Did I just fry my A500?

Nightfox · 17 May 2017, 15:34

Today I went to try my Amiga 500 again since it was left unused for a few weeks because I mainly use my Amiga 1200. I plugged the power supply into the wall and I heard a strange yet quiet pulsing noise coming from the PSU. I thought it was nothing so I then plugged the power supply into the amiga and then the Amiga made the exact same pulsing sound except louder and I immediately disconnected it. I then swapped the power supply with another working one but the Amiga 500 stays dead. I know this power supply works because I'm using it right now on my A1200. I threw the pulsing power supply in the bin.

Marlon_ · 17 May 2017, 15:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by sacredbanana

Today I went to try my Amiga 500 again since it was left unused for a few weeks because I mainly use my Amiga 1200. I plugged the power supply into the wall and I heard a strange yet quiet pulsing noise coming from the PSU. I thought it was nothing so I then plugged the power supply into the amiga and then the Amiga made the exact same pulsing sound except louder and I immediately disconnected it. I then swapped the power supply with another working one but the Amiga 500 stays dead. I know this power supply works because I'm using it right now on my A1200. I threw the pulsing power supply in the bin.

Save the pulsing power supply. Those connectors are hard to find! It could also be fixed by replacing the internals.

Robbie · 17 May 2017, 15:56

That's worrying. I guess you'll have to open the case and look for burnt components by the power socket. Any electrical burning smells?

Nightfox · 17 May 2017, 16:04

I opened it up and didn't see or smell anything burnt but to be fair I have a cold right now so don't have much of a sense of smell. But yeah I think it is truly dead because not even the power light turns on.

Daedalus · 17 May 2017, 16:57

Did your A500's power light normally come on dim, then bright, as on the A1200? If so, then for it to not even turn on the LED at all means there's something pretty fundamental wrong so it should be easy enough to find and repair. Of course, there could be other damage besides, but it could also be as simple as a single failed trace.

If your A500 is one of the older ones where the LED would be turned off instead of turned down, then there may be other issues involved...

Amiga1992 · 17 May 2017, 17:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marlon_

Save the pulsing power supply. Those connectors are hard to find!

You can just gut the cable, that's what I would do. Then throw the rest.

If you heard a noise then it could be some capacitors. Probably your A500 got some damage too now, check the +12V line.

Did you not see any kind of smoke?

Nightfox · 17 May 2017, 17:29

Yeah the power LED used to work fine. It is a red colour LED. Now I get no response whatsoever.

I didn't see any smoke, I only heard the strange pulsing inside the amiga and immediately disconnected it

Robbie · 17 May 2017, 18:27

as @Daedalus mentions, with the red LED the power could still be on but it won't indicate that until its passed all its checks. Does the caps lock light blink at all? see if any chips are getting hot with it switched on I suppose is something else to try.

Nightfox · 18 May 2017, 01:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robbie

as @Daedalus mentions, with the red LED the power could still be on but it won't indicate that until its passed all its checks. Does the caps lock light blink at all? see if any chips are getting hot with it switched on I suppose is something else to try.

The caps lock LED stays off and nothing even gets warm

Daedalus · 18 May 2017, 09:39

Sounds like a pretty fundamental failure to me in that case, which should be an easy repair for anyone familiar with Amiga repairs, or electronic repairs in general.

Shadowfire · 19 May 2017, 23:51

Your power supply fried your motherboard. There is a 100% likelihood that multiple components on the 5V rail are dead (RAM is one of the first things to die, and you aren't even getting a green screen, so you have bigger issues). This will NOT be an easy fix, unless you are talking about replacing the entire motherboard with a new one.

Nightfox · 20 May 2017, 00:46

Should I throw my beloved A500 into the bin? I might have to buy another one in the future if I can afford it which I can't right now. Luckily my A1200 is running perfectly and I've only encountered one piece of software which doesn't run on it which runs on A500 which is the game Zitrax. If anyone can patch that game it would be awesome

Daedalus · 21 May 2017, 14:15

No, don't throw it yet. There are people who will take dead motherboards off your hands either for parts or for practicing their troubleshooting. If I was in Australia I'd take it off your hands for the cost of postage. Also, there's also a chance that the board is mostly fine and that only minor repairs are necessary. It all depends on the nature of the fault, and I've seen and repaired failures like this that needed little more than a repaired track.

