A1200 powers up but won't boot

[ssolie]

I have an A1200 I pulled out of the closet and powered up but no luck with booting it so far.

The screen displays a dark grey colour and the HD tries to spin up but seems to be locked in an endless cycle of trying to spin up. Removing the HD did nothing. The floppy also does nothing.

Are there any common things to look for? Bad caps? Maybe a fuse?

The board has been sitting idle for many years now.

[save2600]

Did you try re-socketing the two Kickstart chips? Some people just press down on them to revitalize the machine, but you're better off fully removing the chips and reinserting. Before you do that though, take a good look at how those chips are situated. Make sure you re-install them exactly as you found them. Two of the pins on each socket are purposely not used (the ones on the left of the chip IIRC).

[ssolie]

Thanks for the tip. I reseated the ROMs but no luck.

[AF-Domains.net]

Have you tried a different power supply?

Is the connector pushed in fully?

Sounds as if the board isn't getting enough of a kick.

Is the Power LED stuck in its dim state?

[save2600]

Failing all that, could be bad solder joints at the power connector. Nothing heating 'em up and adding a little bit of solder wouldn't fix. Those connectors sure take a beating  

[rkauer]

Also electrolytic capacitors are a common cause of bad behaviour on boards there are no powered up for too much time.

 Anyway, capacitors from A600/1200/4000 era was an utter cr4p, they leak and stop to function with no reason. Replacement is easy for people which are no faint of heart. ;-)

[Merc]

Did you wait a while to see if it's just waiting for the hard drive?  I seem to remember some A1200 and A4000s would pause for 30 seconds or a minute before giving up looking for a hard drive, although mine never had that problem.