Real A1200 floppy issues

DDNI · 11 April 2006, 14:52

Hi all,

I have a recurrent problem with my A1200 floppy. In WB3.0 it is listed as DF0:????.

I have tried a new floppy drive, new ribbon cable and new power cable to no avail.

I have taken the HDD out and tried to boot directly from floppy with no luck.

I know this is very vague but hopefully someone can help me?

Overdoc · 11 April 2006, 19:34

Are you sure the disks you put in the drive is a working Amigados disk ?
Otherwise this sounds like your A-1200 is faulty - could be a bad CIA chip

Unfortunately they are SMD chips soldered to the mainboard and only exchangeable when you have the right SMD desoldering equipment...

DDNI · 12 April 2006, 12:44

THanks Overdoc, both drives that I tried are Amiga compatible. Looks like my Amiga is dying

Smiley · 12 April 2006, 13:47

Sounds like a fried chip

DDNI · 12 April 2006, 14:33

Is there any repair options? or am I now in the market for a new A1200?

Overdoc · 12 April 2006, 17:14

Hard to say, it could be something easy like e.g .a broken solder joint on the cable connector, but if it is the chip then it is nearly impossible to replace without SMD desoldering equipment.
If you have an ohm-meter you can take schematics fo the A-1200 and check if the floppy connector pins have connection to whereever they should go according to the schematics.

How did the A-1200 work before the problem ?
Did it fall down or did you pull the drive cable very often or something alike ? Or did the drive problem just occur from one day to another ?
Did you change the drive in the past ? I am asking because maybe your A-1200 is a ESCOM model and needs a PC drive instead of an Amiga drive ?!

DDNI · 13 April 2006, 17:02

HI Overdoc,

It is definitely not an Escom model. Both drives are bona fide Amiga drives.
I think you are right about a fried chip as on VERY close inspection, all the solder joints look A1.
This is so annoying as I just set up a lovely PCMCIA network and purchased new 3.1 ROMS - yet to be fitted.
The floppy really isnt essential is it? Surely I can simply mount adfs to HDD and then use WHDLOAD to install? Trouble is I tried a couple of proggies in UAE that are meant to allow this with no joy. Can anyone give me guide as to how to do this?

DDNI · 13 April 2006, 23:01

Cracked it! Now have 4 emulated floppies on my HDD that I can dump ADFs onto to install with WHDLOAD - brilliant.

My old miggy still has life !!!

jrom · 14 April 2006, 00:40

You can always go for an external extra drive... a hdd and eth0 and off you go... no need for df0:

DDNI · 14 April 2006, 00:56

? external floppy not controlled by same chip as df0: ?

Overdoc · 14 April 2006, 19:23

Yes, they are controlled by the same chip, but it would be a good idea to check if an external drive works !
If it works then you are lucky and the problem must be somewhere else.

With kick 2.0 or higher you can also boot from an external diskdrive. Only problem is that most software, especially games want to load their data from DF0: and so keep searching for a disk in DF0 instead of DF1....

DDNI · 15 April 2006, 00:09

Thanks again Doc! Just need an external drive now.....

11 April 2006, 14:52	#1
DDNI Targ Explorer Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Northern Ireland Posts: 5,431	Real A1200 floppy issues Hi all, I have a recurrent problem with my A1200 floppy. In WB3.0 it is listed as DF0:????. I have tried a new floppy drive, new ribbon cable and new power cable to no avail. I have taken the HDD out and tried to boot directly from floppy with no luck. I know this is very vague but hopefully someone can help me?

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11 April 2006, 19:34	#2
Overdoc Commodore Collector Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Austria Age: 53 Posts: 944	Are you sure the disks you put in the drive is a working Amigados disk ? Otherwise this sounds like your A-1200 is faulty - could be a bad CIA chip Unfortunately they are SMD chips soldered to the mainboard and only exchangeable when you have the right SMD desoldering equipment...

12 April 2006, 12:44	#3
DDNI Targ Explorer Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Northern Ireland Posts: 5,431	THanks Overdoc, both drives that I tried are Amiga compatible. Looks like my Amiga is dying

12 April 2006, 13:47	#4
Smiley Amiga-less! Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: UK Posts: 1,350	Sounds like a fried chip

12 April 2006, 14:33	#5
DDNI Targ Explorer Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Northern Ireland Posts: 5,431	Is there any repair options? or am I now in the market for a new A1200?

12 April 2006, 17:14	#6
Overdoc Commodore Collector Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Austria Age: 53 Posts: 944	Hard to say, it could be something easy like e.g .a broken solder joint on the cable connector, but if it is the chip then it is nearly impossible to replace without SMD desoldering equipment. If you have an ohm-meter you can take schematics fo the A-1200 and check if the floppy connector pins have connection to whereever they should go according to the schematics. How did the A-1200 work before the problem ? Did it fall down or did you pull the drive cable very often or something alike ? Or did the drive problem just occur from one day to another ? Did you change the drive in the past ? I am asking because maybe your A-1200 is a ESCOM model and needs a PC drive instead of an Amiga drive ?!

13 April 2006, 17:02	#7
DDNI Targ Explorer Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Northern Ireland Posts: 5,431	HI Overdoc, It is definitely not an Escom model. Both drives are bona fide Amiga drives. I think you are right about a fried chip as on VERY close inspection, all the solder joints look A1. This is so annoying as I just set up a lovely PCMCIA network and purchased new 3.1 ROMS - yet to be fitted. The floppy really isnt essential is it? Surely I can simply mount adfs to HDD and then use WHDLOAD to install? Trouble is I tried a couple of proggies in UAE that are meant to allow this with no joy. Can anyone give me guide as to how to do this?

13 April 2006, 23:01	#8
DDNI Targ Explorer Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Northern Ireland Posts: 5,431	Cracked it! Now have 4 emulated floppies on my HDD that I can dump ADFs onto to install with WHDLOAD - brilliant. My old miggy still has life !!!

14 April 2006, 00:40	#9
jrom Wannabe asm coder ;) Join Date: May 2002 Location: The Netherlands Age: 47 Posts: 459	You can always go for an external extra drive... a hdd and eth0 and off you go... no need for df0:

14 April 2006, 00:56	#10
DDNI Targ Explorer Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Northern Ireland Posts: 5,431	? external floppy not controlled by same chip as df0: ?

14 April 2006, 19:23	#11
Overdoc Commodore Collector Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Austria Age: 53 Posts: 944	Yes, they are controlled by the same chip, but it would be a good idea to check if an external drive works ! If it works then you are lucky and the problem must be somewhere else. With kick 2.0 or higher you can also boot from an external diskdrive. Only problem is that most software, especially games want to load their data from DF0: and so keep searching for a disk in DF0 instead of DF1....

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15 April 2006, 00:09	#12
DDNI Targ Explorer Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Northern Ireland Posts: 5,431	Thanks again Doc! Just need an external drive now.....