The making of an upcoming C64 Repair-a-thon

Welcome to Mid-Week-Mini-Mail-Call #52! A generous viewer sent in several Commodore 64 motherboard that are in need of repair. Let's take the first step at doing a quick diagnosis on all of them.
0:00 Intro
0:43 Unboxing
5:12 Diagnosing the main boards
28:27 Testing MOS 6526, 6526A and 6526A-1 chips
32:59 Looking into some mystery EPROMs
36:34 Summary and conclusion
SPEZI SYSTEM KERNAL for the C64
-- Video Links
Hummingboard:
• A 386 A.I. Co-Processo...
TheC64 Mini
• A bricked TheC64 Mini?...
Adrian's Digital Basement ][ (Second Channel)
/ @adriansdigitalbasement2
Support the channel on Patreon:
/ adriansdigitalbasement
-- Tools
Deoxit D5:
amzn.to/2VvOKy1
store.caig.com/s.nl/it.A/id.16...
O-Ring Pick Set: (I use these to lift chips off boards)
amzn.to/3a9x54J
Elenco Electronics LP-560 Logic Probe:
amzn.to/2VrT5lW
Hakko FR301 Desoldering Iron:
amzn.to/2ye6xC0
Rigol DS1054Z Four Channel Oscilloscope:
www.rigolna.com/products/digi...
Head Worn Magnifying Goggles / Dual Lens Flip-In Head Magnifier:
amzn.to/3adRbuy
TL866II Plus Chip Tester and EPROM programmer: (The MiniPro)
amzn.to/2wG4tlP
www.aliexpress.com/item/33000...
TS100 Soldering Iron:
amzn.to/2K36dJ5
www.ebay.com/itm/TS100-65W-MI...
EEVBlog 121GW Multimeter:
www.eevblog.com/product/121gw/
DSLogic Basic Logic Analyzer:
amzn.to/2RDSDQw
www.ebay.com/itm/USB-Logic-DS...
Magnetic Screw Holder:
amzn.to/3b8LOhG
www.harborfreight.com/4-inch-...
Universal ZIP sockets: (clones, used on my ZIF-64 test machine)
www.ebay.com/itm/14-16-18-20-...
RetroTink 2X Upconverter: (to hook up something like a C64 to HDMI)
www.retrotink.com/
Plato (Clone) Side Cutters: (order five)
www.ebay.com/itm/1-2-5-10PCS-...
Heat Sinks:
www.aliexpress.com/item/32537...
Little squeezy bottles: (available elsewhere too)
amzn.to/3b8LOOI
--- Links
My GitHub repository:
github.com/misterblack1?tab=r...
Commodore Computer Club / Vancouver, WA - Portland, OR - PDX Commodore Users Group
www.commodorecomputerclub.com/
--- Instructional videos
My video on damage-free chip removal:
• How to remove chips wi...
--- Music
Intro music and other tracks by:
Nathan Divino
@itsnathandivino

[@XDR1977]

Spezi is a softdrink in Germany, Even the colors match with the old colors from the 80s Spezi bottles. This Rom was a homebrew „Hack“ of the Speed DOS ROM.

[@stevethepocket]

Am I right to assume it rhymes with "Betsy"?

[@srmeister1]

@@stevethepocket Ja :)

[@Spelter]

Ha, nice catch, I thought it was a "Spezial" shortened and a hacked one, but I didn't think of Spezi. Are there archives and documentations? And for people not knowing Spezi: www.erinnerstdudich.de/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/400px-Spezi_bottle.jpg

[@dagrubar]

I'd like to add that the word Spezi is much older than the invention of the drink. I'ts used to describe a close friend specially in the Bavarian and Austrian area.

[@XDR1977]

@@dagrubar keiner mag klugscheisser 😂

[@randy7894]

The Bob Ross of C64 repairs. Always good to see a new Adrians Digital Basement.

[@SimonZerafa]

A new T-shirt slogan is born! "Burning Hot RAM!" 😁

[@minty_Joe]

I can see the picture now: Rammy with flames on its outline and that slogan as the caption.

