Denial

I know they're getting harder to find, but I have to ask if anyone has one. I have a dead VIC-20 and everything else tests good (swap testing).

What should I be expecting? /RESET is active low, so upon either a press on the Mega-Cart reset button, or leaving the Mega-Cart menu into a game/tool or the BASIC start-up prompt you should see a low level pulse (less than 0.8 Volts) on the order of maybe 10s of milliseconds, and a high level sign...

... Do you have any means to monitor the reset line on the cartridge port (pin X)? Yes, I have a Rigol DS1202Z scope. What should I be expecting? And funny how you mentioned the reset, because I forgot until just now. The physical reset button the cart actually doesn't work. I wonder if they're rel...

I've not necessarily written off that it could be a faulty connection in the VIC. After all, these things are ~40 years old. I did spray it with contact cleaner and also used a fine grit sandpaper to to try "polish" the contacts. But I've tested pretty much every other cart I have (half do...

You can try unzipping and running the attached mega-cart repair program on the Vic. Can't remember where I got it, but it has rescued mine a couple of times. Thanks for the repair program. Unfortunately, when I say "nothing works", I mean that literally. I can't even get the VIC to load u...

Firstly, you need to enter the Service menu. In order to enter this menu, hold down the CTRL key when you turn ON or reset the Vic-20. Look, I'm not trying to be snippy, but since you didn't read my post, you will see that the second photo shows what happens when I try this, e.g., it does not work....

It's been a long time since I played with my VIC-20, so I broke everything out and wanted to dive right in with the Mega-Cart. But I seem to be having issues... When I select an image, it never loads and just sits there forever. It does matter which image, or what kind (tape or cart), it never actua...

I recently acquired a "Digital Interface Systems" 16k RAM expansion, in the infamous "unknown condition". It has eight 6116 RAM chips (2k by 8 bit), a TTL decoder (74xx139) and two banks of DIP switches (one is 8 switches, the other is 2 switches). I took the dare and plugged it ...

Hi everyone, I recently picked up a cart for IFR (instrument flight rules, a flight sim), and wanted to find a manual for it, or a scan of the manual. So far, all I have found is ROM dumps. The author released copyright on this a number of years ago, but I figured the original cart was a nice additi...

Hi Muzz, I just sent you a PM. Thanks.

I am looking for replacement keycaps for the original PET-style keyboard, most specifically, the numeric keys 1 thru 0. Pretty much open to any variation that would net me replacement keycaps (busted up keyboard, shell, etc). But I'd would like to avoid buying a working VIC just to scavenge it for t...

Replace all the chips! To which he replied, quoting the original message: Yes, I've tried all the socketed chips, including the 6560 aka the VIC. I have a handful of 555's in shipment, I'll plan to try that first, and it's also easier to replace... I can hopefully dig up an LS02 in my pile as a bac...

Yes, I've tried all the socketed chips, including the 6560 aka the VIC. I have a handful of 555's in shipment, I'll plan to try that first, and it's also easier to replace... I can hopefully dig up an LS02 in my pile as a backup plan.

Hello all, I (like so many others, I see) have a dead VIC-20 which I would like to bring to life. I'd like some specific suggestions which I'll list below, but for starters, what I know is this: This is an older (2 prong) NTSC system. The power brick tests ok. The rating on the brick states 10vac, a...