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Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Hardware Issues and discussion => Topic started by: Citroenian on December 27, 2005, 09:28:26 PM
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Hello to all,
Recently I found an A3000 desktop which worked good. I' am so stupid because I removed the rom tower to replace the roms with the 3.1 from another not working A3000 T. I broke the one base of the circuit (If you had an A3000 with rom tower i think you understand what i mean) which i replaced today from an electronics shop. The 3.1 didn't work, maybe an incompatibility problem. I tried to put the old roms (which i am not sure that they work now because i placed them opposite in the other two rom sockets the motherboard has and they became very hot -of course after this i switched off immediately the machine, i know i did stupidity!!!). I tried to make them work in the older place they were, factory set, but i didn't do it!
I DON'T KNOW IF ARE THE ROM CHIPS THAT DON'T WORK N0W DUE TO THE HEAT I DID, OR THE SMALL, VERY SMALL INDEED SCRATCH WITH THE SCREWDRIVER I DID IN FRONT OF THE ONE OF THE TWO ROM TOWER SOCKETS ACCIDENTALLY ON THE MOTHERBOARD! I FEEL STUPID, VERY STUPID... PLEASE HELP!!! THE SCREEN GOES BLACK AND DOESN'T ASK ME ANYMORE WHICH OS TO LOAD, 1.3 OR 2.X
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Sounds like you toasted the ROMs.
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I hope to be only this, so i have to find anew set of roms (very difficult here in Greece because Amiga doesn't have support anymore). I m afraid of the motherboard... and i feel stupid!!! (Note that i had an A500+ from '91 to '97 and an A1200 '040 from '97 to '99 and never met something like a rom tower)....
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Citroenian wrote:
I m afraid of the motherboard...
Why, what did it do to you? :nervous:
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moto
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I am affraid of my English too Motorolin!!!
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Heh, sorry I was just kidding :-) I sympathise buddy, I hate to even touch my Amiga's motherboard, let alone change ROM chips and such.
Funny, I don't have the same fear when dealing with PCs, which I have to handle every day for my job :roll:
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moto
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It's ok, don't worry, do you have any idea? You think i damaged the motherboard? Of course the pc's are different, constructed my self the pc i write to you now and my job has to do with electronics (i am a video editor), but now i don't know what i did and i think i did stupidity. Nobody can help here in Greece. Commodore Computers Hellas wich used to hold the Amiga service closed four years ago, (I didn't know it, I sold my last Amiga 6 years ago and today i did some calls to my old dealers to help me)
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Let me run through this to get it straight in my own mind :-)
1. Your 3000 had a ROM tower with a working 1.3, correct?
2. You removed the ROM tower and put in a 3.1 chip, which didn't work (symptoms?)
3. In the process of removing the ROM tower you damaged it, so you took the 1.3 ROM off the tower and connected it directly to the 3000 motherboard.
4. When you powered up, the ROM chip got very hot, and the macine would not boot.
Is this correct?
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moto
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1. It used to ask me when it booted which kick i prefer 1.3 or 2.x, i was making selection with the mouse and after it was asking me to insert a superkickstart disk to load the operating system, but correct, the system was ok.
2. Yes, i found a pair of roms that was working but nothing when i placed the to the rom tower. Black Screen.
3. Correct. i did stupidity!
4. Correct. I did many attempts.
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Were the ROM chips definitely the right way round, and definitely the correct chips for the machine? If not, then the chips probably got blown when you connected them. May be worth getting some replacement ROM chips.
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moto
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if you mean the 3.1, i don't know, these are two old Amiga we used in the studio i work a few years ago to create some video titles, the T had 3.1, but i read in the internet that rom tower 3000's take different 3.1 chips than others which take them directly to the motherboard. My problem is that neither the old roms work anymore and i don't know if this caused due to overheating them, or due to a small scratch i did in the motherboard when i removing the rom tower.
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Can you see if the scratch damaged any tracks or components on the motherboard? And what type of Amiga did you take the 3.1 ROM from?
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moto
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OK it sounds like you installed the 3.1 ROM chips the wrong way, as in backwards. There is a notch on the chip and needs to go on the notch on the socket, if you put them backwards the chips are toast and you need to get new ones. The computer should be ok. Now that scratch is another story. Does it look like it "cut a trace?" You may need to test the trace to see if it is broken.
Note: Also this model computer had incorrect silk screened markings on the board so you might need to put the chips in swapped. You can swap chips back and forth as long as you install the chip with notch. Never put the chip in backwards as this will kill it. (Which I think you already did!)
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Welcome to A.org :-D
I tried to put the old roms (which i am not sure that they work now because i placed them opposite in the other two rom sockets the motherboard has and they became very hot -
You mean opposite as "you switched the pair" or you flipped the orientation ? If it is the latter, the ROMs are probably burnt.
Where are you from? I'm from Athens, but you may talk to many Greek Amigans in #AmigaHellas GrNET, or just visit AmigaHellas page (http://www.amigahellas.gr/). hosted on Amiga 030 ;-)
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VAPORIZER AFFILIATE PROGRAMS (http://vaporizeraffiliateprogram.com)
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Yes guys, i changed the position, the orientation... and the bad is that the scratch is very small but it looks like cutting an 'electronic line' just in front of the socket. I don't know, but i think i did damage. Cass i am from Athens, sou stelnw email na me valeis se epafi sto messenger na milisoume: nmylon@hotmail.com
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aahhh this reminds me of my disasterous kickrom upgrading attempt last year. It was a fine april evening, and I came home very anxiously to replace my 3.0 roms with the 3.1 I brought from home. I didn't do this before, but somehow I thought it should be an easy thing to do (I have a lot of experience with pc hardware). I just took off the old roms, and put in the new ones, but while I was putting them, I thought oh I may have placed other way around, but surely it shouldn't be a problem, roms shouldn't burn with such a miss. When I turned on, the roms heated, especially one of them heated more so I thought I put that one other way around, so I flipped it. when I turned on, the same rom heated again, then I flipped them both. Then the same one heated again, so I thought I should switch their places, and did so. They heated again ... Then while I was thinking what to do next, (by the way, I was suffering from jetlag, after a 12 hour flight) I saw one of the 3.1 roms inside the box I brought them. Then it occurred to me that while I was leaving home, I put a spare 1.3 a500 rom inside the box 'just in case' (just in case I couldn't toast the roms by messing up the oreintation :-D ). So yeah I was trying with an a500 rom all the time. The 3.1 rom was ofcourse toasted, but the amiga was allright. Just the internal expansion port is fried, but I think it was fried before I did the kick rom attempt. This a1200 was a friend of mine's, who kept it in a cellar without the expansion port cover for years. Expansion port was pretty bad in shape when I got this amiga.
To cut it short, don't underestimate kickrom switching, don't come near to your amiga when you're drunk or jetlagged, don't put kickrom chips in the same container by any means. And don't think you're only one doing stupid things, world is full of stupid people, unfortunately (or fortunately ?).
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The cut trace should be relatively simple to fix... Follow the trace to the next junction on both ends, solder a thin jumper wire between these points. Problem solved.
As stated many times before, incorrect orientation of the ROMs is instant death. New ones will be required.