Post by: swoslover on May 21, 2008, 11:53:59 PM
I just bought an Amiga 4000 and am having some problems with it. I need some of a.org's expertise.
First of all is it possible to upload pics into a message?
Post by: Boot_WB on May 22, 2008, 12:00:55 AM
Regards
Rich
Post by: swoslover on May 22, 2008, 12:10:40 AM
!["Image]("http://i29.tinypic.com/148zzwn.jpg")
(http://
!["Image]("http://i27.tinypic.com/bc6zd.jpg")
)!["Image]("http://i32.tinypic.com/2ypjfpk.jpg")
Apologies this hasnt been done well and two pics are the same.
Its late, I am tired and frustrated lol.
Post by: davideo on May 22, 2008, 12:17:46 AM
So now we just need to know what problems you're having :-?
Dave G 8-)
Post by: swoslover on May 22, 2008, 12:29:47 AM
Mainly does it look like everything is there that should be?
Secondly, the mouse doesnt appear to work, am I right in thinking I can just connect it the way i would my a1200?
Third, the keyboard seems not to work although can't be sure without the mouse working, although the caps lock light isnt going on - never a good sign.
The monitor also has a very loose connection the cables almost needs to be pushed together, emitting a blue spark before a connection is established.
It does look like the case has been opened a few times, there was only 1 screw left at the back. I am worried that some things may have been ripped out.
Post by: stefcep2 on May 22, 2008, 12:52:33 AM
Make sure the mouse is in mouse port, not the joystick port.
Post by: mbrantley on May 22, 2008, 02:18:33 AM
Post by: mbrantley on May 22, 2008, 02:21:31 AM
Post by: Nlandas on May 22, 2008, 03:41:02 AM
Quote
swoslover wrote:
lol sorry
Mainly does it look like everything is there that should be?
Secondly, the mouse doesnt appear to work, am I right in thinking I can just connect it the way i would my a1200?
Third, the keyboard seems not to work although can't be sure without the mouse working, although the caps lock light isnt going on - never a good sign.
That could be as simple as the front keylock being turned to the disable position to lock the keyboard and mouse from working. First make sure that the cable that runs from the front faceplate to the motherboard is in place. If it is then the system might be locked. If you don't have the key then maybe someone could let you know if the pins need to be shorted or open.
The blue sparks are very bad, are you sure the monitor is an Amiga 15Khz capable monitor.
The pictures are kind of grainy. The motherboard ram looks fully populated. It looks like the processor card is in there. If the switch is in the right position the MB may be damaged.
Post by: countzero on May 22, 2008, 03:44:15 AM
Quote
Nlandas wrote:
The pictures are kind of grainy. The motherboard ram looks fully populated. It looks like the processor card is in there. If the switch is in the right position the MB may be damaged.
which prompts me to add ... I've bought four a4000 mobos off ebay in the past years and all were damaged. If someones selling their beloved a4000, there's usually something to it. The most common problem is the leaking caps. If you're lucky, and the acid has not eaten to the PCB, you can get it fixed.
Post by: Matt_H on May 22, 2008, 05:27:43 AM
Quote
The monitor also has a very loose connection the cables almost needs to be pushed together, emitting a blue spark before a connection is established.
Never mess with connections with the power on.
Number one rule. No exceptions. Ever.
Post by: murple on May 22, 2008, 08:20:17 AM
For the mouse, connect it to the port that says "MOUSE" not "GAME"... I think it's the one closer to the front of the computer.
It seems to have everything. You might want to look under the drive cables to make sure it has a CPU board. I'd be surprised if it were missing if this was sold as a complete system. Other than that it appears to have everything a basic A4000 should have... which doesn't mean it all works, just that it's physically present.
Post by: davideo on May 22, 2008, 08:20:56 AM
Quote
swoslover wrote:
lol sorry
Mainly does it look like everything is there that should be?
Secondly, the mouse doesnt appear to work, am I right in thinking I can just connect it the way i would my a1200?
Third, the keyboard seems not to work although can't be sure without the mouse working, although the caps lock light isnt going on - never a good sign.
The monitor also has a very loose connection the cables almost needs to be pushed together, emitting a blue spark before a connection is established.
It does look like the case has been opened a few times, there was only 1 screw left at the back. I am worried that some things may have been ripped out.
The mouse port is the closest to the front of the 2 on the left hand side of the 4000D. The one nearest the back is the joystick port.
As was said before - never mess with connections while the power is on - an easy way to kill your Miggy.
Has there been battery leakage?
Have the caps gone?
