[Coco] [CoCo] Hello, newbie with new toy

[Jerry Morelli]

Hello Everyone,
I'm new to the list and just rejoined the CoCo "community".  I've been reading the list for the last week or 2.  My quick background story (if you care)...

When I was but a wee lad of about 10 or 11, my dad got our first 16k CoCo 2.  Since mom and dad were divorced, I only got to play with it on the weekends.  I quickly fell in love with it though.  After a couple years and lots of pleading, dad decided to upgrade to 64k.  Instead of just upgrading his computer, he gave it to my brother and I and got himself a new one.  Yay!  A computer at home!  Over the next several years, many upgrades and additions were made, until I wound up with several CoCo 3's and just about anything one would want.  As time went by, it all got stuck in boxes and gathered dust.  Unfortunately, I moved into a tiny apartment with no space and eventually just threw the whole works into a dumpster ("what?!?!" you must be thinking").  This was before the days of E-bay and widespread internet usage.

Fast forward to now... a few weeks ago I started thinking about the ol' CoCo again and really got a jones for getting another one and playing with it.  One thing I'd really like to do is get into programming.  I learned a little BASIC way back when, but never really took it too far.  It's something I've always regretted a little bit.  So I figured picking up an old CoCo would be a good way to experiment and also introduce my 3 year old son to computers.

I've been watching Ebay the last few weeks and checking flea markets, etc.  I finally landed a CoCo 3 with some ROM packs and a couple joysticks.  Woohoo!  (I actually got them from Goodwill's auction site, which I didn't even know existed until this search started.)  My goodies arrived the other night.  I immediately opened the box and plugged the little guy into my TV's front composite inputs.  The familiar green screen came up.  I goofed around for a few minutes.  And then tried a ROM pack.

And that's where my problems begin... if you've made it this far, this is where I need help.  The computer I got is a virgin 128k CoCo 3.  I could tell because the sticker had never been broken on the bottom.  Well, the ROM packs don't work.  I basically get a blank screen when I try one.  Then after I take them out and re-power, sometimes I don't get the BASIC prompt.  I have to turn it off for several minutes.  After reading around a bit, I decided to pop the case and look inside.  Everything *looks* OK.  No real dust to speak of.  I popped out the GIME since it seems the problems could be related to that.  Cleaned it and the socket with some alcohol and put it back in.  Also cleaned out the cartridge slot with some electronics cleaner.  Still the ROM packs don't work.  On top of that, it seems like there is some noise in the picture.  Even the blinking cursor seems to have one little corner that appears a different color or something. 
 It's just not a "clean" picture.

Help??  Any ideas?  I really would like to get some of the new toys that people have designed but I don't want to spend the money if I have a bad CoCo.  I can always pick up another one, sure, but I'd like to get this one working.

Sorry to be so long-winded.  I look forward to participating in the list and re-discovering my CoCo.

Thanks guys,
Jerry