I Fixed this 40 Year Old Computer // ft. Commodore C16

[@chainreaction8977]

Bless the legends keeping these retro devices alive.

[@WeerdWulf]

40 years old, It's vintage, not retro 😂😂😂 "Retro" means something modern that is styled to look like something from a previous decade.

[@justoreyes1832]

I am old school in electronics and retro games but I love watching these videos and seeing that younger generations do not let this treasure die... congratulations...

[@kevinmcaleer28]

Great video Kari! You make the repairs look so easy!

[@karilawler]

Thanks Kevin, I wish they were all this easy lol

[@CrashTestPilot]

Man, you would have been handy to know back in 1985 when my C-64 took a dirt nap. Love this content.

[@karilawler]

Thank you and thanks for watching :)

[@someguy2741]

She was zero years old and couldn't solder. In 1985 my stuff wasn't broken and there were repair shops for the items. She would be better to to know now. :)

[@gabrieldias3479]

​@@someguy2741During 1985 she was in her previous incarnation 😂 But the OP knows that already and he was just making a compliment.

[@dokols]

How is it possible for someone so young to be so firmly placed in the previous generations nostalgia sphere? Good role models perhaps.

[@nigec4969]

Be real. She was guessing. No static protection with swap out.

[@tonybennett7145]

Loving your videos Kari. You sounded like a air-hostess when pointing out where the case screws were.'The exits are here, here and here 🤭'. Great stuff Kari, thank you.

[@snowbird3982]

I love how this girl is interested in old technology that was part of my life

[@brynjarborgersen8131]

I dare say, tech was more fun back in our days. Easier to access, easier to programme, easier to repair..... And all the fun and frustration in the coding of stuff that noone knew the computer could do..... Love it that "kids" (compared to my own 52 year old body) like Kari understands and appreciate the humble beginnings of today's tech and dies her bit to keep the fun of the 80s going

[@snowbird3982]

@@brynjarborgersen8131 I totally agree with you. Technology has come a long way since those days, but it has lost a lot of soul.

[@Monkey_SK]

"Retro life moves pretty quick, if you don't stop and take a look around every once in a while, you might miss...that broken key!"

[@doktor6495]

You could maybe first try to spray some contact cleaner into the CPU socket and place the "broken" CPU again! Sometimes it's only a bad contact! Best regards, Doc64! Keeping C64 alive! 🙂

[@nkronert]

She even mentioned in the beginning of the video that sometimes there may be a dirty socket issue. I'd love to know the outcome.

[@z-teow]

That is unlikely in those kind of computers. The 8510 is kinda famous for not being the most reliable cpu ever made 😁

[@nkronert]

​@@z-teow it's basically a 65xx core with some modified I/O pins, right? Or did they have quality issues in the production process that makes them more prone to failure?

[@z-teow]

@@nkronert yes the 8510 had a higher clock speed, around 2 MHz and allowed for smoother multitasking and overall better performance. About being less reliable, higher speed means more heat. It was more complex than the 6510, which makes it more susceptible to issues when under stress. A final consideration, the 6510 was much more common than the 8510. As a result the 6510 was more readily available for replacement, whereas finding a working 8510 could be more difficult.

[@silverian]

@@z-teow Thank You for CPU reliability info!

[@haywardgg]

I miss the good old days. Kids just don't appreciate tech this way any more! Great video, took me back :)

[@user85937]

What are you talking about? You just watched a kid appreciating this tech.

[@haywardgg]

@@user85937 I'm pretty sure Kari isn't a kid. But, if you say so!

[@user85937]

​@@haywardgg You should get your eyes checked then.

[@haywardgg]

@@user85937 She's 21 years old. You muppet!

[@talesfromthejundlandwastes5498]

Great Ferris throw-back.

[@leeosborne3793]

My wife was a former Plus/4 owner when she was a kid, and swears by Icicle Works as the best game. As for the computer itself, it ended up in the Museum of Childhood in Edinburgh!

[@scottgray6099]

Haha I had a Plus 4 with Icicle works, loved that game and machine too :)

[@karilawler]

Saw this ... and just had to load up Icicle Works to have a play ... she's right, quite an entertaining little game 👍

[@guyh3403]

I still remember the sorrow I felt when I asked a C64 for my birthday and my parents got me a C16 since it was cheaper 😅 Still had a lot of fun with it though!