Have you checked that the lead for the keylock is connected?
What is the sequence of the screen colours at start up?
Dave G 8-)
Post by: swoslover on May 22, 2008, 02:06:58 PM
I did wonder what the purpose of the key on the front with the padlock like symbols was, perhaps I need to change this when I get home.
The monitor lead itself has a cut almost like it has been lying under the monitor which has worn it away. This is where the blue spark comes from and you have to hold both ends of the lead and push it together, I will invest in some tape as it seems to work ok when the conncection is secured.
Thanks for your help, it is only an a4000 68030 ec, however I felt it was the best way forward at 150 gbp inc postage. Rather than upgrading a 1200.
Post by: swoslover on May 22, 2008, 10:01:48 PM
Well tonight I managed to have the monitor on for a period of time it is still faulty but if the cable stays in the right place it stays on!!
Neither the mouse (nor the keyboard seem to work. Everything else is ok. However it is very frustrating as I wanted to try hired guns and it needs to be loaded through WB :(
Thankfully the ports seem to be ok as the mouse will right click just not scroll.
If anyone knows how I can
Post by: davideo on May 22, 2008, 10:52:38 PM
There's some useful advice on this site http://amiga.serveftp.net/index.html
Have you checked the battery area? Has there been leakage in the past? That could cause problems with the mouse.
On the lock is an image of an arrow - mine is unlocked and points to the left. Which way does yours point?
Dave G 8-)
Post by: swoslover on May 22, 2008, 11:20:08 PM
He said that this in no way affects performance.
I have emailed him to ask whether these are problems he had experienced but no reply :(
I may have to take the keyboard apart make sure it's all intact.
It's just so frustrating I have dreamed of an a4000 for years and finally I have one.
I have to say it looks so nice & roomy inside, all that lovely possibility for expansion!!
Post by: davideo on May 22, 2008, 11:26:59 PM
Quote
swoslover wrote:
The seller did say the battery had been removed.
He said that this in no way affects performance.
I have emailed him to ask whether these are problems he had experienced but no reply :(
I may have to take the keyboard apart make sure it's all intact.
It's just so frustrating I have dreamed of an a4000 for years and finally I have one.
I have to say it looks so nice & roomy inside, all that lovely possibility for expansion!!
He hasn't lied to you because having no battery does not effect its performance but having a battery that's leaked all over your motherboard and destroyed tracks and chips does unfortunately effect the smooth running of your Miggy :roll:
Your best bit is to have a good look around were the battery was and see if it looks ok and the chips around the area look alright.
Mine had a leaking battery that once I'd replaced it left my Miggy undamaged. I also replaced some of my leaking caps to get the sound back.
Dave G 8-)
Post by: Boot_WB on May 22, 2008, 11:29:59 PM
Are these socketed on your A4000 motherboard?
Regards
Rich
Post by: rkauer on May 23, 2008, 04:12:56 AM
There is no socketed chip in any A4000 (except the two ROM chips).
Post by: countzero on May 23, 2008, 04:28:30 AM
Post by: Nlandas on May 23, 2008, 04:38:59 AM
Quote
swoslover wrote:
Update.
Neither the mouse (nor the keyboard seem to work. Everything else is ok. However it is very frustrating as I wanted to try hired guns and it needs to be loaded through WB :(
Thankfully the ports seem to be ok as the mouse will right click just not scroll.
Hold on, the mouse will right click but not scroll? That's different than just not working. Do you have another mouse to try?
If not, have you cleaned the mouse? Remove the bottom plate, take out the mouses ball and use a q-tip dipped in isopropyl alcohol to clean the rollers of any debris on them. Then reverse the disassembly process.
Are there any bent pins on the Amiga 4000 keyboard connector? Also, is it an Amiga 4000 keyboard? It's not pictured.
-Nyle
Post by: swoslover on May 23, 2008, 01:59:11 PM
Personally I think that it is the responsibility of the seller to name any faults. The precedent there (in this case) is set by the fact he mentions the battery as having been removed.
here is a link:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=160237836387&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT&ih=006
Post by: swoslover on May 24, 2008, 12:04:20 AM
Sorry for keeping posting, but really want it all to work :)
Post by: davideo on May 24, 2008, 12:40:43 AM
It doesn't help us to help you if we don't know that you've tried all the suggestions that have been given to you so far in this thread!!
I'd suggest stripping the system down and giving it a good clean.
Check with a known good mouse or try this mouse in another Miggy.
Keys can go dead on Miggy keyboards but it's unusual for the whole keyboard to die.
Check the voltage on the mouse pins.
