Login
Back to forumReply to this topicGo to last reply

Posted By

Spector
on 2009-12-11
05:48:35
 Plus 4 messed up

Hi

My plus 4 is seriously ill. Here are the symptoms:

I turn the machine on and its fine. I load a game and it crashes after maybe a minute or two. A soft reset does not produce the startup screen without glitches. A hard reset produces glitches too. After a couple of hard resets I try loading again and it crashes. Sometimes the tape player just stops. Sometimes funny characters come up on the screen instead of the keyboard characters when trying to load a game. As attempts continue, the problems escalate. Basically, the machine cannot be used.

The thing is, I just got the machine back from repair! That makes me think it's a power supply problem rather than the computer itself. But I don't know about these things, so that's why I'm passing this over to you guys. What do you think is happening here?

Ta for reading

Spector

Posted By

Luca
on 2009-12-11
06:13:17
 Re: Plus 4 messed up

Power supply is my best option in this case.
Also, read the troubleshooting chapter on this document.

Posted By

Spector
on 2009-12-11
06:57:37
 Re: Plus 4 messed up

Yep, I agree with you on that one.

So, now to the meat and drink. Has anyone in the UK got a working plus 4 power supply they are willing to sell? happy

Posted By

gerliczer
on 2009-12-11
07:14:36
 Re: Plus 4 messed up

If you have a Plus/4 with round power plug then you may replace the power supply with a C64's one. If i remember correctly then the pin assignment and ratings are the same.

Posted By

Luca
on 2009-12-11
07:18:39
 Re: Plus 4 messed up

C64 <-> Plus/4 Power Supply Connectors.

Posted By

Spector
on 2009-12-11
07:43:34
 Re: Plus 4 messed up

Yeah I know about the round connector version and the C64 compatibility, but I'm afraid I've got the square plug. I don't have the skill to do a power supply plug conversion, so that's why I'm asking for alternative Plus 4 power supplies.

Posted By

leep4
on 2009-12-11
12:30:58
 Re: Plus 4 messed up

hmm,
1,check din connectors from tape deck to plus 4,for bent pins,along with the power supply plug
2,while power supply is plugged in to plus 4 and switched on ,wiggle the supply lead to see if anything happens to screen display,if there are changes then could be a faulty psu connector on the pcb,a resolder will cure this
3,get a cotton bud,and some aftershave which is alcohol based,and clean heads and pinch roller etc,im more inclined to follow this procedure,as it sounds like not all the data from tape cassette is reaching plus 4 properly,also when you do this allow to dry for 20mins,after cleaning
4,realine tape deck heads with a cassette realiner which are quite easy to get hold of
5,cheack seating of all chips inside plus 4 for correct connection,a simple remove and replace usually does the trick,
hope this is of some help to you,lee



Back to topReply to this topic


Copyright © Plus/4 World Team, 2001-2024