Just got my first A2000! :)

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

After being an Amiga fan and user for 20 years I've finally gotten my own A2000, hoarders and price gougers be damned, ha!    Of course it's got some issues and I'm sure I'll be swamping the forums with hardware questions any day now, but first the specs:

- A2000, Rev. 6 motherboard, full ECS including 2MB Megachip
- GVP GeForce '040, 16MB memory
- AD516 sound card
- Pair of hard drives of undetermined size or condition

It appears the monitor (even though double packed inside boxes) didn't survive the journey, no flicker of life at all on the screen when I power it up, but the best I can tell the Amiga itself is working, i.e., it responds to keyboard reset commands, caps lock key lights up, trackball lights up when you roll it around, also it came with one of those C= silver VGA adapters and when I hook it up to a standard VGA monitor it displays a sync error... all to be expected.  Will know more once I've had a chance to bring in a working 1084 from home, but I'm confident the system itself is working and the monitor, eh, not a big deal.  Maybe a loose solder joint?  It's the Amiga I really wanted out of the deal, however.  

First questions:

- Has the usual battery damage.  I plan on snipping it out very soon here, and I know the topic has been covered ad nauseum, but what's a quick tip to clean up around this area based on the attached photo?

- How do the keys come out?  The left Alt key is broken off and part of it appears to be stuck inside the springy rubber piece.  I'd like to pull this out and superglue it back together but don't want to damage it further.  On my A500 the keys just pop off for the most part.  Same on an A2000 keyboard? ----------------  Disregard, I managed to pull the broken bit out with pliers and superglued it back together.  Cake!

Ack, and I already forget what my third question was.  Oh well, it was pretty marvelous opening the original C= box today to receive her!  

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Oh, I can confirm that the A2000 is working now!  Just hooked it up via it's composite output to a TV.  Awesome!    The WORK: hard drive is bad, but big woop, I'd planned on replacing these anyway, it's booting into Workbench off it's primary drive.  

[Azryl]

Very nice! The A2000 is nice to have a cd-rom internal and of course, you can get the Amber card flicker fixer and use it with LCD monitors.

I like the A2000, big solid and easy to work on!
You got a nice machine, 32bit ram on 040 accelerator... nice

Az

[matt3k]

Hi Mike,

Congrats!  The 2000 is the hardiest of all the big box Amiga's.  That being said you really need to attend to the battery damage.

Definitely remove the battery with a nice accurate cutter.

Pull the motherboard, all socketed chips, and neutralize the battery acid (with Apple vinegar or citrus).

Wash it with distilled water.

Dry it off.  

I put baking soda on the are and let it sit, then rewash the board.

Lastly I use radio shacks circuit board cleaner to clean all slot connecters and sockets.  (nasty stuff, spray outside).

Put back together and enjoy.  One thing to be concerned with is to very thoroughly try to neutralize the acid, the Amiga MB are sandwich boards and corrosion can still destroy traces.

[Gilloo]

Good!!
Just remove this ugly Varta battery, and pray that the acid has not attack the board too much...

[gertsy]

Congrats.  Rev6, 040 Accelerator and 16bit sound card. Good get!
Hope you have lots of fun putting it back together.  Any mild cleaner and old tooth brush will remove the alkaline that's leaked from the NiCad. Don't use vinegar cos it stinks. Warm water with a mild detergent will do.  If there's any remaining corrosion WD40 or RP7 on a cotton bud (q-tip?) should clear it. You might need a scraper/pin/jewellers screwdriver to carefully scratch any corrosion from metal parts. Don't scrape the mboard or tracks unless you know what your doing.
You might want to check the connections on the front right of the 68000 pins and socket, as they are fairly close to the battery and can sometimes get corroded
Make sure everything is wiped and fully dry before reassembling.
You can use a hair dryer on cold or warm (not hot) and low speed. Keep it a fair way back to reduce the possibility of static build up.

I remember doing this. Ahh it's fun bringing the old girls back to life.

Pity about the monitor it looks in great physical condition.  


Congrats again.

[motrucker]

I think you will like the A2000 - specially with an '040 in it. These things are tanks. I still have one that gets used every day.
It's a shame NCAUG doesn't still meet. They were a big help in may ways.

[Bigbronc]

I have a idea, lets form a Amiga group in the DC/MD area, I have 4 A2000 and a lot of extra stuff, I just can not find anybody who speaks Amiga. Any takers?

[Lord Aga]

Congrats Mike ! I'm sure you'll have tons of fun with it

[rdolores]

I have a idea, lets form a Amiga group in the DC/MD area, I have 4 A2000 and a lot of extra stuff, I just can not find anybody who speaks Amiga. Any takers?

I am also in the DC metro area (live in Silver Spring but work in DC).  I might be interested in reviving a users group in our area.  I also have a A2000 as a A2500 plus others (see sig).

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

@motrucker, @Bigbronc, @rdolores - that would be great!  I know there's at least a couple more still semi-active Amiga users in our area, and I remember going to a few of the old NCAUG meetings.  Of course they were mostly on days that I already had something scheduled (of all the luck), but my favorite was when they had a booth at the old Fairfax Fair with an A3000 & a Toaster, doing fades & wipes and "Star Trek beam-ups" on people as they walked by.  Ah, good old days, must've been around 1995-ish?

What would you guys propose?

[Iggy]

Frighteningly close to my own system, Mike.
But I think I use the floppy emulator more often than the hard drive.

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

But I think I use the floppy emulator more often than the hard drive.

I never really "got" the idea of a floppy emulator.  What do you use it for so much?  On my A500 All my games are on WHDLoad on a partition of my CF card, and when I need to transfer files from my PC I just burn them to a rewriteable CD.  Couldn't think of a single reason why I'd need a floppy emulator?

[Iggy]

I never really "got" the idea of a floppy emulator.  What do you use it for so much?  On my A500 All my games are on WHDLoad on a partition of my CF card, and when I need to transfer files from my PC I just burn them to a rewriteable CD.  Couldn't think of a single reason why I'd need a floppy emulator?

No need for CDs is one advantage.
Storing my files directly on my PC is another.
Why transfer when they are already stored there/

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

LOL.  I think this is the first time I've ever found a use for "Productivity" mode.    After tweaking the colors and screen placement a bit (after I took this picture, unfortunately), it doesn't look half bad!