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Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Hardware Issues and discussion => Topic started by: dandelion on September 09, 2003, 01:48:56 PM
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Hi all..
I've just bought an Amiga 4000/040 with no extras. I've been an a1200 owner for around ten years and this is the fufilment of an equally long dream.
The only thing is - what should I check and first try and upgrade when it arrives? My main concerns are - the buster chip. How can I check which revision I have and what problems will an early revision cause me?
Battery corrosion. I've been assured that the battery is fine and the machine is still working well, but it has been in a loft for a while. Should I remove this or as the machine will now be used quite heavily again, will it recharge and thus not become a problem?
Any interesting quirks/4000 specifics which I should be aware off?
I'm sooo excited I could almost fall over!!!!
dandelion
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Same here!
The A4000's still at my sister's house, but I already have a Cyberstorm mk II 060 sitting here....
And a mediator 4000 Di which I'm meant to be getting of a guy.....
:D
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I've just bought an Amiga 4000/040 with no extras. I've been an a1200 owner for around ten years and this is the fufilment of an equally long dream.
Congrats!!
The only thing is - what should I check and first try and upgrade when it arrives? My main concerns are - the buster chip. How can I check which revision I have and what problems will an early revision cause me?
It causes problems mainly when using certain Zorro III expansion boards. When you get it open it up and look at the chip. If it says rev-11 you are set. If it says 9 you sould definately change it. If it says 7 only change if you intend to install a Zorro card that needs DMA. Also see if it is socketed(pray it is).
Battery corrosion. I've been assured that the battery is fine and the machine is still working well, but it has been in a loft for a while. Should I remove this or as the machine will now be used quite heavily again, will it recharge and thus not become a problem?
Check the battery!! Leaky batteries kill Amigas! If the battery has ANY leakage or fuzz PULL IT OUT!!
Any interesting quirks/4000 specifics which I should be aware off?
See what ROM you have. If it is 3.0 you will probably want to hunt down some 3.1 ROMS.
Enjoy!! :-D
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You should for sure check the battery, if it shows signs of leaking
replace it. If it is not leaking it might need to be left on for a
while to charge the battery. It a coin type battery it might be flat
and need replacing, probably not though.
To check the buster revision open the case and look for the chip
marked Buster. if you see a -11 that is the good one! If it is not
-11, it might be surface mounted and be tricky to upgrade -7 and -9
are the more common problem ones. Buster can effect some cards that
use DMA only -11 fully supports this. If you plan to get a Graphics
card or run other zorro cards as well as a Graphics card a -11 is also
good to have.
Kickstart 3.1 roms are good to have too, early 4000s had Kickstart 3.0
roms.
Hope your 4000 gets there soon :-)
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Ahhh congratulations! I remember when I got my hands on my 4000... it had been a dream for me as well since the early 90s... always out of reach, then a few years ago, I sold my 1200 tower and got a slightly less powerful 4000. I didn't regret it one bit! The 4000 is a brilliant machine.
Of course, since then i've put it in a tower, added a PowerFlyer Gold, a Repulse, Mediator 4000, Cyberstorm MkIII 060, and a load of other cool things.
I love it, and I hope you get as much use and enjoyment out of yours as mine has given me over the years.
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Red,
Funny how two people can be writing the same thing at the same time on
the other side of the world really shows how far the net has gone to
bring the world together, it is such a small place :-) :-)
Peace Dudes and Dudeettes!
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Cyberus,
Man I would not be able to sleep, I'd be in the car to collect!
Hope you get it all in one place soon :-)
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@miles
I agree, it's an amazing thing!:-)
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I know..I really can't wait.
And the best thing is..I got it for a really very reasonable price! The joys of Amibench!
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@dandelion
The first suggestion is . . . you ENJOY it :-D
The second is:
"Sell the crap A4000 and buy an A2000HD Professional" :destroy:
Ciao
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My suggestion is as unique as the others, get buster11, rom3.1 and make damn sure the battery ain't leaking.
When it comes to quirks I don't realy know that many but heat is a bit of a problem in the 040 modells and the 5.25" bay ain't that deep so try get a short modell CD/DVD for it. I've also heard the PSUs fan can sometimes be turning the wrong way. You should hope you don't get one of the A4000 that have a fullsize 3.5" diskdrive as they make it impossible to have an extra diskdrive or HD in the other 3.5" bay aswell as they have a cut in the other 3.5" panel so even if you get a normal 3.5" diskdrive for it the panel won't cover the hole.
