C128 - wonky colours and stripey picture

Hi there! I just recently aquired a pearly white C128 which runs great with the exception that the video output generates bland and off colours when running games and the image has a hint of stripes in the foreground. When trying out the rf-modulator the picture seems to be better but generates random interferences. I was wondering, can it be a bad chip? I have yet to open it up, but if it needs to be clean do you guys have any advice? Are the chips socketed like in the Amiga?
any help appreciated.

i've had a couple systems like that recently, sometimes older systems chip contacts 'oxidize', and prying out the chips and reseating them fixes this....

many of the chips in the C128 are socketed, including the VICII (which is likely the culprit) but generally i pry all the socketed one out and re-insert them (carefully not to bend the pins obviously)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...3/C128mobo.jpg

Would I be needing an instrument to do this or may I use the hands for this? Proper antistatic precaution taken, of course.

there are proper chip pry tools, but generally speaking i have gotten away with carefully prying each side of the chips with a small flat screwdriver, just pulling with your fingers will be a: too difficult and b: likely bend all the pins if you do get it out

just a small flat screwdriver, slowly pry one half of the chip up, then the other end...should pop out nicely without bending anything.

Most of the screwdrivers I've got are magnetic, would that be a problem? :/

so long as you don't rub it across the disk openings of your floppy disks, no

I'll give it a try then in a while, I'll let you know how it went! :)

just don't pull them out then put them in backwards :P

And take special note of any spare holes either side in the socket if any, ie. on Amiga ROM chips :lol:

Well, that went smooth all the way down to hell.
I pulled out and reseated both the VIC-II and the VDC, and now it has random hiccups.
Check out the results here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dD9xiVvZAM

The colours do seem better when the screen isn't fudged up, but the stripes are still there.
I doubt that reseating the chips will do any more good, I'm guessing the IC's themselves are worn out as it's the plastic variants and not ceramic.
Anyone with spare VICII- and VDC-chips want to swap a C64 for a C128? 8)

Anyways, any more suggestions? Are there any other graphic chips in the C128 that I'm not aware of that might like some reseating?