Shadowfire · 21 May 2017, 18:05

Not cost effective to repair unless you're doing it yourself, and your time is free. If you get another ECS machine, I would swap the major components in and out of the new machine to save whatever major chips aren't dead. The only IC to be super careful with is Fat Agnus, some machines (like the A3000) use a different revision with a different pinout.

dalek · 22 May 2017, 03:01

Find someone in Aus to send it to. If you are in NSW I'm happy to take a look at it for you otherwise postage would probably be too dear. At least you'd know what can be saved. Otherwise pop it on gumtree or ebay and let someone who needs the parts maybe revive another system.

whiteb · 22 May 2017, 04:44

How heavy was the A500 with case ?

It should go in to a 5KG Red Parcel post bag, (Biggest prepaid bag they have.)

If its less than the Prepaid 5KG weight, I'll take it

Amiga1992 · 22 May 2017, 18:10

I wouldn't get into catastrophe territory like Shadowfire suggests before knowing simpler components died and it stopped there, which is very possible and an easy fix.

Why do people tend to diagnose with the worst case scenario in mind all the time? You gotta discard the easy fixes first, before you can blame more complicated stuff!

darefail · 22 May 2017, 19:59

I'm not an expert but the first thing that i'd do.. test the outputs of the psu with a multimeter..
of course there is something wrong with the mobo, but you have to start from somewhere..

Nightfox · 23 May 2017, 21:15

I live in Perth so even sending to most Australian Amiga users would be expensive as the A500 is big and pretty heavy. I haven't thrown anything out yet. I am still deciding what to do. I don't have much knowledge regarding electronic fault diagnostics. I can solder stuff together but not much more than that.

I'm really not having much luck lately. Just today I damaged the ribbon cable for my A1200 keyboard and am awaiting the arrival of silver conductive paint to repair it. I am typing this on my A1200 by connecting a USB keyboard to it. A USB keyboard connected to an A1200? Sounds like the most redundant thing in the world.

dalek · 24 May 2017, 02:55

You can try asking on OCAU if there is anyone in Perth that can help. Anyone happy to take a look would only need the mobo packed well in a cardboard box assuming it's not worth fixing the PSU.

17 May 2017, 15:34	#1
Nightfox Registered User Join Date: Apr 2016 Location: Perth, Australia Posts: 433	Did I just fry my A500? Today I went to try my Amiga 500 again since it was left unused for a few weeks because I mainly use my Amiga 1200. I plugged the power supply into the wall and I heard a strange yet quiet pulsing noise coming from the PSU. I thought it was nothing so I then plugged the power supply into the amiga and then the Amiga made the exact same pulsing sound except louder and I immediately disconnected it. I then swapped the power supply with another working one but the Amiga 500 stays dead. I know this power supply works because I'm using it right now on my A1200. I threw the pulsing power supply in the bin.

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17 May 2017, 15:56	#3
Robbie Registered User Join Date: May 2015 Location: Southbourne Posts: 75	That's worrying. I guess you'll have to open the case and look for burnt components by the power socket. Any electrical burning smells?

17 May 2017, 16:04	#4
Nightfox Registered User Join Date: Apr 2016 Location: Perth, Australia Posts: 433	I opened it up and didn't see or smell anything burnt but to be fair I have a cold right now so don't have much of a sense of smell. But yeah I think it is truly dead because not even the power light turns on.

17 May 2017, 16:57	#5
Daedalus Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Dublin, then Glasgow Posts: 6,413	Did your A500's power light normally come on dim, then bright, as on the A1200? If so, then for it to not even turn on the LED at all means there's something pretty fundamental wrong so it should be easy enough to find and repair. Of course, there could be other damage besides, but it could also be as simple as a single failed trace. If your A500 is one of the older ones where the LED would be turned off instead of turned down, then there may be other issues involved...

17 May 2017, 17:29	#7
Nightfox Registered User Join Date: Apr 2016 Location: Perth, Australia Posts: 433	Yeah the power LED used to work fine. It is a red colour LED. Now I get no response whatsoever. I didn't see any smoke, I only heard the strange pulsing inside the amiga and immediately disconnected it

17 May 2017, 18:27	#8
Robbie Registered User Join Date: May 2015 Location: Southbourne Posts: 75	as @Daedalus mentions, with the red LED the power could still be on but it won't indicate that until its passed all its checks. Does the caps lock light blink at all? see if any chips are getting hot with it switched on I suppose is something else to try.

