Can we fix & restore this DEAD 1985 Commodore 128? C128 Restoration!

[@RetroRecipes]

Thanks for watching me try to save this beautiful vintage computer! For the best tool to save _your_ computer, try Recoverit: bit.ly/3qRl9hY Want more restorations like this? Please consider supporting : perifractic.com/support 🙏

[@andrasszabo7386]

Is that blue multimeter reliable?? I have bought two of those, one for home jobs and one for work at the shop but both died really fast. Contact problems, and powering off often when trying to measure anything.

[@The8BitGuy]

Great work! I know first hand how irritating it can be tracking down these problems, especially when there are multiple problems on the same board!

[@RetroRecipes]

Thanks! It was frustrating at times but oh so rewarding. Glad you liked it. Great machine isn’t it!

[@UNIRockLIVE]

2 of my favorite creators in one comment thread 😁

[@kmitses]

Wow the 8-bit guy commented ! Jealous !

[@LoveDoctorNL]

A Collab video of the two of you would be so cool! Please consider it 😊

[@minty_Joe]

@@RetroRecipes Great job resurrecting and repairing that C128. Try also Adrian's Digital Basement as he does know Commodore troubleshooting very well!

[@griffinretro]

Always nice seeing a 128 being rescued. Just as a minor nitpick the RP6 resistor pack is pull-ups for the DRAM address lines, not limiting current in any form. So no matter how broken it can't really harm any chips.

[@RetroRecipes]

Yeah you’re right. And the only person to notice! It did seem strange that the corrosion was at its base and what looked like the associated RAM line had faulty chips. But, that could be a red herring.

[@gotchagr]

Hey! C128 (with a cassette player) was my first personal 8-bit computer back in 1986 when I first start to use computers in my life! I was 14 years old that year! So many memories! My first game was a copy of "Comic Bakery"! Wow!

[@scottmefford6917]

I love watching these Retro Restomods. Something I lack the patience and technical knowledge to attempt, but find incredibly fascinating.

[@MSmith-Photography]

I never had a 128, but was jealous of a friend that had one. I was still quite happy with my breadbin 64.

[@tinkerwithstuff]

I'm a tech guy, ok. But... the dogs _do_ make everything better automatically... :D

[@crashnburn2639]

Great video, the Ladyfractic and Puppyfractic switch was very funny. Also thanks for the extra tip of not drying the items in the dishwasher.

[@TheMalMeninga]

The whole swimming pool gag - proper laugh at that.

[@artinheaven4572]

Great gag.

[@JohnSmith-ch9sm]

I knew it was coming, and it was still funny.

[@yumann]

X2

[@SockyNoob]

Agreed lol

[@theadamtron]

When you said "this alcohol bath is going to feel so good" It genuinely made me smile. C3p0 for the win!

[@bill1047]

It’s amazing how you bring things back to life. Fascinating to watch and hugely topical with the Right To Repair movement gaining traction.

[@SWR112]

Strangely satisfying watching someone that knows what they’re doing bring a classic back to life.

[@francoisleveille409]

Great job! I'm glad you like my RAM and clock generator replacements. You certainly did put them to good use! Love to see the VDC 64k demo.

[@RetroRecipes]

Thanks for such great contributions! 👍🕹️

[@francoisleveille409]

@@RetroRecipes Would be glad to do it again for other projects. If you ever 'clean up' a C16, I'd be glad to send you a Saruman-TED and the new PLAnkton for TED computers.

[@skatekwi]

i dont know how did i get here, but your channel and this video are incredible!!! I love it, congrats!!

[@RetroRecipes]

Welcome to the channel!

[@peterkambasis]

That felt like a very retro-Retro Recipes episode (not to say I don't like the other newer stuff you do - I love all of it). But I just love it when you repair stuff. Satisfying all the way through. The only thing it was missing was an Ashley clip at Walmart. Lol. Great job as usual Christian! (Don't forget to replace LF's toothbrush.) 🤣

[@RetroRecipes]

Thanks! Yeah I went back to the roots a bit here. I missed this kind of recipode ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@bennysh]

You have a fanfractic sense of humor. The pool shots were great!

[@realcourte]

It's alive... IT'S ALIVE! :) Lightning strikes+80ies debris+heart beating! :) Serious: Always impress with your skills!

