Amiga A500 not booting games :-(

hiddendragon · 30 June 2011, 14:24

Hi all
I have a problem with my beloved Amiga A500 i have had since i was a kid.
Have never had any problems with it all these years until now.
I recently plugged it in and the usual kickstart image popped up but when i tried my games nothing happened,the busy drive light wouldnt light up and the drive would turn lazily and stop and wouldnt load any of my games.
Thinking that my drive had bitten the dust i bought a chinon fb 354 replacment drive which was said to be tested and in working order.
I swapped the drives and again im still not getting any games booting up.
The drive whirls round and stops and repeats this,drive busy light never lights up,on the odd game i tried the drive whirrled round and made the clicking sounds like it was trying hard to read the disk but still nothing.
Im pretty sure i have the data cable round the right way and the drive set to DFO.
Have tried pressing down on the rom chip to make sure its seated properly,am running out of ideas now,have purchased and waiting for a new data cable to arrive just in case there is a problem with mine.
Does anybody have any ideas on what could be wrong?
Hoping someone can help.
Thanks
Wayne.

Phantom · 30 June 2011, 14:36

Hi Wayne and welcome.

Chinon drives (as far as I know in A1200) has some jumpers which you may put in right combination in order for the drive to work in the Amiga. Are there any jumpers in your Chinon drive?

Also, I recommend Mitsumi drives. For me are the best for the Amigas.

hiddendragon · 30 June 2011, 16:00

Hi,thanks for replying.
Yes it has jumpers on the back,a row of 3 pins on the top and a row of 3 pins on the bottom.I have the jumper set on the bottom right which i think is DFO,does that sound correct or do i need to do more?

Phantom · 30 June 2011, 16:08

Check this, it might be helpful.

http://www.freewebs.com/computolio/a...atibility.html

hiddendragon · 30 June 2011, 16:42

Thanks for the link,i have looked at this before where it says the chinon fb 354 works unmodified and needs pins 3 and 5 jumped.I take this as meaning putting the jumper in top right corner.Im not sure which way you should look at the drive and count the pins really,if i look at the drive normal way up then its top right to be jumped and if i look at it turned over then count the pins then the position of the jumper would obviously change.
Sorry if im being a bit thick but not used to taking my amiga apart,everything else..yes but not my amiga.

Phantom · 30 June 2011, 16:47

You could try with both views to see which one works.

Probably the best/correct view is what you see from above?

hiddendragon · 30 June 2011, 18:03

Well thanks for youre help Phantom but in the end it ended up being the data cable not being on properly,1 pin had managed to get bent out of place.
Have now got my A500 with half meg upgrade working again! :-)
Some of the games hang while loading but i take it its because of the age of the disks and have probably become damaged.
Thanks for the help again...now to boot up some SWIV,SWOS and some Operation Stealth! :-)

Phantom · 30 June 2011, 18:06

Great that you managed to find the problem and fix it.

Now, it's time for ... FUN!!!

hiddendragon · 30 June 2011, 19:44

Ok,well it looks like i spoke too soon!
I swapped my chinon drive i bought off ebay back to the original one that i thought was dead just to check it was the drive that was the problem in the first place and that drive worked fine too!
But after 10-15 mins of playing it stopped reading disks,so i swapped back to the newer drive and same problem,not reading disks anymore!
I really am stumped as to why my Amiga would be working fine one minute and then failing to boot or read disks the next without changing anything.
Have tried to see if there are any loose connections or anything but cant see anything wrong.
Does anyone have any ideas or come across this problem before?
Was wondering if i should replace my PSU and see if that makes a difference.
Any thoughts and help much appreciated.

Wayne.

duga · 30 June 2011, 20:00

How's the battery?

hiddendragon · 30 June 2011, 20:10

Have no idea,how would i know if the battery is ok or not?
Would a bad battery stop the drive from booting and reading disks?I thought that was just for the clock etc.
Thanks.

duga · 30 June 2011, 20:15

Try remove the extra memory and check. While you do that, try using the A500 without the extra memory (with only 0,5 MB) and see if that makes any difference.

hiddendragon · 30 June 2011, 20:24

Yeah,have already tried taking it out to see if it made a difference but no joy im afraid.

