In the latest episode from RavenWolf Retro Tech, what was supposed to be a straightforward restoration of a rare Silver Label Commodore 64 took an unexpected turn, straight into the danger zone. Mike thought this one would be a simple fix. Spoiler alert: it wasn’t.
Instead of a tidy repair, the machine fought back. Hard. There were moments when it nearly broke him—mentally and probably emotionally—but true to form, Mike managed to claw his way out of the retro-tech abyss. With some persistence, a healthy dose of trial and error, and a little help from fellow retro computing friends, he got it done.
Mike admits this one drained him so much, he completely forgot to include a parts replacement list in the video. (Hey, it happens to the best of us.) But no worries—he promises to include the full breakdown in the upcoming 64 Evolution video series restoration report.
For those who need to know what went under the soldering iron, here’s the list:
- A new fuse
- A 7805 voltage regulator with a heat sink
- Two capacitors
- Two CIA chips
- Two RAM chips (well, technically eight were swapped, but only two were faulty)
- One 74LS257
- One 74LS258
- A bunch of IC sockets that were mumbled into existence during a moment of exhaustion
After the camera stopped rolling, the top case of the unit was also swapped. The updated case now houses a 326298 Rev A board that had previously been tucked inside a much newer shell. This move makes the unit period-correct for the follow-up video—a neat detail for any serious Commodore aficionado.
