FAQ When things don't seem to be going right... Q. When I switch my Amiga on the screen goes a funny colour. What's wrong? Q. My computer seems to crash (Guru) a lot. What's happening? A. It could be the particular program you are using requires more memory or a Floating Point Unit or something which isn't present on your system. Q. My disk drive seems to be faulty. When I put a bootable disk in (such as a coverdisk or game), it makes a few clicking sounds but then nothing happens. A. It could be the disk drive itself is broken. If you have Workbench 2 or better, you can check by using an external disk drive. Pop a disk in the extermal drive, and if the same thing happens then it is probably not the internal drive: it's more likely to be a problem with the CIA chip. If the external drive works, then there is a good chance the internal drive is broken. Symptons of a dodget drive: sometimes the disk will be recognised, sometimes it won't. Some disks will work, some won't. Depending on the severity of the problem it may be possible to ask a repair shop to recalibrate the drive. In the worst case the drive will need to be replaced, which will cost about £30 to £50. Q. My A500 power supply is broken. Can I use the power supply which came with an A1200 with an A500? A. Yes you can. The leads are identical, and even if the A1200 supply is rated higher it will work fine. The A500 will only draw as much power as it needs. Q. When I switch on my Amiga, the caps-lock light flashes. What's up? Contacts -------- BOX: CIA Chips The Amiga relies heavily on a chip called the CIA 8520 or Complex Interface Adapter. The chip is so useful there are actually two of them in every Amiga, and they handle the serial port, the joystick port, the mouse port, the disk drive, the printer port, the keyboard and various other timing duties. Unfortunately, it is also quite easy to break one or other of the chips. If you connect a printer cable, modem cable, external floppy drive or mouse to the Amiga without first switching off, you run the risk of damage. If your joystick fire button is broken, or your printer port doesn't work the CIA could be to fault. Similarly if your disk drive is refusing to work and the keyboard is playing up. On an A500 replacing the chips is quite straightforward, but one of the first things you should try is swapping the chips over. To get at them you'll need to open up the case and remove the metal shielding. The CIA chips are both 40 pin chips and clearly labeled as CIA ODD and CIA EVEN. Swap the chips over (making sure you put them in the sockets the right way round) and see if the problem changes. If you are lucky, this might temporarily solve the problem: for example, if the CIA which looks after the disk drive is broken and you swap them around, the broken CIA is put in charge of the serial port -- and perhaps you don't need to use the serial port. The best solution of course is to buy a replacement chip. These cost about £15. If you have an A1200, then unfortunately replacing the CIA is beyond most home users as the chips are soldered directly to the motherboard. Unless skilled at such repairs, you will need to call in the repair person. They will either replace the chips or the motherboard and charge you about £40.