[Coco] Coco 3 with problems, can anyone help me troubleshoot?

[Mike Rowen]

Have you tried the AUDIO ON command? This connects the Mic line to the speaker output, so you should be able to hear anything on the tape through the speaker, provided you have the audio connected to something. This would demonstrate that your cable is ok.

On Feb 11, 2012, at 9:40 PM, haywire666 at aol.com wrote:

> Art, No I don't have another tape player. I had to buy this one...
> 
> 
> Very frustrating. I have a bunch of coco1's and 2's but I can't test the cassette with them because I don't have a game switch with the coaxial adapter...
> 
> 
> The only older "tv" I have only has av inputs and coax... So I can't get a coco1/2 going right now. Will get those adapters and try that next so at least I know the 
> cassette is working right...
> 
> 
> Steven
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Arthur Flexser <flexser at fiu.edu>
> To: CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts <coco at maltedmedia.com>
> Sent: Sat, Feb 11, 2012 9:35 pm
> Subject: Re: [Coco] Coco 3 with problems, can anyone help me troubleshoot?
> 
> 
> Have you another cassette player available?  Sounds like the trouble
> could be there, or as Mike suggests, the cable.  Though hearing sound
> when you play back what you saved makes the cable a less likely
> culprit.  Have you cleaned the heads of the cassette player?
> 
> You don't need a special computer cassette player to use it with the
> CoCo;  any player will probably do, though things are simpler if it
> has the input for stopping and starting the tape;  otherwise you'd
> need to do that manually.
> 
> Art
> 
> On 2/11/12, Mike Rowen <mike at bcmr3.net> wrote:
>> Have you checked your cassette cable?
>> 
>> On Feb 11, 2012, at 8:45 PM, haywire666 at aol.com wrote:
>> 
>>> I removed and thoroughly cleaned the gime chip and socket. no gook or
>>> noticable grime to speak of though when I started....
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Interestingly no more garbage screen bootups so cleaning the gime chip and
>>> contacts did something, but when I try to CLOAD the same
>>> problem happens (S character in upper left hand corner of screen) tape
>>> plays and machine locks in that state...
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Motor on/motor off commands work.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> audio on and audio off commands work.
>>> 
>>> CSAVING appears to work. At least I think so... With audio on, I hear a
>>> bunch of buzzing when what I saved is played back...
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Steven
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: haywire666 <haywire666 at aol.com>
>>> To: coco <coco at maltedmedia.com>
>>> Sent: Sat, Feb 11, 2012 8:20 pm
>>> Subject: Re: [Coco] Coco 3 with problems, can anyone help me troubleshoot?
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 1) I have a ccr radio shack cassette I just got from cloud9.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 2) When I use audio on commands I can hear stuff from the tape, but its
>>> been
>>> years since I heard a data tape. Sounds right from what I recall.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 3) When I cload, the tape indeed starts, I get an S in the upper left
>>> corner of
>>> the screen. The tape stays on forever. The machine's state never changes,
>>> even
>>> when I left it for an hour.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 4) I don't have a prerecorded tape to check. I am just now getting back to
>>> cocos
>>> (My first computer love) after many years off...
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 5) I don't think its high speed poked, I boot the computer the cursor
>>> looks
>>> regular speed, when I try it from clean cold boot this happens.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 6) Someone else suggested pulling and cleaning the contacts of the gime
>>> chip.
>>> Just got back from radio shack, got an extraction tool... so I'm trying
>>> that
>>> now.
>>> Pulled the chip, both the chip and the sockets contacts look really dingy
>>> and
>>> dirty... so I hope maybe thats it. I'm going to go work on this now will
>>> post
>>> results.
>>> 
>>> Thanks for everyone's help... Hopefully my poor coco3 will be feeling much
>>> 
>>> healthier soon!
>>> 
>>> Steven
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Arthur Flexser <flexser at fiu.edu>
>>> To: CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts <coco at maltedmedia.com>
>>> Sent: Sat, Feb 11, 2012 6:54 am
>>> Subject: Re: [Coco] Coco 3 with problems, can anyone help me troubleshoot?
>>> 
>>> 
>>> You might narrow down things by using the AUDIO ON command to see if
>>> the tape sounds normal when it is saving and when you attempt to load
>>> a program.
>>> 
>>> Also, make sure you aren't in the double speed mode;  the cassette
>>> routines must be patched to work properly at that speed.
>>> 
>>> When you say it "just hangs", I assume you've verified that the tape
>>> is advancing properly?  Do the MOTOR ON and MOTOR off commands
>>> function?
>>> 
>>> Art
>>> 
>>> On Sat, Feb 11, 2012 at 5:12 AM,  <haywire666 at aol.com> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> I have a color computer 3 with some problems. I thought it was a cold
>>>> solder
>>> joint or something. Occasionally it would not boot right (I'd get a
>>> garbage
>>> screen) The real problem however is that once its working, I can save
>>> programs
>>> with csave to cassette, but when I try cload, I get an S on the upper left
>>> 
>>> corner of the screen and then it just hangs.
>>>> 
>>>> Has anyone seen this before? Can anyone give me some trouble shooting
>>>> tips?
>>> Not being able to save programs (just bought a cassette for that purpose)
>>> is
>>> driving me kind of nuts.
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> Steven
>>>> 
>>>> 
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