Reanimator, The Deadtest Cartridge
The deadtest Cartridge was still a missing piece in my toolbox, and since I also needed this one, I had to get it.
I looked for all the necessary signals and then rebuilt a regular cartridge to see if it works.
After the tests had gone well, I designed a cartridge especially for this purpose.
Unlike most cartridges, the Deadtest Cartridge resides in a different memory area ($E000 instead of $8000).
The advantage of this is that if half the C64 no longer works, the Reanimator can still show whether something is still working in the machine.
The Reanimator deadtest Cartridge is not a replacement for a regular diagnostic Cartridges,
but rather a supplement for those machines that are so battered that they no longer give a picture.
There is an ingenious idea behind the Deadtest cart that ensures that even with machines with a non-functioning video part, it can often still be made clear what can be wrong with the machine.
This is done by flashing the screen, which can certainly go quite fast with higher numbers so count a few times until you are sure how many there are.
It is based on the Original Test Kit (CBM 314139-03) as used by Commodore Technicians to test Commodore 64 (and Commodore 128 in C64 mode).
The test kit consisted of:
Cartridge ROM: C64 Dead Test Rev 781220 Diagnostic Cartridge (314139-01)
Manual: C64 Dead Test Diagnostic Manual (314139-02)
Deze stappen worden doorlopen tijdens het runnen van de Dead Test Routines :
1. memBankTest - Black screen, if test fail, jump to screen blinking and go in infinite loop
2. drawLayout executed - VIC initialized
3. zeroPageTest
4. stackPageTest
5. screenRamTest
6. colorRamTest
7. ramTest
8. fontTest
9. soundTest
10. filtersTest
11. Counter updated, loop to VIC initialization and restart tests
Reanimator, The Deadtest Cartridge Aanbieding:
For those wondering where the name comes from: The is inspired by an 80s horror movie where a mad scientist develops a serum to bring the dead back to life.
If you like cult classics, the Re-animator is definitely recommended:
The cartridge comes with 1 switch and you can switch between 2 Deadtest Programs:
the original 781220 test set, and a more extensive and optimized test set with some nice extras.
the manual of the 781220 test set can be found here.
Price of the Reanimator Deadtest Cartridge is 18,00 euros including a housing or 14 euro for the bare PCB
