Matra Alice 8000 needs help to repair

[X07]

Dear all, i have an Alice 8000 that used to work 2 years ago, i put it to the closet and i tried it couple of months, only the cursor blinks, i want to fix and sell it, can anyone help please ? Thank you.

[fneck]

On l'a vu passer sur Ebay l'année dernière ton Alice 8000 https://www.ebay.fr/itm/MATRA-Alice-800 ... 4460032493

Mais vu le prix que tu en demandes, la réparation va te coûter une petite fortune

[X07]

The price of 2500$ is not my price it's the company i listed the alice 8000 through, they charge me 20% in order to sell my item on ebay. I'm asking for €1200 which is not too much of a price for such a rare item

[Carl]

Hi Majd,
Can you tell us how an Alice 8000 arrived in your collection (in 2015?)

some reading on the subject Alice 8000 :
http://forum.system-cfg.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=3592

Regards,
Carl

[X07]

Hello, yes of course i bought it from a collectior in Italy for 2000€ at the time. His name was Andrea Pier as i can remember. The machine was fully working until i stored it in a closet, it stopped and started showing the cursor when trying to boot. Here are the photos from when it was working in 2016.

[Bernouilli92]

On l'a vu passer sur Ebay l'année dernière ton Alice 8000 https://www.ebay.fr/itm/MATRA-Alice-800 ... 4460032493

Mais vu le prix que tu en demandes, la réparation va te coûter une petite fortune

[X07]

The price of 2500$ is not my price it's the company i listed the alice 8000 through, they charge me 20% and other shipping fees in order to sell it on ebay. The price is €1200.
I was hoping someone would help me diagnose the issue and repair the computer, but it seems you only know how to laugh and make fun.

[fneck]

Ne le prend pas mal X07 mais tu dois reconnaître que la situation est plutôt cocasse. Tu viens demander de l'aide pour dépanner puis revendre (sous-entendu plus cher) un matériel qui pourrait éventuellement intéresser quelqu'un ici-même

[Zebulon]

Welcome on the forum. Do not hesitate to introduce yourself in the dedicated section and share a bit of information about your passion for retro-computing and your collection.

Have you read the thread suggested by Carl ? There are many information, archives, links that may help you in the process.

Of course you were probably not expecting a one size fits all solution to your problem. Fixing those old electronic devices is always a new project even if we always start by the generic recommendations like checking the output voltages from the PSU, checking oxydation on the connectors/sockets, checking if some capacitor does not short circuit, etc.

My way of proceeding is always separation of concern and breakdown of complex issues.

Also please be aware that you are our eyes and hands in the process. We can guide you but you must perform actions and report results by yourself. Good pictures/measurements are necessary for us to help. Also written and remote communication is a tedious process so do not assume that we will guess something, always be very detailed.

So let start...

[gotcha]

Ne le prend pas mal X07 mais tu dois reconnaître que la situation est plutôt cocasse. Tu viens demander de l'aide pour dépanner puis revendre (sous-entendu plus cher) un matériel qui pourrait éventuellement intéresser quelqu'un ici-même

C'est malheureusement une situation assez classique sur le forum. C'est vrai que ça démotive beaucoup pour aider les nouveaux arrivants. Je me répète peut-être, mais je ne comprends toujours pas trop la motivation pour acheter à ce prix une machine qui somme tout ne sert à pas a grand chose et qui va de toute manière tomber souvent en panne. Quitte à spéculer, autant le faire dans l'art, pas dans les vieux ordinateurs, quand bien même ils soient 'rares'

[X07]

Thank you Zebulon for trying to help, i'm not an electrical/computer engineer so i really need detailed instructions about what i need to do to try to fix this machine. Maybe i can send you a video by email about how it starts and tries to boot so it will be clearer ?

[Zebulon]

You can post links to the video in the forum. If you don't feel confident enough or don't have enough tools/practice to achieve it the best is to let the computer as-is and let the future owner manage the repair. Otherwise you may damage it even more by doing mistakes.

My first and only repair done as of today on a ZX spectrum 48k led me to perform a bit more than 400 unsoldering/soldering operations to test and replace components until I found all the culprits so you see.

[X07]

I guess that you're right.. i might damage it... i will keep it as is until maybe another owner will repair it.

[X07]

Dear all, this is the motherboard's photo, i haven't tested the power supply yet but i'm almost sure that the main board is brand new, no capacitors leaking whatsoever so i think it's a power supply issue. Thank you.

[Daniel]

i'm almost sure that the main board is brand new, no capacitors leaking whatsoever so i think it's a power supply issue.

The opposite is a better guess. The blinking cursor is an evidence of a working power supply. The main board is not working properly.
Do not try to repair yourself if you don't have the necessary skills. You can only make the problems worse.
Do not leave the EPROM without a sticker to protect it from light.