Dave G 8-)
Post by: Boot_WB on May 24, 2008, 09:45:01 AM
Regards
Rich
Post by: swoslover on May 24, 2008, 12:16:36 PM
I tried what you suggested and the mouse worked (upon which I could have kissed you!) then mysteriously stopped, maybe there is a defective connection or something?
Sorry if it appears that I have already tried some of the advice. I have been doing it as I go along, the basic like cleaning I can do (just!)
Everything else seems perfect the floppy, hd etc all work well.
Post by: davideo on May 24, 2008, 12:28:35 PM
But that doesn't explain why your keyboard won't work!!
Have you tried a game that doesn't need keyboard/mouse input and seen if the joystick port is working or not?
There are a lot of capacitors around that area - I wonder if they've gone and leaked on your board and done some damage?
Dave G 8-)
Post by: Boot_WB on May 24, 2008, 01:02:06 PM
Quote
:nervous:
swoslover wrote:
Rich
I tried what you suggested and the mouse worked (upon which I could have kissed you!)
Quote
... then mysteriously stopped, maybe there is a defective connection or something?
interesting.. it could just be a short in the mouse cable, or the pcb in the body of the mouse.
What happened when you tried the keyboard on its own?
Do you have an alternative Amiga mouse you could try?
Quote
Sorry if it appears that I have already tried some of the advice. I have been doing it as I go along, the basic like cleaning I can do (just!)
No problem, fault finding can be a tedious and frustrating experience until :idea: it all clicks into place, whereupon it ultimately proves to be a very rewarding experience, with useful things learned along the way.
Quote
Everything else seems perfect the floppy, hd etc all work well.
That is good news!
Regards
Rich
Post by: Abou27 on May 24, 2008, 09:36:41 PM
Quote
swoslover wrote:
The monitor lead itself has a cut almost like it has been lying under the monitor which has worn it away. This is where the blue spark comes from and you have to hold both ends of the lead and push it together, I will invest in some tape as it seems to work ok when the conncection is secured.
I'm sorry, but it is absolute madness to continue to use a lead in such condition. Not only does it pose a danger to yourself, it might well have caused your problems which, I note, are being pinned upon the seller.
Not so much 'buyer beware' but 'seller...
Post by: swoslover on May 25, 2008, 12:30:43 AM
As for seller beware, as a seller myself I would never send something out like that in the first place!! So can I ask do you condone someone sending a dangerous item out as long as the buyer doesn't play with it?
To think all I came on to ask was if I can use any standard cd-rom drive with the a4000.
@rich It's hard to try the keyboard on its own, when I have the caps lock is not respondong, although this may just be non-functional due to natural wear and tear.
I will give a game a shot tomorrow when hopefully I can give a full day to getting the miggy up and running.
Post by: davideo on May 25, 2008, 01:04:13 AM
Quote
swoslover wrote:
The monitor cable itself is nowhere near the amiga and as such is not going to affect it, there is no connection between this lead and the amiga.
@swoslover
I think me and the rest thought you meant the monitor lead that connected to the video out on your Miggy. When in fact it sounds like the lead to the power connector on the monitor.
Even so I'd be reluctant to use the lead and try and find a replacement for safeties sake :idea:
Don't forget we are all trying to help you in our own ways - the same as we would anybody that asked for help :-)
And to be honest I can't remember you asking in this thread about using any CDRom with this 4000 - unless I missed it in an earlier thread :rtfm:
I thought this was about your keyboard and mouse not working :-o
Dave G 8-)
Post by: Boot_WB on May 25, 2008, 01:06:36 AM
EDIT : Ohhh, the power lead. I too thought you meant the monitor data cable.
PS - you can control mouse functions with the keyboard on the miggy - a good way to test if the keyboard is working! Hold the right amiga key down, and use the cursor keys to move the pointer. Right Amiga key + right alt = right mouse button; left amiga key + left alt = left mouse button.
One other thing I'd recommend, open up the miggy and diconnect the keylock wire form the motherboard. It could be that this is shorting even though the "lock" on the front is in the open position. The header is at the front of the motherboard, just behind the ram slots.
There are three headers - power, disk activity and keylock. It's marked on the silkscreen which one is which.
Regarding CD rom drives - most will work, some older ones may not (but this is rare). There's no danger in trying. IDEfix97 is probably the easiest package to use to test it out, as the finddevice utility is really user friendly.
Regards
Rich
Post by: swoslover on May 25, 2008, 03:29:59 PM
Re cd-rom drive apologies if that wasn't clear I meant came on for last night. Ditto monitor lead if I wasn't clear.
