Amiga 500 won't boot

h4tt3n · 14 April 2012, 19:57

Hello,

I have a very well kept A500 unit which have worked flawlessly for years, but today it wouldn't boot. The screen goes white, grey, white, but the startup screen doesn't appear. The floppy drive clicks a single time. The power led is first dimmed, then it glows green at full strength.
According to the Amiga Wiki this means CPU failure, so I carefully replaced it with another one with the same negative result. While I hade the unit opened, I also pressed down all the socketed IC's to ensure better contact.
Recently I've had an Amiga 590 hard drive connected to the Amiga, could this be the source of the problem? I really hope someone here can help!

Cheers,
Mike

FOL · 14 April 2012, 20:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by h4tt3n

Hello,

I have a very well kept A500 unit which have worked flawlessly for years, but today it wouldn't boot. The screen goes white, grey, white, but the startup screen doesn't appear. The floppy drive clicks a single time. The power led is first dimmed, then it glows green at full strength.
According to the Amiga Wiki this means CPU failure, so I carefully replaced it with another one with the same negative result. While I hade the unit opened, I also pressed down all the socketed IC's to ensure better contact.
Recently I've had an Amiga 590 hard drive connected to the Amiga, could this be the source of the problem? I really hope someone here can help!

Cheers,
Mike

Try removing all socketed ic's and pushing them back in.
Sometimes pushing down on them is'nt enough.

Toni Wilen · 14 April 2012, 21:23

Most chips work if screen turns grey/white. It definitely can't be broken CPU (Nothing would happen)

Quick tests:

Try without floppy drive and wait at least 30s.
Swap CIA chips (Put odd CIA in place of even CIA and vice versa)

h4tt3n · 17 April 2012, 19:46

Okay, now things are looking better! I tried without floppy and removed and reinserted all soceted ic's without any improvement. Swapping the two CIA's got it booting again, though. Phew! I'm just still not sure it works 100%, will test and tamper.

Cheers,
Mike

kipper2k · 17 April 2012, 19:53

Now that you have swapped CIA's and the A500 boots, try putting them back to original places, if it doesnt boot you will have to buy another 8250 (CIA) chip as some functions are dead

h4tt3n · 17 April 2012, 21:03

I have an old spare board with two CIA's in them. I'll try with them first.

h4tt3n · 18 April 2012, 17:51

Okay, now I've replaced the CIA's with two MOS oldies from a spare kick 1.2 machine and it works perfectly. Thanks everyone for advice.

Cheers,
Mike

fitzsteve · 18 April 2012, 18:29

Great result,

14 April 2012, 19:57	#1
h4tt3n Registered User Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Denmark Posts: 15	Amiga 500 won't boot Hello, I have a very well kept A500 unit which have worked flawlessly for years, but today it wouldn't boot. The screen goes white, grey, white, but the startup screen doesn't appear. The floppy drive clicks a single time. The power led is first dimmed, then it glows green at full strength. According to the Amiga Wiki this means CPU failure, so I carefully replaced it with another one with the same negative result. While I hade the unit opened, I also pressed down all the socketed IC's to ensure better contact. Recently I've had an Amiga 590 hard drive connected to the Amiga, could this be the source of the problem? I really hope someone here can help! Cheers, Mike

18 April 2012, 18:29	#8
fitzsteve Professional slacker! Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Kent, UK Age: 33 Posts: 4,727	Great result, __________________ A500+ 4mb SupraRam500xp/SCSI-IDE - A600, ACA630/64, A604, IndiECS - A4000D, Mirage Pro Tower, CSPPC 060/330, Mediator, DenebUSB, ZorRam - A4000D, WarpEngine040, Toccata, DenebUSB, CV64/3D - A1200D, ACA1232/33, IndiAGA MkII - A1200D Magic Pack +ACA1220 - A1200T, 060/PPC330, G-RexPCI, SubwayUSB - CD32 + SX32, IndiMkII - uA1 800mhz My Retr0 Blog

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14 April 2012, 21:23	#3
Toni Wilen WinUAE developer Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Hämeenlinna/Finland Age: 38 Posts: 11,944	Most chips work if screen turns grey/white. It definitely can't be broken CPU (Nothing would happen) Quick tests: Try without floppy drive and wait at least 30s. Swap CIA chips (Put odd CIA in place of even CIA and vice versa)

17 April 2012, 19:46	#4
h4tt3n Registered User Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Denmark Posts: 15	Okay, now things are looking better! I tried without floppy and removed and reinserted all soceted ic's without any improvement. Swapping the two CIA's got it booting again, though. Phew! I'm just still not sure it works 100%, will test and tamper. Cheers, Mike

17 April 2012, 19:53	#5
kipper2k Registered User Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Thunder Bay/Churchill Canada Posts: 1,921	Now that you have swapped CIA's and the A500 boots, try putting them back to original places, if it doesnt boot you will have to buy another 8250 (CIA) chip as some functions are dead

17 April 2012, 21:03	#6
h4tt3n Registered User Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Denmark Posts: 15	I have an old spare board with two CIA's in them. I'll try with them first.

18 April 2012, 17:51	#7
h4tt3n Registered User Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Denmark Posts: 15	Okay, now I've replaced the CIA's with two MOS oldies from a spare kick 1.2 machine and it works perfectly. Thanks everyone for advice. Cheers, Mike

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