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Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Hardware Issues and discussion => Topic started by: TheMagicM on May 24, 2003, 09:09:46 PM

Title: A500 floppy not reading
Post by: TheMagicM on May 24, 2003, 09:09:46 PM

I bought a used A500 at a used comp. store..powerd it on..and inserted floppy..it reads the floppy but doesnt boot as if the floppy was not bootable.. I tried about 10 different floppies..

?

Title: Re: A500 floppy not reading
Post by: amigamad on May 25, 2003, 02:42:02 AM

Have a look on ebay for a replacement.one of my a1200s stopped reading discs.

Title: Re: A500 floppy not reading
Post by: Ilwrath on May 25, 2003, 03:33:54 AM

Hmm....  Bad or dirty drive?  Bad diskettes (virus)?  
Or, less likely, a bad CIA.

All can cause the exact problem you describe.

Title: Re: A500 floppy not reading
Post by: Brian on May 25, 2003, 10:07:22 AM

I got an A500 with the same sumphoms... though I guess mine might be a bit worse since the drive will only see inserted disks about 50% of the time and then only spin up the drive motor for about like a sek tops and then stop... dead CIA or dead Drive, or both? :-?

Title: Re: A500 floppy not reading
Post by: TheMagicM on May 25, 2003, 02:19:38 PM

i'm going to try cleaning it up... replacing both cia chips didnt do the trick..so its either bad or dirty.

Title: Re: A500 floppy not reading
Post by: Ilwrath on May 25, 2003, 03:52:46 PM

Quote

I got an A500 with the same sumphoms... though I guess mine might be a bit worse since the drive will only see inserted disks about 50% of the time and then only spin up the drive motor for about like a sek tops and then stop...

I'd probably look at the drive, first.  There are two little sensor switches in most Amiga drives.  One senses write-protect, and the other is simply disk inserted.  If those are overly dirty or worn down, the Amiga won't always "realize" you inserted a disk (or will think all disks are write-protected).  Doesn't explain the reading problems, though.  Drive may be toast.

Of course, if you have other CIA chips sitting around, swapping them out wouldn't hurt the testing process, either.  

Also, I forgot to mention one more.  Damaged / loose ribbon cable from the floppy drive to the motherboard.  Can also cause same symptoms.