Need advice on what next...

[dr_no]

I decided to get back into classic Amiga...again. Just yesterday A1200 arrived from eBay. A1200 is stock, other than Fujitsu 3.25GB HD and DKB 1202 memory expansion with 4MB populated in one of its 2 slots. Workbench 3.1 pre-installed, so I was told.
I still had Philips CM8833 monitor sitting around, so I plugged everything, all working nice. Then a few power-ups later no more video signal, HD LED lights up initially, then only Power LED starts flashing (about 6 times before going solid again). Great, this usually means hardware failure. After opening up the case and removing firstly the HD, then memory expansion, it turns out that the memory expansion is source of the problem. How likely (unlucky) is that to fail in such short time?
Another thing that bothers me is that seller said "This Amiga is 'as new' and as such shows no signs of wear or yellowing". The case actually has some scratches and there's a small bit of plastic near FD about to be chipped. Few of the keys are yellowed. Should I demand some refund? I did pay a premium in belief that I'll get what was described.
For some reason I thought that WB3.1 requires 3.1 ROMs and seller couldn't told me what ROMs are in there, so I incorrectly assumed they were 3.1 but the're actually 3.0. We'll looks like I'm after a set of 3.1s. Is eBay the best place to go?
Story doesn't end here. I also bought Plextor Plexwriter 12/10/32S external SCSI drive, very nice unit. It arrived with face plate in pieces - broken in transit. Luckily, the seller sent it registered post which had default insurance and he was prepared to bear the cost and claim insurance from Australia Post. He gave me the full refund.
I also bought Squirrel SCSI PCMCIA card. It arrived fine but seller 'forgot' to mention that the case is completely cracked along the edges. I paid a fair bit for that one and I'm still chasing my money :madashell:. It most likely will end up in formal dispute.
Well, what to say - I had a bad streak... :cry: What's the best course of action from here to AmigaOS 3.9 running smoothly (I actually have the original CD).
Thanks,
Dr. No

[amigadave]

You didn't say what you want to do with your A1200.  If it is just to run some games, you don't need the 3.1 ROMs, or to install OS3.9.  The preinstalled OS3.1 should suit you fine for most things you want to run.

The 1202 w/4mb RAM probably just needed to be reseated more firmly as it could have easily loosened during transit.  Hopefully that will get you back up and running.

As for the broken parts and bad luck buying on eBay, there is a very old saying when ever you buy from those you do not know and it goes double for eBay, "Buyer Beware".  Ask before you bid, check out the seller's return/refund policy, check their feedback rating and comments.  Many items on eBay that are marked "as is" are already broken or have some kind of defect that the seller already knows about, but conveniently forgets to mention.

I have been lucky in the hundreds of transactions I have completed on eBay, but have had my share of a few bad ones.

Unless you think you have been purposely been lied to and cheated, it probably isn't worth the trouble of filing a dispute.  Get what you can from the seller and just move on.  Lesson learned.

Oh, by the way, I am not one of those sellers that have ever screwed anyone.  Almost all of my eBay transactions have been with me as the buyer and I have not received a single complaint from any of the people that have bought anything from me.

[Tenacious]

Yes, you didn't state what you want to achieve with a real classic Amiga.  Are you a gamer, collector, retro-computing geek?  Do you have delusions (as some of us do) of trying to do as much as possible with an Amiga?

You may be able to replace the yellowed keys from a defunct keyboard.  Some have acheived admirable results with paint (others beaten their machines with an ugly paint stick, grin).  There may be cases and keys available from ppl who have towered their systems.

I agree with the above, your symptoms sound as if you have developed an intermiiitttant connection.  I would try carefully cleaning all contacts with isopropyl or maybe an eraser and giving attention to the way mating connections seat.

I'm not aware of anyone successfully using a 3.1 rom image file in a system like yours, but maybe they have.  Amigakit probably sells 3.1 roms if you've been put off e-Bay.

Getting the real hardware may be more important than cosmetics.  Welcome back to classic Amigas!