C128 Diagnostic Cartridge #325093-01 Replicated

The refurbishment and repair of the C16 and Plus/4 motherboards is largely complete. Next up is a small stack of C128 boards. Recently I received a C128 diagnostic cartridge with harness as a donation, which was also only slightly tattered.

The C-128 Diagnostic Test cartridge that was donated

It was a “C-128 Diagnostic Rev 1.4” with harness “ASSY NO. 325093-01”, which I had never heard of before. Information on this cartridge seems sparse, but I found it mentioned on Jani’s page on diagnostic carts and in an older forum thread (German).

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How to Lower Your PLA: The PLA264

In my previous post I described in detail how I created a ROM replacement for the Commodore Plus/4 computer and how I made sure that it would fit into the very tight space of the closed case.

Five in a row: The four ROM chips of the Plus/4 to the left and the PLA to the right.

The four ROM chips of the Plus/4 are sitting all in one row, and then there is a fifth IC right next to them: the 251641-02 PLA. This PLA chip is the same for all TED based Commodore computers, the C16, the C116, and the Plus/4. In the past, I used the excellent PLA16V8 from D. Mantione as a replacement. The PLA16V8 is quick to build from cheap parts that are easily available. And for a C16 with its roomy case, it’s a perfectly adequate solution.

The original PLA16V18 is much too tall to fit under the keyboard of the Plus/4.

With the Plus/4, however, it’s all about space again: There are only a few millimeters between the original PLA and the keyboard above it. So while the PLA16V8 works fine on a Plus/4 motherboard, it is far too tall to fit inside the Plus/4’s case.

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Four at One Blow: The ROMulator

The Idea

Recently, I’ve been repairing a few broken and slightly weathered motherboards for Commodore C16 and Plus/4 computers.

Despite its stylish design, the Plus/4 was no success for Commodore.

When I ran out of spare parts, I replaced the defective Kernal ROM on one of the Plus/4 boards with a W27C512 EEPROM. You can still source a used W27C512 easily and somewhat cheaply (on eBay, for example), making it my all-purpose tool for replacing ancient parallel ROMs.

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