[@SimonZerafa]

@@minty_Joe That's a good image to work on! I wish we had a decent graphic artist around. These T-shirt ideas would be so amazing to create 🙂🤷‍♂️

[@terminashunator]

20:39 Missed opportunity "Number 5 is ALIVE".

[@Mr_Meowingtons]

this is why I cant fined a commodore 64 😮 lol Adrian has them all

[@randy7894]

Scalping SID's ;)

[@bretttesdall2155]

Hey Adrian, the 6526A’s are fully compatible with the 6526’s (and 6526R4’s), the main difference is the A variant is rated for 1MHz. 6526B’s are rated for 2MHz and I believe the B’s are commonly found in the Commodore 128.

[@francoisleveille409]

The Bs are also used in the 1571 and 1581 drives because they support high speed serial transfer (aka burst mode) on the C128.

[@bretttesdall2155]

@nine there’s actually another variant that starts with the 85xx, that was intended, I think, for the C64c. I have one in a short board I have. I think it’s an 8502R0 or something similar.

[@bretttesdall2155]

@nine no, not the 8520. Yes, that was the part number for the Amiga CIA, but this part number was very similar. I’ll have to dig out that board and look at it in a little bit. Pretty sure is was 8502R0.

[@bretttesdall2155]

@nine ok found it. It’s the 8521R0!

[@francoisleveille409]

@@bretttesdall2155 The 8520 is the HMOS version of the CIA with a different TOD clock. The HMOS version of the 6526 is called the 8521 but most of the time it comes with the 6526 label and a subtle 216A sub label.

[@Cappsy]

It's imperative we keep Adrian locked in his basement repairing C64s for alway.

[@Mnnvint]

Surely it's not a crime if he likes it?

[@TheGreatAtario]

Alway rember happy day

[@mxnjones]

Send him sweets, and he’s a happy guy!

[@cliffshockley4406]

Andrian 6 weeks ago: I'm going to have to stop doing Wednesday videos, just have no time. Every Week Since then: "Welcome to the Mid-Week Mini Mail Call!"

[@pedrofelck]

Plus the second channel videos

[@jonnycando]

@@pedrofelck I think he intends to work through the stuff already on hand….and these scenes may have been filmed some time ago..

[@KINGan72]

"Get your burnin' hot chips here!"

[@minty_Joe]

Sri Racha flavored or The Last Dab Redux?

[@LarryDeSilva64]

Its amazing the amount of boards one person can amass over time. Have fun at the repair a thon. I do like your methodical approach to testing these boards.

[@MrPeteykins]

You can get Toffifay here in the US! CVS usually has it. So delicious.

[@aaronjamt]

It even has some chocolatey nuget!

[@mybigfatpolishlife]

It can be hard to find depending on where you live

[@Doug_in_NC]

@@mybigfatpolishlife it’s easy to find here in the Charlotte, NC area

[@peterleswell6621]

@@rockapartie a matter of opinion :-)

[@oldguy9051]

@@rockapartie Apparently there are slightly bizarre "confectionary eating disorders" as I once knew somebody who loved Twix but always gnawed off the chocolate/caramel topping first. Finally, after the biscuit was "clean", he proceeded to eat it. When I asked him about it he said he didn't like the biscuit...

[@Miidolf]

An plethora of c64 boards. I just love it when you work with these :)

[@katho8472]

The last word on the Toffifee box means "chocolate" :)

[@annareismith6843]

Love watching your videos. I have learn so much. Got me through being stuck at home through this pandemic. By having something to look forward to watching.

[@shaynes.9773]

That is a C-64 board motherlode! You have the coolest, most generous viewers. It kinda made my week hearing that there will be another C-64 Repair-a-thon in the near future. I'm addicted to those Repair-a-thons. I can't solder worth a darn, so it is so cool to be a fly on the wall to your repair and diagnostic vids. Have a stellar week, Adrian.

[@ashleylycan9335]

For straightening pins, maybe try putting the tip of a mechanical pencil over it and bend it back into place. Have tried that with CPU pins and works wonders!

