a4000 red screen + more

thinlega · 26 April 2005, 17:00

I was playing with my a4000 last night and It started to act odd...
while playing games it started to stutter. I loaded up workbench and it came up with an odd message like "cannot read rom....(something)"

then it had a red screen on the boot up but after a reset it loaded ok......now all I get is a black screen

I have taken out all of the extras in the a4000 and taken out the roms and put them back in again....but it still refuses to work???

any ideas???

BippyM · 26 April 2005, 17:02

blown rom maybe???

TheBoss · 26 April 2005, 17:03

red screen is typically some hardware or memory failure :/

thinlega · 26 April 2005, 17:10

thanks for the quick replys!

Yeah i was thinking the problem was something to do with the roms....either that or I did not do a good battery leak cleanup

looks like I will have to splash out on some new roms.

this a4000 is a pain in the arse to keep working

Slayer · 27 April 2005, 03:48

Have you held down both mouse buttons? (this probably won't reveal anything either unless you have a 15mhz display) Disconnected your harddrive(s) to see if a workbench screen appears? Depending on your monitor (graphics card) you may need to connect rgb into an appropriate 15mhz video display... i.e. if it does boot even momentarily it might be breaking before reaching the 31mhz or what not display mode so it stops/crashes on a black screen...

I've had many interruptions with the A4000s I use and none of them has resulted in actual hardware failure/replacement...

Be maticulous and take your time...

and... good luck... otherwise how much you want to sell it for and I'll fix it myself *wiggle*

manicx · 27 April 2005, 09:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by thinlega

this a4000 is a pain in the arse to keep working

Old hardware is like that but A4000 has some really crappy capacitors that you need to replace. I had mine replaced after sending my A4000 mobo to New Zealand. I also had the battery replaced as well as a couple of chips on the mobo.

Amiga1992 · 27 April 2005, 14:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by manicx

Old hardware is like that

Not ALL hardware is like that.

My A120 works like a dream
My A600 works perfectly (no DD tho)
My SX-64 runs great (after we changed its PLA)
My C128, which I have used for many, many years, sill works fine after we gave it a brain transplant (new ROMs)

So I supose it depends on the machine. My iBook has 2 years and its screen cable got fucked and needs repair. 2 bloody years!

manicx · 27 April 2005, 15:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Akira

So I supose it depends on the machine.

Maybe from the user too. If you know a battery is leaking, do you blame the machine (all big box Amigas have barrel batteries) or the user that didn't remove this at first place? All the computers you mentioned are much simpler designs than a big box Amiga.

thinlega · 27 April 2005, 16:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slayer

Have you held down both mouse buttons? (this probably won't reveal anything either unless you have a 15mhz display) Disconnected your harddrive(s) to see if a workbench screen appears? Depending on your monitor (graphics card) you may need to connect rgb into an appropriate 15mhz video display... i.e. if it does boot even momentarily it might be breaking before reaching the 31mhz or what not display mode so it stops/crashes on a black screen...

I've had many interruptions with the A4000s I use and none of them has resulted in actual hardware failure/replacement...

Be maticulous and take your time...

and... good luck... otherwise how much you want to sell it for and I'll fix it myself *wiggle*

yeah I took the HD out the floppy drive out and all the zorro cards etc....down to the bare minimum and I still just get a black screen... I will have another fiddle about later and see if I can break it abit more

Amiga1992 · 27 April 2005, 20:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by manicx

All the computers you mentioned are much simpler designs than a big box Amiga.

I beg to differ about "simple design", more like probably "most big box amigas havd flawed designs"... Or better yet, I wouldn't judge a machine's design by if it has a leaking battery or not :P

my Apple Macintosh Classic II is quite more complicated than an A4000 and even has a battery that leaks, nevertheless it still works superbly and when it locks up, the good ole "jam in the side" fixes it

manicx · 27 April 2005, 22:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by Akira

I beg to differ about "simple design", more like probably "most big box amigas havd flawed designs"... Or better yet, I wouldn't judge a machine's design by if it has a leaking battery or not :P

Most big box amigas have more complicated designs. Most of them have full double sided mobos and an extra daughterboard. In some cases, there are more than one layer in each side.They are a lot more complicated actually. The A4000D has some crappy capacitors that were cheap but this means nothing to me. This is very common and usually problems can start after 10-15 years. If you know what to do and how to repair things, you just do it or give it to an expert. The Amiga Technical resource by Anthony Hoffman (the guy who revamped my A4000D) is the best place to visit.