[@daga68]

Kari, another pleasing and impressive video, and as usual I love it. Kari, please don't cut that much video when doing hardware, we never get enough of you 😢

[@maxlagewaard8959]

Loved that ending. Style gave me flashbacks of Zork: "Grand Inquisitor" cutscenes. Yes I'm old

[@CodyTheBeerBear]

Never get bored of watching you mend things. Kudos to you

[@therealyogibear2k225]

Personally, i have gone 100% emulation for all my retro games playing and old computers. I have about 13 consoles/computers so far with over 30,000 titles. This includes the c16, c64, speccy, Amiga, Ninrendo, Sega, Sony PS1 and 2 and various others. There are so many advantages to emulation over real hardware and this video shows 2 ofvthem at least. Still, there are advantages to real hardware. You can learn about repairs and how the hardware works. But, i am 53 and i just want to have fun now. I have done enough repairing in my life time. But, well done. Its nice to see the youngsters still willing to look after these old dinosaurs.

[@paszTube]

Old computers breaking is part of the fun of collecting and using old computers! :) Fixing them yourself is immensely satisfying! I love the video, thanks!

[@snugbear7250]

The video might be over, but we were busy jamming to some 8 bit synth and secretly hoping for more😅 great video as always.

[@aytviewer2421]

Still have my VIC-20 sitting on a display shelf behind me. Proud to say that I am the original owner! Sadly, I have not turned it on since about 1998 +/- a year. At this point, I am a bit leery to turn it on without taking it apart and checking the motherboard for leaking capacitors. Maybe next year is the thought; which is the same thought I've been saying more the past decade. I miss my VIC-20 --or maybe I should say I miss my youth and the golden years I spent learning to program on that machine. I always did want a C16 though, simply because even back then I liked black cases!

[@29xthefun]

The joystick port was made small as the computer was to be in a spectrum style case with rubber keys. You can see the board is so small in the case as the case design was changed. In Germany they did get this machine in the rare Commodore 116. I would recommend keeping the CPU but add in some heatsinks. Some great games I played were Rock Man, Megabolts, Dorks Dilemma, Ace, Squirm, Fire Ant, Fingers Malone and Tutti Frutti.

[@ferguslogan4034]

I would go with the fpga solution as its the most compatible. I have one in my Plus /4 and it works like a charm!

[@ralfs_welt]

The C16 was my first homecomputer in 1985. Today I own several C16, a C116 and a plus/4. There are some kinds of replacement for the 7501/8501-CPU, based an the 6502 with some external ICs that work very fine. I built a portable C16 into a suitcase, with a small flatscreen-monitor, a battery and a SD2IEC-module, and sometimes I play Wintergames with taht good old sound of the 80s

[@christianfairhurst3877]

For me it has to be kept original but it's your computer. Don't forget to put heatsinks on all the chips, C16's like to cook themselves.

[@projectbuubl5352]

If you continue repairing all these systems, you will be able to open a whole store / museum for them ;)

[@BHSilver]

I 100% was expecting to hear the "Chicka Chicka" (From the Ferris Bueller's Day Off movie) at the end of your video. Another great fix! Glad the testing of the chip went as well as it did.

[@karilawler]

Thank you ... and if only it was cheaper to license the music, trust me I would have lol

[@peterweston6588]

For usability, I would vote for the FPGA. For authenticity, I would go with as close as an exact replacement as budget allows. Good work.

[@Mazing78]

Another great video. Thanks Kari 🎉

[@karilawler]

Thank you 👍

[@Harley_Gauge]

Nice one! I remember when my spectrum+2A went kaput. Took it apart, not knowing anything. Hmm press the chips in and the ribbon cables. Actually worked! For the chip go with an original commodore for sure. Have to keep the full vintage factor

[@macharius9473]

Talk about bringing back childhood memories. My first computer was a Commodore Plus/4, bought new for me by my parents. I spent so many hours on it playing games like Treasure Island and Ace 2 on it. Well done on keeping these old machines alive.

[@MiKe4KaTe]

you should do a tour of your work space, i always catch myself looking at things in the background

[@TrickyDicky2006]

Omfg! So many flashbacks seeing that C16 box! It was the first computer my parents bought me for Christmas when i was a kid. I may still have some games in the attic too (for the tape deck) so if i get chance and find them, you're welcome to have them 😁

[@dave6386]

Very well done! I love watching you go into C16. My first computer was a Commodore 64 and I absolutely still love it to this day, and that spectacular SID chip!

