Classicamiga Forum Retro Edition
Thread: Help needed please.
rayzorblue 11:05 22nd August 2009
I just got my old A500 back and am wanting to fire it up, but first I want to make sure it isn't going blow up or something is there any integrity checks I can do before switching it on? also its been so long will all software and stuff still work? Alot of the game disks I have look in good condition but is that really a good sign or a false positive.
Thanks for any help.
[Reply]
Puni/Void 14:09 22nd August 2009
Sadly I can't be of any help concerning powering up the Amiga. I've tried older equipment though, which haven't been used for years, and haven't encountered any problems.

Regarding the floppies, I've recently tried many of my old disks. Some of these haven't been used for about 10 years. Their age is older than 10 as well. Incredibly, most of them worked properly without any errors!
[Reply]
Stephen Coates 18:05 22nd August 2009
I wouldn't worry about floppy disks. Like, PG, I have many old disks (some of which have been stored in unfavourable conditions) that still work, which is more than I can say for some of the HD disks I have been using in PCs for the last two years.

Just put the disks in and see what happens. If you are not sure you could immediately make copies or ADFs of them.

As for testing the amiga, you are best just plugging it in and finding out. Time shouldn't cause a computer to fail in such away that switching it on will cause more damage. If you have any concern about the power supply, you could always get it PAT tested, but if the only problem is that it has gone unused for a long time, then there should again be nothing to worry about. Just make sure it has a suitable fuse in and you should be fine.

Hope that helps. I want to get my A500+ out as it has not been used for a long time. I had it set up on a desk at my Dad's house with an 8833 MkII monitor, 56k modem, teletext adaptor, hard drive, printer, and a VCR which was used as a TV tuner for the 8833, but I have had to move all my stuff out of there as his house was for sale for quite some time and is now being rented. I need to build a nice big desk in the loft to put the A500+ on and my newly towered A1200 and all my electronics stuff. That is something I have been wanting to do for the last 4 years but not yet got round to.
[Reply]
rayzorblue 00:15 23rd August 2009
cool thanks for the advice fella's I will keep you posted when I get round to testing it out. I also have a commodore 64 and a ZX spectrum 48k to test out, really need to scan all the boxes and disks for my Amiga games as well, that might take some time.
[Reply]
Harrison 10:15 25th August 2009
As the others have said, just plug it in and see if it works. If you have a multimeter you could test the output from the PSU to see if it is giving the correct voltages before you use it, but I've not to date seen an Amiga PSU supply too much power or kill an Amiga. A dead or faulty Amiga PSU will normally just not power up the Amiga.
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