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Need help troubleshooting flakey 1541-II!

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Joel

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Aug 29, 2004, 6:06:52 PM8/29/04
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I've got a 1541-II that runs fine, sometimes for hours, and suddenly gets
into a very "shakey" state where it more or less stops responding. When this
happens it's still possible to get response from the error channel (hitting
@ in a DOS wedge) but only fragments of the DOS messages appear and the
wedge hangs. The drive leds behave normal (i.e. not flashing) and the only
remedy seems to be switching it off for a while. I've done parallell testing
with another 1541-II using the same cables and PSU and making sure it's not
something externally such as interference from monitors, etc. My setup
consists of a PAL C64 with rev. 4 (C64 E) motherboard and Retro Replay
v3.8a. The 1541-II has JPN drive mechs and revision 257968-03 ROM and says
1987 on the manufacturing stamp.

All help appreciated.

//Joel

Sam Gillett

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Aug 31, 2004, 1:20:53 AM8/31/04
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"Joel" <donf...@sverige.nu> wrote ...

> I've got a 1541-II that runs fine, sometimes for hours, and suddenly gets
> into a very "shakey" state where it more or less stops responding. When
> this happens it's still possible to get response from the error channel
> (hitting @ in a DOS wedge) but only fragments of the DOS messages appear
> and the wedge hangs. The drive leds behave normal (i.e. not flashing) and
> the only remedy seems to be switching it off for a while. I've done
> parallell testing with another 1541-II using the same cables and PSU and
> making sure it's not something externally such as interference from
> monitors, etc.

Sounds like your 1541 may have a chip failing after it heats up. Other than
a chip, a cold solder joint can fail after the PC board itself heats up, or a
socketed chip that isn't in the socket quite as far as it should be.

Ray Carlsen's troubleshooting and repair articles may be of some help to you.
Check his web site at:

http://personalpages.tds.net/~rcarlsen/


--
Best regards,

Sam Gillett

Change is inevitable,
except from vending machines!

Joel

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Aug 31, 2004, 3:54:20 PM8/31/04
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I will check it out! Thanks!


"Sam Gillett" <samgille...@diespammermsn.com> wrote in message
news:VUTYc.4750$4m2.3062@trnddc01...

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