Re: Hacking a Commodore PC10-III

From: Ethan Dicks <ethan.dicks_at_gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 21 Oct 2011 10:22:33 -0400
Message-ID: <CAALmimmx5tEn-N_BxU31G6N2emdkq29-+5Z5Ktiuhhb7gbmy5Q@mail.gmail.com>
On Wed, Oct 19, 2011 at 2:25 AM, Anders Carlsson
<anders.carlsson@sfks.se> wrote:
> Didier Derny wrote:
>
>> Commodore and PC ... contradiction the terms...

I've got a Commodore PC III that worked until the NiCd battery leaked.
 :-(  It wasn't in storage, I used it right up until it failed to
drive an old EPROM/GAL programmer (B&C Microsystems UP600A).  That
programmer was one of the early ones with 40 pins of D/A waveform
control, so it could program "anything".  Unfortunately, B&C stopped
developing for it, so there are no new code files for newer devices
than about the early 1990s.  I did find a stash of files with the app
that made it seem like you could also test TTL chips with it, but I
couldn't get those to work.

I used the PC III because the programmer has a proprietary parallel
card to drive it and the app appears to have timing loops that make it
fail in anything as new as a 25MHz 386, so I tossed the parallel card
in the PC III, dropped in an 8-bit NIC, and used DOS Kermit to move
files via TCP/IP from my Amiga down to the basement so I could program
GALs for the GG2 Bus+.  When the PC III died, I moved the cards to a
Compaq 286/SLT dock and use that to run the programmer now (after some
RTC battery hacking).

I did like the AUTOCONFIG-like stuff that Commodore tossed into the PC
III.  Not quite jumperless, but it handled a few of the more common
configurations IIRC.  One of these days, I intend to go back and
repair about 4 cm^2 of damaged traces and see if I can get the board
working once more.  As of last month, I now have an inspection
microscope, so that may help identify corrosion that's not immediately
visible.

-ethan

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Received on 2011-10-21 15:00:03

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