Phantom · 30 June 2011, 20:41

Check your PSU with a polymeter. Maybe your PSU is dying...

hiddendragon · 30 June 2011, 21:08

Dam..havent got a polymeter to test it,i am starting to think it could be the psu though.Has a bad psu been known to be able to power up the amiga fine but affect the behaviour of the amiga before?

Phantom · 30 June 2011, 21:10

Never heard of it to be honest, but if your PSU starting to die, that would be possible. Your Amiga can have the power it needs to start at the boot-screen, but when coming to floppy will be unsufficient power.

hiddendragon · 30 June 2011, 21:12

Ok thanks,looks like i will buy a replacment psu then and see if that cures the problem as i havent a clue what else to do really.

Phantom · 30 June 2011, 21:14

Before purchasing one, it would be better if you have a friend close to you with an Amiga of course, to do a test.

hiddendragon · 30 June 2011, 21:17

Yeah,unfortunately none of my mates are into retro gaming so its not possible :-(

Well ..it started booting games again but only lasted around 15 mins and has stopped reading again!
Very strange,it seems to need a rest and then it plays fine but can only last 15 mins or so before dying again!I have no idea whats going on!

Phantom · 30 June 2011, 22:16

Do you have another Amiga at home? Just to check the floppy drives you have there.

30 June 2011, 14:24	#1
hiddendragon Registered User Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Gloucester,UK Age: 50 Posts: 13	Amiga A500 not booting games :-( Hi all I have a problem with my beloved Amiga A500 i have had since i was a kid. Have never had any problems with it all these years until now. I recently plugged it in and the usual kickstart image popped up but when i tried my games nothing happened,the busy drive light wouldnt light up and the drive would turn lazily and stop and wouldnt load any of my games. Thinking that my drive had bitten the dust i bought a chinon fb 354 replacment drive which was said to be tested and in working order. I swapped the drives and again im still not getting any games booting up. The drive whirls round and stops and repeats this,drive busy light never lights up,on the odd game i tried the drive whirrled round and made the clicking sounds like it was trying hard to read the disk but still nothing. Im pretty sure i have the data cable round the right way and the drive set to DFO. Have tried pressing down on the rom chip to make sure its seated properly,am running out of ideas now,have purchased and waiting for a new data cable to arrive just in case there is a problem with mine. Does anybody have any ideas on what could be wrong? Hoping someone can help. Thanks Wayne.

30 June 2011, 21:17	#19
hiddendragon Registered User Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Gloucester,UK Age: 50 Posts: 13	Yeah,unfortunately none of my mates are into retro gaming so its not possible :-( Well ..it started booting games again but only lasted around 15 mins and has stopped reading again! Very strange,it seems to need a rest and then it plays fine but can only last 15 mins or so before dying again!I have no idea whats going on! Last edited by TCD; 30 June 2011 at 23:32. Reason: Back-to-back posts merged. Use the edit function.

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30 June 2011, 14:36	#2
Phantom Adventurer Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Colossal Cave, Valaii Posts: 364	Hi Wayne and welcome. Chinon drives (as far as I know in A1200) has some jumpers which you may put in right combination in order for the drive to work in the Amiga. Are there any jumpers in your Chinon drive? Also, I recommend Mitsumi drives. For me are the best for the Amigas.

30 June 2011, 16:00	#3
hiddendragon Registered User Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Gloucester,UK Age: 50 Posts: 13	Hi,thanks for replying. Yes it has jumpers on the back,a row of 3 pins on the top and a row of 3 pins on the bottom.I have the jumper set on the bottom right which i think is DFO,does that sound correct or do i need to do more?

30 June 2011, 16:08	#4
Phantom Adventurer Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Colossal Cave, Valaii Posts: 364	Check this, it might be helpful. http://www.freewebs.com/computolio/a...atibility.html

30 June 2011, 16:42	#5
hiddendragon Registered User Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Gloucester,UK Age: 50 Posts: 13	Thanks for the link,i have looked at this before where it says the chinon fb 354 works unmodified and needs pins 3 and 5 jumped.I take this as meaning putting the jumper in top right corner.Im not sure which way you should look at the drive and count the pins really,if i look at the drive normal way up then its top right to be jumped and if i look at it turned over then count the pins then the position of the jumper would obviously change. Sorry if im being a bit thick but not used to taking my amiga apart,everything else..yes but not my amiga.

