Latest acquisition - An Oric-1

[acsi]

Got my hands on a Oric 1 the other day. Not working of course.

The unit was by it's self. No PSU, tape or RGB leads. I got a 9vdc psu for it and RGB leads. And once powered on I got vertical lines on the screen.

After doing some research it seems that the most common thing to fail with these is the memory so I have ordered 8 replacement chips and sockets.

Now I've just got to get some time to do all that de-soldering.

The actual unit is pretty mint with no signs of wear or yellowing. The board inside looks to be in fantastic condition given it's age so I'm hoping it'll be an easy repair.

Will let you know more once I've made some progress as the Amiga 2000 is also calling.

[lizardb0y]

Congratulations.

I have an Oric-1 as well - mine also arrived with dodgy memory. It works fine with smaller programs though, so haven't bothered fixing it yet

[tezza]

Interesting machines. Good luck with it and let us know how it goes.

[acsi]

A quick progress update.

I've replaced the ram with sockets and installed new ram chips but still get next to nothing on the screen.

While testing the voltage I noticed that if you tap or press on the SY6522a chip the buzzing which was being emitted from the speaker stopped and the screen went completely black (not just the really dark grey I was getting).

So I'm thinking the next thing to replace will be the SY6522a chip.

Will let you know once I have one and get to practise my desoldering again.

[acsi]

Hmmm

Well I replaced the SY6522a chip with a socket and installed the new one. Forgot to test the case would allow the socket, just figured it would as the ram fitted fine and is in approx the same location. Slight modification by removing a surplus internal piece of plastic

Powered on and...... Hmmm completely white screen

Progress but I am thinking maybe the ULA is gone as well which would be a real pain as you just can't get these readily.

Further testing to do when I get a chance. All this de-soldering and re-soldering during work is becoming an issue.

[tezza]

Hmm...well, at least there is some change. Keep at it.

[acsi]

Yeah!

Sorry had to let that out. Replaced the 6502 today and have a beautifully clear picture with "Oric Extended Basic V1.0"

Speaker Works and the only thing I can fault now is a few keys not working (U, I, O)

Edit

Keyboard now working 100%. Dismantled it and found a corroded solder joint and tracks. Bypassed the corrosion and it's now perfect.

[tezza]

Excellent! Posting any pics of the working unit anywhere?

[acsi]

OK here are some photo's. Been having a bit of fun with this machine.

Love the sound commands. "PING" "ZAP" "EXPLODE" "SHOOT" Fantastic and would have been amazing back in 83.

Please excuse the open Amiga 2000 blocking some of the screen. Another project which is soon to have it's heart (GVP 68030) replaced with a 68040. Amazingly still in its packaging from the states, arrived today along with the replacement 6502 for this machine.

The Oric is connected to the LCD monitor via a scart lead.



To the bottom right is the 6502 CPU and the (now socketed) 6522 VIA. To the bottom left are the newly socketed ram chips.

Between the VIA and the Ram is the AY 8192 sound chip.

To the left of the speaker is the UAL chip and to the right the ROM chip.

[tezza]

That's great. The Oric was a machine I remember reading about and wanting way back then. It didn't make it onto my "must have" list though. Glad you could fix it. There is nothing quite like seeing a dead machine come back to life right in front of your eyes.

[lizardb0y]

Looks great! That's a crisp looking picture with the RGB - I've only tried mine with RF and, while passable, it isn't the best. I really must build a SCART or 1084 cable for it.

[acsi]

Been playing a it more with this machine. The machine itself seems surprisingly fast and I must say I would have been very happy with one as a kid. It reminds me a bit of the Spectrum with it's graphics and built in sound, although the sound is a bit better.

Have got an old laptop doing it's best impression of a tape player. TAP2WAV to convert the .tap files to .wav and then media player to play.

I've upgraded the ROM to basic 1.1 which gives it a few more commands at the expense of a few bytes.

A few more photos

[kevman3d]

Wow. Great stuff! I think the only Oric I ever saw physically was the Oric Atmos with its black and red - that was when there was a computer store the corner of K'Rd and Queen St in Auckland that I used to frequent. Its nice to see some piccies of one in action.

[tezza]

Yes, I've never seen one myself in the flesh. Great to see the screenshots there.