Amiga 500 without Gary chip - will it work (ish)?

13 November 2015, 02:30

Hi all! New (amiga) guy here, who mostly tinkers with Commodore 64/128 stuff.

So I took a gamble on a cheap amiga 500 auction. Received it today, took it apart, and noticed it's missing the Gary chip. Everything else seems to be there.

I don't have anything else Amiga-wise. I'd have to build a PSU from an ATX power supply (I do have a C128 PSU connector!) to even test whether it will turn on. Probably not worth all the effort if I can't debug the motherboard in any way if it won't do anything without Gary. So, what's the verdict? Call it a loss or can I at least do some basic debugging without Gary?

mech · 13 November 2015, 05:11

I have some spare Gary chips, you can have one for the cost of shipping. just PM me.

I also have some psu'sfor sale in black or beige ready made if you like one-they can be found here:

http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=79832

Mech

13 November 2015, 05:24

Thanks for the kind offer Mech! Sent you a PM.

Meanwhile I have hooked up an ATX PSU to the power connector and connected it to the Amiga. I'm getting a power & constantly-on drive led, so that's a start.

hooverphonique · 13 November 2015, 10:56

no, it won't ever work without a gary chip ;-)

20 November 2015, 03:37

I received Mech's Gary chip in the mail today, put it in and... It's alive!

The drive led was on all the time though, turns out the ribbon cable was inserted the wrong way, as was the power connector. It had actually shorted out +12V and GND (it was 1 pin off) so I had to fix a trace on the backside of the motherboard, but with all that done it boots to the boot screen and scans for a disk!

I'm going to get a GoTek usb drive though and use that instead, much easier.

Thanks so much Mech!

Zeph · 20 November 2015, 23:25

Always nice to see a happy ending ��

13 November 2015, 02:30	#1
stragulus Posts: n/a	Amiga 500 without Gary chip - will it work (ish)? Hi all! New (amiga) guy here, who mostly tinkers with Commodore 64/128 stuff. So I took a gamble on a cheap amiga 500 auction. Received it today, took it apart, and noticed it's missing the Gary chip. Everything else seems to be there. I don't have anything else Amiga-wise. I'd have to build a PSU from an ATX power supply (I do have a C128 PSU connector!) to even test whether it will turn on. Probably not worth all the effort if I can't debug the motherboard in any way if it won't do anything without Gary. So, what's the verdict? Call it a loss or can I at least do some basic debugging without Gary?

20 November 2015, 03:37	#5
stragulus Posts: n/a	I received Mech's Gary chip in the mail today, put it in and... It's alive! The drive led was on all the time though, turns out the ribbon cable was inserted the wrong way, as was the power connector. It had actually shorted out +12V and GND (it was 1 pin off) so I had to fix a trace on the backside of the motherboard, but with all that done it boots to the boot screen and scans for a disk! I'm going to get a GoTek usb drive though and use that instead, much easier. Thanks so much Mech! Last edited by stragulus; 20 November 2015 at 03:57.

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13 November 2015, 05:11	#2
mech Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: texas,usa Posts: 235	I have some spare Gary chips, you can have one for the cost of shipping. just PM me. I also have some psu'sfor sale in black or beige ready made if you like one-they can be found here: http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=79832 Mech

13 November 2015, 05:24	#3
stragulus Posts: n/a	Thanks for the kind offer Mech! Sent you a PM. Meanwhile I have hooked up an ATX PSU to the power connector and connected it to the Amiga. I'm getting a power & constantly-on drive led, so that's a start.

13 November 2015, 10:56	#4
hooverphonique ex. demoscener "Bigmama" Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Fyn / Denmark Posts: 1,624	no, it won't ever work without a gary chip ;-)

20 November 2015, 23:25	#6
Zeph Registered User Join Date: Nov 2015 Location: Poole, Dorset Posts: 79	Always nice to see a happy ending ��

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