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terriblefire

Posted Sun Jan 15, 2017 7:17 am

intric8 wrote:I pulled the megaChip and reseated it. Then I pulled that weird clip from Gary and put it back where it came from.

I read the megaChip manual, which I have, and it explains that when you install it two things must be done. First, you need to ensure you have the correct version of Agnus. Second, during the installation you actually have to cut a tracer between two points on the motherboard. So, basically, when you go megaChip, it's not easy to ever go back.

The previous owner did all of the mods and cut the board as directed. He also put the original Agnus (from 1988) in a little baggie and bought (presumably around 1990) the upgraded Agnus for the megaChip. So, I have the old Agnus, but I can't just pop it back in without soldering the motherboard.

Like you said, it's complicated.

Realistically, I have a 2nd 2000 that is functioning perfectly. The only issue it has is that it can't see its SyQuest drive. So, as each test I try continues to fail, I feel more and more like I have large collection of back-up and enhancement parts for the working one. I have extra hard drives, a floppy, an expansion card, upgraded ROM to 3.1, etc.

So, I may just migrate some things over and save the rest for whenever something ultimately fails due to old age.

I'm extremely tempted to move over the KS ROM, upgrade WB to 3.1, bring over the G-Force card (which has 16MB of RAM) and maybe see if the other SyQuest drive works. Then, whatever's left after that put into storage. That would be one rockin' 2000. It's already quite nice (2MB chip, 8MB fast) and WB 1.3 is really easy on the eyes. Since I love the early games more than the AGA, part of me wants to keep it the way it is. But I'm so used to WB 3.1 and the better UX (not the look, but just what you can do with it more easily) I may upgrade it. That's the way the previous owner's daily machine was set up. The one I'm using now was his storage/backup. I may try to bring it to his original machine's glory. I've got all the stuff.

Check out the insane monitor I have attached to the working 2000. It's a 16" Princeton Graphics monitor, which came equipped with multisync/multiscan. It's one of the very few non-Commodore 3rd party monitors that runs at native Amiga output. It's extremely nice, albeit extremely huge.
Gorgeous.. Where do you find all this stuff?

More photos of the board including the battery required.

If you have a scope or a multimeter with a frequency counter measure the DTACK pin on the 68000. Then tell me if AS is wiggling.

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intric8
Seattle, WA, USA

Posted Sun Jan 15, 2017 10:44 pm

Ironically, the machine that is working had much more visible damage below the battery area than the one that is currently dead. The working machine (what he called his backup) had so much leakage that when I wiped the acid off with some alcohol, I then very lightly scrapped the area (as it was lumpy) with a flat dental/sculpting tool and the green motherboard scraped off to the copper way too easily. Not a big deal, really, but shocking as I'd never seen acid damage quite like that before. I have an overcoat pen arriving tomorrow to paint over the exposed copper area and get it sealed now that I believe I've removed the infected silicon.

On the other hand, the battery area on the dead machine cleaned up quite easily and while it had some damage which could be seen by the naked eye it looked minimal. I can take some pics later if you still want to see and think it would be helpful.
If you have a scope or a multimeter with a frequency counter measure...
See now you're talking in a foreign language to me. I don't have those tools nor have I ever used them before. My ignorance of electrical engineering is partly why I've begun to resign myself to thinking the dead machine might be a very gorgeous and plentiful box of future parts (and upgrades). In the meantime I'm having a total blast playing Eye of the Beholder 2 on the 2000. I can't play with hardware and keep failing forever, right? It's not good for the psyche. ;)

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terriblefire

Posted Mon Jan 16, 2017 6:44 am

I really need to come out to WA with a pickup truck and a soldering iron don't I?

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intric8
Seattle, WA, USA

Posted Mon Jan 16, 2017 8:38 am

OMG yes, yes you do. :)

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intric8
Seattle, WA, USA

Posted Mon Jan 16, 2017 10:27 am

I've ordered a battery replacement kit that will support Lithium coin batteries. My machines are running DirOpus, and at least the early version on 1.3 you can't remove the date from the WB bar (which is always on, as it's part of the startup sequence, which I like). My OCD brain can't stand looking at the wrong date (1986) and time every time I power up the machine.

Going to get that sorted here soon.

I'm going to give the dead machine a final once-over today. If I can't make any progress put it away for parts. I do appreciate everyone's suggestions and ideas on how to bring this old girl back to life.

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intric8
Seattle, WA, USA

Posted Mon Jan 16, 2017 10:58 am

On second thought if it doesn't work out, I might ship it off to be re-capped. There's a fellow in Michigan who does this for only $70 which seems like a worthy gamble. If it doesn't work out, at least I gave it a good effort al the way around for minimal cost.





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