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should i buy broken trs-80?

oblivion

oblivion

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Aug 28, 2010
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Apache Junction, AZ
just got an oppertunity to buy a trs-80 III for $25 locally. thing is the guy says it booted fine untill recently but now i guess he just gets lines across the screen when it boots up. worth bothering picking up? fixable?
 
A III is a good thing

A III is a good thing

Well, the way I see it (and that may not be your view) - is that you either buy it for $25. because you really like the machine and want to play with it, or to have some part of computer history; therefore you spend the time, effort, and money to fix it or get it fixed, OR you buy it for $25. hoping you can make money on selling it to someone else, perhaps a collector, whether fixed or not. Personally, I'd check it's cosmetics, and as much hardware as possible. Does it really look good, or is it all banged up and scratched? Like with a car, it's nicer/easier to own and or sell one that looks good to begin with. (Lines on the screen, huh?) - how about the disk drive(s) working? Is the screen readable enough to confirm a complete boot from disk?
Lastly, since no shipping is involved - and I were in your position - I'd buy it! I happen to like the looks of a III, and I'm partial to Radio Shack computers, but that's me.
 
See if he'll let you open it up and take a look inside. IIRC, symptoms like "lines across the screen" typically mean there's a problem with video memory, and with systems this old, a lot of times all you need to do is gently force the RAM chips back into their sockets and the problem goes away.
 
i would love to acually fix and use this computer. it comes with dust cover and some booklets. cosmeticly it looks decent and i beleive both disk drives work as well as comeing with full 48k ram. i think i'll pick it up and if i can't fix it maybe try and sell it then. the lines are thick lateral lines that run down the screen, doesn't look like there is any image visable behind them.
 
commodorejohn said:
See if he'll let you open it up and take a look inside. IIRC, symptoms like "lines across the screen" typically mean there's a problem with video memory, and with systems this old, a lot of times all you need to do is gently force the RAM chips back into their sockets and the problem goes away.
Click to expand...

oblivion said:
i would love to acually fix and use this computer. it comes with dust cover and some booklets. cosmeticly it looks decent and i beleive both disk drives work as well as comeing with full 48k ram. i think i'll pick it up and if i can't fix it maybe try and sell it then. the lines are thick lateral lines that run down the screen, doesn't look like there is any image visable behind them.
Click to expand...

This sounds like a good one, then, even if you have to reseat the video memory (agreed with John about it). Also, I'd love to see pics of it when you get it for the dirt cheap price of $25 :)

Nathan
 
picked it up today. cosmeticly its in nice condition. there is one medium sized gouge on the back and the trs-80 badge between the disk drives has started to peel off but other then that it looks very good. as for the drives i'm uncertain if there working. the one on the bottom lights up and makes noise but i have no idea if its acually working. took me awhile to open it, silly tandy hiding the last screw under the warrenty sticker. i took pics

i have no idea which one is the video ram. could someone please direct me to which chips need reseating? or am i looking at the wrong board?


i get this image if no disk in DD


i get this if i disk is in the drive
 
At a guess, I'd say the RAM is that array of closely-packed chips in the upper right corner, but I'd just find and gently but firmly reseat any socketed chips on the board.
 
Right, really anything socketed can be done the way commodorejohn suggests, just be gentle and firm at the same time (don't crush or sna anything). Good luck! I'll be reading.
 
no luck, reseated every socketed chip on the MB and nothing. acually i made it worse cause that dumb paper thin ribbon is all mangled that connects to the disk drives...i'm thinking those are easily replaceable though. as for the screen i do get diffrent patterns now but its basicly the same. really have no clue what to do with this thing now. at least i got some nifty manual and booklets with the thing.
 
Hmm. You note that you get a different result when there's a disk in the drive than when there isn't; is the computer actually reading anything from the disk? If so, it's a safe bet that the ROM and a lot of the logic/support chips are okay. Can you type anything and have it change the screen gibberish, or is the pattern static? If you can type, can you fly blind and convince it to load anything from disk?
 
I wish one of these would turn up locally. The Model III is what I first got onto BBS's with back in the late 80's. Yeah yeah, I know it was a bit past it's time then, but the only other option I had was a C-64 and the RS-232 modem I had wouldn't work for it. Good times.

I'd say if it's in good cosmetic shape and you're knowledgeable enough about repair, I'd buy it. It's certainly cheaper than it would cost you on ePay.
 
commodorejohn said:
Hmm. You note that you get a different result when there's a disk in the drive than when there isn't; is the computer actually reading anything from the disk? If so, it's a safe bet that the ROM and a lot of the logic/support chips are okay. Can you type anything and have it change the screen gibberish, or is the pattern static? If you can type, can you fly blind and convince it to load anything from disk?
Click to expand...

pattern is static...mostly. now its a bit diffrent. every time i power it on i get a diffrent pattern of about 4 or 5. sometimes its just lines sometimes its just a few characters, sometimes its all 0's and symbols. nothing happens at all when I use the keyboard.

i'm thinking this unit is beyond my abilities to fix. i think i'll keep it though on the chance i'll maybe come across a working unit with maybe a real banged up case. then i could just swap MB's
 
I'd first check the power supply voltages--on old machines, usually the first things to fail are the big electrolytic capacitors. Chips do fail, but not very often. Does anyone have the Sams Computerfacts for this model?
 
This sounds like the exact same problem im having with a coco 2 ill let you know if i get it sorted out
 
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