• Model 1 possible power supply/keyboard issue

    From pharaoh46@21:1/5 to All on Wed Jun 2 09:16:47 2021
    Hi all,
    I've got a TRS-80 Model 1 48K w/EI and floppy drive hooked up to a DMP through a printer switch (I share the printer w/a Model 4).

    Anyway, when I power up, the standard character gibberish displays, but the characters themselves are distorted (for example, the letters don't look like letters, same w/numbers, etc.). I press the reset button and Break repeatedly, but the Memory Size?
    prompt doesn't display. I've tried cleaning all the contacts and plugs on the keyboard, expansion interface, and drive. No success. I also looked at the plug connecting the keyboard's power supply to the keyboard, and the cable going into the plug
    appears frayed & loose. Could this be the issue, or is it something else? Appreciate any input/guidance. Thanks in advance.
    --John

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  • From Bob Campbell@21:1/5 to All on Thu Jun 3 00:04:06 2021
    On 6/2/21 12:16 PM, pharaoh46 wrote:

    Anyway, when I power up, the standard character gibberish displays, but the characters themselves are distorted (for example, the letters don't look like letters, same w/numbers, etc.). I press the reset button and Break repeatedly, but the Memory Size?
    prompt doesn't display. I've tried cleaning all the contacts and plugs on the keyboard, expansion interface, and drive. No success. I also looked at the plug connecting the keyboard's power supply to the keyboard, and the cable going into the plug
    appears frayed & loose. Could this be the issue, or is it something else? Appreciate any input/guidance. Thanks in advance.

    With a 43 year old POS like the TRS-80 Model 1 is/was, it could be
    literally anything.

    I would disconnect everything and then power up the KB alone. Since
    you have the EI, it has the same power supply as the KB. Swap those and
    see if that fixes it.

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  • From pharaoh46@21:1/5 to Bob Campbell on Fri Jun 11 22:35:54 2021
    On Thursday, June 3, 2021 at 12:04:13 AM UTC-4, Bob Campbell wrote:
    On 6/2/21 12:16 PM, pharaoh46 wrote:

    Anyway, when I power up, the standard character gibberish displays, but the characters themselves are distorted (for example, the letters don't look like letters, same w/numbers, etc.). I press the reset button and Break repeatedly, but the Memory
    Size? prompt doesn't display. I've tried cleaning all the contacts and plugs on the keyboard, expansion interface, and drive. No success. I also looked at the plug connecting the keyboard's power supply to the keyboard, and the cable going into the plug
    appears frayed & loose. Could this be the issue, or is it something else? Appreciate any input/guidance. Thanks in advance.
    With a 43 year old POS like the TRS-80 Model 1 is/was, it could be
    literally anything.

    I would disconnect everything and then power up the KB alone. Since
    you have the EI, it has the same power supply as the KB. Swap those and
    see if that fixes it.

    Yeah, I was thinking the power supply since it even after I press the reset button, nothing happens. I'll try that and see what happens. If it's a power supply, I'll order a new one on eBay or something. Thanks.

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  • From Bill Gunshannon@21:1/5 to All on Sat Jun 12 08:11:34 2021
    On 6/12/21 1:35 AM, pharaoh46 wrote:
    On Thursday, June 3, 2021 at 12:04:13 AM UTC-4, Bob Campbell wrote:
    On 6/2/21 12:16 PM, pharaoh46 wrote:

    Anyway, when I power up, the standard character gibberish displays, but the characters themselves are distorted (for example, the letters don't look like letters, same w/numbers, etc.). I press the reset button and Break repeatedly, but the Memory
    Size? prompt doesn't display. I've tried cleaning all the contacts and plugs on the keyboard, expansion interface, and drive. No success. I also looked at the plug connecting the keyboard's power supply to the keyboard, and the cable going into the plug
    appears frayed & loose. Could this be the issue, or is it something else? Appreciate any input/guidance. Thanks in advance.
    With a 43 year old POS like the TRS-80 Model 1 is/was, it could be
    literally anything.

    I would disconnect everything and then power up the KB alone. Since
    you have the EI, it has the same power supply as the KB. Swap those and
    see if that fixes it.