[@Darren777Au]

Which part you buy would depend on how original you want to keep the C16. You've done well, my second computer was a C64 slim line, so this brings back some good memories.

[@Lazyman1975]

I actually look forward to your videos as this old stuff existed when I grew up.

[@myke13021]

Now this took me down memory lane right back into my childhood. I had exactly this starter box and played Jack attack for hours. First steps with Basic programming too and saving it on Datasette. Thank you for this video.

[@opiejaye]

Ah, memories. My first computer was a Plus/4 so it's great to see Jack Attack, I remember playing that a lot. Those old Commodore joysticks aren't great to use though, so I got an adapter for my Plus/4 so I can use my Amiga joystick or Master System joypad. I always thought the C16 in the dark grey looked much nicer than the breadbin C64.

[@bghoody5665]

Good job on the repair, Kari - you make it look simple. That ending genuinely had me laughing out loud. Good one.

[@AlbertKefka77]

Big fan of your videos, lot of useful information without being boring, I wish you pull them out often, and deeply in love with your pretty face, always a joy to watch your channels.

[@OperationPhantom]

Congrats on this relatively quick repair! I actually have a C16 hidden in a closet somewhere but unfortunately no PSU. Lyka the Lost Island (also released for C64) is a great 2022 game for the system, which looks amazing! Better than the C64 version in fact, because the Plus/4 and C16 have a much larger palette of colours. It does require a memory expansion on the C16.

[@evlkenevl2721]

I really wish you could have experienced the 80s firsthand. So many things were different, so many were the same. Seeing these old gizmos gets me nostalgic for the years when they were the mysterious magic machines in shiny new packaging, and thinking back to how everything else was back then. I love modern tech, but I'm glad I got to be young during the electronics boom. Thanks for appreciating how wonderful this stuff was then, and still is now.

[@leeosborne3793]

I know what you mean, living through the computer revolution as it happened was an amazing experience I'm really glad I had.

[@aytviewer2421]

Yep, I was still there... Just reminiscing about old forgotten times... Take care!

[@paulbry754]

Man u just made me feel old I remember my brother modding one of these in the 80s.Dont ask me how as I was a kid and he was clever af.

[@MichaelB-wm5cg]

Also someone mentioned to me that if you have suspect dirty connection of a socketed IC, just rock the IC in-situ by slightly lifting each end in turn then pushing it back down.

[@fruitloop831]

Love retro devices, and watching them being restored. Keep doing what you do love it.

[@CapnPatchweb]

Great content as always Kari. I will be setting up my C64s and all the other retro kit for open evening next week. You are one of our female role models for students 👍

[@MegaManNeo]

Whenever I see the C16 I find it funny that they gave this model the black chassis over the 64, today would have been the exact opposite. When I was still little like 30 years ago, we had the Plus 4 next to a breadbin 64 and I liked both. Obviously my father did the inputs but it was fun playing games on these machines.

[@CaptainSlickAKAKen]

Your "please hold: boring unscrewing being done" music reminds of the scene in 80's movie Iron Eagle -where the pilot kid races a dirt bike across a canyon ravine. Good stuff. Keep on keeping on lass: A lot of us old timers get a kick out of folks interacting with old tech like this. 😊

[@Driftit]

Motivating me to pull out and repair my childhood C64. Poor thing has not been switched on in 20+ years. Would love a full refurb video. Along with my Commodore CD128 game console.

[@eightbit1975]

Subbed. Nice to see another retro repair person, just like me! I say go for the FPGA CPU recreation. It is not as pricey as the original apparently, and is not much more than the adapter and OG C64 CPU. Both old chips are, well, old and bound to fail a lot sooner than the FPGA replacement....which will probably outlast both of us....and the rest of the machine!

[@GScrubb181]

Came to give thumbs up for the t-shirt. Absolutely awesome

[@danw3735]

Keep up the great work, Plus 4 was my first introduction to computers, i remember my freind had one with the Qbert game on it.

[@TheJaguar1983]

I need one of those mini pry bars. What a cool little tool.

[@Calphool222]

Really enjoy Kari's videos. It's a little bit of a weird feeling being in my 50s and seeing a young woman my daughter's age kind of fetishizing the tech that I grew up with, but it's also cool. I suppose it's kind of like me working on my dad's old 1930's pickup truck. Those really were the good old days of tech. Those 8-bit era machines were so limited, but we figured out ways to make them do all kinds of stuff.

