Amiga 1200 does not work

[alphadec]

I have today recived a new amiga (A-1200) that I bought on ebay, but there is some issues with it so if anyone could help me tracking down the problems I would be very happy. Need to know how much it will cost me to have it repaired.

The problems with it is this.

- When I turn the power on it boots to amiga boot screen (there is no hard drive YET!). now it it takes 5-10 seconds and it will re-boot. And this keeps happening all the time.

- The mouse does not work

- the power or hard drive lights does not work.


These are the issues I have found sofar, so what can this be. ?

[alphadec]

Have you tried reseating the roms?

I have open the amiga but I could not see any problem.

What you mean "reseating". ?

switching them ?

[alphadec]

Also check the power supply output under load and see if it's falling down.

The PSU I am using is the same as those cbm sold with A600/A1200 but I have a PSU that I used with my Amiga A500 I can try that and see if it workes better.

[alphadec]

Just prise the roms out slightly with a chunky flat blade screwdriver and push down on them again firmly into the socket. Be very careful though. It is more likely to be failing caps though or power supply.

I think I got a IC-Extractor I will use!!.
Is there any guide on how to install Kickstart on A1200. ?
that I can find online. ?

I did install kickstart 40.68 on my amiga500 but never had problems with that.

[alphadec]

Also check the power supply output under load and see if it's falling down.

how do I check the power current ?

[alphadec]

Probably the capacitors, I'm afraid. It should be looked at sooner rather than later as it's only likely to get worse! You'll need someone who's handy with an SMT rework station to change them all.
It may be something else, but on this sort of problem the capacitors are the first things I change.

How safe can we say it is "recap needed". ?

So where do i find someone who can do that. ?

[alphadec]

To check the voltage you need a voltameter, but a multimeter will allow you to check the continuity of connections.

If you don't feel comfortable with all this, then perhaps you should send it to someone (like Amigakit) for repair.

Looks like amigakit only repair if you have bought it from them.

Anyone else ?

[alphadec]

Amigakit will repair anyone's Amiga if you pay them; they may repair one of their own sales for free.

When Anthony Hoffman is not on his vacation lounging in the sun repairing the electronics in the sub-zero weather of the Antarctic, he does an excellent job of diagnosing and repairing Amigas with a very short turn around time (he is not free either, nor is he available until September).

Place an add for repair services, or look for offered services on Amibay.

I have sent a ticket on amigakit but do u have his email address. ?

[alphadec]

My bet is that its been cleaned and put together badly and or suffering from travel sickness. Something has come loose.

Yes I am going to have good check tomorrow. I have received many things on this board now on where I should check so will have a look at it tomorrow and let u know how it goes.

[alphadec]

I have today had a good check on my A1200 rev 1d4

- PSU - I used another PSU then it do not reboot every 5-10 sec

- after I disable it and did check the leads on the led to power light. After I put it all back    together the lights now work.

- But mouse is still dead.


I sent email to amikit and they will do repair , they was incredible fast and fantastic helpful so think I will use them when I send them this for a checkup!.

[alphadec]

Good job in the replacement PSU and LED lights lead.  Usually when people have mouse problems the issue lies with a CIA chip, or occasionally with Paula.  Might be obvious, but have you confirmed that the mouse works correctly on another system?  Have you tried your current system with a different mouse?

This doesn't change the recommendation to have the caps replaced, btw.  It's cheap and good preventative maintenance, since those caps can leak and cause a whole host of issues.  Just giving you a couple other things to check, as well.  

I have a Amiga 500 and used the mouse on that, with noe problems so the mouse is checked on that before I connected it to the A1200. But guess I will let amikit have a look at it.

[alphadec]

Well done. Strange but the last Amiga 1200 I had a problem with the mouse was broken along with the power lights. I once picked an Amiga up from a guy and I watched with horror as the guys dad was cleaning an A500 with the power on while swapping out connectors on the back. I said that he should avoid plugging stuff in and out like that while the power is on. He just laughed and then offered me the 500. I have also seen forks used for removing floppies and kids pushing sharp objects into PCMCIA slots. Little wonder that the things are busted. My A1200 dates from 1993 and has been used and generally unplugged since that date and still works fine, even the floppy drive. Nothing has ever broken on her. Wonderful machine.

I have brought so many Amigas back to life and just get a very happy glow when I get them working. Many computers suffer from travel sickness. My worst was an A4000T which took a year to get working again. I am pleased to say that all my Amigas work and I wouldn't have it any other way. Certainly helps collecting parts and bits and pieces and never throwing anything away.

Anyway, good luck. Keep your eye open for motherboards on Ebay and the like. Often much cheaper than getting the computer repaired. Also getting junk off Ebay is rewarding. I once bought an A500 marked as a 1200 for next to nothing and when I opened her up she had a Viper 520 inside with a hard drive.

http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com/amiga/car_0608/car08401.jpg

Enjoy your 1200. Truly magical.

Thank you all for all good advice. I love watching ebay so much u can find there. I never got round to getting a Amiga1200 when they was new, I was waiting for the AAA amiga that was to come out the year after!..... but the year after commodore was no more
a sad day for me.

[alphadec]

I have done some more checking on my A1200 and found some more issues. Looks like the reason why the mouse dont work is because one of the pins on the port is pushed all the way in.....

I will replace the port but I was started to think is there a way I can check if the PAULA and CIA chips stil works. ?

[alphadec]

Pins being pushed in is a not an uncommon problem for joystick ports on 1200s and 500s; it's that bloody back lip that stops you from seeing the sockets from above so people just prod and push.
Anyway if the pin is not bent you should simply be able to carefully push it back out again from the inside. using a small screwdriver. Remove the floppy to one side and you will have clear access.
The actual pins have two tiny flaps on the sides that should spring open to hold it once it has been pushed back in place. Unless they have buckled.
If they have buckled you can still take them all the way out and straighten them but you will probably have to unsolder the bas eof the pin.  
If it's going to Amiga kit they can do all this for you.

I have connected a external disk drive and the drives works so hope that means CIA chips is okey. I tried pulling out the pin but it is stuck so I have orded a new port and try to replace that before I send it to amigakit.