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P4 documentation drive: rewrite doc-holder as a real documentation page - the five Commodore books that do carry hardware or repair content, with what each actually contains and an explicit note that they are secondary to Commodore's own manuals
LoC extent xii, 351 pp., not 377 (PDF length); 22 test point charts listed, not 21; full contents with page numbers; master schematic and power supply chapter cited to page; remove 'largest repair book in this collection' and 'no component value on this wiki' claims; unbold
 
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'''''Troubleshooting & Repairing Your Commodore 64''''' by '''Art Margolis''' is a 377-page repair book published by '''TAB Books Inc., Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania''', first edition, first printing, '''1985'''. ISBN '''0-8306-0889-3''' (hardback) and '''0-8306-1889-9''' (paperback); Library of Congress TK7887.M374 1985, catalogue card 85-4640. Cover price $22.95.
'''''Troubleshooting & Repairing Your Commodore 64''''' is a 1985 repair book by Art Margolis, published by TAB Books of Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania; the hosted scan is the first edition, first printing. ISBN 0-8306-0889-3 (hardback) and 0-8306-1889-9 (paperback); Library of Congress call number TK7887.M374 1985, card number 85-4640.<ref name="tp">Art Margolis, ''Troubleshooting & Repairing Your Commodore 64'' (TAB Books, 1985), title page and copyright page (PDF pp. 7-8).</ref> The Library of Congress record gives the extent as xii, 351 pages.<ref name="ol">Open Library, [https://openlibrary.org/books/OL3024323M ''Troubleshooting & repairing your Commodore 64'', record OL3024323M], from Library of Congress catalogue data. Retrieved 2026-10-01.</ref>


It is the largest third-party [[Commodore 64]] repair book in this collection, and unlike the programming books here it does carry hardware data.
It is a component-level repair book for the [[Commodore 64]] and also a course in how the machine's circuits work. Margolis describes it as the manual a technician would refer to, giving voltages and parts as well as theory.<ref name="intro">Margolis, ''Troubleshooting & Repairing Your Commodore 64'', Introduction, pp. ix-xii (PDF pp. 14-17).</ref>


== What it contains ==
== What the book provides ==
* Test point charts: each shows a chip's pinout, the direction of signal flow on each pin and the reading to expect with a logic probe. The front matter lists 22 of them, from the 2114 colour RAM (figure 6-4) to the 6581 SID (figure 18-1), covering the 4164 DRAMs, the ROMs, the 82S100 PLA, the TTL support chips, the 6510, both 6526 CIAs and the 6567 VIC-II.<ref name="tpc">Margolis, ''Troubleshooting & Repairing Your Commodore 64'', list of Test Point Charts (PDF p. 13), and Introduction (PDF pp. 15-16).</ref>
* A chip location guide (chapter 3) and chip removal and replacement techniques (chapter 4).<ref name="toc">Margolis, ''Troubleshooting & Repairing Your Commodore 64'', Contents (PDF pp. 9-12).</ref>
* A master schematic in the appendix (pp. 319-348), drawn in numbered sections. Margolis says it uses the designators printed on the board, so that U7 on the schematic is the 6510 marked U7 on the board, and the capacitors and resistors are identified the same way.<ref name="intro" /><ref name="ms">Margolis, ''Troubleshooting & Repairing Your Commodore 64'', Appendix: Master Schematic, pp. 319-348 (PDF pp. 335-362).</ref>
* A power supply chapter. It covers checking the external adapter for 9 V AC and +5 V DC, the computer's fuse (1 A, 250 V, 3AG type) in the 9 V AC line, the bridge rectifier (about +12 V DC out), the line through a 7805 regulator, the +9 V unregulated line for the cassette motor, and the +5 V main line from the adapter.<ref name="psu">Margolis, ''Troubleshooting & Repairing Your Commodore 64'', chapter 20, Power Supply, pp. 313-318 (PDF pp. 329-334).</ref>


Twenty chapters and an appendix. The structure, from the book's own contents:
The book does not say which board revision its master schematic shows. It is a third-party book; for part numbers and values check it against Commodore's [[Commodore 64 / 64C Service Manual|service manual]] and [[Commodore 64 Technical Manual and Parts List|technical manual]].