    Yeah, I was thinking the power supply since it even after I press the reset button, nothing happens. I'll try that and see what happens. If it's a power supply, I'll order a new one on eBay or something. Thanks.


    Unless you are obsessed with visual purity you can easily replace the
    power supply with something more reliable. According to the Technical Reference Manual it runs on +5/+12/-5 volts. Pretty standard and easy
    to cobble together if you didn't want to buy one.

    bill

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  • From Bill Gunshannon@21:1/5 to All on Sat Jun 12 08:31:14 2021
    On 6/12/21 1:35 AM, pharaoh46 wrote:
    On Thursday, June 3, 2021 at 12:04:13 AM UTC-4, Bob Campbell wrote:
    On 6/2/21 12:16 PM, pharaoh46 wrote:

    Anyway, when I power up, the standard character gibberish displays, but the characters themselves are distorted (for example, the letters don't look like letters, same w/numbers, etc.). I press the reset button and Break repeatedly, but the Memory
    Size? prompt doesn't display. I've tried cleaning all the contacts and plugs on the keyboard, expansion interface, and drive. No success. I also looked at the plug connecting the keyboard's power supply to the keyboard, and the cable going into the plug
    appears frayed & loose. Could this be the issue, or is it something else? Appreciate any input/guidance. Thanks in advance.
    With a 43 year old POS like the TRS-80 Model 1 is/was, it could be
    literally anything.

    I would disconnect everything and then power up the KB alone. Since
    you have the EI, it has the same power supply as the KB. Swap those and
    see if that fixes it.

    Yeah, I was thinking the power supply since it even after I press the reset button, nothing happens. I'll try that and see what happens. If it's a power supply, I'll order a new one on eBay or something. Thanks.



    Being someone who actually still has Model 1's that they use,
    this brings up an interesting question. How common is power
    supply failure? Being as both the base unit and the E/I run
    off of the same class of power supply would it make sense
    replace them with something like a PC Class power supply?
    And whilw we are at it, if you were using something better,
    could the base unit and E/I be run from the same power supply?

    bill

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  • From pharaoh46@21:1/5 to Bill Gunshannon on Fri Jul 9 09:45:14 2021
    On Saturday, June 12, 2021 at 8:31:16 AM UTC-4, Bill Gunshannon wrote:
    On 6/12/21 1:35 AM, pharaoh46 wrote:
    On Thursday, June 3, 2021 at 12:04:13 AM UTC-4, Bob Campbell wrote:
    On 6/2/21 12:16 PM, pharaoh46 wrote:

    Anyway, when I power up, the standard character gibberish displays, but the characters themselves are distorted (for example, the letters don't look like letters, same w/numbers, etc.). I press the reset button and Break repeatedly, but the Memory
    Size? prompt doesn't display. I've tried cleaning all the contacts and plugs on the keyboard, expansion interface, and drive. No success. I also looked at the plug connecting the keyboard's power supply to the keyboard, and the cable going into the plug
    appears frayed & loose. Could this be the issue, or is it something else? Appreciate any input/guidance. Thanks in advance.
    With a 43 year old POS like the TRS-80 Model 1 is/was, it could be
    literally anything.

    I would disconnect everything and then power up the KB alone. Since
    you have the EI, it has the same power supply as the KB. Swap those and >> see if that fixes it.

    Yeah, I was thinking the power supply since it even after I press the reset button, nothing happens. I'll try that and see what happens. If it's a power supply, I'll order a new one on eBay or something. Thanks.

    Being someone who actually still has Model 1's that they use,
    this brings up an interesting question. How common is power
    supply failure? Being as both the base unit and the E/I run
    off of the same class of power supply would it make sense
    replace them with something like a PC Class power supply?
    And whilw we are at it, if you were using something better,
    could the base unit and E/I be run from the same power supply?

    bill
    Thanks everyone for your input. I just tried the E/I power supply w/the keyboard. Nothing. Still the same gibberish on screen, and when I press Reset and Break repeatedly, still nothing happens. At this point I'm guessing the keyboard is hosed.

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