Hi George,
As Josh mentioned the power supply is a common problem on these machines. The electrolytic capacitors leak and their value changes. The M100 is one of the few machines I consider a must for recapping. Using the Backpack, means using the serial port which places an additional load on the -5V supply (in addition to the screen.) I suspect your -5V was right on the edge of failing and this pushed it over. I think Josh and I have both done videos about the recapping process if that would be of help. Jeff Birt From: M100 <[email protected]> On Behalf Of George Goodman Sent: Thursday, November 4, 2021 2:19 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [M100] M100 display suddenly less visible Hi all, My M100 display seems to have taken a turn for the dim. See the images in this shared folder —> https://www.dropbox.com/sh/y1cpftct6dgqy2j/AAAEb3PmIC1b30qh7FV_WX4ea?dl=0 I can’t point to anything that happened. I started an install of TS-DOS from my Backpack and, once the Initial Program Load began, stepped away from my desk to get a glass of water. When I returned a few minutes later I thought the M100 had flat out died. I removed the Backpack and tried turning the M111 on and off and even did a hard reset. No joy…I thought. I happened to sit down at my desk and catch a more extreme viewing angle of the display. That’s when I realized that there was just a display issue. I verified that I can start up Basic, make the system beep, open Text, etc. However, I haven’t found anything that will get the display back to good viewing from overhead. BTW, I did try the contrast dial and that didn’t have any impact. The images in that shared folder were taken with the contrast at its highest. Does anyone have suggestions for debugging and fixing this? Thanks, george g.
