Reloaded MK1 no cursor

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Don't Panic. Please wash hands.
  • I rarely use my MK1 and it always worked fine. However, today I had some free time and when I turned it on, first only the blue screen with the darker blue border showed, after resting several times the welcome screen showed up without the courser. Another strange thing is, press play on tape text showed up, and I did not type load. Finally, I reseated all the IC without success. I noticed that I'm not the first person to have these issues. Instead of moving the chips sidewaysIs, is it ok if use isopropyl alcohol or Tuner 600 contact cleaner as I am a bit concerned that I might damage the chips?

  • 1. never use contact cleaner

    2. isopropyl is fine, however you still need to wipe over the respective contacts, which will be kindof hard inside the sockets


    that means wiggling the ICs sideways is really the best solution. open the lever of the socket "halfway" in case they dont move easily.

  • Tobias

    Changed the title of the thread from “Reloaded MK1 no courser” to “Reloaded MK1 no cursor”.
  • Thank you so much Tobias for your suggestions. I did the following procedures. However, the cursor is still not showing. My reloaded MK1 is from the first batch, which I bought with all the IC's within the PCB board. I would greatly appreciate it if you could let me know what can I do to fix it. Another thing, all the ZIF sockets lock by pressing them down but the SID chip locks by pulling upwards, is this normal?


    What I've done

    I unplugged the power and video cables

    I wore an anti-static wrist strap

    Moved the IC's sideways several times on the ZIF sockets

    I reseated all the socketed IC's with an IC puller

    I tried booting without the SID chip

    I did not use isopropyl

  • Quote

    the SID chip locks by pulling upwards, is this normal?

    That sounds strange - all sockets are the same kind, lever down is "closed". In any case, while testing take out the SID, you dont really need it (except for sound of course)


    Now, a simple test is to swap the CIAs against each other. If that somehow changes the behaviour, you know one of them is bad

  • If you've bought the board sfrom us with all chips installed, this must have been one of the first ones, maybe from the 20-board auction. What's the warranty ID of that, so I can look up the database entries?


    Rest assured that all boards have passed a single-unit-test. Your board is not an exception. The description of "SID locking differently" is truly strange - maybe some photos will help.

  • Hi Jens and Tobias. Thank you for replying to my query. Yes, I bought the board with all the chips installed. I received the confirmation of the Reloaded MK1 order by email on the 16th of August 2015, which I will forward to you by email. As you can see in the image below, even though I tried booting without the SID, the cursor did not show. I can send you a short video with the ZIF socket pushed down while I lift and place the SID inside the ZIF socket several times. However, after opening and closing the ZIF socket a number of times, it's now locking the SID when I push it downwards. I can't understand the reason for this, I hope that it keeps locking.


    I can't find the warranty ID, on the receipt, instead, I found the order number, which is ID7221. One of the reasons for the cursor not showing is because of the 6526 CIA socketed on the right next to the joystick port correct? On social media, I read that the two CIA'S can be swapped is the correct? As per my previous post, two days ago when I turned on the Reloaded it displayed the blu screen with a light blue border without the text. After resetting several times the welcome screen with the usual text showed up without the courser. Another strange thing is, press play on tape text displayed on the screen, and I had not typed load. I had the same results when tried booting without the keyboard.


  • Quote

    On social media, I read that the two CIA'S can be swapped is the correct?

    like i said, swap them against each other - if one of them is broken then the problem will change (you might get a cursor, but now the disk drive wont work. or something similar. CIA1 is the one responsible for keyboard and the timer interrupt that makes the cursor blink)

  • I can send you a short video with the ZIF socket pushed down while I lift and place the SID inside the ZIF socket several times.

    Why send a video of something that clearly goes against the manual? You open the socket with "lever up", then insert the chip, then push the lever down. You can of course do it the other way round, but you won't get safe contact.


    That said, the SID chip is not a likely cause of your problem. Just leave it out for testing.


    I can't find the warranty ID,

    It's the ID on the sticker that says "Warranty". Can't find anything special about 3Tm60 - it passed the whole test of all ports and ran a short demo.

    I found the order number, which is ID7221

    You ordered with a power supply - do you still use that, or a different power supply?

    which I will forward to you by email.

    Please keep all communication within this thread. Sending an eMail will only provoke automatic replies that send you back here. This keeps our communication trackable, and all iComp employees have access to it, which is not the case if you send eMails.

  • Thank you again for your reply. Yes, I use the power supply which I received with Reloaded.


    To be crystal clear, I have a C64c with one socketed 6526A 4989 2161A on a rev A PCB, I can swap it with the CIA socketed on the Reloaded PCB next to the Joystick port correct?


    I will look for the sticker on the PCB and post the warranty ID later.

  • Quote

    To be crystal clear, I have a C64c with one socketed 6526A 4989 2161A on a rev A PCB, I can swap it with the CIA socketed on the Reloaded PCB next to the Joystick port correct?

    Yes, all CIAs are interchangeable (6526A/B/C and 8521)

  • It may not be the CIA, but a plain contact problem on the CPU, as the "no blinking cursor" may just be an IRQ that does not arrive athte CPU. Try moving the CPU sideways in the socket while the lever is down. This may take some force, but will scratch off any oxide that may cause contact problems.

  • I tried moving the CPU sideways with the ZIF socket locked but it did not work, Finally, I swapped the CIA's and the cursor showed up, so the problem is the CIA.


    Thank toy for replying to my query

  • The last reply was more than 365 days ago, this thread is most likely obsolete. It is recommended to create a new thread instead.