Bench Tools for Vintage Computer Repair

What you actually need on the bench to bring an old computer back to life, and a rough order to acquire it in. From a soldering iron and braid through a logic analyzer and a known-good test rig.

Commodore 64 250407 Visual Parts Locator

Five labeled diagrams of the 250407 breadbin board — ports, custom chips, RAM, and glue logic — with U-numbers that line up with Ray Carlsen's symptom guide

Commodore 64 Community Resources

The people, places, and projects that keep the Commodore 64 platform alive in 2026 — repair experts, modern-hardware vendors, archives, and forums

Commodore 64 Socketing Parts

Mouser part numbers for the DIP sockets and the 2114 color SRAM I use when socketing chips on a 250407 board

Commodore DOS Quick Reference

The handful of Commodore DOS commands you actually use on a 1541 — load, save, format, delete, reset

NeXT Workstation Resources

Curated reference links for restoring and modifying NeXT workstations — pinouts, keyboard protocol, parts, and vendor sources

Commodore SX-64 Schematics

Complete schematic diagrams for the Commodore SX-64 portable computer

IBM PCjr Resources

Essential online resources for IBM PCjr restoration and upgrades

Silicon Graphics Parts Sources

Where to find parts for SGI workstation restoration

Sun Hardware Reference Guide

Technical reference for Sun workstation hardware