[@DanBird]

I didn’t think you would get it looking that good. Brilliant work, Great to see old classics brought back to life.

[@nematolvajkergetok5104]

Such tinkering skills, and the mindset that comes with it can be literally life-saving. My friend - also a retro enthusiast - once repaired his cat. No, that's not a joke. The poor thing was very sick, on the verge of a kidney failure. Veterinarians told him that the cat was beyond saving, and dialisis for cats simply isn't a thing. My friend took the cat home, started researching the problem, and learned how to dialise. He operated the cat himself. It took about a month of homebrew dialisis, and the cat was as good as new. This was more than 10 years ago, he's still happily purring, and very much aware that this human saved his life. My friend probably broke every single rule of ethics, but neither him, nor the cat cares. Cheers to them!

[@RetroRecipes]

Me-wow!

[@LasseDamgaard]

Restoring my childhood Amiga 500 was incredibly satisfying. This kind of video is now my favorite.

[@MrJbeckettjr]

Great to see an old C128 getting resurrected. I'm going to have to get my 128D going again. All this retro stuff has me pining for the old 8 bit days...

[@cyberhawk99]

This was my first computer EVER from the year 1988! It was an unexplored adventure in which I'll never forget. The manual was large and you actually had to read it to do anything. I didn't have a computer enthusiast as a friend, so I had to figure out everything myself. Best of times!

[@logansorenssen]

The C128 is probably my favorite 8-bit machine, exactly because it's 3 machines in one!

[@timetoseek]

Awesome restoration!! Thank you for another great recipode 🙂 My good friend owned a C128, was such an impressive machine! Also good to hear Ray Carlsen was mentioned a few times in this video, he actually repaired 2 C64's I had, and installed Jiffy DOS on them, Ray is an honorable guy and a wealth of knowledge on C64's, so a big shout out to Ray!

[@painkillergko]

And another Commodore saved !!! :) Good job! :)

[@OperationPhantom]

Success! Glad she's alright again now. This was both therapeutic and satisfying to watch.

[@RetroRecipes]

Glad you liked it!

[@LurgsHowToGuides]

Another brilliant episode, so interesting all your fault finding and making it all shiny and new. Highlight for me was your cheer of 'Engerland' when it booted, I nearly stood up and sung the National Anthem! Well done for bringing dead history back to life. ⌨

[@RetroRecipes]

To be fair I recorded that bit when we were still in the World Cup but I decided to keep it in as a tribute!

[@RetrogradeScene]

Great job! Great bit of detective work diagnosing all those issues. switching the banks was an inspired move!

[@yopachi]

Congrats on the compy restore and congrats on the over 100k chip dipping army! ♥

[@RetroRecipes]

Thanks!

[@RetroTechChris]

Wonderful vid! I wish I were half this talented with repairs... or video production... or humor!! Those are among the secret ingredients that make this channel exceptionally great!

[@RetroRecipes]

Thank you for your kind words! Means a lot 👍🕹️

[@bobbus_74]

So satisfying to see this C128 brought back to a working state. It certainly gave you the runaround but hats off to you for persevering and ultimately succeeding with it.

[@RetroRecipes]

Yeah this was frustrating at times but so satisfying each time I got some progress!

[@GoranObal]

Another lovely job! This C128 couldn't find a better home. ;)

[@rikprince8414]

Excellent!! Well done, Sir!

[@ScottWozniak]

Restoration videos like this make me happy. So satisfying to save vintage 8-bit computers. ❤️

[@leec2106]

I personally repaired several VIC20s, C64s, and C128, I upgraded the VDC ram on my own C128, I don't have a clue what the upgrade did. I will say I have never seen the wire swap of the resistors changing the memory banks, I doubt I will ever need it, but you never know. Thanks for the links, I may order some of the ram replacements, I could see them being handy. Thanks Lee

[@madonnabarker]

Awesome work, and, the 128 is looking as great as it runs now. That was also very kind of you to retrobright Ladyfractic and Puppyfractic while working your magic on your 128.

[@artinheaven4572]

Stunning job. You took dedication to another level.

[@RetroRecipes]

Level 42?

[@DerekWitt]

@@RetroRecipes Now I have Kansas City Milkman stuck in my head. :) I think I just dated myself with that reference though. LOL

[@fuckutube65]

@@RetroRecipes as MTV once said: UB40 + B52 + U2 = BUBU94

[@Capt.Marco-Hawk-L.L.A.P]

awesome work, great to see a old computer come back to life.