Quote:

my Apple Macintosh Classic II is quite more complicated than an A4000 and even has a battery that leaks, nevertheless it still works superbly and when it locks up, the good ole "jam in the side" fixes it

Sorry, but I don't think the Apple II is more complicated than an A4000. I have both an Apple II and an A4000 btw. If a battery is leaking, it doesn't mean it will work forever.

thinlega · 27 April 2005, 23:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by manicx

Maybe from the user too. If you know a battery is leaking, do you blame the machine (all big box Amigas have barrel batteries) or the user that didn't remove this at first place?

It was a nice surprise for me when I bought my a4000 to find the battery had not been dealt with....the bloke selling it realy did not have any idea what was inside it.

dirkies · 28 April 2005, 00:24

http://experts.about.com/q/1522/2778721.htm

RED = error in ROM, change those kickstart chips!

thomas · 28 April 2005, 08:20

Well, although the red screen means that the ROM checksum was calculated wrong, it does not necessarily mean that the ROMs are bad. Because if the ROMs were damaged, there would be nobody to calculate the checksum. If the Amiga shows a red screen this basically means that the processor and the ROMs are still there but there is a problem with calculating the checksum. This might be due to a damaged ROM, but it might as well be a damage on the motherboard, in the pocessor or bad RAM or a too weak power supply. And of course a leaking battery may cause damage to the motherboard which leads to a red screen.

26 April 2005, 17:00	#1
thinlega .:Part-Time Winner:. Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: UK Posts: 531	a4000 red screen + more I was playing with my a4000 last night and It started to act odd... while playing games it started to stutter. I loaded up workbench and it came up with an odd message like "cannot read rom....(something)" then it had a red screen on the boot up but after a reset it loaded ok......now all I get is a black screen I have taken out all of the extras in the a4000 and taken out the roms and put them back in again....but it still refuses to work??? any ideas???

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26 April 2005, 17:02	#2
BippyM Global Moderator Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Derby, UK Age: 48 Posts: 9,355	blown rom maybe???

26 April 2005, 17:03	#3
TheBoss Registered User Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Denmark Posts: 840	red screen is typically some hardware or memory failure :/

26 April 2005, 17:10	#4
thinlega .:Part-Time Winner:. Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: UK Posts: 531	thanks for the quick replys! Yeah i was thinking the problem was something to do with the roms....either that or I did not do a good battery leak cleanup looks like I will have to splash out on some new roms. this a4000 is a pain in the arse to keep working

27 April 2005, 03:48	#5
Slayer Amiga Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: New Zealand Age: 57 Posts: 695	Have you held down both mouse buttons? (this probably won't reveal anything either unless you have a 15mhz display) Disconnected your harddrive(s) to see if a workbench screen appears? Depending on your monitor (graphics card) you may need to connect rgb into an appropriate 15mhz video display... i.e. if it does boot even momentarily it might be breaking before reaching the 31mhz or what not display mode so it stops/crashes on a black screen... I've had many interruptions with the A4000s I use and none of them has resulted in actual hardware failure/replacement... Be maticulous and take your time... and... good luck... otherwise how much you want to sell it for and I'll fix it myself wiggle

28 April 2005, 00:24	#13
dirkies Zone Friend Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Belgium Age: 51 Posts: 1,297	http://experts.about.com/q/1522/2778721.htm RED = error in ROM, change those kickstart chips!

28 April 2005, 08:20	#14
thomas Registered User Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Germany Posts: 7,021	Well, although the red screen means that the ROM checksum was calculated wrong, it does not necessarily mean that the ROMs are bad. Because if the ROMs were damaged, there would be nobody to calculate the checksum. If the Amiga shows a red screen this basically means that the processor and the ROMs are still there but there is a problem with calculating the checksum. This might be due to a damaged ROM, but it might as well be a damage on the motherboard, in the pocessor or bad RAM or a too weak power supply. And of course a leaking battery may cause damage to the motherboard which leads to a red screen.

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