
Ask HN: Resurrection of Z80 Exidy Sorcerer - andrewstuart
Folks of HN. I&#x27;m trying to bring my Exidy Sorcerer back to life... &amp; a call for help from anyone who knows anything about (old) electronics.
Years ago I was lucky enough to buy an old Exidy Sorcerer computer. But I&#x27;ve waited till now to get time to try to bring it back to life.<p>It&#x27;s a beauty, fully kitted out with display, printer, disk drives, manuals and software, in the original boxes!<p>The original box: https:&#x2F;&#x2F;imgur.com&#x2F;5xRFpjH<p>From Exidy, 390 Java Drive, Sunnyvale California! https:&#x2F;&#x2F;imgur.com&#x2F;kagFrCC<p>It&#x27;s a 32K model: https:&#x2F;&#x2F;imgur.com&#x2F;7KFBjaj<p>Inside, the machine under its plastic dust cover: https:&#x2F;&#x2F;imgur.com&#x2F;syAC3mF<p>The dust cover reveals the pristine machine: https:&#x2F;&#x2F;imgur.com&#x2F;MwSLOup<p>Hidden at the bottom of the box, weirdly, a chip! https:&#x2F;&#x2F;imgur.com&#x2F;52V0x3N<p>The original monitor: https:&#x2F;&#x2F;imgur.com&#x2F;qviVnoZ https:&#x2F;&#x2F;imgur.com&#x2F;qviVnoZ<p>Green phosphor no less! https:&#x2F;&#x2F;imgur.com&#x2F;p1NGl2M<p>A bag of cables, including a joystick! https:&#x2F;&#x2F;imgur.com&#x2F;s9kpfwg https:&#x2F;&#x2F;imgur.com&#x2F;eibEq8L<p>The most beautiful floppy disk drives ever made: https:&#x2F;&#x2F;imgur.com&#x2F;ssJq3Wj https:&#x2F;&#x2F;imgur.com&#x2F;1kK3ole https:&#x2F;&#x2F;imgur.com&#x2F;ADqTRum<p>That even have a little dust cover: https:&#x2F;&#x2F;imgur.com&#x2F;fa3kRjD<p>But does this 40 year old machine work?<p>Yes! https:&#x2F;&#x2F;imgur.com&#x2F;8toCU8T<p>In case you weren&#x27;t sure, the stack begins from BF90 hex. https:&#x2F;&#x2F;imgur.com&#x2F;HhcTkSz<p>BUT DISASTER!<p>I plugged it in and turned it on and it worked, but within 60 seconds there was a crackling sound and burning smell and I rapidly turned it off again.<p>OH NO!<p>What do I do? Dear Hacker News community: I’m trying to find someone who can help me with this. I believe the capacitors in these old machines are often a problem. Maybe it&#x27;s that? How do I find someone here in Melbourne, Australia who knows how to replace capacitors in these old machines?<p>Hopefully I can get this beauty back to life and try to preserve the software contained on its floppy disks.
======
saundby
Join us at the Vintage Computer Forum. Technical assistance on tap for keeping
older computers operational. Troubleshooting assistance, parts supplier
recommendations, etc.

[http://www.vcfed.org/forum/forum.php](http://www.vcfed.org/forum/forum.php)

