Seems I fried my A500 (sob)

dreadnought · 07 April 2022, 19:32

Yesterday I wanted to try out a half-dead Amiga I had in storage for some time and borrowed the cables from the working one (A500 & ACA500+) on my desk. When I finished and was reconnecting the RGB+2x RCA video cable to my working Amiga, I got a small jolt of electricity - it was a bizarre short circuit involving my head, a live CRT TV, my elbow, and a nearby PC Engine video adapter.

When I started up the working A500, I was welcomed by a somewhat glitchy desktop, and more gfx glitching in games. I removed ACA and RGB, and tried it with a Gotek and modulator, but the symptoms are similar.

I suppose my nearly three year long streak of luck with having no hardware problems despite building a sizeable collection came to an end. I think I will try to get it repaired, because having no working Amiga seems like a grim prospect, even if I don't use it that much compared to the MiSTer core. But I know nothing about hardware ailments, so I'd appreciate if somebody could chance a guess at what might be broken here?

Like I said, it's mostly visual glitching. I can opearte Workbench (glitching when moving icons), the sound seems to work, some games hang totally, some even load and run (with some glitching thou). Here are a few pics:

AmigaHope · 07 April 2022, 19:44

=( That's why the manuals always told you to turn everything off when plugging/unplugging cables.

dreadnought · 07 April 2022, 19:51

Amiga was off, but the CRT wasn't, even though I supposedly know that SCART can carry a charge. You can be walking on eggshells for years then get careless one time and bam!

r.cade · 07 April 2022, 20:02

Bummer... probably damaged Denise, or Agnus possibly.

LongLifeA1200 · 08 April 2022, 06:29

It would have been the static. CRTs generate a very large amount of static electricity. It might have traveled through you to the computer. Some computer components are very sensitive to static electricity and can be permanently damaged by it.

I hope this one can be fixed.

alexh · 08 April 2022, 15:48

Run a RAM test?

dreadnought · 08 April 2022, 16:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by alexh

Run a RAM test?

Can you recommend one? Or is there some comprehensive diagnostic suite perhaps?

indigolemon · 08 April 2022, 16:13

Amiga Test Kit would be the first place I'd start - ADF is here: https://github.com/keirf/Amiga-Stuff/releases

dreadnought · 08 April 2022, 21:05

Thanks, I will try that. Though I'll have to send it off anyway, I can't fix these things myself. But it'd be better to have at least some idea of what's wrong beforehand.

Nightshft · 10 April 2022, 17:25

Also thought of Ram. Any outcome of the Ram Test?

SquawkBox · 16 April 2022, 02:04

Best of luck, hope you'll get your machine back in perfect working order in no time.

07 April 2022, 19:32	#1
dreadnought Registered User Join Date: Dec 2019 Location: Ur, Atlantis Posts: 1,940	Seems I fried my A500 (sob) Yesterday I wanted to try out a half-dead Amiga I had in storage for some time and borrowed the cables from the working one (A500 & ACA500+) on my desk. When I finished and was reconnecting the RGB+2x RCA video cable to my working Amiga, I got a small jolt of electricity - it was a bizarre short circuit involving my head, a live CRT TV, my elbow, and a nearby PC Engine video adapter. When I started up the working A500, I was welcomed by a somewhat glitchy desktop, and more gfx glitching in games. I removed ACA and RGB, and tried it with a Gotek and modulator, but the symptoms are similar. I suppose my nearly three year long streak of luck with having no hardware problems despite building a sizeable collection came to an end. I think I will try to get it repaired, because having no working Amiga seems like a grim prospect, even if I don't use it that much compared to the MiSTer core. But I know nothing about hardware ailments, so I'd appreciate if somebody could chance a guess at what might be broken here? Like I said, it's mostly visual glitching. I can opearte Workbench (glitching when moving icons), the sound seems to work, some games hang totally, some even load and run (with some glitching thou). Here are a few pics:

07 April 2022, 20:02	#4
r.cade Registered User Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Augusta, Georgia, USA Posts: 550	Bummer... probably damaged Denise, or Agnus possibly. Last edited by r.cade; 07 April 2022 at 20:11.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
IDE Interface Fried?	MoonDragn	support.Hardware	17	31 March 2021 19:30
Fried Gotek? What can I do?	Amiga1992	Hardware mods	34	07 August 2017 17:11
Might have fried my Amiga :(	frank_b	support.Hardware	7	29 November 2015 14:49
Fried A1200	pmc	support.Hardware	10	20 September 2009 21:10

07 April 2022, 19:44	#2
AmigaHope Registered User Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: New Sandusky Posts: 942	=( That's why the manuals always told you to turn everything off when plugging/unplugging cables.

07 April 2022, 19:51	#3
dreadnought Registered User Join Date: Dec 2019 Location: Ur, Atlantis Posts: 1,940	Amiga was off, but the CRT wasn't, even though I supposedly know that SCART can carry a charge. You can be walking on eggshells for years then get careless one time and bam!

08 April 2022, 06:29	#5
LongLifeA1200 Registered User Join Date: Nov 2017 Location: Amiga Kingdom Posts: 368	It would have been the static. CRTs generate a very large amount of static electricity. It might have traveled through you to the computer. Some computer components are very sensitive to static electricity and can be permanently damaged by it. I hope this one can be fixed.

08 April 2022, 15:48	#6
alexh Thalion Webshrine Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Oxford Posts: 14,365	Run a RAM test?

08 April 2022, 16:13	#8
indigolemon Bit Copying Bard Join Date: Jan 2017 Location: Kelty, Fife, Scotland Age: 41 Posts: 1,293	Amiga Test Kit would be the first place I'd start - ADF is here: https://github.com/keirf/Amiga-Stuff/releases

08 April 2022, 21:05	#9
dreadnought Registered User Join Date: Dec 2019 Location: Ur, Atlantis Posts: 1,940	Thanks, I will try that. Though I'll have to send it off anyway, I can't fix these things myself. But it'd be better to have at least some idea of what's wrong beforehand.

10 April 2022, 17:25	#10
Nightshft Registered User Join Date: Mar 2018 Location: Austria Posts: 617	Also thought of Ram. Any outcome of the Ram Test?

16 April 2022, 02:04	#11
SquawkBox Speedbump gimme goosebump Join Date: Feb 2016 Location: France Age: 50 Posts: 788	Best of luck, hope you'll get your machine back in perfect working order in no time.

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)