of the 464. I have a 6128 and really love that machine too but wish it still had the keys of the 464 lol. :) another amazing video, keep up the good work :)

[@skynetcybersystem3tech]

👍🖐 wow, great, I once tried to write a demo on Amiga 500 but it didn't work, great, you did it and great video 🏆👍💎🖐

[@ambient00101]

Great content Sayaka! Keep up the great work.

[@thinktank22]

Absolutely great. Thank you!

[@jayempii1590]

I see Eleonora doing some new retro stuff = I like the video.

[@Sayakas_Digital_Attic]

🙂

[@Rob-qu7ks]

Sei magnifico! Ciao dall'Australia.

[@csebastian3]

You make some of the best videos on KZbin. :)

[@millsticks]

Brava ! That's a great job of reparation and coding. Yes, green color does not work. To fix your monitor problem. If you know an old television repairman, he can help you... The monitor is almost identical. Be careful of high voltages in the cathode ray screen (But you should know that) I use the GBS-8200, which converts the RGB so that it can be read on an LCD screen... It does the job. Otherwise there is the RGB/Scart system, or even an RGB ---> HDMI converter (I haven't tried it yet). In short, you are spoiled for choice... Brava encora and greetings from Savoy (I'm almost Italian). Ciao bella!!!

[@Sayakas_Digital_Attic]

I really appreciate your suggestions and the recommendations for the GBS-8200 and RGB/SCART converters. Also, in a previous comment, someone mentioned a color calibration procedure for the CTM-640. It's wonderful to have these options to explore!

[@millsticks]

@@Sayakas_Digital_Attic Ah yes, it makes more sense to take care of the CTM-640 first... Especially if it's just a calibration. RGB to VGA or HDMI and even better to SCART conversion cards are the next option... But we can talk about it again with pleasure, when the opportunity arises :)

[@moo123wat]

Your video production has improved so much! Thanks a lot for sharing your process on how you repair the hardware and write software for it. If you had more cassettes could you save the snake program?

[@coolcat23]

Great to see you getting into programming as well! While this is not crucial for your program, I remember a technique for BASIC which put subroutines in the beginning (e.g., line 20 rather than 400). The first statement of the program would be a GOTO to jump over the subroutines to the start of the regular program. The reason to place the subroutines at low line numbers in this fashion was to speed up execution. Since BASIC is interpreted, and at least in Commodore BASIC targeting a particular line number (with GOTO or GOSUB) meant to start at the first line and then traverse all lines one by one until the target line number was found, execution was sped up quite a bit by keeping those line number search traversals short. :)

[@Sayakas_Digital_Attic]

It's fascinating how optimizations like placing subroutines at lower line numbers could speed up execution in interpreted languages like Commodore BASIC!

[@NuntiusLegis]

Only backward jumps result in the interpreter starting at the beginning, in case of a forward jump, the interpreter starts in the following line. So only subroutines that (are time critical and) are called from different, distanced locations should be placed at the beginning.

[@GeorgesChannel]

Great video Sayaka! The Amstrad was a great computer for its price. It had great games and Basic. Never had one though, because i am a Commodore Plus/4 guy!

[@Sayakas_Digital_Attic]

Thanks for your comment! The Amstrad was indeed a great machine. Unfortunately, I don't have a Commodore Plus/4 myself!

[@longlifemilk77]

Great video very informative and interesting very helpful as well

[@MattFixesStuff]

Well done !! :) I love your videos and projects. Keep it up. Those old computers are so fun and interesting :).

[@Sayakas_Digital_Attic]

Thank you!

[@adrianchadd]

nice work! those drives can be a pain, especially if you lose those write protect pins! The monitor repair shouldn't be too bad, I've replaced the DIN cable with a home made one on my green screen to fix issues!

[@Sayakas_Digital_Attic]

Thanks! Those drives definitely have their challenges but it's always satisfying to get them running again.

[@Ultimate_Utopian]

I'm starting to enjoy your videos very much.

[@matteogiberti3297]

Col senno di poi mi sarebbe piaciuto molto avere un CPC464... P.S. Ottimo video Eleonora! Un piacere guardarti all'opera!

[@tomerikgundersen8574]

Nice to see the CPC getting some love again. I wrote a CPC snake game for an assignment in computer class, way back in 1987. Mine was better than this one 😂 love your videos

[@retro_noix]

Good job! Please try also something similar on the commodore 64! 👍

[@giangiorgio.mp3]

Now I want to listen to some Smashing Pumpkins cassette tape from the 90's 😂 I didn't know you had a second channel. Have you considered using the multi-language audio track feature? Maybe with a reminder to switch language at the beginning of the video. Congrats from Turin 🇮🇹 and keep up the astonishing work

[@cskillet2003]

That's a sweet keyboard!

[@saarike]

Simply amazing!!! Nice vid thank you.

[@nfcpro]

Music is from Out Run ???? Circa 1987 )))))) for the Atari ST! Maybe not but sound similar! I 🥰 ❣ 💓 YOUR CHANNEL !!!!

[@EstebanGallardo]

A tear dropped remembering how I typed several games from magazines back in the 80s in my CPC464. Back when games were real games, not glorified slot machines.

[@Danielspss]

this channel need more subs !!

[@horusfalcon]

Always good to see you out with a new video, and that it's about an Amstrad CPC is the icing on the cake. Your hands made short work of all those fiddly belts -- well done! Amstrad BASIC looks like so much unstructured mess on a 40-column display, but that was typical of the day. 80-column mode should be available, and would make a much better programming environment.

[@tibbydudeza]

Typing in computer games from magazine listings :). Before I discovered modems and BBS and obviously way way before we got the internet.

[@Sayakas_Digital_Attic]

That sounds like a lot of fun!

[@camatubeofficial]

Grande Sayaka

[@akai454]

BELTS , I had this idea to try to use TPU rubber to be printed in a 3D printer to print Your own belts , no idea if it would work , but I thought it may be possible to make your own replacement belts from TPU rubber on a 3D printer . Good Luck :)

[@Sayakas_Digital_Attic]

Using TPU rubber in a 3D printer to create belts sounds interesting. It could be a creative solution for sure :)

[@ZenithMusicNet]

It's funny cause you're the same as me with my MSX back in the 90's 😄

[@neumanix456]

Did you save the game to both cassette and disk so you know they work 100% ? Wow, I remember sitting on the living room floor, typing in basic programs from magazines and books, on my 48k Spectrum (which I still have and it's fully working). That was over 40 years ago...

[@deanteasdale8261]

Excellent video as ever 🙂 Next time you do something like this, could you zoom in on the screen a bit closer please? Couldn't really make it out, thanks 🙂

[@Sayakas_Digital_Attic]

Thank you for the feedback! I appreciate your suggestion. I'll definitely zoom in closer on the screen in future videos to make it clearer. Thanks for watching!

Ďakujeme.