Resurrected A4000

[ElPolloDiabl]

Don't forget to check the battery for leakage.

[Orkin]

Don't forget to check the battery for leakage.

Is that a common problem in A4000's? That highlights another questions I've had: are there components that I should replace no matter what at this point just because they're old, likely to fail, or just good ideas?

[slayer]

I dont know why no one else said this, but seriously, if its OS4 you want to run you should get a SAM board, the A4000 wont even run the latest OS4 version and to get it up to speed i can see you using more cash on it then a SAM and it will be much slower in useage. If it were me, id just keep the A4000 for retro things and get a SAM board asap.

Now come on, there's no reason why he can't have both!

OS4 on the PPC is very nice... I used it for a long time before I got my first SAM...

We've been talking across boards and I actually recommended on Amibay that he skip SAMep and SAMFlex and go right for a SAM460

But when he first posted here he seemed pretty determined to get his A4000 up to spec (although he does single out OS4 as a goal) If it had been someone else and someone recommended them going to a SAM instead the response probably would have been, I know about the NG Amigas I'm not interested in going there :crazy:

in any case it all seems to be working out nicely :juggler:

[slayer]

are there components that I should replace no matter what at this point just because they're old, likely to fail, or just good ideas?

Not really as long as it's been stored well... I mean lets face it if its been too damp things just might not work as they should anymore...

Depending on how far you want to go in supping up your A4000 (in light of the SAM revelation) due to incompatiabilities between expansion boards you might want to check that your Buster Chip is revision 11... but sometimes this is hit and miss anyway so perhaps only explore this is you get it altogether and there are quirks in areas once operational...

Now it may all sound problemactic but I assure you anything is easy 1 step at a time :hammer:

As for battery leaking it does seem to be a problem especially for people storing there stuff vertically (acid can run down the MB) but the drier its been the more likely your battery will be okay... in my very vast collection of hardware I've only ever encountered one leaky battery and that was on a A3000 Desktop I'd only just picked up in a recent auction...

[Orkin]

Depending on how far you want to go in supping up your A4000 (in light of the SAM revelation) due to incompatiabilities between expansion boards you might want to check that your Buster Chip is revision 11... but sometimes this is hit and miss anyway so perhaps only explore this is you get it altogether and there are quirks in areas once operational...

Well, if the "390539-11" on the chip means it's revision 11, I'm in good shape on the Buster.

As for battery leaking it does seem to be a problem especially for people storing there stuff vertically (acid can run down the MB) but the drier its been the more likely your battery will be okay... in my very vast collection of hardware I've only ever encountered one leaky battery and that was on a A3000 Desktop I'd only just picked up in a recent auction...

I haven't seen any indication of battery leakage, but I'd probably want a new battery anyway, wouldn't I? I mean, batteries don't hold their charge forever, or isn't that a factor with these?

[Orkin]

Now come on, there's no reason why he can't have both!

I kinda agree on this. I'd like to get it running and network them. Plus it just feels good having the A4000 up and running like my old A2000 and A3000.

As an aside, the reason I'm a bit unfamiliar with the A4000 is I picked this up from an acquaintance several years ago, but never did much with it. I played with it a bit, but moved shortly thereafter, and it's been sitting in a basement ever since.

I'm a Linux guy the last 13 years; gotta relearn this stuff!

[alexh]

Unless you are rich you should forget about AmigaOS4.0 cos a Cyberstorm PPC (the only PPC card for an A4000) will set you back more money than a top spec modern PC.

Get AmigaOS3.x and enjoy it.

I'd remove the battery as soon as you can. I wouldn't bother replacing it. I've not.

Networking on Amiga 4000 is expensive. You'll need to pay at least €75 for an X-Surf ethernet card.

A better buy if you MUST have networking would be a €120 Deneb USB2.0 host card + a €5 USB Ethernet dongle. You get to use all the USB devices you like and Deneb's Flash ROM means don't need to buy Kickstart 3.1 ROM chips to use Amiga OS3.9.

I say for the moment, keep your money in your pocket. No need for a network to transfer files. Buy a €5 IDE->CF panel adapter & Compact Flash card. It fits easily in an expansion slot in the back and allows you to use a Compact Flash card as the primary hard drive. You can take it out and install the OS / transfer files on your main computer quickly and easily.