Your problem sounds like a classic example of a capacitor failure, either a
bypass capacitor or a filter cap in the power supply is most likely.

~~~
andrewstuart
This indeed is exactly the right place and I have successfully found someone
there to help, along with alot of other like minded vintage computing people!

------
db48x
Replacing capacitors is generally pretty easy, especially with the through-
hole components that older systems used. Of course, a lot of other things can
lose their magic smoke too, so you'll have to do some troubleshooting to be
sure what the problem is.

You'll want to find the official parts lists and schematics, so look on the
Internet Archive for them. A quick search
([https://archive.org/search.php?query=exidy%20sorcerer](https://archive.org/search.php?query=exidy%20sorcerer))
finds the schematic for the Exidy Sorcerer 2, so hopefully the one for your
machine won't be too hard to find.

------
robterrell
Wow, these photos take me back! I loved playing & making games on the Sorcerer
with its character graphics. (Fun fact: my uncle Paul Terrell was the founder
of Exidy. He sent us a Sorcerer for Christmas, but it was only partially
assembled. My mom assumed he was just dumping a unit that failed QA, but my
dad and I managed to get it working.)

Sounds like you blew a capacitor. Just open the case and look for the one that
died. You should be able to desolder and replace it without much trouble.

------
zantana
There is a forum for this
[https://www.badcaps.net/forum/](https://www.badcaps.net/forum/) which I
believe was started when there was a slew of bad capacitors a decade or two
ago.

The main page appears to be someone who has a service of some sort, but maybe
posting in the forums will get you somewhere.

I always had a softspot for the Exidy and those awesome vector graphics. Good
luck on your restoration.

------
lowlevel
Wow, I've never seen the box before! Good job saving it all these years. You
probably should have gone through it before trying to power it all on... look
for signs of arcing in the monitor... and yeah, replace blown/leaky caps
everywhere... if not all of the good ones too.. And make sure the power is
stable and clean before connecting it up/trying again.

------
tssva
A quick Google search brings up this guy.
[http://members.optusnet.com.au/spacetaxi64/DRIVERS/VINTAGE-R...](http://members.optusnet.com.au/spacetaxi64/DRIVERS/VINTAGE-
REPAIRS.htm)

People in the Australian Vintage Computer group on Facebook could probably
give you some good leads.

~~~
andrewstuart
Thanks. He3 is actually out of business, but I have found someone else to
help.

------
WalterGR
With links:

The original box: [https://imgur.com/5xRFpjH](https://imgur.com/5xRFpjH)

From Exidy, 390 Java Drive, Sunnyvale California!
[https://imgur.com/kagFrCC](https://imgur.com/kagFrCC)

It's a 32K model: [https://imgur.com/7KFBjaj](https://imgur.com/7KFBjaj)

Inside, the machine under its plastic dust cover:
[https://imgur.com/syAC3mF](https://imgur.com/syAC3mF)

The dust cover reveals the pristine machine:
[https://imgur.com/MwSLOup](https://imgur.com/MwSLOup)

Hidden at the bottom of the box, weirdly, a chip!
[https://imgur.com/52V0x3N](https://imgur.com/52V0x3N)

The original monitor: [https://imgur.com/qviVnoZ](https://imgur.com/qviVnoZ)
[https://imgur.com/qviVnoZ](https://imgur.com/qviVnoZ)

Green phosphor no less! [https://imgur.com/p1NGl2M](https://imgur.com/p1NGl2M)

A bag of cables, including a joystick!
[https://imgur.com/s9kpfwg](https://imgur.com/s9kpfwg)
[https://imgur.com/eibEq8L](https://imgur.com/eibEq8L)

The most beautiful floppy disk drives ever made:
[https://imgur.com/ssJq3Wj](https://imgur.com/ssJq3Wj)
[https://imgur.com/1kK3ole](https://imgur.com/1kK3ole)
[https://imgur.com/ADqTRum](https://imgur.com/ADqTRum)

That even have a little dust cover:
[https://imgur.com/fa3kRjD](https://imgur.com/fa3kRjD)

But does this 40 year old machine work?

Yes! [https://imgur.com/8toCU8T](https://imgur.com/8toCU8T)

In case you weren't sure, the stack begins from BF90 hex.
[https://imgur.com/HhcTkSz](https://imgur.com/HhcTkSz)

------
forinti
This is a common occurrence on BBC Micros: a couple of capacitors from the
power supply blow up. No harm comes from it. You just have to replace them. I
hope this is your case.

I saw a picture of an Exidy Sorcerer on a The Centre for Computing History
post a few days ago. I had no idea what it was.

------
b6
It actually might be a lucky thing that you heard a crackle and smelled smoke,
because whatever burned up might have left a sign on the board. If you look at
the board carefully under bright light with a magnifying glass, you may see
some component that is clearly messed up, like blackened or ruptured.