I wish this was 10 years ago when I was 15 I knew so much more but unfortunately didnt have the cash for anything but a standard a1200, now I do have the cash i've forgotten everything!!
I might have to look out my old af's there were always useful guides in there.
Post by: swoslover on May 25, 2008, 06:47:18 PM
Dave I took your advice and looked at the 3 connectors they seemed ok. However I gave them a quick blow to remove any dust and re-inserted them. As well as this I took out what I think is the daughterboard and gave it a quick wipe before putting it back in place.
All I need now is a cd drive. Is it possible to use the most modern ones, not a dvd drive but a fast cd drive, with ide fix 97? i have found some old disks from another amiga I bought and have found ide 99 but this seems only to be for a1200 would it work with a4000?
Post by: Boot_WB on May 25, 2008, 08:44:15 PM
Never heard of IDE 99, but you can download IDEfix 97 from Aminet.
You should be able to use pretty much any modern CD drive, although dpending how fast it is, speed will be limited by the cheapo IDE bus of the A4K. This won't cause any problems with reading CDs, but if you were writing a CD you may experience buffer underrun.
Regards
Rich
EDIT: Is that the EIDE99 adapter from Elbox (kind of wedge shaped, socket on the bottom, two pin headers on the side)?
If so, the connector on the bottom is 44-pin, and will not physically fit onto the 40 pin IDE header on the a4000 motherboard.
Assuming you have only one hard drive in the A4000, you can just attach the CD rom drive to the same IDE cable, and set it as slave using the jumpers on the CD rom drive.
Post by: davideo on May 25, 2008, 09:12:21 PM
Quote
Assuming you have only one hard drive in the A4000, you can just attach the CD rom drive to the same IDE cable, and set it as slave using the jumpers on the CD rom drive.
My CD drive is connected in the above manner and that way you don't need the IDEFix software.
Mine's running os3.9 which I believe includes full cd support without having to use IDEFix or anything else like it.
Dave G 8-)
Post by: mbrantley on May 25, 2008, 09:26:10 PM
Before you go buy any modern CD drive, make sure you get one that is not too deep from front to back. Some (a lot actually) are so deep they will not push back all the way into the 4000 and leave room for the cabling and a clean airflow to the power supply.
I found a CD-R burner made by LiteOn that fit perfectly. There's not much difference in price between a CD reader and writer these days, so might as well get a burner, I say.
You can download MakeCD software with free registration now. Search the Amiga.org news items from the past year for info on downloading and registering MakeCD. I found the program rather confusing at first, but finally I got the hang of it. It's certainly not as intuitive as something like Toast on Mac.
Have fun.
Post by: swoslover on May 25, 2008, 11:23:25 PM
Dave it is just a couple of floppies there was no actually hardware device, I thought it was a software solution.
I will try and find a cd drive. I did notice that the spare bay on the front was conveniently sized for a cd-drive. Was this its original intention or was it for another floppy? I only have wb 3 i think, I was wondering about upgrading to 3.9 is this worthwhile. I have never tried either 3.5 or 3.9 but am definitly planning to upgrade.
I also have a slimline 4gig hdd though it doesnt seem to have the correct conncection (I think it was used in a 1200). The hdd here is only around 250mb so will have to think about a bigger one, though perhaps not right now.
Anyway i am off to learn how to partition my hdd exciting stuff!!
Post by: swoslover on June 04, 2008, 10:25:55 PM
Now I need some software for it to be compatible with my a4000.
Does anyone have a copy of this they would be willing to send me?
I will of course refund p&p costs.
Any help as always appreciated.
Post by: swoslover on June 04, 2008, 10:26:57 PM
Now I need some software for it to be compatible with my a4000.
Does anyone have a copy of this they would be willing to send me?
I will of course refund p&p costs.
Any help as always appreciated.
Post by: davideo on June 04, 2008, 11:00:10 PM
Have a look on Aminet - you'll find loads of CD Rom drivers on there.
Dave G 8-)
Post by: swoslover on June 04, 2008, 11:06:21 PM
I don't have a floppy on anything other than my a4000.
Post by: Boot_WB on June 04, 2008, 11:15:51 PM
Regards
Rich
Post by: Phantom on June 04, 2008, 11:37:55 PM
Post by: swoslover on June 04, 2008, 11:44:34 PM
Post by: Phantom on June 05, 2008, 12:13:54 AM
Post by: TjLaZer on June 05, 2008, 03:40:06 AM
Just get IDEfix 97, AmiCDFS is nice but only works in SCSI.