Okay, so I've had this calculator for a long time, but it was corrupted two years ago. I was running the Omnicalc Font Editor program from ticalc.org (I believe this was it), and it suddenly crashed. Upon removing and re-inserting the battery, I was greeted with a screen full of nonsense. Occasionally, it would fail and overvolt the LCD (blue screen). I cleared archive and re-installed the OS to no avail. I essentially gave up on repairing it. However, recently, I was thinking of how similar the 83+SE and the 84+SE were spec-wise, and I have a newer 84+SE (post-2007, with only 48KB RAM). I thought of how I would be able to do much more if I was using the 83+SE as opposed to its newer variant. That inspired me to try to repair the calculator. I invalidated the OS, and booted it into the full self-test (with archive check). The screen showed things that made decent sense now, and so I decided to re-install OS 1.19. It was difficult to install it, because it continuously shut down when it received power via the link port. In the end, I made it receive by removing a battery and re-inserting it while the link cable was connected on both ends. However, even upon re-install, things were still glitchy. I still experience the issue of the overvolted LCD at times (blue screen).

I was curious if anybody had any ideas as to how I could possibly repair the calculator. Please help if you can.

I'll add screenshots if desired, but I don't think they'd help much. Tell me if I'm wrong.[/url]

Your VAT could have gotten corrupted. But I'm not sure what's involved in repairing it.

Is it not possible, then, to restore the VAT with the archive self-test?

I'm pretty sure that isn't the problem, because a simple RAM clear could fix that. Techno, although 1.19 is the most stable version of the 83+ OS, you could try downgrading to an older version to see if that fixes the issue.

Yeah. I thought the VAT was re-generated every time a RAM clear occurred. I guess I'll go ahead and get an older OS version. I feel like my issue isn't well understood. If the OS doesn't fix it, I'll go ahead and add some pictures.

Before you do an OS re-download, try doing an archive clear. Pull all five batteries for about an hour. Reinsert three AAAs, hold delete, insert the last AAA while still holding delete, tap ON, release delete. See what happens. Could also be an LCD ribbon issue that appeared; the TI-83+SE uses a lower-quality ribbon than the 83+.

Apparently I forgot about this topic. *Checks notifications box* Anyway, I'm almost certain it's a ribbon cable issue. May I ask how I would go about checking, and if it really is, repairing?

For checking:

1) Plug your calculator into your computer
2) Try to browse it using TI-Connect's TI Device Explorer
3) If you succeed, use the TI ScreenCapture application to take a picture of your calculator over the link, and please post it.

So I've once more located my old SilverLink cable, and captured the computer's interpretation of the calculator screen:


Obviously, something's wrong here. This appears when this was how the calculator looked (corrupted Applications menu):

Sorry for the poor quality here; I simply used my 3DS' camera without 3D activated.

Would this be simply the LCD, or would some more severe issue possibly be in play? I feel that the link port is fine, because it has been able to verify an OS and also see the 84+ OS as invalid. Therefore, I believe it is safe to assume that the ribbon cable is not properly functioning. Is there any fairly simple way to replace it? Here are some questions I have:

1. What kind of screwdriver would it require?
   
2. How easy would it be to gain access to the proper soldering locations?
   
3. How precise would the soldering need to be? (I'd assume the contacts are fairly small, in which case I'd most likely require a friend to assist me)
   

I do have an old 83+ which I could transplant the cable from, if necessary.

This is a classic TI-83+ Silver Edition failure. I think the majority of Silver Editions fail over time in this way; I've fixed four of them at this point that are currently in my collection. The screenshot confirms what I needed to know. You cannot transplant the cable; you don't have the equipment to heat-seal it. You need 30 gauge wire, a soldering iron, nail clippers to strip the wire, and a very steady hand.

1. Torx-6 and Phillips
2. Easy, assuming you have a Torx-6. An Allen key won't cut it.
3. Very precise

Before and after on one of my SE repairs:



Soldering details:




A calculator that required only selective repair:

Wow, thanks Kerm! That was an amazingly fast and detailed reply. Considering I'm not much of a hardware modder like yourself, I would be completely lost without your assistance. I have two final questions before I gather the materials, however:

1. Considering it's possible that I may need only to repair a select few cables, could I test for which are failing using a multimeter?
   
2. Considering 30 AWG seems to be fairly standard, would it be possible to salvage it from anything else? I understand that it may not be optimal, but I don't want to purchase wire for only this if it can be avoided. It's apparently 1/100 inch in diameter, and I feel like other devices would use this quite often. Would an old IDE cable possibly have this diameter?
   

If you can't tell, I'm not very experienced on the hardware end of things. I know a bit, but I feel as if I should clarify these things.

1. Absolutely. The resistance should be balanced, otherwise you'll see a skew, and it should be around 5 ohms at most. The two power rails (the wider ones) should be lower, around 2-3 ohms
2. IDE cables are made with stranded wire, not solid-core wire, which is much harder for something like this. IDE wires are also around 26 AWG, which is too big to do this effectively.