The latest member of the family

[rubber_jonnie]

So I just installed the new keyboard membrane and the left Amiga key wont work!!!

:dizzy:

The rest are fine but it's kind of a necessary key...

The membrane seems to work as I can use the plunger to operate it manually, it's almost like it isn't lined up, but all the pads line up as per the olde one. Grrr!!!

Next I need to try and do the partitioning of the 4GB CF card, see if that works.

[rubber_jonnie]

So I just installed the new keyboard membrane and the left Amiga key wont work!!!

:dizzy:

The rest are fine but it's kind of a necessary key...

The membrane seems to work as I can use the plunger to operate it manually, it's almost like it isn't lined up, but all the pads line up as per the olde one. Grrr!!!

Next I need to try and do the partitioning of the 4GB CF card, see if that works.

OK, so it looks like I'll be sticking with the 2GB card then...

4GB card isn't compatible it seems, but that should be fine.

Not sure what I'm going to do about the keyboard though as I need both the Amiga kets available as the BooBip ROM uses the CTRL+Amiga+Amiga sequence to switch ROMs.

[rubber_jonnie]

OK, finally!!

Keyboard is fully functional after some judicious cleaning of problematic keycap rubber contactors. What a pain that's taken a long time to get working:

I also put a few layers of insulation tape under the mylar sheet to lift the left Amiga contacts up ever so slightly.

IMG20250220152418.jpg

Annoying that the 4GB card won't play nicely, but 2GB should be fine for my needs.

Next I need to sort out the Gotek I think, then I can put it all together. I may recap the PSU while I'm at it, I know they are generally good and don't need it, but what the heck.

[rubber_jonnie]

OK, so things are still a little up and down. The A500 8MB+IDE is sometimes not starting properly. There is a green LED that tells you when it's running as expected, and if it doesn't come on, then there is no 8MB of RAM or IDE.

I'm also getting issues with my 2GB CF card in that it just causes a black screen, but it may be a power thing, I'm not sure. It worked fine when I installed OS 3.1 on there. My other 1GB card is still fine.

In fact sometimes it's just a black screen. Re-seating it in the socket seems to cure the issues for a while, but they eventually come back and even using contact cleaner it is only a temporary fix. It is turned pin headers on the A500 8MB+IDE and a normal socket on the board. I may well fit a turned pin socket in it's place.

I'm also fitting a small switch to allow me to turn the HDD off and on. Well, if I can find something that will stick the switch in place!!! I've tried superglue and epoxy and so far not great. Ho Hum.

[Maximilian]

What is the voltage at the expansion?

Did you change the cap for the reset circuit?

[rubber_jonnie]

What is the voltage at the expansion?

Did you change the cap for the reset circuit?

Voltages are fine across the board and the PSU is recapped, and yes, the reset circuit cap has been replaced, though I am going to recap the rest of the mainboard.

I honestly think the expansion is a bad one. Half the time it doesn't come up with the 8MB RAM enabled and it's now decided to no longer boot from IDE.

It sees the IDE device but when I try to partition a CF card it just isn't seen after a reboot and the partition info is incorrect.

I've emailed the vendor about an RMA and replacement, we'll see what happens.

[rubber_jonnie]

So quite a bit of strangeness going on here.

I’ve got 6 CF cards I’ve been trying and I’ve also included a picture of those and have added a picture of the installed A500 8MB+IDE with the currently installed long cable. I replaced the CPU socket with a turned pin item as that is what the upgrade has, so contact should be good.

IMG20250223085721.jpg

The two 2GB red cards have never worked, when plugged in the A500 8MB+IDE would never power on and the Amiga just had a black screen. I assumed they were just incompatible. These 2 cards work under Windows.

The blue 2GB card did work fine in the Amiga, and I had been using it for well over a week with no problems. Then the upgrade stopped working with this card connected, in other words the green LED would stay off and the Amiga would never run. This card works under Windows.

The blue 4GB worked to the extent I could partition it, but on reboot I would get an error, but it was an Amiga OS error and seemed like the card was incompatible. Then the upgrade stopped working with this card connected, in other words the green LED would stay off and the Amiga would never run. This card works under Windows.

The green 1GB card was the one I used when the blue 2GB card stopped working. That had been my go to card since then. Then the upgrade stopped working with this card connected, in other words the green LED would stay off and the Amiga would never run. This card did work under Windows, however it’s no longer seen, so I can’t run a clean on it any more using diskpart. I’m willing to believe this card may have failed, but I will look at is some more today.

The final card, the blue 512MB card is the interesting one. Late last night I changed the IDE cable (I have a short one, 10cm and a long one, 30cm) and with the longer cable (See the image) this card and the upgrade works, and I have been able to install OS3.1 just fine. I tested first thing, and it still boots just fine.

However, with any of the other cards plugged in, the green LED does not come on and the Amiga doesn’t even power on. With the 512MB card it seems to work fine. I have looked to see if there are limitations regarding card sizes, but I can’t seem to find anything, and it is odd that the blue 2GB card did work and now doesn’t.

I did consider that it could be a power issue, but the PSU has been recapped. It seems like when certain CF cards are connected, it just prevents the upgrade from starting. I’m going to re-cap the mainboard as soon as the parts arrive, but it runs just fine otherwise and with the original CPU fitted.

I’d rather it wasn’t the upgrade if I’m honest, but it now doesn’t work with 5 out of 6 CF cards plugged in, so I’m a little concerned it is.

[rubber_jonnie]

OK, so weirdly the 1GB CF card is not behaving properly. Windows will see it if I first erase and format it with my old Mac PBG4 running Tiger.

However when I put it into my Windows machine, it appears but needs formatting, which then hangs and it never formats.

I also now believe the 4GB is slightly over the 4GB limit that Amiga OS can see, so that's that one put to bed.

Honestly not sure about any of the other 2GB drives, they just hang the system on power up. The 512MB drive is running perfectly, at least for now.

[felicemaggie]

I know this is an A500 you are mainly working on - but certainly with the A1200, it seems like the Amiga is notorious for not working with certain CF cards. I'd tried a couple of brands before eventually giving in and getting a CF card kit from Amigakit which worked fine and still allows use of the PCMCIA socket on the side.

[stephen_usher]

A turned pin socket with turned pin headers is going to be worse than a dual wipe socket as there's far less contact area and no active push onto the pins.

I'm going to have to try to remove my relocator board from my ST536 STFM and replace the turned pin socket as I can now only get the ST536 to work if I wedge the board at an angle, otherwise half the address lines no-longer make contact.