Now unfortunately my C64 broke about 7 years ago. We didn't throw it away. We just stored it in our garage. All these years I've been yearning for a working C64. I have emulators on my PC, but it just isn't the same without that big brown thing in front of you.
Curiously, I couldn't remember what was wrong with my C64 before we dumped it 7 years ago. I did have a vague feeling that it involved a blank black screen, but that was it. On some strange impulse I decided to unearth it and plug it in, and see, if by some miracle, it would work.
On taking it out of the garage I couldn't help seeing in what a sorry state it was. Though stored in plastic, the casing has yellowed badly and looks filthy, and keys rattle, and the ports at the back have cobwebs extending into the circuit boards within! I doubted even the little red bulb labelled "power" would light up.
Before hooking up to my TV, I wanted to make sure it was actually receiving power. And surprise of surprises, the little red bulb lit up! I quickly hooked up the C64 to my TV, and miracle of miracles, I saw the startup screen! Yes it was all there! The blue screen with the light blue border! "How could this machine, previously stubbornly refusing to even light up, suddenly work perfecty?" I thought, "After seven years!"
Like an ecstatic six-year old child I tinkered with it and tried typing in some programs for about 20 minutes.
Then the trouble started.
After leaving my C64 idle for a few minutes, I realized that the cursor was blinking incredibly fast ... so fast that it almost looked transparent. Something stirred in my memory. "This is not good." I thought. I tried typing something in, but the computer refused to respond. I switched it off, and then on again, to which I was greeted by NO startup screen. Everything remained black and blank. The red bulb was shining, so the computer was definately getting power, but no matter how many times I reset it, I never got my beloved blue startup screen again.
Then I immediately remembered. This was the problem the C64 was giving me exactly 7 years ago! That's what happened! The cursor once jammed for me, and once I switched the computer off, I could never get it to restart. We obviously thought it was finished ... kaput, and stored it in the garage!
Now, by some minor miracle, 7 years later, it managed to start up again, only to meet the same problem once more.
Do you guys have any ideas?
Thanks.