[@rockosgaminglogic]

1:16 "How little" is due to the TED. I love watching someone else work while I work. These USON-6's and DHVQFN-20's are brutal.

[@MightyGimp]

My first computer at age 7 was a Commodore 16 Plus 4. Then an Amstrad CPC6128, then an Amiga A500. I miss those days.

[@icewalker117]

as a little 7 year old Kid - this thing appeared at my house one day. Was a C64 with the greatest game ever - Way of the exploding fist. started me on my IT Journey.

[@ErrorMessageNotFound]

I'd go with the FPGA personally. Both because it's brand new and being an FPGA probably more flexible. Also, I like to support people making modern replacements for chips like this.

[@stefanocrespi5424]

Thank you kari, entertaining as always. It is a good practice, when swapping chips between a functional computer and a faulty one, to use the good one for testing, because if the chip failure is caused by circuitry damage, it would also break the new chip.

[@lactobacillusprime]

Lovely C16 re-animation / CPR procedure / open hearth surgery! :) I have had quite a fair few C16s die on me. I do have a functioning C16 as well as a Plus4. I do think they still look very nice and even up to date with their grey/black colour schemes. The c16/plus4 seem to be quite susceptible to faulty chips. Ended up with a fair few unusable C16s using the carcass of one of them for a keyrah. I also used the keys of another one (the keycaps) on a newer C64 build with a reproduction C64c black case and stuck them on a C64 keyboard board (they keyboard boards are quite different and not interchangeable with between the two) - not all keys are on the right spots on the C16 layout as there are differences in positions and also keys that exist on the C16 but not on the C64. With the C16 keys in their right spots sitting on a C64 keyboard board the C64 looks quite nice. Some might think it blasphemy to re-use parts of dead computers like that. I have a soft spot for all those breadbin-type Commodore computers.

[@TheOldRogue]

Always enjoy watching you repair things, great pacman dressing gown btw :D

[@-Astro--]

Excellent job Kari 😊 I'd go with the emulated chip, FPGA 👍 Love the ending, was like being told off lol 🤣

[@randysmith7094]

Wow, I haven't seen a Commodore that clean in 42 years. Looks like there was an X marked on that CPU so no surprise.

[@fixumdude]

LOL, LOVE the Ferris Bueller Easter Egg!!! I would get an original chip from eBay, but there just seem to be so many scammers and fake parts out there these days, it makes it pretty risky for people trying to repair older technology. Good luck whichever way you decide to go.

[@silverian]

Keyboard cleaning work reminded me about Amiga 500. I got it from my old friend and I realized that it was very sticky (probably drink spilled). And If I remember correctly it has so many screws to remove (almost same amount as in your video). Great work! I liked how you marked CPU and other things! Somehow I guessed that CPU prices are high and it seems that converted version is the cheapest one. In future videos I would like to see C64.

[@RicardoK-ng5ch]

You make it seem so easy, epic mix of beauty and brains 💗

[@Drew-Dastardly]

I love Kari's videos. She is so darned cute! I never realised the other more obscure Commodore computers used anything other than a MOS 6502!

[@firstsurname9893]

They're still 6502 cores but have slightly different I/O hence the need for the adaptors shown in the video.

[@Fr4nkju5tFr4nk]

I love the whole TED264 series and own a C16, a C116 and of course the awesome Plus/4. Those machines are heavily underrated and there are a few quite new demos that show what these black beauties can do.

[@leeosborne3793]

What's the Plus/4 office suite like? I've heard it slated quite badly but never seen it in action.

[@BalugaWhale37]

Go FPGA. I'd love to see how they built the board. Those designs have been around for years, but finding an inexpensive board is the hard part.

[@DJSammy69.]

Bless you for fixing this old beast. I would by the original, no adapters.

[@brennonrobinson985]

Professional, clean, short, and sweet.

[@Mr2at]

The retro stuff and the great presentation. Its just a great channel.

[@RickThornquist]

The 80's music - a nice touch.

[@Allen-by6ci]

Always enjoy a good repair video

[@Matt-je5hn]

Removing 23 small screws with the hype music in the background basically counts as a workout, I feel.

