A600 no boot :(

[animaze]

Hey guys,

I have an A600 with a bit of a strange issue. Not the usual power on and all LED's come on etc - ie.. bad capacitors...  This board appears to attempt to boot. The power light blinks 10 times like a guru meditation, the caps lock key still works as does soft reset. However, there is only black video output. It was working fine it was only in storage for a few months when I left it - it was rock solid. I removed the board and had a bit of a look around, replaced some suspect looking caps, reflowed some dry looking joints - No change.
I have tried 2 different kick roms 1.3 and 3.1 - both same results. I powered the board directly through the floppy drive connector - same results. I tried two known working PSU's including a converted ATX from my 060 A1200. So.. I am pretty much just about to give up on her.. does anyone have any other suggestions as to what to try? Any help would be very much appreciated as its such a cute little computer and i used to have two of them now I have none. The spare board I've been pinching parts and swapping them around - still no change to the problem though

Cheers,
Sam

[paul1981]

I've had 2x A600's die on me in the past 5 months, so I know what you're going through.
One of them was re-capped ny Amigakit. It worked for 3 hours, I left it on a game called Lethal Weapon... I went to eat my dinner and have a cuppa, I went back to the Amiga and it had frozen on the game, so I rebooted but all I got afterwards was a black screen.

So that game really was a Lethal Weapon.

[mrmoonlight]

Hi my friend im not much good at helping you fix it ,but I too know what its like to loose a A600 ,as they are real cute and luckily for me I managed to pick another one up ,but so sad to see one pack in,lets hope someone comes along with the know how to get the old girl going again good luck best wishes Brian.

[animaze]

Thanks for the reply guys. After replacing a bunch of caps and reflowing a few suss looking joints... there's still no change to this puppy. I am at a loss as to what it could be

[Tenacious]

It doesn't sound good.  You say it attempts to boot, but, the power LED starts to flash during the boot process?  I wonder if anyone documented a "blink code", like automotive computers use.   I think I would hope it is an oxidized connection rather than a failed surface mount chip.  Have you cleaned ALL of the mating connectors?  You might examine all the chips with a magnifier and maybe sweep the legs with a dry toothbrush.  Has the case been left open?  I'm sorry this is not much help.  

What's the story on the 2nd motherboard?  Fortunately for you, I don't think A600s and their motherboards have yet begun to skyrocket in price.

There are many techs who praise the reliability of surface mount construction.  Perhaps it is better when a computer is new, but, when you are trying to keep an old machine alive, sockets and thru-holes are a lot easier to work on.  

Is your 600 expanded with HDD, acceleration, & other expensive add-ons?