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Offline Super TWiTTopic starter

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Dim Drive Light
« on: May 17, 2010, 11:08:35 PM »
I noticed today as I started my a500 that the drive light is bright one second and VERY dim the next. Is this a sign of something or is the light burning out?
Once there was a man and a boy in the woods.
 
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Offline save2600

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Re: Dim Drive Light
« Reply #1 on: May 17, 2010, 11:12:33 PM »
LED's last for a very, very long time. You getting proper voltage readings out of your power supply? Power cable going to the drive good? Solder connections at the mobo good going to the drive?
 

Offline Super TWiTTopic starter

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Re: Dim Drive Light
« Reply #2 on: May 17, 2010, 11:19:36 PM »
I don't know. Last time I had the amiga open, everything looked okay. But this is NOT normal huh. The dimming seems to follow a drive seek pattern.
Once there was a man and a boy in the woods.
 
Boy: I\'m scared...
 
Man: Hah! What have you got to be afraid of? I\'m the one that\'s going to be coming back alone!
 

Offline shaf

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Re: Dim Drive Light
« Reply #3 on: May 17, 2010, 11:30:07 PM »
The dim Drive light on the A500 was a Low pass filter function, it was an indicator of mode changes loading. I think it has something to do with the Extra Half Brite function in the newer Denise Chip. (A500 and A200 Rev 5 and later, not on A1000)

Shaf
 

Offline save2600

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Re: Dim Drive Light
« Reply #4 on: May 17, 2010, 11:32:21 PM »
Quote from: shaf;559130
The dim Drive light on the A500 was a Low pass filter function, it was an indicator of mode changes loading. I think it has something to do with the Extra Half Brite function in the newer Denise Chip. (A500 and A200 Rev 5 and later, not on A1000)

Shaf

Dim 'power' light indicates the audio filter bypassed - not the drive light.
 

Offline Super TWiTTopic starter

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Re: Dim Drive Light
« Reply #5 on: May 17, 2010, 11:32:28 PM »
I just recently put in an ecs agnus chip. Could that be it?
Once there was a man and a boy in the woods.
 
Boy: I\'m scared...
 
Man: Hah! What have you got to be afraid of? I\'m the one that\'s going to be coming back alone!
 

Offline tone007

Re: Dim Drive Light
« Reply #6 on: May 17, 2010, 11:32:38 PM »
I thought that was the power LED.
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Offline save2600

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Re: Dim Drive Light
« Reply #7 on: May 17, 2010, 11:33:15 PM »
Quote from: Super TWiT;559134
I just recently put in an ecs agnus chip. Could that be it?

Agnus could care less about the power going to your disk drive. She told me so  :)
 

Offline Super TWiTTopic starter

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Re: Dim Drive Light
« Reply #8 on: May 17, 2010, 11:35:46 PM »
Quote from: save2600;559136
Agnus could care less about the power going to your disk drive. She told me so  :)

We need an Amiga Whisperer LOL. So, what should I do next?
Once there was a man and a boy in the woods.
 
Boy: I\'m scared...
 
Man: Hah! What have you got to be afraid of? I\'m the one that\'s going to be coming back alone!
 

Offline save2600

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Re: Dim Drive Light
« Reply #9 on: May 17, 2010, 11:39:58 PM »
Quote from: Super TWiT;559138
We need an Amiga Whisperer LOL. So, what should I do next?

RE-read my first reply  :)
 

Offline Super TWiTTopic starter

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Re: Dim Drive Light
« Reply #10 on: May 17, 2010, 11:43:43 PM »
I am not real good with a multimeter so you will have to walk me through where to put the probes (ie black and red) for measurement.
Once there was a man and a boy in the woods.
 
Boy: I\'m scared...
 
Man: Hah! What have you got to be afraid of? I\'m the one that\'s going to be coming back alone!
 

Offline save2600

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Re: Dim Drive Light
« Reply #11 on: May 17, 2010, 11:54:19 PM »
Quote from: Super TWiT;559142
I am not real good with a multimeter so you will have to walk me through where to put the probes (ie black and red) for measurement.

Oh boy. lol  Be careful you don't accidentally short anything out. First things first... red is positive, black is ground or negative.

First check the power supply not hooked to the Amiga. On the bottom of the supply, there is a legend that tells you what pins are responsible for what voltage. Be careful not to accidentally short your leads testing that and write down the results.

If you're spot on or extremely close, now present a "load" to the power supply by hooking it to the Amiga. Now you can place the black lead of the DMM To anywhere that's ground on the Amiga (any of the screws) or even the black lead going to the drive. Red to red, black to black. Comparing the with the notes you took, read if the voltage is much different. If so, you may have to re-build or get a new power supply.

Check to see if there is cold solder by "wriggling" the drive's power cable though. While a disk is spinning, apply pressure to the power cable at both ends (computer and drive, one at a time) and see if the light gets brighter or not. When I say "apply pressure", I don't just mean pushing down. Maybe pull up a little bit, twist it or bend the connector left or right. If the drive light gets brighter when you're fooling with the cable, then you have a bad solder joint that needs to be re-soldered.

If you suspect that new Agnus chip is at fault, maybe try removing her and ensuring all her pins are in the correct position. I guess it's possible that if one of her legs is shorting against another, you may experience a low voltage scenario too...

Lot's of various things to check! Welcome to vintage computer repair 101  :)
 

Offline Super TWiTTopic starter

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Re: Dim Drive Light
« Reply #12 on: May 17, 2010, 11:57:09 PM »
The computer works, but does this indicate a larger problem? Is it so bad if I just ignore it?
Once there was a man and a boy in the woods.
 
Boy: I\'m scared...
 
Man: Hah! What have you got to be afraid of? I\'m the one that\'s going to be coming back alone!
 

Offline save2600

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Re: Dim Drive Light
« Reply #13 on: May 18, 2010, 12:02:46 AM »
Quote from: Super TWiT;559144
The computer works, but does this indicate a larger problem? Is it so bad if I just ignore it?
It's up to you whether you want to ignore it or not. I wouldn't be fine with it if it were my computer, but if you're not technically minded and you don't really care about diagnosing this thing, then yeah - I guess I'd just leave it and enjoy what you have for now while it still works  :)
 

Offline Super TWiTTopic starter

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Re: Dim Drive Light
« Reply #14 on: May 18, 2010, 12:05:04 AM »
While I might test the power supply because I think I can manage that. I just read that you have been an electronics repair person for the last 30 years in another thread. That makes me look really bad! Please forgive my newbishness... I just don't want to break this thing.
« Last Edit: May 18, 2010, 12:10:11 AM by Super TWiT »
Once there was a man and a boy in the woods.
 
Boy: I\'m scared...
 
Man: Hah! What have you got to be afraid of? I\'m the one that\'s going to be coming back alone!