Dear all
Last night I powered up a +3 that has been inactive for over 20 years I would say.
It took many resets to finally get the basic 48k screen.
I would say that only one reset out of 6 or 7 gives me the white 48k screen with Amstrad at the bottom.
All other reset attempts give me a range of weird and wonderful results, such as flashing coloured blocks or odd coloured screens with random snippets of text or characters.
No matter how many times I try, I can never get the 128k screen with the little menu of options.
Is this potentially resolvable for someone with virtually zero knowledge of the inner workings, or is likely that the hardware responsible for the 128 functionality is damaged and needs a professional fix?
Would there be any benefit whatsoever in opening it up and giving it a gentle dusting down, or would I likely be wasting my time?
Any advice gratefully received, thank you!
Spectrum +3 missing menu screen
- 1024MAK
- Bugaboo
- Posts: 3118
- Joined: Wed Nov 15, 2017 2:52 pm
- Location: Sunny Somerset in the U.K. in Europe
Re: Spectrum +3 missing menu screen
If/when it gets to what is known as the copyright screen, does typing keys produce anything on screen?
It is most likely to be a hardware fault with either a RAM chip, or the circuitry that selects which part of which ROM chip is active. Or maybe it is a relatively simple fix, such as a fault in the reset circuit.
But without some more information, it's just a guessing game...
Mark
It is most likely to be a hardware fault with either a RAM chip, or the circuitry that selects which part of which ROM chip is active. Or maybe it is a relatively simple fix, such as a fault in the reset circuit.
But without some more information, it's just a guessing game...
Mark
Standby alert
“There are four lights!”
Step up to red alert. Sir, are you absolutely sure? It does mean changing the bulb
Looking forward to summer later in the year.
“There are four lights!”
Step up to red alert. Sir, are you absolutely sure? It does mean changing the bulb
Looking forward to summer later in the year.
-
- Drutt
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Wed Aug 22, 2018 10:54 am
Re: Spectrum +3 missing menu screen
Hi Mark, thanks for that - yes, it does allow me to type just fine on that screen (once I can get a reset to produce the screen of course)