Newbie looking for answers!

Moroder · 10 April 2009, 23:53

Hi everyone!
My aunt recently had to sell her apartment and move, and cleaning up the attic she discovered an old amiga 500 left behind by the previous owner of the apartment (she's been living there for over 10 years, so it's been there for some time). Knowing how much I love messing around with games and electronics, she gave me a call and handed it over to me.

I have a few questions!

I have never owned one of these before, but as a child, I used to dream of having one. The machine itself seems to be in good shape, I bought a game (TMNT) on ebay, and it loaded up fine, albeit it took a while to load. Maybe I need a new floppy drive? Also, I could not actually play the game, I tried clicking on every button on the keyboard, no luck. The intro sequence just kept looping. I figured I need a joystick, so I just bought one on ebay. Still waiting for the mailman...
How do I check how much ram this machine has? I want to know if I need to get more!

Thanks!
Jesper

pjhutch · 11 April 2009, 00:29

1. You can tell if its having problems by the sound it make. If it makes grinding noise repeatedly, then it is having problems reading the disk due to either damage or age. Otherwise, floppy disks are not fast so be patient with them.

2. The original A500 has about 512KB, the newer A500 Plus has about 1MB of memory. It will be very difficult to source memory expansions for the A500 (a1200 are better).
If you have the Workbench disk you can view the memory in the title bar at the top of the screen or use the AVAIL command.

Retroplay · 11 April 2009, 00:31

If it's an A500 I'll bet it's got 1Mb RAM.
512kb chip RAM and a 512kb fakefast RAM (Minimem was most common here in DK) upgrade fitted inside the trapdoor expansion slot on the bottom side of the Amiga.
If you're lucky it's a Maximem with a total of 2.3Mb.

You need a joystick for sure, there's not alot of Amiga games you can control using the keyboard.

clenched · 11 April 2009, 02:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moroder

she discovered an old amiga 500 left behind by the previous owner of the apartment

So that's where I left it! Be on the next jet to pickup. No, here are my suggestions: read this board and learn about ADFs, transdis, transrom programs building null modem cable and pickup a fresh box of DD floppy disks. This will be more economical than buying original games. Suggestion two: if you have your mouse, plug it into joystick port instead. You won't have any control, but it might allow you to peek a little further into the game you have.

extralife · 11 April 2009, 02:41

Open your trapdoor underneath and check if a ram expansion is in there, if not, go get one from amigakit. 512k expansion ram is all u need m8, infact its really a must have.
If it needs more than that, it doesn't belong on a500 lol. Oh yea, while you are out spending at amigakit, u better grab yourself an amiga scart cable for that crispy pic on your tvset, accept nothing less.
Note: even if u have a ramexpansion sitting inside the trapdoor, it might be faulty, coz of the crappy batteries attached, but who knows maybe u are lucky m8

Moroder · 11 April 2009, 09:59

Thanks for the answers everyone!

I'm at my parents place for the easter, so I can't really check my amiga for right now, sigh. I don't have workbench, I did remove the trapdoor on the left side, and to me, it didn't look like anything was attached in there, so I might have to get the expansion. I found a cpl on eBay that weren't too pricey, gonna check out amigakit.

In case I don't have the ram expansion, this is what I need, right?
ebay

Pjhutch, I realize that floppies are slow, I used to mess around with them lot back in the early 90's, but sheesh, it really took longer than I remembered to load the game. Maybe I just have to get used to it again!

Retroplay, great to see another dane here :-)

I hope there's a joystick in the mail for me when I get back home.

Thanks again everyone!

DoogUK · 11 April 2009, 10:13

That ram expansion on ebay is just fine.

TCD · 11 April 2009, 10:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moroder

I don't have workbench, I did remove the trapdoor on the left side, and to me, it didn't look like anything was attached in there, so I might have to get the expansion.

The trapdoor for the memory expansion is on the bottom side of your A500. I'm also quite sure you'll find one there

Moroder · 11 April 2009, 10:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheCyberDruid

The trapdoor for the memory expansion is on the bottom side of your A500. I'm also quite sure you'll find one there

aah alright, haven't checked underneath! will do it first thing when I get home tomorrow :-)

Retroplay · 11 April 2009, 18:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moroder

Retroplay, great to see another dane here :-)

Yeah, now we're three danes around here, You, me and Dizzy (did I forget somebody?)

Shoonay · 11 April 2009, 18:20

Hello and welcome to EAB, Moroder!

Could you perhaps know something about the Danish version of Biing??

Moroder · 12 April 2009, 11:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shoonay

Hello and welcome to EAB, Moroder!

Could you perhaps know something about the Danish version of Biing??

sorry, never heard of it!

checked the trapdoor underneath my amiga, and yes! a card was plugged in there! I'm guessing it's a 512kb expansion :-D

TCD · 12 April 2009, 11:58

See, Retroplay and me told ya

Now you might think about getting an external floppy drive

Moroder · 12 April 2009, 15:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheCyberDruid

See, Retroplay and me told ya

Now you might think about getting an external floppy drive

yes! I will probably get one! and another joystick for some 2 player action. but not till next month, already spent too much cash this month as I recently purchased a NES...

Retroplay · 12 April 2009, 19:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moroder

checked the trapdoor underneath my amiga, and yes! a card was plugged in there! I'm guessing it's a 512kb expansion :-D

Btw it might be a very good idea to unplug it and check the battery for leakage.
Remove the battery if there's any signs of that.
We don't want a perfectly fine mem expansion to go belly up, right?