[@Allen-by6ci]

Nice job... I had many hundreds (thousands?) of hours of entertainment from my 128. Glad to see these machines restored and given new life.

[@serhio4275]

Thanks to the *8-bit Guy* i'm now fully interested in every Commodore piece. Nice restoration btw, especially troubleshooting, hello from tech guy

[@jasonuk8333]

Ladyfractic: "This toothpaste says it is a fresh minty flavour, but I'm getting notes of 80's computer corrosion, and isopropyl alcohol". Perifractic: "Really honey? Can't imagine why...."

[@BollingHolt]

Excellent job, as always. I'm envious of people like you who have the patience with the soldering and such. I could repair a TON of my stuff if I had your patience and skill set, and trust me, I have a TON of stuff. I have an original Macintosh Portable I am DYING to get running one of these days.

[@giuseppelavecchia775]

C128 fantastico,hai fatto un lavoro ECCELLENTE !!

[@keimahane]

@11:24 😫😿 Nice save in the end. This was a fun video to watch and I learned quite a bit, thank you.

[@johnsaller2481]

Back when the C64 came out, there was an CARDBOARD rf shield and we found that it held the heat in too. So it was first thing to go when started having over heat problem. I am amazed how many people think removing the metal shield is a good idea. When removed the computer no longer has the structural integrity it once had. Putting a floppy drive on the top sideways and a monitor on top of that couldn't be done. Ray Carlson, one of the greatest repair people, even said "Don't remove the metal shield". I loved your video and think it is the greatest you have done yet except for the metal shield part. I have seen mods where they just cut out sections for their heat sinks or modifications.

[@RetroRecipes]

Thanks for sharing the info. As you’ll know there are differing opinions on that. We’ll see how this one ends up! 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@r.l.royalljr.3905]

As Adrian Black (Adrian's Digital Basement) found to his dismay, Apple's dirty little secret is that in a lot of early Macs, they used the RF shield as the ground plane (especially to the input/output jacks).

[@El_Guapo74]

I bought one of these on craigslist cheap long time a ago. Took it home and thought it was dead cause had nothing but black screen. 8 years later realize the 40/80 button was down and it worked! Now its spare to an ebay purchased C128 machine with jiffydos

[@MarcWeertsMusic]

Great video! I always love watching these restorations and the detective work in it!

[@Midcon77]

Love this video Peri! Great job!

[@MikeWood]

Nice bit of troubleshooting all the chips. And more credit needs to go to Ladyfractic supervising the sunbrightening for 5 days. :)

[@brandonbrooks2845]

Beautiful restoration!!!! Makes me want to give it a shot!!!

[@properjob2311]

i used desolder gun on bottom and hot air gun on top to remove chips from my c64 - so difficult to avoid lifting a trace otherwise

[@stevesether]

+1. This is same technique I've seen Adrian Black use, and he's rarely, if ever lifted a trace from the board. So I'd say this is the standard technique today.

[@pharone1]

Love the results. Thanks for bringing such a great computer back to life.

[@summerlaverdure]

your videos are absolutely amazing

[@boardsort]

The glue/sticker on the lower right corner was from likely from a Suncom Icontroller mini joystick that used two sided tape to attach to the unit.

[@antsbull3370]

It must be so satisfying being able to fix a computer like this, pretty envious of your skills! I'm a software guy, so have to do this sort of stuff with software libraries and other people's systems, and I know how good it feels when you crack the problems.

[@RetroRecipes]

Thanks. It took a few years and I had some luck with this one. Never too late to start 😊

[@Robbnlinzi]

Your restorations make me happy :)

[@RetroRecipes]

Glad you like them!

[@HisVirusness]

Your videos just get better and better over time. Retro Recipes is the best part of my Saturday morning.

[@RetroRecipes]

Thank you so much. That’s really nice to hear!

[@julienderiviere4907]

Congrats on another job so well done!

[@rbcmptrmn]

Fantastic transformation 👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[@jameslangridge5878]

Really enjoy your restorations, always very informative. And for tomorrow night, “C’mon ENGLAND!!!!”