18 May 2017, 09:39	#10
Daedalus Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Dublin, then Glasgow Posts: 6,413	Sounds like a pretty fundamental failure to me in that case, which should be an easy repair for anyone familiar with Amiga repairs, or electronic repairs in general.

19 May 2017, 23:51	#11
Shadowfire Registered User Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Connecticut USA Posts: 617	Your power supply fried your motherboard. There is a 100% likelihood that multiple components on the 5V rail are dead (RAM is one of the first things to die, and you aren't even getting a green screen, so you have bigger issues). This will NOT be an easy fix, unless you are talking about replacing the entire motherboard with a new one.

20 May 2017, 00:46	#12
Nightfox Registered User Join Date: Apr 2016 Location: Perth, Australia Posts: 433	Should I throw my beloved A500 into the bin? I might have to buy another one in the future if I can afford it which I can't right now. Luckily my A1200 is running perfectly and I've only encountered one piece of software which doesn't run on it which runs on A500 which is the game Zitrax. If anyone can patch that game it would be awesome

21 May 2017, 14:15	#13
Daedalus Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Dublin, then Glasgow Posts: 6,413	No, don't throw it yet. There are people who will take dead motherboards off your hands either for parts or for practicing their troubleshooting. If I was in Australia I'd take it off your hands for the cost of postage. Also, there's also a chance that the board is mostly fine and that only minor repairs are necessary. It all depends on the nature of the fault, and I've seen and repaired failures like this that needed little more than a repaired track.

21 May 2017, 18:05	#14
Shadowfire Registered User Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Connecticut USA Posts: 617	Not cost effective to repair unless you're doing it yourself, and your time is free. If you get another ECS machine, I would swap the major components in and out of the new machine to save whatever major chips aren't dead. The only IC to be super careful with is Fat Agnus, some machines (like the A3000) use a different revision with a different pinout.

22 May 2017, 03:01	#15
dalek Registered User Join Date: Nov 2014 Location: NSW/Australia Posts: 462	Find someone in Aus to send it to. If you are in NSW I'm happy to take a look at it for you otherwise postage would probably be too dear. At least you'd know what can be saved. Otherwise pop it on gumtree or ebay and let someone who needs the parts maybe revive another system.

22 May 2017, 04:44	#16
whiteb Fanatically Amiga. Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Age: 55 Posts: 1,557	How heavy was the A500 with case ? It should go in to a 5KG Red Parcel post bag, (Biggest prepaid bag they have.) If its less than the Prepaid 5KG weight, I'll take it

22 May 2017, 18:10	#17
Amiga1992 Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Location: ? Posts: 19,665	I wouldn't get into catastrophe territory like Shadowfire suggests before knowing simpler components died and it stopped there, which is very possible and an easy fix. Why do people tend to diagnose with the worst case scenario in mind all the time? You gotta discard the easy fixes first, before you can blame more complicated stuff!

22 May 2017, 19:59	#18
darefail Registered User Join Date: Jan 2017 Location: Ελλάς Age: 45 Posts: 94	I'm not an expert but the first thing that i'd do.. test the outputs of the psu with a multimeter.. of course there is something wrong with the mobo, but you have to start from somewhere..

23 May 2017, 21:15	#19
Nightfox Registered User Join Date: Apr 2016 Location: Perth, Australia Posts: 433	I live in Perth so even sending to most Australian Amiga users would be expensive as the A500 is big and pretty heavy. I haven't thrown anything out yet. I am still deciding what to do. I don't have much knowledge regarding electronic fault diagnostics. I can solder stuff together but not much more than that. I'm really not having much luck lately. Just today I damaged the ribbon cable for my A1200 keyboard and am awaiting the arrival of silver conductive paint to repair it. I am typing this on my A1200 by connecting a USB keyboard to it. A USB keyboard connected to an A1200? Sounds like the most redundant thing in the world.

24 May 2017, 02:55	#20
dalek Registered User Join Date: Nov 2014 Location: NSW/Australia Posts: 462	You can try asking on OCAU if there is anyone in Perth that can help. Anyone happy to take a look would only need the mobo packed well in a cardboard box assuming it's not worth fixing the PSU.

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