I'd be worried if I saw one advertised as having a black display as there's a possibility that one or, admittedly unlikely, both of the SMD custom chips (Nick & Dave) have died. A faulty Dave can hold the reset line low so Nick never starts. If the display shows rubbish, rather than black, then Nick may well be OK but the RAM it's using hasn't been initialised. I suspect that sourcing either of those two chips would be a hard task, but I could be wrong (if you find such a source then please let me know - I'm fond of a spare).
OTOH I'd happily risk buying one with a distorted display as that's likely to be the common shorted TR2 failure.
I've got a few Enterprises but all have, so far, been reliable so I've never developed any repair expertise on that particular platform. There are a few others in this forum that have them who may well be able to give better advice. I see that you've found the Enterprise Forever forum which may well be your best source for help.
The only other points I'd make about Enterprises is that recaps are recommended if Philips electrolytics have been used. The keyboard membranes go brittle after many years (like the Spectrum ones). New ones are available on sellmyretro. I replace capacitors and membranes as a matter of course. Also, if you increase your RAM, then it's best to think of upgrading EXOS to 2.4 otherwise the RAM checks on boot may take some time. Installing EXOS 2.4 also means that you don't need an IS-BASIC cartridge (which some sellers don't provide). I've got 1536Kb RAM on all my Enterprises.
UK Enterprises have the QWERTY keyboards but others have QWERTZ ones, so check photos before buying/bidding.
Alan
OTOH I'd happily risk buying one with a distorted display as that's likely to be the common shorted TR2 failure.
I've got a few Enterprises but all have, so far, been reliable so I've never developed any repair expertise on that particular platform. There are a few others in this forum that have them who may well be able to give better advice. I see that you've found the Enterprise Forever forum which may well be your best source for help.
The only other points I'd make about Enterprises is that recaps are recommended if Philips electrolytics have been used. The keyboard membranes go brittle after many years (like the Spectrum ones). New ones are available on sellmyretro. I replace capacitors and membranes as a matter of course. Also, if you increase your RAM, then it's best to think of upgrading EXOS to 2.4 otherwise the RAM checks on boot may take some time. Installing EXOS 2.4 also means that you don't need an IS-BASIC cartridge (which some sellers don't provide). I've got 1536Kb RAM on all my Enterprises.
UK Enterprises have the QWERTY keyboards but others have QWERTZ ones, so check photos before buying/bidding.
Alan
Statistics: Posted by roganjosh — Sat Sep 14, 2024 9:43 pm