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Author Topic: Returning to the Amiga  (Read 578 times)

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Offline john_chandlerTopic starter

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Returning to the Amiga
« on: March 08, 2026, 09:03:35 PM »
Hello from the UK.

I'm John. I bought an Amiga A500 back in 1990, an Amiga A4000/030 in 1994, and an Eyetech AmigaOne XE G4 in 2004. I still own all three, plus my brother's old A500.

I became the proud owner of one of the new Commodore C64Us back in December, which lead to me getting my old CBM Plus/4 back up-and-running. From there, it was inevitable I'd begin restoring my Amigas to working order. Until recently, I hadn't used an Amiga in maybe 15 years, although I've kept an eye on what's been going on with the Amiga as I used to be quite active in the community in the 90s/00s. In particular, I wrote for Suite101 and some of the Amiga magazines in the post-Commodore era.

Last month, I disassembled the A4000/030 to check everything was okay. No visible damage, coin battery is intact (there's also an external Lithium one that has been added, but which is now dead), everything looked in good condition albeit a little dusty. I know the battery and capacitors can be sources of problems, so not sure if it needs someone more experienced to check them out. Reassembled it (I forgot how awkward the CV64's scandoubler was to fit back), and powered it up with no problems - boots just fine and everything seems to check out. I've found some Kickstart 3.1 ROMs that I bought years ago and never installed, ordered a copy of AmigaOS 3.2, and now looking at switching out the hard drives for something like CF.

Today I did the same for the AmigaOne. Everything looks fine and it powers up, but there's no video output. I read somewhere that it could be as simple as a dead coin battery, so I'm going to buy a replacement tomorrow and try again to see if that works. If that's the issue, I think next step is to sort out some more RAM, replace the hard disk, and get AmigaOS 4 up to the latest version.

Anyway, good to be back :-)
« Last Edit: March 08, 2026, 09:04:14 PM by john_chandler »
Amiga A500, Amiga A4000/030, AmigaOne XE G4, Commodore Plus/4, Commodore 64 Ultimate, owner
Awaiting Spectrum Next KS3.
 

Offline TribbleSmasher

Re: Returning to the Amiga
« Reply #1 on: March 08, 2026, 09:15:15 PM »
Welcome!

Have fun exploring all the new things Amiga has to offer too.
 

Offline ncafferkey

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Re: Returning to the Amiga
« Reply #2 on: March 09, 2026, 11:37:22 PM »
The problem with the AmigaOne XE is likely to be the battery alright. With my AmigaOne SE, I've also found that the battery runs down very quickly if the system is left unplugged (the SE has more flaws than the XE however, so that may not apply for you).
 

Offline nbache

Re: Returning to the Amiga
« Reply #3 on: March 10, 2026, 12:13:03 AM »
It's definitely also a common problem on XEs.

Best regards,

Niels
 

Offline john_chandlerTopic starter

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Re: Returning to the Amiga
« Reply #4 on: March 10, 2026, 07:22:18 AM »
Thanks all.

I replaced the CR2032 battery last night on the XE and it boots fine now, everything exactly as I left it all those years ago.

I've tried registering my copy of OS 4.1 on the Hyperion website so I can sort out updates, but it says invalid serial number so I've fired off an email to their support (getting a response might not be quick according to some sources). I did have a look around for a final edition CD or download to buy, but everywhere seems to be out of stock for the XE version. Ah well, no rush.
Amiga A500, Amiga A4000/030, AmigaOne XE G4, Commodore Plus/4, Commodore 64 Ultimate, owner
Awaiting Spectrum Next KS3.