[@NoelsRetroLab]

Great job bringing the machine back to life and looking as good as new! Not easy with a C128. I'm currently working on an Amiga 500, so I'm going to try the sunbrighting technique too. We don't have the California sun around here, but hopefully it'll work, even if it takes a few more days. Cheers!

[@RetroRecipes]

Cheers Noel!

[@pda1799]

Great video) thank you for saving this old C128))) Never owned one, but it always looked like a sports car to me (compared to C64).

[@jimboblivesforever]

Awesome work, it looks lovely and the battle scars give it character! Ah, how fondly I remember the days when I joined the discussion about the original sunbrighting video on Ms Mad Lemon's twitter and was rudely insulted by her for being on the "it may be viable" side of things. I haven't watched a single video of hers again. On the other hand, I have been watching and enjoying Retro Recipes since the early days, and will continue to do so. Looking forward to many awesome retro videos.

[@Doug_in_NC]

I have to admit that when I watched this channel’s video on sunbrighting, I did check if the release date was April 1st, but when I thought about it, it made sense that it could work. Now it looks like it’s quite a lot slower than peroxide retrobrighting, but at lot easier and more environmentally friendly if you live somewhere hot and sunny. I have a stack of stuff to try it out on, but still haven’t got round to it yet.

[@gmirwin]

@@Doug_in_NC It's cheaper too. 😁

[@Doug_in_NC]

@@gmirwin That’s always a plus 😀

[@punklejunk]

PuppyFractic ruling the pool at 18:04 .Summer Vibes

[@brycelynch2138]

17:00 - I once heard someone in a position to know say that Commodores were ideal for use in SCIFs (Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities) back in the 80's, because they were small enough that they could be covered with a grounded Faraday cage inside the room and comply with RF emission security standards.

[@greedygreggor]

nice refurb! looking great after all the hard work :) really enjoyed watching this

[@RetroRecipes]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@RoyNeeraye]

I missed that "Ee-oo" sound effect. Another great video from the greatest retro computing channel on KZbin. Thank you, The Fractics

[@RetroRecipes]

Wow thank you!!

[@danimorgan2]

I love your videos like this! Someday in life I hope to rescue a C64C and give it a new life under my care. My favorite moment was when you cursed by saying poodoo. It's the small things in life! 😂❤

[@RetroRecipes]

POODOO!

[@Wall-ID]

Magnifique travail, bravo et merci de redonner une seconde vie à ces machines qui nous ont tellement apportés. 😊

[@RetroRecipes]

Merci beaucoup!

[@DuskHorizon]

The swimming pool gag made me do a double take :)

[@IanHaver]

Just seen this video Feb 2023, But i must say your dedication and determination to get the 128 going is fantastic. Well done and is it still running today ??

[@RetroRecipes]

It sure is!

[@mad_circuits]

Great job! You definitely deserve more subs!

[@froilanrivero2826]

just amazing thank you so much for this video!!!

[@RetroRecipes]

You're so welcome!

[@geehaf]

Great content and loving the humour throughout. The final result looks outstanding. More! :)

[@Foxcb27]

Amazing video. Thank you Chris. I am looking forward to next one :)

[@RetroRecipes]

More to come!

[@mikey_jax]

Loved the rolling brush after the “joke” And in the distance a dog barked 😂 or was that just Puppy-fractic?

[@Wizardofgosz]

Oooh! You're using some axial leaded MLCCs to replace that ceramic disc cap! I just discovered them and have used them in areas where space was an issue. They're pretty expensive though...

[@RobA500]

Another fantastic resipode and another Commodore bought back to life, can’t wait for the next one 👍🏻.

[@flash_bowski]

I remember being told I was red/green colour blind. I was at 8 and informed "you won't be able to be an electrician". At the time I wasnted to be Batman so I was completely unfazed.😆 Really appreciate your commitment to this restoration. I would have in no way completed it.

[@josemello3100]

Hey, does the dog like to be in the pool too?! That's why I really like this friendly dog, he knows how to enjoy the good things in life. Congratulations to everyone on the team (including the dog) for this video. I remembered my A500 that I still have and would need to be recovered.

[@stargazersfield]

Wicked good episode. The envy is strong for a C128. Cheers.

[@RavenWolfRetroTech]

Wow, Awesome repair. Another 128 saved from oblivion...

[@RetroRecipes]

Yay!