30 June 2011, 16:47	#6
Phantom Adventurer Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Colossal Cave, Valaii Posts: 364	You could try with both views to see which one works. Probably the best/correct view is what you see from above?

30 June 2011, 18:03	#7
hiddendragon Registered User Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Gloucester,UK Age: 50 Posts: 13	Well thanks for youre help Phantom but in the end it ended up being the data cable not being on properly,1 pin had managed to get bent out of place. Have now got my A500 with half meg upgrade working again! :-) Some of the games hang while loading but i take it its because of the age of the disks and have probably become damaged. Thanks for the help again...now to boot up some SWIV,SWOS and some Operation Stealth! :-)

30 June 2011, 18:06	#8
Phantom Adventurer Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Colossal Cave, Valaii Posts: 364	Great that you managed to find the problem and fix it. Now, it's time for ... FUN!!!

30 June 2011, 19:44	#9
hiddendragon Registered User Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Gloucester,UK Age: 50 Posts: 13	Ok,well it looks like i spoke too soon! I swapped my chinon drive i bought off ebay back to the original one that i thought was dead just to check it was the drive that was the problem in the first place and that drive worked fine too! But after 10-15 mins of playing it stopped reading disks,so i swapped back to the newer drive and same problem,not reading disks anymore! I really am stumped as to why my Amiga would be working fine one minute and then failing to boot or read disks the next without changing anything. Have tried to see if there are any loose connections or anything but cant see anything wrong. Does anyone have any ideas or come across this problem before? Was wondering if i should replace my PSU and see if that makes a difference. Any thoughts and help much appreciated. Wayne.

30 June 2011, 20:00	#10
duga Registered User Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Sweden Posts: 528	How's the battery?

30 June 2011, 20:10	#11
hiddendragon Registered User Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Gloucester,UK Age: 50 Posts: 13	Have no idea,how would i know if the battery is ok or not? Would a bad battery stop the drive from booting and reading disks?I thought that was just for the clock etc. Thanks.

30 June 2011, 20:15	#12
duga Registered User Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Sweden Posts: 528	Try remove the extra memory and check. While you do that, try using the A500 without the extra memory (with only 0,5 MB) and see if that makes any difference.

30 June 2011, 20:24	#13
hiddendragon Registered User Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Gloucester,UK Age: 50 Posts: 13	Yeah,have already tried taking it out to see if it made a difference but no joy im afraid.

30 June 2011, 20:41	#14
Phantom Adventurer Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Colossal Cave, Valaii Posts: 364	Check your PSU with a polymeter. Maybe your PSU is dying...

30 June 2011, 21:08	#15
hiddendragon Registered User Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Gloucester,UK Age: 50 Posts: 13	Dam..havent got a polymeter to test it,i am starting to think it could be the psu though.Has a bad psu been known to be able to power up the amiga fine but affect the behaviour of the amiga before?

30 June 2011, 21:10	#16
Phantom Adventurer Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Colossal Cave, Valaii Posts: 364	Never heard of it to be honest, but if your PSU starting to die, that would be possible. Your Amiga can have the power it needs to start at the boot-screen, but when coming to floppy will be unsufficient power.

30 June 2011, 21:12	#17
hiddendragon Registered User Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Gloucester,UK Age: 50 Posts: 13	Ok thanks,looks like i will buy a replacment psu then and see if that cures the problem as i havent a clue what else to do really.

30 June 2011, 21:14	#18
Phantom Adventurer Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Colossal Cave, Valaii Posts: 364	Before purchasing one, it would be better if you have a friend close to you with an Amiga of course, to do a test.

30 June 2011, 22:16	#20
Phantom Adventurer Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Colossal Cave, Valaii Posts: 364	Do you have another Amiga at home? Just to check the floppy drives you have there.

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