@BEGIN_FILE_ID.DIZ Trouble Shooting Problems Read This @End_FILE_ID.DIZ __ : /\___________________/_/\_______________________________/\ : |\/ ___ ___ \_\/__ _ ___ ___°\/| | _[___[___]_ |\___/\__________ /\___ /\/\___ [_ _[_ _]_ | :[___[_ _]___] | /\ __ /\ | /\ \/ /\ \/ /\ \ / _[___]_ _]: ^ _[___]_ _] /\| \/ l_ \/ l \/ \ \/ \ \/__ \ [___]___]_ ^ |[___]_ _] / l \ \ _ \ \ \ \ \ l \ [_ _[___]| | _[___]_ \_____/_____/_l /__/\ /__/\ /____/ Y [___]_ | .[___[___]_ _/\ /\ /\\/\ /\\/\ _/\\/\ ° _[___]. ^ _[___]___]_ ° \_ Y /(__)\ \/ /(__)\_ Y / JFX ° [___]_ ^ |[___]___]___]_ ° / _ \/ \/ \ \/ \/ _ \ TRADERS _[___]| | _[___]_ _[___] / / \ \ \ \ \ / \ [___]_ | :[___]___]___]_ \__/_ /___/_/\ /___/_/_ / ° ___ _[___]: ^ [___]___]___] \/ \/ \/ [___[___]_ ^ |[___]___]___] JOHNNY FIVE / XINIX (C)1995 [___[___]| | ____]___] THE FOX/KRUGER/AM-ANGEL __ -- ____ [CU] : |/\ ________________________________/_/\__________________ /\| o \/ - -- - --- - - \_\/ - -- - \/ o TROUBLE SHOOTING ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- What do you do when a mystery complication cripples Your AMIGA? Sometimes it seems there's just nowhere to turn,but this mouth you're in luck! We've compiled a list of the most common,most awkward,and most infuriating Amiga problems,and blow them away! Never Again need you be nagged by unnecessary requesters,messed up by memory loss or rattled by read errors. Welcome to the world of trouble free computing.... ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- We've all experienced those confusing error messages and system crashes at one point or another. The trouble is,if you don't know what's gone wrong,there's not much you can do to put it right. Over the next pages we've compiled a massive collection of solusions and tips to get you out of the stickiest mess without any bother. Everything from disk corruption to memory problems to hardware failure is covered,with stacks more besides. We begin our tour of Troubletown with a look at the popular Amigas A500 & A1200. Once you've got an idea of the workings of the machine,you'll find it easier to understand why your Amiga is misbehaving. Throwing the Amiga out of the window might be the most appealing option when you're at the end of your tether,but taking a minute to clam down and sort out your problem is always worth it in the end. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Secret World Of CIAs ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- CIAs or Complex Interface Adapters are generarry the number one AMIGA hardware fault. They are responsible for much of the Amiga's Input/Output handling including joystick/mouse and the parallel port. The most common cause of CIA failure is accidentally shorting out pins on any of these ports while the machine is powered up. This is usually done by plugging in printers,joysticks and the while the machine is on. Not being particularly robust,the good news is that they are not a rare custom chip and are fairly inexpensive as far as Amiga spare parts go. If you have an A1200 then you're in for some bat news. Take a Look at the indicated chips.[8520 2 Chips] On the A500 you can see they are large dual in-line socketed chips. On this machine you can buy the chips and replace them yourself (Make sure they go in the right way around!!!) with a minimum of stress but on the A1200 things are worse. Modern and cheaper method of surface mounting the chips. That's not normally a problem for chips that aren't prone to failure but in this case it's a bit of an oversight by the old Commodore regime. Your machine will HAVE to go to a repair shop that knows about surface mount technology. It will cost you ! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ REPLACING THE CHIPS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Hopefully in the normal course of using your Amiga,you shouldn't have to pull on your jungle boots and go delving into the inner most sanctums too often. However,there are a few occasions when this may be required. It's handy to have some background knowledge on the base level gizzards for such eventualities. There are only Two chips that you should ever have to replace in either the A500 or the A1200. One is the CIA and the other isthe ROM(s). There is only one ROM in the A500 And Two In the A1200. Removing the orginale chips is fairly easy even without a proper chip-pulling tool. Insert a Flat Bladed screwdriver between the gap between the socket and the chip. Lever it up a fraction but not the whole way. Then move to theother end and repeat. Gently work the chip out of the socket. In both cases the chips are of the dual in-line variety. That means they can be inserted either way round. How do you tell which is the right way? Onboth the CIAs and the ROMs,there is a semicircular bit out of one end of the chip. Also on the motherboard these bites are marked on the board. You can see them to the left on the A1200's ROMs. If they line up,no problem. Inserting new chips is a bit more involved. Again a Specialist chip inserting tool is best and isn't very expensive, though there is a way to do it with your bara hands. The dual in-line legs will initially be too wide to fit in the sockets. Place one edge of the chip legs into the socket and insert slightly. Then push the chip towards the edge half inserted. This should bend the pins temporarily towards the chip and allow you to get the other row of legs into the other side of the socket. Be careful. Don't use too much force and made sure the legs are lined up before you depress fully to shove the chip home. However, if in doubt call in a trained repair company. Signed:Johnny Five/JFX