My A4000 has died

[Aniway]

I have access to a PC or my A4000 here at home, and just after a long while I finally concluded that my Amiga 4000 were more reliable (and therefore faster and more secure) than the Pentium III@533mhz.

Then just a day later, my A4000 began doing a strange thing. Sometimes it would boot up, sometimes it would not; and then for the punchline, I discovered that after about 20 seconds on up to about two minutes, the screen would freeze up just like the peecee.

I know the problem not to be myself, although I'm sure I contribute to the end effect in some unique way.

I've never had to get my A4000 repaired. I've only had to get an Amiga repaired once in the past 12 years--my A2000--and that was when C= had the service plan where a repairperson comes to your home and installs a new circuitboard (or whatever). That was about the most impressive computer stunt to blaze across the. . .dull landscape of my existence, ever.

I think my system has been overheating.  Months ago, the CPU fan broke on me and I couldn't find a replacement.

So that does it for my A4000.  One day, maybe I can get it fixed. But until then--I'm wondering about towerizing my Amiga 1200. Could I get that equipped to rival my A4000.  .  .?Aren't they the same computer but with fewer peripherals?
Or do they lack important chips in common, other than the processor?

If I can get my A4000 to boot again, I wonder if there would be any sort of software I could run to test it out?

Aniway

[Tomas]

The cpu fan sounds like the cause yeah... Since it still works for a few seconds, maybe it will work ok again if you add some good cooling now? Decent cooling you should have anyways, never run it without...  

[tonyw]

What sort of CPU is it? I have only seen fans on the Warp series 68040/40. Maybe you will find it works better if it runs at the temperature it was designed for.

The 4000 has always been a hotbox. Too crowded, insufficent airflow *through* the box.

tony

[Madgun68]

It shouldn't be that hard to find a replacement fan. Heck, for my CyberstormPPC, I went to a local computer store and bought a second-hand PC fan and heatsink. I then took a dremel and modified it to fit.

Either that or try an electronics supplier. We've one locally that can usually order anything they don't have.

As far as the A1200 goes, yes, you can build one up enough to rival the 4000.. Just depends on how much you want to spend. (Both my 1200 and 4000 are similarly equipped.. Mediators, Powerflyers, PPC accelerators.)

[csirac_]

Flaky mains power or the PSU in your machine could also cause this. IT could be anything really. The process of troubleshooting can turn up any surprise

 - Paul

[Aniway]

My 2nd-hand CybergraphixPPC has always given me trouble. This turned out to be behind the problem. It has this tendency not to want to boot, or on occasion to draw some gfx all weird, but if I jiggle it firmly into place, sometimes it can work. I just haven't figured out why it has this extra slot to fit in to a computer. It won't fit my A1200 and certainly not my A4000. . .

So I also rearranged the insides. I took the "wings" off my hard drive and stuck it in the floppy bay. I took out my Scandoubler that really does not benefit my setup. I hooked up my floppy (and it works now).

Troubleshooting really does help, and I'm glad I decided to pursue the option that an add-on might be behind this new problem.

"Without order, there must be chaos."

I think the fan fits over the heatsink. I don't know how the heatsink works, I thought it was an integral part of the fan setup?

But I like it. I got my A4000 working. I've got to get an AmigaOne! I thought this piece of hardware was going to be like a card, I didn't know it was going to be a complete motherboard!

In fact, I thought that one AmigaOne was supposed to plug in to an A4000 Zorro, and another into a PCI slot.

As it stands, the 060/PPC really helps make my Amiga fast, almost as fast as a 533mhz Pentium--a really stupid machine(!!), not to bash PCs, I don't want to insult their intelligence or they may never work where I get at one(!)

Has anyone seen the AmigaOne in action, or over here in USA?

Aniway