* '''Test Point Charts''' &mdash; the front matter opens with the list of them. The book carries '''21 test point charts''', beginning in chapter 6, each giving expected readings at named points so a logic probe or meter reading can be compared against a chart rather than guessed at.
== Contents ==
* '''1. Interpreting the symptoms''' &mdash; dead computer, garbage display, empty display block, no colour, no video with sound OK, no sound, external device troubles; PEEK and POKE diagnostics; the CIA, microprocessor, VIC and SID; troubleshooting charts.
Page numbers are from the book's contents list.<ref name="toc" />
* '''2. Disassembly''' &mdash; removing the top and the circuit board, visual inspection for ground-plane shorts and board defects, cleaning, static precautions and wrist straps.
* Test Point Charts; Introduction
* '''3. Chip location guide''' &mdash; drawing a guide, a chip survey covering the microprocessor, CIAs, VIC, SID, RAM, BASIC ROM, Kernal ROM, character ROM, colour RAM and other board landmarks; sockets.
* 1: Interpreting the Symptoms, p. 1
* '''4. Chip changing techniques''' &mdash; TTL, DTL and RTL; three-state TTL; MOS chips; DIP packages; socketed chips; chip removal and replacement.
* 2: Disassembly, p. 16
* Later chapters cover the '''82S100 PLA pinout and PLA inputs''', pinouts generally, and '''chapter 20, the power supply'''.
* 3: Chip Location Guide, p. 31
* '''Appendix: Master Schematic''' &mdash; a full schematic of the machine with, in the author's words, the part numbers on it, and the capacitors and resistors identified.
* 4: Chip Changing Techniques, p. 42
 
* 5: LSI Chips, p. 57
== Why it is worth having ==
* 6: Random Access Memory, p. 73
 
* 7: Read Only Memory, p. 90 (including the 82S100 PLA pinout and inputs, p. 102)
The test point charts and the master schematic are the two things a repair reader wants and a programming book does not have. The chip location guide and the chapter on chip-changing technique are period-accurate practical advice on a machine that is almost entirely socketed.
* 8: Other Integrated Circuits, p. 109
 
* 9: System Block Diagram, p. 138
== How to use this book on this wiki ==
* 10: Servicing Logic Gates, p. 153
 
* 11: Servicing Digital Registers, p. 174
It is a '''third-party book, not manufacturer documentation''', and this wiki treats it as a secondary source. Where it disagrees with Commodore's own [[Commodore 64 / 64C Service Manual|service manual]] or [[Commodore 64 Technical Manual and Parts List|technical manual]], those are primary and this is not. '''No component value on this wiki has been taken from it''', and none should be without checking the figure against a Commodore parts list first.
* 12: 6510 Microprocessor, p. 192
* 13: Memory Maps, p. 214
* 14: Clock, p. 224
* 15: Address, Data, and Control Buses, p. 236
* 16: Complex Interface Adapters, p. 253
* 17: Video Interface Chip, p. 269
* 18: Sound Interface Device, p. 290
* 19: Inputs and Outputs, p. 305
* 20: Power Supply, p. 313
* Appendix: Master Schematic, p. 319
* Index, p. 349


== Related pages ==
== Related pages ==
* [[Commodore 64]] · [[Commodore 64 Troubleshooting Guide]] · [[Commodore 64 General Maintenance]] · [[Commodore 64 Capacitor Replacement Guide]]
* [[Commodore 64 Troubleshooting and Repair Guide]], Sams's 1985 repair book for the same machine


* [[Commodore 64]] &middot; [[Commodore 64 Troubleshooting Guide]] &middot; [[Commodore 64 General Maintenance]] &middot; [[Commodore 64 Capacitor Replacement Guide]]
<pdf> File:TabBooksInc_Troubleshooting_and_Repairing_your_Commodore_64_-600dpi-.pdf </pdf>
* [[Commodore 64 Troubleshooting and Repair Guide]] &mdash; the Sams equivalent, also 1985
* [[:Category:Commodore Books]] &mdash; the annotated index of all 60 books hosted here


<pdf> File:TabBooksInc_Troubleshooting_and_Repairing_your_Commodore_64_-600dpi-.pdf </pdf>
Download: [[:File:TabBooksInc Troubleshooting and Repairing your Commodore 64 -600dpi-.pdf|TabBooksInc Troubleshooting and Repairing your Commodore 64 -600dpi-.pdf]]


Download '''Troubleshooting and Repairing your Commodore 64''' here: [[:File:TabBooksInc Troubleshooting and Repairing your Commodore 64 -600dpi-.pdf|TabBooksInc Troubleshooting and Repairing your Commodore 64 -600dpi-.pdf]]
== References ==
<references />