Moroder · 12 April 2009, 23:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by Retroplay

Btw it might be a very good idea to unplug it and check the battery for leakage.
Remove the battery if there's any signs of that.
We don't want a perfectly fine mem expansion to go belly up, right?

hey, great tip! thanks! :-)

Moroder · 14 April 2009, 14:46

so I got a joypad today, and a game, "zool 2" from 1993, comes on 2 disks. I do still think the disk drive in the amiga is messed up, it takes forever to load.. (been waiting for 15 mins now) for a game to start. Last time I tried loading a game it took a while aswell, but in the end the game did load up. I probably should just get an external disk drive right?
Tried a few other games which loaded up alright. I guess it's just the game I bought that's messed up. damn it. but at least my disk drive is working! yay!

10 April 2009, 23:53	#1
Moroder Registered User Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: aarhus / denmark Posts: 58	Newbie looking for answers! Hi everyone! My aunt recently had to sell her apartment and move, and cleaning up the attic she discovered an old amiga 500 left behind by the previous owner of the apartment (she's been living there for over 10 years, so it's been there for some time). Knowing how much I love messing around with games and electronics, she gave me a call and handed it over to me. I have a few questions! I have never owned one of these before, but as a child, I used to dream of having one. The machine itself seems to be in good shape, I bought a game (TMNT) on ebay, and it loaded up fine, albeit it took a while to load. Maybe I need a new floppy drive? Also, I could not actually play the game, I tried clicking on every button on the keyboard, no luck. The intro sequence just kept looping. I figured I need a joystick, so I just bought one on ebay. Still waiting for the mailman... How do I check how much ram this machine has? I want to know if I need to get more! Thanks! Jesper

11 April 2009, 00:29	#2
pjhutch Peter Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Sowerby Bridge,UK Age: 57 Posts: 102	A500 1. You can tell if its having problems by the sound it make. If it makes grinding noise repeatedly, then it is having problems reading the disk due to either damage or age. Otherwise, floppy disks are not fast so be patient with them. 2. The original A500 has about 512KB, the newer A500 Plus has about 1MB of memory. It will be very difficult to source memory expansions for the A500 (a1200 are better). If you have the Workbench disk you can view the memory in the title bar at the top of the screen or use the AVAIL command.

14 April 2009, 14:46	#17
Moroder Registered User Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: aarhus / denmark Posts: 58	so I got a joypad today, and a game, "zool 2" from 1993, comes on 2 disks. I do still think the disk drive in the amiga is messed up, it takes forever to load.. (been waiting for 15 mins now) for a game to start. Last time I tried loading a game it took a while aswell, but in the end the game did load up. I probably should just get an external disk drive right? Tried a few other games which loaded up alright. I guess it's just the game I bought that's messed up. damn it. but at least my disk drive is working! yay! Last edited by Moroder; 14 April 2009 at 15:23.

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11 April 2009, 00:31	#3
Retroplay Lemon Curry ? Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Denmark Age: 49 Posts: 4,085	If it's an A500 I'll bet it's got 1Mb RAM. 512kb chip RAM and a 512kb fakefast RAM (Minimem was most common here in DK) upgrade fitted inside the trapdoor expansion slot on the bottom side of the Amiga. If you're lucky it's a Maximem with a total of 2.3Mb. You need a joystick for sure, there's not alot of Amiga games you can control using the keyboard.

11 April 2009, 02:41	#5
extralife Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: denmark Posts: 268	Open your trapdoor underneath and check if a ram expansion is in there, if not, go get one from amigakit. 512k expansion ram is all u need m8, infact its really a must have. If it needs more than that, it doesn't belong on a500 lol. Oh yea, while you are out spending at amigakit, u better grab yourself an amiga scart cable for that crispy pic on your tvset, accept nothing less. Note: even if u have a ramexpansion sitting inside the trapdoor, it might be faulty, coz of the crappy batteries attached, but who knows maybe u are lucky m8

11 April 2009, 09:59	#6
Moroder Registered User Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: aarhus / denmark Posts: 58	Thanks for the answers everyone! I'm at my parents place for the easter, so I can't really check my amiga for right now, sigh. I don't have workbench, I did remove the trapdoor on the left side, and to me, it didn't look like anything was attached in there, so I might have to get the expansion. I found a cpl on eBay that weren't too pricey, gonna check out amigakit. In case I don't have the ram expansion, this is what I need, right? ebay Pjhutch, I realize that floppies are slow, I used to mess around with them lot back in the early 90's, but sheesh, it really took longer than I remembered to load the game. Maybe I just have to get used to it again! Retroplay, great to see another dane here :-) I hope there's a joystick in the mail for me when I get back home. Thanks again everyone!

11 April 2009, 10:13	#7
DoogUK Doogster Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Dorset Posts: 1,069	That ram expansion on ebay is just fine.

11 April 2009, 18:20	#11
Shoonay Global Caturator Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Porando Age: 43 Posts: 6,107	Hello and welcome to EAB, Moroder! Could you perhaps know something about the Danish version of Biing??

12 April 2009, 11:58	#13
TCD HOL/FTP busy bee Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Germany Age: 46 Posts: 31,608	See, Retroplay and me told ya Now you might think about getting an external floppy drive

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