[Coco] [CoCo] Hello, newbie with new toy

[wdg3rd at comcast.net]

----- "Jerry Morelli" <jamorelli at att.net> wrote:

> When I was but a wee lad of about 10 or 11, my dad got our first 16k

They're all so young.  Gene, back me up on this.

> And that's where my problems begin... if you've made it this far, this
> is where I need help.  The computer I got is a virgin 128k CoCo 3.  I
> could tell because the sticker had never been broken on the bottom. 
> Well, the ROM packs don't work.  I basically get a blank screen when I
> try one.  Then after I take them out and re-power, sometimes I don't
> get the BASIC prompt.  I have to turn it off for several minutes. 
> After reading around a bit, I decided to pop the case and look
> inside.  Everything *looks* OK.  No real dust to speak of.  I popped
> out the GIME since it seems the problems could be related to that. 
> Cleaned it and the socket with some alcohol and put it back in.  Also
> cleaned out the cartridge slot with some electronics cleaner.  Still
> the ROM packs don't work.  On top of that, it seems like there is some
> noise in the picture.  Even the blinking cursor seems to have one
> little corner that appears a different color or something. 
>  It's just not a "clean" picture.
> 
> Help??  Any ideas?  I really would like to get some of the new toys
> that people have designed but I don't want to spend the money if I
> have a bad CoCo.  I can always pick up another one, sure, but I'd like
> to get this one working.
> 
> Sorry to be so long-winded.  I look forward to participating in the
> list and re-discovering my CoCo.

I hope you didn't pop that first ROMpak in while the machine was powered up.  That is a _Bad Move_(tm).

Welcome, young padawan.  (I was about old enough to have just graduated from college when the TRS-80 Model One was announced, but I was in the USAF so I didn't).  Got involved with the Mod One in '78, adopted the Color Computer as my own when I signed on with an RSCC in '80, a quarter of a century old and past my best learning curve.  Many around here can give you hints of the many degenerative diseases a computer can develop after a couple decades of either regular use or "in-the-box" non-use.  Be warned, some of them are not pretty.  (Nor are some of us on this list, especially when you look at the soldering scars on our hold-the-part-hand fingers).
-- 
Ward Griffiths        wdg3rd at comcast.net