An article I'm not going to write

[weirdami]

Not too long ago I wrote a response to a post where the original poster picked up some Amiga's and one had a bad disk drive. My response was to clean the drive with compressed air and a head cleaner thing.

Anyhoo, what I just now thought was that I had made that kind of response before and that maybe there should be something where we can point new people (or old, forgetty people) to that says what to do when you get an old Amiga to make it good for using or suggestions for what to check for before getting started so it doesn't explode. Something that has all the suggestions and good ideas: clean the drive, replace the battery, etc.

What, I'm not going to write it? Nope. I'm not good at that sort of thing and I'm not an expert on the subject. I'm really really good at making off-the-cuff website suggestions. So, in that capacity, see ^^^^.

Am I suggesting something that already exists? Then, I suggest  :smack:.

[uncharted]

Sounds like the kind of thing that needs to be put onto Amigawiki.

[meega]

You presume that someone asking here for help will actually bother doing a Google search first?

[Karlos]

Just be sure to let me know when you finished not writing it so that I can remember to not read it :lol:

[meega]

And don't bother telling me where you haven't posted it either.

[weirdami]

@meega

Iwas thinking of something more like an article that is controlled here on AO instead of a wiki changeable thing that nobody controls. Wiki is dangerous. But, anyway, the idea would be to tell people that come on here with problems. I guess, actually, that if they came here, their google search (if they did one) was unsuccessful anyway.

[meega]

FAQ expansion, maybe?

[Agafaster]

And don't bother telling me where you haven't posted it either.

yo int sin me ... roight ?

[meega]

Seen who?

[ddniUK]

Something a little like this?


http://wiki.abime.net/amiga:hardware

[Fester]

weirdami wrote:
@meega

Iwas thinking of something more like an article that is controlled here on AO instead of a wiki changeable thing that nobody controls. Wiki is dangerous. But, anyway, the idea would be to tell people that come on here with problems. I guess, actually, that if they came here, their google search (if they did one) was unsuccessful anyway.

That's an excellent idea Weirdami. It's true as some have pointed out that a web search is helpful, but we should not presume that every beginner asks repetitive questions. Some of us do read past page 10. And if questions are repetitive, so what?

New interest in Amigas is always an opportunity to meet, greet and strike up a conversation with a new Amiga enthusiast. That's always good. We shouldn't bash people for asking questions, no matter how stupid we think the questions are. If it's an Amiga question, and we know the answer, then we should be friendly enough to answer it or present a link to it. Perhaps we'd be talking more Amiga and less about lawsuits if we presented ourselves a bit more friendly-human-like.

I've seen several beginner questions pop-up where the answer was "Do a Google search". I am a tech support person by trade. There's nothing wrong with asking questions. I was a developer for 15 years. We seem to have difficulty sometimes communicating with users. Perhaps it's ego, perhaps we're defensive about our code...In the scheme of things, I'd rather see software as something people use, not the other way around.

Well anyway. Seems like I had another eliptical brain fart. Sorry. What was the topic about?

Yes, documentation on how to restore classic Amigas is an excellent one. It would add value to this web-site.

Fester

[meega]

@Fester, and all,

If any particularly good threads occur, ones which succintly cover a particular topic, might they be linked to in a repository of some sort? I have seen "Halls of Fame" on other sites, do we have such a place here?

moto has recently said that he, in particular, does enjoy (or at least not mind) going through problems even when it might largely repeat an earlier request - as new aspects do frequently arise. I'm sure he's not alone, though he certainly is one of the more active helpers (I think it's because he knows stuff).

(In fact I know he's not alone in being a very active helper, there are many - it's not hard to see who they are.)

Nonetheless, there are many problems where a quick pointer to an earlier discussion might be exactly what is required to help the querent. If that does not provide the information that they need, then they might at least be better able to understand some of the further advice offered by forum members.

Amigas do things a bit differently to the machines that most people are used to using. Many posters might not even have been born when the machine that they want to know about was built, and it might assist them most effectively if they could find and read about common questions in some central location.

Hence, expanded FAQ? FAQ2? (less to do with the site, or history of the Amiga, more concentrated on common problems with using the machine.)

[ddniUK]

delete this!

[ddniUK]

and this !  :roll:

[ddniUK]

@Fester Ahem look at my post above, a wiki like this already exists....

http://wiki.abime.net/amiga:hardware