[[Category:Commodore Documentation]]
[[Category:Commodore Documentation]]
[[Category:Commodore Books]]
[[Category:Commodore Books]]

Latest revision as of 09:58, 1 October 2026

Troubleshooting & Repairing Your Commodore 64 is a 1985 repair book by Art Margolis, published by TAB Books of Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania; the hosted scan is the first edition, first printing. ISBN 0-8306-0889-3 (hardback) and 0-8306-1889-9 (paperback); Library of Congress call number TK7887.M374 1985, card number 85-4640.[1] The Library of Congress record gives the extent as xii, 351 pages.[2]

It is a component-level repair book for the Commodore 64 and also a course in how the machine's circuits work. Margolis describes it as the manual a technician would refer to, giving voltages and parts as well as theory.[3]

What the book provides

[edit | edit source]
  • Test point charts: each shows a chip's pinout, the direction of signal flow on each pin and the reading to expect with a logic probe. The front matter lists 22 of them, from the 2114 colour RAM (figure 6-4) to the 6581 SID (figure 18-1), covering the 4164 DRAMs, the ROMs, the 82S100 PLA, the TTL support chips, the 6510, both 6526 CIAs and the 6567 VIC-II.[4]
  • A chip location guide (chapter 3) and chip removal and replacement techniques (chapter 4).[5]
  • A master schematic in the appendix (pp. 319-348), drawn in numbered sections. Margolis says it uses the designators printed on the board, so that U7 on the schematic is the 6510 marked U7 on the board, and the capacitors and resistors are identified the same way.[3][6]
  • A power supply chapter. It covers checking the external adapter for 9 V AC and +5 V DC, the computer's fuse (1 A, 250 V, 3AG type) in the 9 V AC line, the bridge rectifier (about +12 V DC out), the line through a 7805 regulator, the +9 V unregulated line for the cassette motor, and the +5 V main line from the adapter.[7]

The book does not say which board revision its master schematic shows. It is a third-party book; for part numbers and values check it against Commodore's service manual and technical manual.

Contents

[edit | edit source]

Page numbers are from the book's contents list.[5]

  • Test Point Charts; Introduction
  • 1: Interpreting the Symptoms, p. 1
  • 2: Disassembly, p. 16
  • 3: Chip Location Guide, p. 31
  • 4: Chip Changing Techniques, p. 42
  • 5: LSI Chips, p. 57
  • 6: Random Access Memory, p. 73
  • 7: Read Only Memory, p. 90 (including the 82S100 PLA pinout and inputs, p. 102)
  • 8: Other Integrated Circuits, p. 109
  • 9: System Block Diagram, p. 138
  • 10: Servicing Logic Gates, p. 153
  • 11: Servicing Digital Registers, p. 174
  • 12: 6510 Microprocessor, p. 192
  • 13: Memory Maps, p. 214
  • 14: Clock, p. 224
  • 15: Address, Data, and Control Buses, p. 236
  • 16: Complex Interface Adapters, p. 253
  • 17: Video Interface Chip, p. 269
  • 18: Sound Interface Device, p. 290
  • 19: Inputs and Outputs, p. 305
  • 20: Power Supply, p. 313
  • Appendix: Master Schematic, p. 319
  • Index, p. 349
[edit | edit source]

Download: TabBooksInc Troubleshooting and Repairing your Commodore 64 -600dpi-.pdf

References

[edit | edit source]
  1. ↑ Art Margolis, Troubleshooting & Repairing Your Commodore 64 (TAB Books, 1985), title page and copyright page (PDF pp. 7-8).
  2. ↑ Open Library, Troubleshooting & repairing your Commodore 64, record OL3024323M, from Library of Congress catalogue data. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Margolis, Troubleshooting & Repairing Your Commodore 64, Introduction, pp. ix-xii (PDF pp. 14-17).
  4. ↑ Margolis, Troubleshooting & Repairing Your Commodore 64, list of Test Point Charts (PDF p. 13), and Introduction (PDF pp. 15-16).
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Margolis, Troubleshooting & Repairing Your Commodore 64, Contents (PDF pp. 9-12).
  6. ↑ Margolis, Troubleshooting & Repairing Your Commodore 64, Appendix: Master Schematic, pp. 319-348 (PDF pp. 335-362).
  7. ↑ Margolis, Troubleshooting & Repairing Your Commodore 64, chapter 20, Power Supply, pp. 313-318 (PDF pp. 329-334).
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