Amstrad PC1640 Service Manual
The PC1640 Personal Computer / PC-MD Monochrome Display / PC-CD Colour Display / PC-ECD Enhanced Colour Display Service Manual is Amstrad's own service manual for the PC1640 and its three displays. 76 pages, with a text layer and searchable.
Contents
editAmstrad's own contents list:
- Technical specification; safety tests
- FD-3 maintenance — pages 3–14
- Flow charts — 15–18
- Hard disc installation instructions
- Switch settings
- Understanding bad sectors on a hard disc
- Notes
- Keyboard exploded diagram; keyboard control PCB layout; keyboard schematic diagram
- PC1640 electrical parts list
- PC1640/SD/DD/HD20 cabinet drawing and parts list
- PC1640/SD/DD/HD20 CPU PC board, top and bottom views
- PC1640/SD/DD/HD20 chassis schematic diagrams
- Sections for the PC-MD, PC-CD and PC-ECD displays
What it settles
editTechnical specification: 640K system unit with all circuitry on a single motherboard; 8 MHz 8086; fully compatible internal graphics adaptor; three full-size expansion slots — retained even with the hard disc option; one or two 360K 5.25-inch floppies or one floppy with a 20 MB hard disc; RS232 and parallel interfaces; loudspeaker with volume control; battery-backed real-time clock and configuration RAM; socket for an 8087; light pen and/or joystick connector; keyboard joystick port; two-button mouse with a dedicated port on the system unit; a choice of three displays — paper-white monochrome, colour, or enhanced colour — on a standard video connector. The ECD monitor has a 0.31 mm pitch shadow mask.
Two sections are worth knowing about beyond the usual:
- "Understanding bad sectors on a hard disc" — Amstrad's own explanation of what the defect list on a period MFM drive means and when a bad sector is expected rather than a fault. Useful before condemning a drive.
- Switch settings — the configuration switches, which on a PC1640 determine which display adaptor mode the machine boots in. A PC1640 with a blank screen is frequently set for the wrong display.
The FD-3 maintenance section at pages 3–14 is the same detailed drive procedure as in Amstrad PC1512 Service Manual.
What this manual does not contain
edit- No VDU diagnostic test documentation. Amstrad published that separately; see Amstrad PC1640 VDU Tests Manual, which covers the EGA and Hercules modes this manual does not exercise.
- No hard disc repair data — installation and bad-sector explanation only.
- No coverage of the PC1512 or the PC2000 series.
Download here: Amstrad PC1640 Service Manual.pdf