[@Renville80]

Opinions from a repair tech… if board number 1 is in fact burnt, I would scavenge the rare parts and e-waste the rest of the board. Burn damage usually results in carbon tracks between adjacent pins and in some cases excess heat causes the fiberglass layers in the board to separate, reducing the long term reliability. I would also suggest taking resistance readings of both rails on known good boards and then using that as a benchmark test before powering up any board to be tested. Also an infrared camera may be a good idea to spot abnormally hot chips when troubleshooting a dead board.

[@ytmorris1]

In Germany "Spezi" is a humorous term for "specialist/expert" or "special/custom" - someone or something is kind of special in the meaning of better than usual.

[@AceStrife]

Eagerly awaiting the new repair-a-thon series! Definitely my favorite series on the channel, no matter the types of hardware being looked at.

[@yogevbocher3603]

Spezi, German, short for spezial or speziell meaning special. There's a beverage in Germany which is called Spezi. Spezi also means friend, short for special friend, i guess. It's pronounced spehtsee. So Spezi System could be understood as a special System or as a Friend's System. That's my half educated guess. It could also be understood as a specialist's System, maybe, but don't quote me on that ;-)

[@HALDikopter]

Exactly, looks to me like somebody tried to make his 'own' ROM, playing around with the title and colors.

[@docnele]

@@HALDikopter And, there is somebody from Germany that named himself "Spezi" at Commodore 64 Scene Database (CSDb), member of Level 4 Systems.

[@aquilux-vids]

@@docnele It'd be awesome if it was theirs. Even more if adrian could get in touch with them if it is.

[@oldguy9051]

The "special friend" meaning of Spezi is mostly (only?) used in Bavaria, the southern part of Germany. This could be a clue about the person making it.

[@sjdpfisvrj]

When I grew up in northern Germany (around the time of the C64), "Spezi" was actually a derogatory term for a dim-witted person. I took "Spezi-System" as self-deprecating humor by the author.

[@ytmorris1]

I remember back in the 80s in our classroom all 64-buddies had a modified ROM, custom color scheme, speed dos, turbo tape, custom keys, etc. I can still smell the odors of the old UV-lamp (that Mom usually used for bronzing) I've used to erase the EPROMs.

[@atkelar]

The C-64 scene was very active in Germany. There were many homebrew mods done and this "spezi system" might just be somebody modding the copyright notice to something more to their liking. Like another comment mentioned, it is also the start of the word "speziell" (=special) but I've never seen anybody abreviate it like that, so that seems unlikely. Given that "Amiga" means "Friend" and that was a well known in-joke at the time, it might be somebody's idea of a "backport", if only in words. Kind of like "Amiga OS" only in German slang. The "FREI" instead of "FREE" indicates that the intro message is supposed to be German. German Google also only sees lots of "specialists" and "special parts" related to the C64, so it doesn't seem to be common...

[@Darxide23]

I've got a German friend who sends me a big box of treats and sweets every Christmas. Those Toffifee are my absolute favorites. Holy crap, they're so good.

[@RikiHorizon]

Since these are caseless, checking out some after market replacement cases could be a cool end to the repairathon. I'd love to see all of them lined up with unique looks!

[@Berend70]

Looking forward to the repairs! Keep up the good work Adrian!

[@DrHouse-zs9eb]

Here in Germany, Spezi is another word for a mixture of orange soda and cola. But that's probably off topic 😅

[@RayBrooks0]

Like Mezzo Mix? Loved that as a kid. Later on I would discover Diesel - pils mit kola. Best hangover cure.

[@DrHouse-zs9eb]

@@RayBrooks0 Haha, so you mean beer with cola? :D Yes, mezzo mix is called "spezi" here. Didn't know that mezzo mix is not a local product only for germany...

[@RayBrooks0]

@@DrHouse-zs9eb I've only ever seen it in Germany. Spain does red wine with cola - kalimotxo. At my house at Christmas it's brandy and port haha

[@BilisNegra]

@@RayBrooks0 People talking about kalimotxo outside Spain? What craziness is that?

[@RayBrooks0]

@@BilisNegra I had a Spanish friend in London, she taught me about it. Also brought me "mountain wine", in a plastic bottle. Like strawberries and fresh grass. Best thing I ever tasted.

[@fred_derf]

For bending pins back into shape, you can take a .05" or .07" mechanical pencil, take the lead out and slip the pin backwards into the pencil then use it to lever the pin into shape.