Other uppdates you would like to get asap is a gfxcard, a SCSI controller and a NIC. Question then is if you want to go the PCI way or the original Zorro way. PCI solutions are a bit expencive but it will save you some money on GFX and NIC's later on.
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Recently i also got my hands on an A4000.
I really don't know what to do with it, i have installed an hard drive (1,2GB), cdrom drive, 16 MB memory(or something).
And i built an Amiga RGB to VGA adaptor.
But now i am a little stuck, the main purpose for this machine was to run linux or preferably netBSD on it. The problem is that i would like a good GFX card for it and a network card. The cheapest (i think) would be an Mediator 4000Di, but Linux/netBSD support for the mediator is somewhat problematic if i have understood all correct.
BTW would an TV modulator for the A500 work with the A4000?
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If you lose time after 24 hours (or better yet, within a week) without power, replace the battery immediately! Don't even wait until your battery starts to leak. Ask me how.
:-)
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Quote: but heat is a bit of a problem in the 040 modells and the 5.25" bay ain't that deep so try get a short modell CD/DVD for it. I've also heard the PSUs fan can sometimes be turning the wrong way.
Check out that the PSU-Fan pushes the air to the backside of the Case. If it dosent't turn it..
Here are informations about it:
http://wonkity.com/~wblock/a4000hard/main.html
(Be careful when opening the PSU !)
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A RFmodulator for an A500 would surtantly work on any Amiga RGB port also the A4000 one.
I didn't have enough $ for a mediator solution to my A4000 tower project but I got hold of an prometheus PCI solution for under 35$ and it should support Linux also (at least I hope so, will see when my project is done).
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Where did you get a prometheus for $35? Do they have any left?
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Doood!!! Get a professional A2000HD!! It's the flagship Commodore Amiga model, the A4000 is JUNK!!! It's just a TOY!!! You should also get a .... (ahh forget it) :-D
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Hey, leave Doomy alone! That guy cheers me up :-)
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It was through a friend and no he don't have any more cause then I would get that one too I think just for the bragging rights of having 5 Zorro and 8 PCI slots in one machine. :-D
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@dandelion
As an A4000D owner here are my tips for what to do next:
1. Remove that battery NOW! Do not wait for signs of trouble, as the first sign may be the last. Find a suitable NiMH replacement. This will require solder work.
2. I'm hoping you have a monitor to go with this machine... Otherwise you won't be able to use any of the native screen resolutions without the aid of a scan/sync doubler. Unlike the A1200, the A4000 does not have composite output!
3. Take a fine brush and a can of air to all the boards and components... Chances are you'll have a buttload of dust inside the machine.
4. Kickstart 3.1 ROMs, if they're not already installed, will likely be needed... Workbench 3.1 or 3.9 as well. Anything less is just uncivilized! :-D
5. Be very cautious about the SIMM sockets. Check for cracks and other signs of aging. The plastic used for the sockets may break off very easilly, causing contact problems. If they do break, a little super glue on the outer edges will hold them in place. Of course you'll want to make sure you have the full 16M of RAM in place before gluing them in permanently.
6. A low-profile fan on the CPU will keep it cool in that cramped slimline case. Mine is glued on with thermal tape, but I believe (correct me if I'm wrong guys) a 486 fan fits the 68040.
7. If no other joystick is available, a Sega Genesis gamepad works without any sort of modification... Tho only the B button is available.
8. Remove the expansion slot covers for extra ventilation.
Don't worry too much about Buster, unless you intend to expand this system... And even then, only if you experience problems. I have a v9 Buster, and have yet to have any problems with it (tho the only expansion card I have is the GVP HC+8 SCSI board).
Hope this helps!
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About the SEGA genesis pad I have one of those aswell and I'm pritty sure 2 buttons worked before I modded it. It have all the p lines in the cable so it was like christmas day for me when I opened it... now I have all 3 buttons working and startbutton modded to work as autofire. :-D
Also a SEGA mastersystem pad is stright forward and works as a 2 button Amiga pad. :-)
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Hi there, congrats on having an A4000!
