Need help with increasingly disturbing hardware problem

[murple]

rare_j wrote:
Sometimes old computers just get tired.
It's clearly a serious problem. Can you change your chip mem expansion or try running without it for a while?
After that, perhaps you should try a new motherboard.

Narrow it down bit by bit.

"Tired" isn't really a very helpful description, but he's on the right track as far as checking things. If you have an unknown problem, isolate it. Remove components that you can (which in a 500 means pretty much just add-ons like RAM, accelerators, and sidecar thingies) and see if the problem still comes up. See if any chips are unusually hot when its been running for a while. If you have a spare A500, maybe try swapping out some chips one at a time and letting it run until you get the crash.

If youre seeing a "deadbabe" error though... is that a normal Amiga error? If thats just an error from a certain virus, that seems kinda likely to me. Considering Amiga's have "guru meditations" though, it wouldnt surprise me if "deadbabe" is a real Amiga error.

[murple]

motorollin wrote:
I am not disputing the benefits of UAE. But there are those (myself included) for whom using the original Amiga hardware is part of the fun of the Amiga. UAE just isn't the same.

Agreed... telling someone to use UAE is kind of like telling someone of the benefits of a shiny new machine-made violin and how its easier than trying to use some beat up old Stradivarius.

It may be in my imagination, but Amigas have a feel you dont get from emulators. The video display has a warmth you don't get from a PC display emulating an Amiga. An emulated Amiga just doesn't seem to have quite the same look, sound and feel.

Also, for some of us, the challenge of keeping old machines working is a big part of the fun. With an emulated Amiga, you're just using a PC with disposable parts that can be replaced at your choice of several hundred local McPC shops. Some people enjoy maintaining and using vintage cars. We enjoy maintaining vintage computers.

If you just want to run some old programs on something thats not really an Amiga, UAE is great. UAE doesn't do a damn thing for me though.