[@timrb]

Great vid Adrian. Very jealous that I'm not knee deep in retro machines to diagnose and repair. The few I've worked on have been quite fun.

[@cheycheyc]

Toffifee is available in Canada for awhile since the time I immigrated to Mississauga, Canada in 2001. You can get them at No frills or Walmart. It’s so big in Dubai where I grew up I used to get them as gifts lol. One of my favs. I like to microwave them for 5-8sec to get them all gooey 🤤

[@AureliusR]

Oof, I can't stand those -- they get all stuck to your teeth and it just feels gross.

[@AiOinc1]

Repairathons and revivals are why I watch your channel, they don't have to be C64s they can be anything

[@Dee_Just_Dee]

Neat. I've seen English-labeled Toffiffee in Canada but not the domestic German labeled stuff.

[@senilyDeluxe]

A few months ago I got a brand new in box C64 plus 1541, never used, just tested once and put back into its box, still had the protective foil on the space bar. That thing was made in '85 and it was the variant in 9:38 and it did have the heatsink on. Made in UK. I had a C64 with an LSD PLA as well - all the colors were flashing all the time, machine wouldn't boot though. I kept the PLA because I found it kinda funny. And short boards with burning hot RAM, I had one and a friend of mine had one. He's like "why is the 5V rail only 3.8V? My PSU is known good." Then he noticed the immense radiation coming from the RAM chips.

[@Bucksman36]

Really enjoy your channel and videos. Keep up the great work!!

[@Tyle_smalcu]

Can't wait for another Repairathon! :D

[@HAGSLAB]

This is going to be good Adrian! Got me excited to start fixing some of my C64s as well! :D

[@johnfosteriii5792]

I always loved the Commodore 64 and all of it's variants. I had a total of 4 different machines; C64, 64-C, 128, & 128D, along with the 1541, 1571, & 1581 drives, and other attachments. My father has them now and I would like to get them all back if he wants to let go of them. All I can say is keep them 64's (& 128's) running

[@taltechchip5827]

I love C64 repair videos! ❤️

[@DavidLetoPublishing]

I love these repairathons

[@sirnukesalot24]

I see all those bare boards and the first thing that passes through my mind is an excuse for a 3D printing segment at the end of this repair-a-thon.

[@PuffyRainbowCloud]

Or some exciting woodcraft but I don’t think Adrian is too into that 😅

[@sirnukesalot24]

So... another collaboration with one of the usual channels, or someone who tubes exclusively in 3D printing?

[@andrewlittleboy8532]

Toffiee are one of my all time favourites sweets! Andy, UK

[@donnied8127]

welcome to the club

[@mcy1122]

I love the c64 episodes - thanks 🙏🏽

[@kissibauch]

Hello Adrian, Spezi is kind the same as a Nerd in your Language. I Hope this is a Little helpful. Greetings from Germany Bernd

[@TheSimTetuChannel]

Can't wait for that marathon! The bets are now open on which of the 7 boards will throw a mind-boggling curveball!

[@bitoxic]

Oh man.... I am going to get my big bucket of popcorn for this one! :-)

[@Psychlist1972]

"Burning hot RAM" will be my band name.

[@digitalarchaeologist5102]

OMG! Toffifee, I haven't seen that since I was a kid and lived in Germany like 37 years ago. Es freut mich!

[@DavePoo]

30:00 The 6526A is the 2Mhz version on the chip. I put one of those in my C64, it works just fine.

[@UberAlphaSirus]

Looking forward the repairathon.

[@theViomax]

lol good choice opening the toffifee in vid. love em. looked forward to your reaction for some blinkin reason.

[@MaidenAriana]

"Anything in this? Nope.." hi speed chucking of bubble wrap :) at 3:33

[@RavenWolfRetroTech]

Nice, a lot of great projects to dig into. I'm Jealous 🤓 Number 3's symptoms sure look familiar...

[@craftsman123456]

Yes yes yes another 64 repair a thon on the way

[@eatportchops]

Looking forward to the repairathon as I have a C64 that is dead I need to work on.

[@semillerimages]

I remember the USA Toffifay commercials back in the 80's, all the rage then. "Upscale" candy :)

[@frankowalker4662]

Number 5 is alive ! LOL.

