In his latest video, Adrian’s Digital Basement dives into an epic and unusually stubborn Commodore 1551 repair. What starts as a basic case swap and power test quickly turns into a classic deep-dive of signals, chips, and head-scratching behavior. If you love watching vintage hardware push someone to the brink of madness (in a good way), this episode delivers.
Here are five takeaways from the rollercoaster ride that is this Commodore 1551 repair.
1. Frankenstein’s Drive Lives
Adrian rehouses the busted 1551 into a 1541 case—color mismatch and all. With a power-converted transformer and a little Dremel work, it boots up and spins! A minor win… but things quickly go south.
2. “It Worked… Until It Didn’t”
Initially, the drive wouldn’t communicate at all. Then—mysteriously—it did. A suspected bad cartridge slot connection turned out to be the first of many red herrings in this Commodore 1551 repair saga.
3. The Headache of Headbanging
With signals scoping clean and resistance readings matching a known-good drive, the read head seemed fine. Still, the drive failed to read disks, even after trying a known-good mechanism.
4. Chip Swap Showdown
Adrian methodically swapped ROMs, the hybrid analog IC, two gate arrays, and finally narrowed the issue to one of two suspects: the rare 6525 CIA or the 6510T CPU—neither of which are easy to source.
5. The Real Fix? Unknown. The Journey? Worth It.
While the drive isn’t fixed (yet), Adrian’s methodical approach offers a treasure trove of debugging techniques for retro enthusiasts. Oscilloscopes, schematics, dead-ends—classic Adrian.
Whether you’re restoring a 1551 or just here for the retro vibes, this episode is a must-watch for fans of deep-dive hardware troubleshooting.
