Amiga 500 Faulty Disk Drive and other issues

[Sharkwave]

Hi,

I have just been given an old Amiga 500. It had been in storage and largely forgotten about for years by the previous owner. When I tried it, it wasn't working and the disk drive wasn't reading anything. I gave it a clean and managed to get one game working for a short while but after a few minutes of play, the screen glitched and I lost all video and sound.

I have tried other disks but none of them have worked. The disk drive either goes silent or makes a screeching sound. To me, it sounds like it is dying and would need replacing but I'm not sure. I've included a video of these issues here: https://youtu.be/uw-KxHahwi0

The video starts with a short clip of the game I got working just to show what it managed to do before it crashed.

I have also had an error message saying: Software Failure. Press left mouse button to continue. Guru Meditation #00000004.00C01570

I have had a quick look online and gather this is a code to point out where the error is but I didn't really understand it.

I am totally new to this and have no technical knowledge or experience in fixing computers but I want to learn and get it running properly again. If you can offer any advice I'd really appreciate it.

Thank you

Chris

[Munchkin]

Well, since it seems to actually start I would initially suggest to run Amiga TestKit on it, but that's gonna be difficult if the drive isn't working properly

The thing is, if the disks you're trying are old they might just all have gone bad. That the drive is making strange noises could be just because the drive is doing what it can to try and read them. Also, some copy protections and such made the drive sound strange when loading so it's not certain that the drive is bad.

If you know someone that has an Amiga and can create a disk with AmigaTestKit for you on a known working disk that's probably the easiest way. If not, it's gonna be a bit difficult to get things going.

[AmigaOldskooler]

I agree with @Munchkin here. I've tested many floppy disks lately and I've experienced that horrible sound on a few of them. I used a cleaning disk with fluid in the drive afterwards just in case. So there is a chance there are a few dirty and dodgy disks causing the drive to malfunction when it tries to read them.

If diagnosis can be done via AmigaTestkit, I can write an ADF to floppy and send it to you in the mail, but I live in Norway so might take some time before it arrives. Please send me a PM if interested and I can fix it for you.

[Sharkwave]

Thank you both for the advice. I will try a test kit and see how that goes

[AmigaOldskooler]

Thank you both for the advice. I will try a test kit and see how that goes

PM received. Preparing AmigaTestkit right now.