[@DavidWonn]

To sum up the first few minutes: "Amazing"

[@electronraygun6346]

Woohoo! Another trip to the Digital Basement! Happy Wednesday everyone! 😄

[@dougjohnson4266]

There are sellers from Slovakia and Hungary on Ebay that have PAL VIC-II's (64c versions). I have several from Hungary and they work well.

[@MrBillmcminn]

Hunka Hunka burnin’ RAM

[@droopysloopy]

I really love toffifee. I must bring some the next time i go to the store.

[@DavePoo]

17:40 - If that's the C64C board, then it seems from the factory they only socket the VIC, 8701 & SID and nothing else. I have 2 other PAL C64C's and they are the same.

[@garethfairclough8715]

That flashing on the deadtest wasn't it being bad. It was just the colour ram on acid! :V

[@FightingForceSoulless]

Tofifee is very good, and very spread around these parts. You can sometimes buy a 5-pack for 5,50 €, which is a steal, I usually get them and then give them away, it's so delicious.

[@bathsidius]

We get those Toffee lollies at Aldi here in Australia. They are delicious

[@xabee-eagle]

Cant wait for the repairathons... very therapeutic for me, especially when its a c64. Pls dont forget to do a dance party if you ever fix a crt in the future!

[@m4rgin4l]

I love repair-a-thons

[@rodhester2166]

what do you do with all of the c64's that you restore. Just curious..

[@southerninterloper4107]

I would love to discover Adrian has a store where he sells the systems he repairs. I'm not competent/knowledgeable enough to repair them myself, but I'd love to pick one up that I knew was (mostly) working.

[@Laziter73]

Have a pointer.. Doesn't use a pointer 🤣 Great video as always, thank you.

[@aetch77]

#5 isn't missing a SID chip, it's missing a pair of them.

[@CollinBaillie]

Missing twice!!

[@SJBrianexe]

It looks like on board #2 that the mosfet on the lower right corner is slightly leaning right and the top of it looks like it is close to if not already touching the one leg of the ceramic cap right next to it. Hope this helps

[@cheapasstech]

Spezi is german mix of cola and orangeade - also known as mezzo mix

[@Dukefazon]

23:24 - what the hell is that, some sort of a dead insect? 34:42 - RIP EPROM :( Don't forget to change that scratched cap on the left in #7

[@marcelhh2101]

looks like a dead german fly😂

[@katho8472]

Oh and Spezi is pronaunced "shpay-tzee" ;)

[@ray_mck]

25:11 You borrow a fuse for #7, and start to turn it on. I'm half expecting the fuse to blow, you click the switch and everything goes black! Made me laugh, thanks.

[@DavePoo]

Believe it or not, the short board will boot fine without the fuse in. But you won't get any sound and a few other things probably don't work. But it will boot just fine.

[@jameslewis2635]

Interesting that there are all these different ROM's for the C64. I was not aware of them until seeing this, I suppose it must have been the only way you could really upgrade the OS on these machines. Also seeing how full the dead chip box is getting, I am starting to wonder how long it will take until Adrian has to upgrade to a trunk.

[@groovegroove2336]

Spezi is a german word, freely translated for "someone special", nowadays not so commonly used anymore, moreso in the 80' :)

[@annihilatorg]

I like the quick cut to the screen when you power the system on and it gives a display. Is that a change from earlier testing / repair videos or have I just not been paying attention?

[@adriansdigitalbasement]

I recently started using a HDMI capture device along with OBS so yeah, in this video I was using three feeds -- two cameras and the HDMI capture. Allowed flexibility while editing.

[@aaronjamt]

So I bought the same magnifying goggles (they work really well, love the flip-down magnifier and built-in light!) but the adjustment at the back for head size doesn't stay put very well and the side adjustments for tilt stiffness also loosen over time. Any suggestions for how to make it work better? Where do you wear it on your head? Thanks.

[@TheKetsa]

Yep, I have the same problem and would appreciate if anyone has a solution.

[@LeftoverBeefcake]

Heh, same problems here too. :)

[@DrakkarCalethiel]

C64 Repair-a-thon? Sign me up!