[@80s_kid.]

just stumbled across this channel, great that you are in to the old Computers, and you repair your own stuff. i love it.. i'm in to old Boomboxes from the 80s, i have a lot of videos of my collection on my channel, think i will have to sub to your channel, it's the law..

[@davidbailey5212]

I love your videos! You have one of the thickest British accents I’ve ever heard. Love it.

[@kraftaculousgreekgodofcraf1113]

Now I have to dig out my broken c64 buried in a cabinet somewhere! Also, thanks for the bonus clip at the end! 😂 brilliant!

[@hex191]

Ghostbusters and impossible mission on the c64 and bounty bob strikes back also, loved them games

[@MMSZoli]

Impossible mission is available on 64KB C16 or Plus/4 too, thanks to TCFS

[@botialoach1]

Keep up the excelent work you are doing

[@MrAoldham]

If you are like me and often bend chip pins, a proper chip extractor is a very good addition to you tool kit. I use the Jonard Tools EX-2 IC Extraction Tool for Chips with 24-40 Pins

[@HAGSLAB]

You have the best t-shirts! 😁 The C16 looks so cool, I really want one for my collection, but I'm running out of storage space 😅

[@rowlandspear4061]

Nice work! I hope your videos provide me some inspiration to dig out my non-working Commodore64 and two TI99/4a machines. I have a working version of each and I was holding on to the others for parts....... at least, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

[@Jpetersson]

She looks Finish AF! (as in, from Finland)

[@jublywubly]

Great work! I also see you have the best Commodore 64 game controller. I had one of the same model. They're particularly good for playing sports games, where we have to wiggle the joystick to make the character run. I used to hold the base of the joystick and make the other part wobble back and forth.

[@darioodde8590]

I loved the ending! Yes, I was worried 😂

[@rogerpalsgrove9678]

I didn't even notice the date at the end of the video the first time. Kari can travel time now. Not sure what games to recommend, the only one I remember was Omega Race. I'd probably just go with an exact match of the CPU. Always interesting content.

[@keefbennett249]

Great video, I could watch these all day 👍

[@JohnnnyJohn]

I like the FPGA myself. Especially if it gives you the opportunity to mess around with mods and whatnot.

[@stevehuber1586]

Man the ferris ending got me. That was good

[@samaitcheson7057]

I loved Zaxxon on my old C64. Almost as much as I love that PacMan robe!

[@PhazerSC]

Before buying a new CPU you could try the old "broken" one from the C16 one more time. Sometimes just re-seating chips in these boards does the trick!

[@jsl4228]

Absolutely loving the content!

[@86diego]

Hi! Great work! May be the "broken" old cpu work, just it was dirty (socket contacts)

[@dannymathews475]

Kari you're the greatest! Love your videos.

[@petersuto6849]

C16 was my very first own computer... :D I was learning programming on that one...

[@adventureswithgrumpyjim1089]

another great video and I actually had that console and it provided many hours of entertainment, my thoughts on CPU replacement is to look for a damaged doner console that cannot be fixed and salvage it from there. keep up the great work, take care, and be safe

[@benwinter5295]

Oh my God, this was the first computer I ever owned! My step brother had a Sega master system and I was jealous, so they gave me his old Commodore 😊 I had no idea there was almost nothing inside it 😂

[@pretzelthedude]

IMHO, if you could score copies of "Ultimate Wizard" or "Racing Destruction Set".. OOOH! Or "Killed Until Dead" for the C64 you'd be set 😁! All bangers as far as I remember. Tho they were on floppy disc so finding working copies at this point might be a bit tough.

[@Astfgl]

My personal rule of thumb regarding modding and replacing parts is: the chips are the heart and the soul of the machine. It's what gives it its unique character. So replacing the PCB? Fine. Replacing the shell? Fine. Replacing ports or surface mount components with fresh ones? Fine. But replacing the CPU with an FPGA clone? No, at that point it's no longer the same machine in my mind. No offense to the people putting in the hard work to reverse engineer CPU's and turn them into FPGA designs, it's seriously impressive and likely eventually it will be the only way to get a functioning replacement, but so long as working original chips exist I would always seek those out first.

[@cygil1]

My view is, f it's plug compatible with the original CPU including all voltage rails, it's just a replacement CPU. But if it's the whole board, including RAM, IO controllers, etc, on one FPGA, it's not different from emulating it on a PI board at that point.