I got ripped off on a dead Amiga 4000

[mechy]

I had the exact same problem before.  I absolutely could not get it running again.  The problem started on a very hot day in 1997 when the air conditioning was broken.  So I figured something melted and it was hopeless.

So my poor A4000/040 sat in a box for several years.  Finally, in 2004 I gave it away FOR FREE to an experienced Amiga guy.  He got it running on the very first day!  He didn't even swap out any parts!  WTH!?  He said he just took everything apart, cleaned it thoroughly and put it all back together and it worked.

Then he sold it on Ebay for a zillion $.

Not to hijack this guys thread BUT:
you quote this ridiculous story on many message boards every few years and get it wrong 90% of the time. that guy was ME! :rolleyes:
the 4k you sent had rat piss(or cat piss) and droppings in it. It had cap leaks that ate a trace on the 3640 that i repaired,and battery leakage as well as audio circuit problems.broken simm connectors i had to replace. I sent your items asap and you took many months to send me the 4000. I didnt get it free, i traded you working parts for a sight unseen amiga 4000 and even tossed in a new amiga mouse because you had whined your current mouse was bad.
the only part you got right was i did get it working in a day,but it did need lotsa parts(caps,coin cell battery,massive cleaning etc) and work to fix it.
I still have the 4000 here today and i did not sell it on ebay and make a zillion $$.
I'm sorry you have sour grapes,but there was a fair deal done here-i sent what you asked for quickly and you sent what i took a chance on (many months later.) You forgot to mention the rat terds and pee in the thing and battery damage and broken simm connectors but you didnt hear me whining about it since i took it sight unseen.

Mech

[spirantho]

Speaking as someone who repairs computers a lot, I feel it fair to also point out that there are 24 hours in a day. Just because someone gets it working within a day doesn't mean they didn't do much work, or that it was easy. In a day you can do a heck of a lot to repair a machine, and that includes the necessary blood sacrifice.

So if Mechy got it working in a day then that's a good thing, not a bad thing, and well done Mechy, I say!

[mechy]

Ceaser, and the rest of you: Let's KILL this people's bussines. They basically RIP US OFF: an old A4000 souldn't be more than 50$, it's prehistoric technology, damnit!!!

DON'T BUY OLD HARDWARE: it's basically old and it's bound to fail in a very shot time. It's just stupid! And there's people getting a lot of momeny for it: **** THEM, DON¡T BUY.

If you want Amiga, go NEW hardware without bastards like the one that sold you taht Amiga 4000. It goes like this:

-Do you want classic amiga for chipset games? GO MINIMIG NOW.
-Do you want WB apps on OS4/MOS? GO SAM NOW.

There's NO NEED FOR OLD HARDWARE. Avoid being ripped off. Just be smart.

I hate to say this but you sir,are a idiot.

Its ignorant people like you that cause the problems. Common sense dictates when you deal with old stuff problems can arise. The smart thing to do is realize that old stuff can break. Do your research before you buy.
Buying a used amiga is like buying a old car. You have to expect some things may not be up to par and its buyer beware. that 4000 could of been working when sent,but died on the way. capacitor leaks can be just as bad as battery leaks. its possible the jostling finally broke contact on a old corroded trace on the board where a cap leaked. i've seen this many times where a board works one minute and dead the next.
That being said a board thats been refurbished with new caps,coin cell and simm connectors/psu caps/fan will run another 20 years in most cases if taken care of.

the 4000 is the most reliable of them all because its mostly surface mount and doesn't suffer from tarnished sockets like the 500,2000,3000.

who are you to dictate what someone wants. This guy may want to stick a video toaster in a machine for nostalgia sake,none of which solutions you suggest can do.