[@CobraTheSpacePirate]

The last word was Toffifee box was 'Chocolate'

[@ArielMantovani]

Adrian, the characters you have on the ZIF64 are custom made? They looks so good!

[@MrVipeg]

This is "VIC-20 Edition" if I am correct.

[@DavePoo]

It's funny to see so many broken short boards. They are all newer than the long boards and don't burn themselves up with the 12v supply, so it's sad to see them start to fail, this might a sign that they are getting old too and starting to fail (have you checked on the field found C64 recently?)

[@twocvbloke]

I haven't had Toffifee in ages, mostly because I'll eat a whole pack in one sitting, because I'm like that... :P

[@annadenaro9919]

Hey Adrian, I've been enjoying your channel. Quick question what do you do with all the repaired 64's?

[@annadenaro9919]

Do they go up for sale?

[@annadenaro9919]

@@rockapartie are you just kidding ?

[@annadenaro9919]

Yes I have watched that episode :)

[@dungeonseeker3087]

Nice, wasn't expecting a video today since you said you cannot keep up with mid week vids so thanks for the surprise. Also after watching you for 2ish years I only just realised your channel initials are ADB, was that intentional?

[@Astravall]

Hi Adrian ... we have here in Germany a soft drink which is a mixture of Cola and orange lemonade called Spezi ..... but i doubt it has something to do with your Spezi System ;).

[@slashtiger1]

You definitely need to examine SpeedDOS(Plus) more. It is litterally the best 'alternative ROM for the C64. I've used it for years! It has wedge commands similar to JiffyDOS and _requires_ that the connected 1541 and the C64 be connected over parallel (User port). SpeedDOS has proven to be very compatible indeed with most games on disk or cart.

[@jonathancombe9991]

I spot your C64 Dance Party on the screen behind!

[@jonnycando]

Your box of Toffeefee is also available in the USA here as ToffeeFay or something, both spellings are pronounced the same. Quite tasty but of course deadly sweet so moderation for you of course.

[@mikeuk666]

Always good to see the next upload👍

[@MrGigi-dz9cv]

You could 3D print some plastic parts like broken cases.

[@cheapasstech]

there is a retro mail order store that sells ceramic R1 to R3 vic2 chips!!!

[@cheapasstech]

and guys, don't buy them all as I like ceramic IC's in my computers - gold never oxidises

[@JVHShack]

Later in this series, we will see if NumBer FiVe really is alive.

[@piwex69]

That German board Das Boot!

[@Alphonsefisheater]

About motherboard #2 ; I have a not-working 245025 and it has an RF shield around the video area .

[@Alphonsefisheater]

Sorry that should read 250425 .

[@awilliams1701]

I'm still shocked I have a fully working SID in my "as is" C64.......which I need to get off my ass and replace the cartridge connector. De-oxit only worked for so long. lol

[@6581punk]

Never known a cartridge slot fail. The action of inserting and removing a cart usually scrubs the connections clean. Are you sure there's not a dodgy solder joint? any connector which gets some force tends to suffer from fractured joints eventually.

[@awilliams1701]

@@6581punk they were massively corroded. The de oxit caused a massive buld up of green goo on my u2+. I cleaned it off and did my estate clean the slot but it wasn't making good contact after that. I tried bending the pins out but that didnt work either. For all I know it's only 1 or 2 pins. It clearly communicates but the connection is spotty.

[@Jpetersson]

I love Toffifee´s!

[@fumthings]

regarding board #7 with the character problem, could it be bad soldering on the rom socket right next to it?

[@The-OGRE]

Are there teethmarks in the Toffifee box?

[@aaronjamt]

When you do actual repair-a-thon, can you try #5 without anything connected to C66 to see it it acts "dead" without it? Also, why no deox-it in #6's power switch? It would have fixed it right up!

[@Nas_Atlas]

The power switch had a mechanical failure that won't allow it to stay in the on position. It's not a question of electrical conductivity. Likely a misaligned spring or some broken plastic inside is the cause.

[@aaronjamt]

@@Nas_Atlas r/woooosh (I was joking, suggesting that deox-it is magical and can fix anything, even mechanical issues.)