First thing i would upgrade would be your processorcard, get rid of
the 040 and get a 060 (it's soooooo much faster) and if you are lucky
enough (or just rich) get a PPC card like i did, the Cyberstorm PPC
card makes your Amiga a lot more fun and modern, second get a gfx
card, once you have one you never want to do without it, get a
cybervision ppc or a mediator+voodoo 3/4/5 (shogo really runs nice on
my voodoo 3 3000@1024*768*16 :-D )
Don't go for a cybervision 64 or CV643D, there slow and you will
create a bottleneck in your system.
Also do not forget memory, get 128
MB it will be more then enough, and let's not forget get a SCSI HD (i
bought my seagate 18 GB UW3 for 50 euro's second hand :-D ) get
yourself a networking card (ardiadne,x-surf or a cheapo PCI one if you
have mediator) Well, you have a killer setup now and enjoy it, pc
friends still look envy at my system coz it still outpreforms there pc
on a lot of points hehehe.
and let's no forget check your buster
revision if it says rev 11 your all set!
Grz,
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Someone said Ariadne ?
ariadne + AmiTCP/IP (http://cgi.benl.ebay.be/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2752048565&category=8101):-)
I'm actually selling a cybervision64 too although I would agree it's not the best solution nowadays
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imho using an amiga4000 as a bsd/linux box is a waste...any 486 will do that job better... and much cheaper!
I can't understand it...
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I know the machine will be arriving with 3.0 roms. Can I pull the 3.1 roms out of my CD32 and use those instead?
I think I shall just snip the battery out and investigate the Nicad option as you suggested. Better be safe than sorry and the clock isn't too much of an issue in the short term.
So, it should be arriving tomorrow!
Can you believe, i've never even SEEN a big box Amiga! I've never even used an Amiga or seen an Amiga with a processor speed greater than an 020! This is going to be a truly memorable day!
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I share the exact same sentiments...I always dreamed of having an A4000 and I am also finally getting one.
P.S. A4000 3.1 Roms available from 'Amigetta' on ebay. Or just search for A4000 on ebay....about thirty quid
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I know the feeling... My stepp into the Amiga world was with a new A600HD, after uppgrading with memory and external diskdrive I found the 40MB HD too small and while searching for something to help me in that department I fell over an incredible offer for an A1200 with 170MB HD, sure that would be the end of my spaceproblems I thought and I went for it! Sold my A600 and bought an external CD for it also but soon found out that 170Mb was not going to do it so saved every little penny I had for months and finaly I could afford the big step I was about to make... that day I bought a fat Amiga 200W PSU, a used Blizzard 1230 Rev3, a 2.5"->2.5"&3.5" cable and a 3.2Gb HD drive, the biggest they had and was in over 350$ but I had to have it! That was a fat jump and I lived happily with that system for a few years then I fell on good times and managed to save some money and though I better check out the bigbox Amigas and so I did and found a great deal in the paper but didn't know it at the time cause it just said "an old A4000 used in a commersial studie". Not knowing what was in store for me I thought 1100$ was a bit steep but I had the money and I was determined to at least look at a bigbox Amiga for the first time. It didn't take me long to get out the fat wallet and pay the dude the money and home I went with a A4000T, CS060 rev1, CS-SCSI, VLab Motion, CV64, 80Mb Ram, 4.2GB SCSI + 1.2GB IDE, SCSI CD and a Multisync monitor to go with the system. That was truly a sweet week, missed alot of school due to a cold *cough*cough*.
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@dandelion
No, the CD32 ROMs will not work. KS ROMs are chipset dependant. The A4000 requires ROMs for A4000s. There are a few machines that can share, but unfortunately the A4000 isn't one of em.
As suggested, you might find ROMs on Ebay, or failing that, many Amiga hardware resellers carry them.
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Yep, the A1200 ROMs will get you as far as the ESC screen and thats about it ;-)
Been there, done that. Couldn't get my A4k to boot off a HD and the expansion boards were not listed (CV64/3D, multiface III). Bugger.
- Paul
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Crumb wrote:
imho using an amiga4000 as a bsd/linux box is a waste...any 486 will do that job better... and much cheaper!
I can't understand it...
You can't understand it?
You are using an Amiga in 2003, surely that's something most people would (not) understand ;-)