Mech

[mechy]

Hey I wasn't going to ever goto this post again because I thought I had fixed my problem.  I bought a motherboard and as soon as I get it all closed up and working again, it started a little tiny bit yesterday, but now there's this HUGE ear ringing audio interference.  I tried turning off electronics next to it and stuff yesterday and it stopped but just like anything broken it got worse.  Irony is that the guy who's motherboard I couldn't get the key lock problem fixed on (without me trying to solder in a chip that might not have even been the right chip) had actually had his audio connectors replaced.

So this is a different motherboard.  Battery has been removed by myself.  It was exploded when I got it.  And please don't tell me "oh the battery suddenly just releaked junk that wasn't there and it broke your sound."  Give me constructive advice on how to a) get those audio connectors off the other motherboard and solder them onto this one.  b) how to ground the audio connectors from this motherboard or SOMETHING so they stop getting interference from everything within 20 ft (maybe an unprofessional style fix that's worked for someone in the past without me having to completely resolder the new audio connectors on, but I know no matter what that's what I'll end up doing because it's looking like Amiga audio cards are hard to find.  At least I don't see one up at Fleabay, and I guess you already have to know specific models to buy from amibay, kind of.  I don't even know the brand of someone who makes one).

Man my luck really sucks.

http://amiga.serveftp.net/audio_repair.html

Is this what I actually have to do???

See it's both of them so it looks like that means some capacitor needs replacement maybe.  Maybe the audio jacks are just fine.

hey this says it happens regularly only on these boards and i got a A4000 rev. B not D or T
"A common fault exists with "classic" Amiga motherboards based on surface mount device (SMD) technology.
These are the A600, A1200, CD32, A4000D and A4000T."

that other motherboard was rev. C that i was working on before

from that link just above

Ceasar,
   No offense but i recommend you stop here, you don't know what you are doing and are making things worse from what i read.
the audio jacks are not the problem, you probably have bad/leaking caps in the audio circuit. its known that the 2 caps should have been NPO caps and that commodore used regular caps. This may of caused them to fail and leak prematurely. that being said if you dont clean and neutralize the cap leakages before attempting repairs the conductive electrolyte is still there to cause shorting and other troubles.

I would offer you a motherboard i completely re-did but the things you are doing to these boards you have makes me wonder if its a bad idea.

Its guesswork but i think i could of got the original board up and running in a few hrs i suspect if the battery damage wasn't too severe.


Mech

[tone007]

I doubt he needs it, he stopped posting in this thread in 2009.  His A4000 probably hit the trash bin in early 2010.

[mechy]

I doubt he needs it, he stopped posting in this thread in 2009.  His A4000 probably hit the trash bin in early 2010.

i should of looked at the date,figures someone replied to a old post is why it popped back up

[A1260]

Not to hijack this guys thread BUT:
you quote this ridiculous story on many message boards every few years and get it wrong 90% of the time. that guy was ME! :rolleyes:
the 4k you sent had rat piss(or cat piss) and droppings in it. It had cap leaks that ate a trace on the 3640 that i repaired,and battery leakage as well as audio circuit problems.broken simm connectors i had to replace. I sent your items asap and you took many months to send me the 4000. I didnt get it free, i traded you working parts for a sight unseen amiga 4000 and even tossed in a new amiga mouse because you had whined your current mouse was bad.
the only part you got right was i did get it working in a day,but it did need lotsa parts(caps,coin cell battery,massive cleaning etc) and work to fix it.
I still have the 4000 here today and i did not sell it on ebay and make a zillion $$.
I'm sorry you have sour grapes,but there was a fair deal done here-i sent what you asked for quickly and you sent what i took a chance on (many months later.) You forgot to mention the rat terds and pee in the thing and battery damage and broken simm connectors but you didnt hear me whining about it since i took it sight unseen.

Mech

rat s h i t and pee in the a4000 wtf???... people that disrespect the amiga this way should not be allowed to own one in the first place...

[mechy]

i didnt realise i replied to a old post here,but yes, it was stored in a shed he told me.
Please ignore all this it was old news.

mech