[Coco] Multipak troubleshooting (or It's Dead, Jim! :-)

[Robert Gault]

Aldo Lagana wrote:
> Hello fellow CoCo'ers,
>
> I have been dusting off the old equipment and I may have (advertantly?  is that a word?) killed the poor old Multi-pak :-(
>
> I know it did work as I put a cart in and it booted the cart...the fail occurred when I plugged in an old Disto SCII into slot 4, no puff of smoke or anything, just a plain old boot as if nothing had been selected.  However, I then tried slot 1 again with the same working game cart and nothing, bupkis, just a boot into Extended Color Basic.
>
> I am hopeful for some ideas and advice on what I should look at or do - the contacts on the MP are very good and the cart interface on the CoCo is working.
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Aldo
>

1) Make sure the Coco slot is indeed still working. Plug the cart directly into 
the Coco and report if you get the game or Extended Basic. Try the same thing 
with the SCII.

2) Open the MPI and look for any signs of damage to the electronics. Look for 
cracks in solder connections.

3) Try loosening and re-tightening the two nuts on the "top hat" power 
transistor. They are part of the electrical circuit and oxidative failure of the 
5v circuit at this point can happen.