Just got an Amiga Tech A4000t....now what?

[anachronicus]

While sorting through a large lot of Amiga gear that was bequeathed to me, I finally got around to opening the very large box in the corner, which turned out to contain an Amiga Technologies A4000T.  Or at least most of one.  The case appears to be complete, but I think some internal parts are missing.  I should state right now that I don't know a thing about these systems, my Amiga experience consists solely of A500/A1200's.   This big beast is far removed from them  I see a disk module card, and what I think the sound outputs.  There does not appear to be any form of video, or cpu present.  there are two floppys, and optical drive, and a couple of hard drives.  The keyboard is also present. No power cord.   I'm out of my depth here. Any body have any suggestions for me?

[anachronicus]

A couple more pictures....

The retaining clip on one of the memory slots is broken, it seems as well.

[fitzsteve]

Unless you removed it for the pics it looks like there is no CPU, you'll need at least an A3630 or A3640 to get it up an running, better a proper accelerator like a Cyberstorm/WarpEngine  if you can find one.

Without more pics I can't say if it's complete but at least you have the SCSI board and Video/Sound Board.

Zorro slots look empty, they are for upgrades such as Video, 16bit Sound, Lan, etc.

[Matt_H]

Welcome, fellow 4000T owner! It looks like you have all the essentials except a CPU board: ports module, disk module, and audio/video module are all there. But the internal drive chassis seems to be missing, unless you took it out for your photos. It's not critical, but it holds up to 3 drives and adds some stability to the case.

If one of the RAM clips is broken, it's not terrible: you can use 2 8MB SIMMs in alternating slots, skipping whichever one is broken.

Your second floppy drive looks unusual. It may actually be a floptical drive like the LS120.

The coin battery won't leak. If it's dead, you can hook up an external battery to a 4-pin header nearby on the motherboard.

Otherwise, you've got 5 Zorro III slots and 2 video slots to play with!

Have a look at the entry at BBoAH for some more info. There's also a PDF manual you can download.

[QuikSanz]

I have a A4000T that was full when I got it, And I do mean fully loaded. They are indeed a beast but a very good one. Enjoy.

Chris

[anachronicus]

Unless you removed it for the pics it looks like there is no CPU, you'll need at least an A3630 or A3640 to get it up an running, better a proper accelerator like a Cyberstorm/WarpEngine  if you can find one.

Without more pics I can't say if it's complete but at least you have the SCSI board and Video/Sound Board.

Zorro slots look empty, they are for upgrades such as Video, 16bit Sound, Lan, etc.

It is indeed missing the cpu card.  I actually have a couple of zorro cards, but My towered A1200 won't give them up without a fight

Welcome, fellow 4000T owner! It looks like you have all the essentials except a CPU board: ports module, disk module, and audio/video module are all there. But the internal drive chassis seems to be missing, unless you took it out for your photos. It's not critical, but it holds up to 3 drives and adds some stability to the case.

If one of the RAM clips is broken, it's not terrible: you can use 2 8MB SIMMs in alternating slots, skipping whichever one is broken.

Your second floppy drive looks unusual. It may actually be a floptical drive like the LS120.

I do have the internal drive chassis, it was in the box.  Would it do any harm to power it up without a cpu card installed?  I don't know if the mainboard is good or not.  I guess I need to see if I can find a cpu.  As for SIMMS, depending what kind it takes, I probably have some on hand.

[anachronicus]

Welcome, fellow 4000T owner!

Have a look at the entry at BBoAH for some more info. There's also a PDF manual you can download.

Thank you very much, that will be most helpful!

[Matt_H]

Would it do any harm to power it up without a cpu card installed?  I don't know if the mainboard is good or not.  I guess I need to see if I can find a cpu.  As for SIMMS, depending what kind it takes, I probably have some on hand.

If the CPU isn't (properly) installed, there's really no way to know if the motherboard is good or not. There's nothing on screen or in the LEDs that would give any indication. I think you may need to sit tight until you can get a CPU board - any chance there's one in one of the other boxes of gear you acquired?

[anachronicus]

If the CPU isn't (properly) installed, there's really no way to know if the motherboard is good or not. There's nothing on screen or in the LEDs that would give any indication. I think you may need to sit tight until you can get a CPU board - any chance there's one in one of the other boxes of gear you acquired?

Unfortunately, no.  Alright then, I'll just have to look out for a CPU board.  Thanks for the insight

[danbeaver]

Any news on getting her set up?  If you need help just ask in the hardware forum.

[anachronicus]

Thanks, I surely will.  Right now I just have to wait for the planets of available funds and available CPU cards to align.