A500 Rev 4

platatomi · 30 November 2011, 04:57

Cannot find any info what so ever about this revision. Heres a few pics.

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platatomi · 30 November 2011, 05:45

please if you know anything about this revision let me know.

Paul_s · 10 December 2011, 13:30

I always wondered if there was a Rev.4 board..... like you say, there is next to no information.

Comparing it with Rev.3.... looks like a few changes have taken place on the board itself (Rev.3 was notoriously buggy) - the ceramic chips you have on there are quite rare before they were replaced for the cheaper non-ceramic counterparts.

So most likely a 'fixed' board to replace Rev.3. I would imagine Rev.4 wasn't around for long.

Matt020 · 26 January 2012, 14:04

What version is the kickstart (I cant quite make it out from the pic)

platatomi · 25 July 2017, 05:48

KS is 34.5. Seems someone swapped it out later on.

Has anything new turned up about the Rev. 4 in the last six years, or have any more of them been found?

As far as I can tell, only one other Rev. 4 board besides mine is known to exist.

Jope · 25 July 2017, 07:54

It seems that not many of these ever made it out. :-)

platatomi · 25 July 2017, 08:42

Does the serial number mean anything? CA1000049

I haven't had any luck figuring out the encoding scheme they used. Should it be read as 49 or 1,000,049? The back half of the case may not be original too.

dirkies · 26 July 2017, 08:51

March 1987... wow! Maybe it was US only, hence so little have ever surfaced?
Was definitely a KS 1.2 by origin.

mark_k · 26 July 2017, 17:52

The "W.C. BUILD" label probably means it was built at Commodore in Westchester, PA. Maybe 1076 is the "real" serial number in a sense.

I wonder if the custom chips are the original ones. They're ceramic packages which I'm surprised to see in an A500. Can you upload some higher-res pics of the board?

platatomi · 27 July 2017, 00:31

This one has nice detail. It really expands if you right-click and hit 'view image' once you load the full-resolution version.

As far as I can tell, every chip is dated 1986 or earlier, except for the KS which is dated 1989.

Did the A500 ever come with ceramic chips?

image upload

thebajaguy · 27 July 2017, 00:57

Seems to have chip production dates between '86 and '87. They are likely leftover Denise and 8520 ceramic chips from the A1000 production bin. Agnus is 512K made May '87. Gary is the Toshiba-made variant before MOS started producing it. Sharp made the KS1.2 ROM. note the old style ferrite beads and the heavy resistor package along the rear

Tomislav · 12 October 2017, 11:31

That expansion. Did you open it and removed battery? And if you need clock put button battery with adapter.

jeancj73 · 29 August 2020, 09:49

Hi Platatomi, do you still own the REV 4? I am working on a project to collect all different retro A500 mainboards revisions. Currently I have 2 different REV 3's, 3 different REV 5's, 2 differnet REV 6a's, REV 7. Looking to expand with REV 4 and REV 8a(1)'s. Going to put them next to each other and share with main forums when complete. Do you want to sell the REV 4 or swap for other hardware/software? Greetings from Belgium Jean C.J. van Damme

30 November 2011, 04:57	#1
platatomi Registered User Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: LA, United States Posts: 15	A500 Rev 4 Cannot find any info what so ever about this revision. Heres a few pics.

30 November 2011, 05:45	#2
platatomi Registered User Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: LA, United States Posts: 15	More pics please if you know anything about this revision let me know. Attached Thumbnails

25 July 2017, 05:48	#5
platatomi Registered User Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: LA, United States Posts: 15	KS is 34.5. Seems someone swapped it out later on. Has anything new turned up about the Rev. 4 in the last six years, or have any more of them been found? As far as I can tell, only one other Rev. 4 board besides mine is known to exist. Last edited by platatomi; 25 July 2017 at 05:53.

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10 December 2011, 13:30	#3
Paul_s Registered User Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Amigaville Age: 46 Posts: 3,334	I always wondered if there was a Rev.4 board..... like you say, there is next to no information. Comparing it with Rev.3.... looks like a few changes have taken place on the board itself (Rev.3 was notoriously buggy) - the ceramic chips you have on there are quite rare before they were replaced for the cheaper non-ceramic counterparts. So most likely a 'fixed' board to replace Rev.3. I would imagine Rev.4 wasn't around for long.

26 January 2012, 14:04	#4
Matt020 Registered User Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: West Australia Age: 47 Posts: 210	What version is the kickstart (I cant quite make it out from the pic)

25 July 2017, 07:54	#6
Jope - Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Helsinki / Finland Age: 43 Posts: 9,861	It seems that not many of these ever made it out. :-)

25 July 2017, 08:42	#7
platatomi Registered User Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: LA, United States Posts: 15	Does the serial number mean anything? CA1000049 I haven't had any luck figuring out the encoding scheme they used. Should it be read as 49 or 1,000,049? The back half of the case may not be original too.

26 July 2017, 08:51	#8
dirkies Zone Friend Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Belgium Age: 51 Posts: 1,296	March 1987... wow! Maybe it was US only, hence so little have ever surfaced? Was definitely a KS 1.2 by origin.

26 July 2017, 17:52	#9
mark_k Registered User Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Posts: 3,334	The "W.C. BUILD" label probably means it was built at Commodore in Westchester, PA. Maybe 1076 is the "real" serial number in a sense. I wonder if the custom chips are the original ones. They're ceramic packages which I'm surprised to see in an A500. Can you upload some higher-res pics of the board?

27 July 2017, 00:31	#10
platatomi Registered User Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: LA, United States Posts: 15	This one has nice detail. It really expands if you right-click and hit 'view image' once you load the full-resolution version. As far as I can tell, every chip is dated 1986 or earlier, except for the KS which is dated 1989. Did the A500 ever come with ceramic chips? image upload

27 July 2017, 00:57	#11
thebajaguy Registered User Join Date: Mar 2017 Location: Rhode Island / United States Posts: 201	Seems to have chip production dates between '86 and '87. They are likely leftover Denise and 8520 ceramic chips from the A1000 production bin. Agnus is 512K made May '87. Gary is the Toshiba-made variant before MOS started producing it. Sharp made the KS1.2 ROM. note the old style ferrite beads and the heavy resistor package along the rear

12 October 2017, 11:31	#12
Tomislav Registered User Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: Zagreb / Croatia Posts: 302	That expansion. Did you open it and removed battery? And if you need clock put button battery with adapter.

29 August 2020, 09:49	#13
jeancj73 Registered User Join Date: Aug 2020 Location: Deinze Posts: 1	Hi Platatomi, do you still own the REV 4? I am working on a project to collect all different retro A500 mainboards revisions. Currently I have 2 different REV 3's, 3 different REV 5's, 2 differnet REV 6a's, REV 7. Looking to expand with REV 4 and REV 8a(1)'s. Going to put them next to each other and share with main forums when complete. Do you want to sell the REV 4 or swap for other hardware/software? Greetings from Belgium Jean C.J. van Damme

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