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Author Topic: A500 not booting  (Read 2457 times)

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Offline BGary335Topic starter

A500 not booting
« on: September 13, 2007, 12:26:06 AM »
I seem to be having some trouble with my A500, and I'm hoping someone can help. I jsut received an GVP A500-HD+ today, and after getting it all connected and ready to go I powered both it and the 500 up. The HD boots into WB 2.x (not sure precisely what version it is, but thank god I was able to get my 2.04 ROM working), and everything seems fine. I then put a floppy in the drive, at which point it came up on the WB screen as DFO????? (it is a PC disk, so that's normal). A second or two later the screen goes completley green, and the power LED starts blinking. I shut the system and HD off, and then boot both back up again, and got a green screen, instead of the usual greys. so I turn it off, turn it back on again, and get a black screen. I then reseat each of the chips on the board one at a time (except the Agnus) one at a time, but still nothing but a black screen. I hope reseating the Agnus solves the problem, but if it doesn't, does anyone know what could possibly be the problem?

Any help would be appreciated!
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Offline BGary335Topic starter

Re: A500 not booting
« Reply #1 on: September 13, 2007, 12:49:58 AM »
Well, I reseated the Agnus, and still nothing but a black screen. However, I noticed that after 30 seconds or so, the green floppy light comes on as though a disk is being read, despite the fact that there is no disk present in the drive.

Again, any help would be greatly appreciated!
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Offline Lockon_15

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Re: A500 not booting
« Reply #2 on: September 13, 2007, 12:52:37 AM »
Try booting A500 when GVP unit is detached...see if that changes something back to normal self-test colors...
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Offline BGary335Topic starter

Re: A500 not booting
« Reply #3 on: September 13, 2007, 12:56:07 AM »
Nothing changes. I get nothing but a black screen and then the floppy light comes on about 30 second later.
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Offline Lockon_15

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Re: A500 not booting
« Reply #4 on: September 13, 2007, 01:06:15 AM »
Sorry to say, but you might start considering your FatAgnus passed away at worst...do you have PLCC extractor for FatAgnus reseat procedure ?

I don't recommend even thinking to pull-out that chip without tools designed for that job.
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Offline BGary335Topic starter

Re: A500 not booting
« Reply #5 on: September 13, 2007, 01:09:31 AM »
I don't have the exact tool needed, but I was able to improvise. I can pull the chip out in a flash. In fact, I tried that to see if it fixed the problem, but it did not.


So, if it IS the Agnus, where on earth am I going to find a replacement?
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Offline Damion

Re: A500 not booting
« Reply #6 on: September 13, 2007, 01:24:04 AM »
Unless someone here has one they want to dump, I would suggest emailing Software Hut (softhut.com) and ask. They'll probably let it go fairly cheap if they have one.

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Offline narmi

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Re: A500 not booting
« Reply #7 on: September 13, 2007, 01:39:38 AM »
I believe a green screen is caused by a problem with the RAM.  Do you have a trapdoor RAM expansion?  Try unplugging it and booting the A500.  Some have a rechargable battery inside that will leak over time and damage the board.

The only chips I have ever had go bad in an Amiga are the CIA chips, so I doubt that your agnus has failed (but I have been wrong before).
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Offline BGary335Topic starter

Re: A500 not booting
« Reply #8 on: September 13, 2007, 01:45:01 AM »
I've read that the green screen indicates bad Agnus, but that a black screen indicates no CPU. so since the CPU is there, I probably should look for a new Agnus.

As for the RAM expansion, I already checked that. I pulled it out and put it back in, but it made no difference.
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Offline Lockon_15

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Re: A500 not booting
« Reply #9 on: September 13, 2007, 07:57:16 AM »
Hunt for a new working Agnus as a result of a half-educated guess may be a bad idea.

I would advise getting cheap A500 or even motherboard alone...  

For example:

http://cgi.ebay.de/AMIGA-500-Motherboard-Kickstart-1-3-Rev6A-100-ok_W0QQitemZ200152035258
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Offline InTheSand

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Re: A500 not booting
« Reply #10 on: September 13, 2007, 07:59:53 AM »
Quote

narmi wrote:
but I have been wring before


Sorry to be pedantic, but that really is priceless!  :-D

 - Ali
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Offline Dandy

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Re: A500 not booting
« Reply #11 on: September 13, 2007, 09:14:19 AM »
Quote

Lockon_15 wrote:

...
I don't recommend even thinking to pull-out that chip without tools designed for that job.



Not to "pull" it out, but to "push" it out from below the board.

I remember I once did it that way, before I bought me an chip puller.

But you have to dismount the motherboard for that.
There is a hole in the board - just below the Agnus chip (at least on the revs I had)...
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Offline zipper

Re: A500 not booting
« Reply #12 on: September 13, 2007, 10:23:06 AM »
Quote

The only chips I have ever had go bad in an Amiga are the CIA chips, so I doubt that your agnus has failed (but I have been wring before).


More probably a bad contact, but of course a bad chip is also possible. I have a spare 500 that used to need a push every now and then on the Agnus to get rid of the green screen. There was a buch of bad sockets giving trouble, cracking easily. Check the socket pins, if there is visible oxidation.
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Offline BGary335Topic starter

Re: A500 not booting
« Reply #13 on: September 13, 2007, 04:00:01 PM »
I got in touch with Software Hut this morning and they have an Agnus chip that they're going to sell me for $5 total (inc. shipping). So for such a low price I'm willing to take a chance. If the Agnus turns out to not be the problem, I've only wasted $5. And really, that money isn't wasted because I can always hang on to the Agnus in case I ever do need it.
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Offline narmi

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Re: A500 not booting
« Reply #14 on: September 13, 2007, 04:14:50 PM »
Quote

InTheSand wrote:
Quote

narmi wrote:
but I have been wrong before


Sorry to be pedantic, but that really is priceless!  :-D

 - Ali


Nice catch!  It's fixed now (so stop laughing at me :-D ).  
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