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+--- Thread: Rediscovering our MicroBee (/thread-818.html)
Rediscovering our MicroBee - matt - 07-07-2024
Hi all,
New to this forum, however trying to rediscover our old MicroBee which we used when we were a lot younger.
After putting it all together and testing it out, unfortunately the MicroBee does not boot up. I'll be asking someone familiar with the Technology to help diagnose the issue.
There appears to be power going into it, but no further activity after powering it on.
Until getting it fixed, putting everything together and taking a stocktake to see if there is anything of use to the community.
I still have a number of tapes, manuals, "Online" journal magazines. "Catcher" publications and other advertising material. Have a look through the photos and let me know if there is anything of interest that I can scan, upload for the forum.
Photos are uploaded here due to size limitations:
https://imgur.com/a/microbee-KjTMr8G
Issues in μbug Catcher/Catcher Volume 1,2, 4 and 5.
Games include:
32K GALAXY
32K GALAXY JS
ASTRO
GOBBLE
SKI SLALOM
FIFTEEN PUZZLE
WUMPUS1
WUMPUS2
BIORHYTHMS
FRANKENSTEIN
COLDITZ
LOGIC DICE
NOS BASIC OUT
SQUARES
MINDREADER
CAMEL
CONCENTRATION
SPELLBOUND
DECISION MAKER
TANKS
UFO ATTACK
SCHMOO CITY
BLACK FRIDAY
TERMITE
MANOEUVERS
ROBOTMAN
ROBOTMAN JS
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE
SURVIVE
KUNG FU
BUSY CALC
HURKLE CRICKET
MADLIB
PIRATE
LUCKY DIP
TYPING SOLITAIRE
MATHADV
DOMACCTS
EDUPACK1
EDUPACK2
A-C M_RACE
ZTREK
SUBTERRA
CHPLUS
MONKEY
TARGET
GALAXY JS
KINGS
CHESS
DRAUGHTS
ADVENTURE LAND
SPACE INVADE JS
TRIANGLES
MISSILE WAR
CHASE
FROGOP and ALPHAB
M-Race
ADSTAR/SQUARE
GRILLA/FRACE
RESCUE and ALPHA2
MUNCH/TNT
MicroBee demonstration tapettps://imgur.com/a/microbee-KjTMr8G
RE: Rediscovering our MicroBee - ChickenMan - 08-07-2024
Welcome to the forum and wow, what a great collection
Went through the pics and would be good if we could get dumps of these few tapes missing from our Repository -
Lucky Dip
Domaccts
Fifteen Puzzles
Tanks
UFO Attack
Schmoo City
Black Friday
Manoeuvers
We have a 100% collection of Catcher and Online magazines and all the other manuals/docs shown. Not sure of the rest of the Red folder though.
RE: Rediscovering our MicroBee - MbeeTech - 08-07-2024
Hi Matt.
Great collection of software.
In regards to getting your Microbee going, the first thing to try is (having opened the case) remove the coreboard from the baseboard
(there are 2 PCBs in the machine - the coreboard, or memory board, is the top board you see when you open the case, then the baseboard
which has the Z80 CPU etc on it). There are 2 x 25 way pin headers / sockets that connect these boards together - they frequent are the cause
of a machine not working having sat idle for a long time, due to oxidization. Plug the 2 boards back together again. Repeat this process a few times.
After it is all plugged together again, try it out & see if it boots. If you hold down the ESC key while booting (this makes it cold boot, resetting memory)
and it should beep if it is working. If you get that far, that is a good step. If you are unsure that your monitor is working, you can plug the video lead into
the AV socket of a TV and should be able to work with that.
Let us know if that helps.
Should you want the Microbee attended to, you can bring / send it in for servicing.
RE: Rediscovering our MicroBee - matt - 09-07-2024
Thanks for the guidance! I had followed those steps from a previous post, but had not tried the escape key. After doing this, I heard the familar beep and the Microbee booted up.
It looks good, but a few of the keys are not working. Any suggestions to try to revive the keys? Thank you in advance!
RE: Rediscovering our MicroBee - MbeeTech - 09-07-2024
Hi Matt.
If it is only a few keys, then it is worth trying to repair the individual switches.
Here is a link to the repair guide I put together :
http://www.microbeetechnology.com.au/downloads/GuideToRepairingMicrobeeKeySwitches.pdf
If it is more than just a few, it is worth considering a keyboard replacement kit :
https://www.microbeetechnology.com.au/store/keyboard-replacement-kit-standard-non-premium.html