[@fuckutube65]

Oblivion, huh? I see what you did there! ;-D

[@bitset3741]

"proud battle scars" Yes! I have left those numerous times before. We don't have to try to take away all of the character of machines that have been around for decades. My most recent was an Atari 65XE with marker all over and scratches. I took away all of the marker, but it has all its original parts and not painted or sanded and it looks great.

[@hullinstruments]

Incredible! Your video is so jampacked with second-rate dad jokes and mind numbing puns… that I honestly have nothing to add. I LOVE IT!!!!!💕😁 I really enjoy these in-depth troubleshooting videos. Definitely the most entertaining “technical“ KZbin channel! Cheers!!!

[@RetroRecipes]

Thank you for your kind words! Means a lot 👍🕹️

[@leeneal6969]

Excellent work. Another classic saved.

[@Reed-Publications]

Day 1 of my weekend and I get to wake up to a refurb video from one of my favourite channels. Nice. 😁

[@Calphool222]

You might want to turn the heat up on your Hakko. I stopped tearing traces once I did this. I also count "one mississippi two mississippi" in my head while pushing the pin around in a circular motion with the nozzle and depressing the suction button. If for any reason I need to hold the Hakko to a pin longer than about 3 seconds, I remove the Hakko, let things cool back off, and try something else (more flux and/or more solder).

[@bozimmerman]

Hi Mr. Fractic -- I've pulled up my share of traces while removing bad chips. Over the years, I've decided that, when removing a chip that I *know* is already bad, it's safest to Cut the pins on the chip, and then desolder and pull out each remaining pin leg one at a time. The method you were using is one I only apply when attempting to remove a chip that might be good.

[@runcmd8851]

Another great trash to treasure Commodore... Well Done M8..

[@wolvenar]

If it hasn't been mentioned before. When I get really hard to desolder chips I know are bad, I take a snipper and cut the chip loose on the top. This let's you remove each leg individually It's a LOT safer and a LOT easier. Sometimes I even do this on chips that are common and easily available as a default.

[@joesmoe71]

I use a Hakko 880 desoldering gun, and while not foolproof I've found while desoldering if you move the pin around in a circle with the tip while vacuuming out the solder it's more likely to free the leg, as it gives it a chance to pull the solder from all around it.

[@francoisleveille409]

I have the older 808 and I do the same thing. Works great.

[@delltv9863]

LOL att swimming pool gag

[@RESTORATIONOFSCRAPMETAL]

Great job buddy, I liked the result 👍

[@JuliePGUK]

The 128, that brings back memories of playing buggy boy and gauntlet at my friend Ryan's house, he had the 5.25 floppy drive so had bring my c64 tapedeck

[@incogneato6725]

Love your restoration/project videos!

[@RetroRecipes]

Thank you!

[@GAMECLOSET]

@Perifractic, I was rewatching this video and I have a question. At 20:48 you stated you were going to do some "chip swapping" from a known working 128. What happened to the known working 128 then? Was this just to determine what chips in the refurb 128 were faulty and then the chips were replaced into the donor, working 128? The reason I ask is it just seemed odd to pull parts from a good 128 and leave it... stripped and now non-working, in order to revive a 128 that needed Victor Von Frankenstein-like resurrection. Once this project was finished, did you revive the donor to full working order? Thanks! (I know... I am asking questions that a 3-year-old might ask and I swear Harleyfractic did not press me to ask this question! HAHA!)

[@RetroRecipes]

Good eye! that was done to save time on this deadline and then I ordered the replacement chips from eBay and put them in the donor. Which has now been sold to fund future video purchases. 😊

[@GAMECLOSET]

@@RetroRecipes oohh! Good (whew !). I was hoping there wasn’t an empty 128 sitting there crying, “Look what they did to me!” 😁

[@michaelblair5566]

I had a Commodore 128. Got it back in 1985, one of the first ones. Yep, I mostly used it in 64 mode.

[@fourthhorseman4531]

I always wanted a C128 back in the day, but never got one. Very cool 8 bit machine!

[@FabioRigokimbaorso]

Lovely work , really a nail biting who-do-nit ... culprit discovered at the end as in any good detective story should be ! Happy sun tanning to Lady and Puppy Fractic !

[@GAMECLOSET]

@Retro Recipes I have to say, that thing is just sexy after you got it all finished. The board is just pretty after all the cleaning and repair. Fantastic work on this video too. ~Doctor Skodt