!!Con 2020 - Repair a Commodore 64 in just 64 Months!! by Matt Clawson

Repair a Commodore 64 in just 64 Months!! by Matt Clawson It took me over 5 years, but I did eventually get my thrift store Commodore 64 up and running! Along the way, I encountered active online communities who are keeping old platforms alive by openly sharing technical documents, repair logs, and 21st century improvements to computers from the past. I’ll share my experience of going from an absolute beginner with a broken computer to a beginner with a working computer! I’ll walk through some of my troubleshooting steps and simply explain the faulty subsystems which prevented the computer from working. You’ll learn about the challenges of working with old machines, see the tools folks use for repair, and be introduced to some of the cool hobbyist efforts that make impossible repairs possible. Matt builds software for journalists and is located in Newark, NJ. He enjoys studying the history of computing and learning the inner workings of obsolete platforms adored by millions.