Amiga A1500 floppy drive problem need help

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xybots

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hi everyone

I have a big queation to ask you guys, ive been an amiga fan since i bought my amiga A500 back in the days when it was £449 i had to take out a loan to buy it 1.2 kickstart and it was bundled with mastertronics Feud.

well a few years ago i aquired a amiga A1500 its got aA2000 motherboard well back then i was moving house so i just boxed it up well 5 years latter i found it in the loft, got it out and powered it up for the first time every since i owned it.

well df0 and df1 comes on at the same time if i load up workbench is says df1 bad, ive unplugged the drives and used them separately as df0 and they work a treat.

So my question is does any one know the jumper settings and cable arrangement to get these drivea working as df0, df1.

Thanks for your help
 
Last edited:
I don't know the answer to your question but I can offer some advice - remove the motherboard battery before it destroys your Miggy.

Dave G :cool:
 
J301 This jumper is closed to add a second internal floppy drive, open to leave the second floppy out of the main unit box. The Amiga expects an ID bit stream from each floppy drive; this lets it determine the drive type. External floppies have this ID circuitry on board, but as it's not an industry standard capability, it has to be implemented on the A2000 motherboard to save cost on internal drives. Leaving the jumper open prevents the Amiga from seeing the ID sequence.
 
Re A1500 floppy drive problems

Re A1500 floppy drive problems

hi guys thanks for getting back to me so quick, theres 6 pins on the floppy drives jumpers 3 x 2 if looking at the back of the drive where does the jumpers go for df0, df1.

but thanks for helping me

also as regards to the battery if i take the battery out of the A1500 do i have to replace the battery with another or would the amiga work ok without one.

Thanks
 
The battery is only used for date stamping the files and for the clock.

You can fit another battery kit in its place if you want. Just don't fit the same type of battery.

Dave G :cool:
 
I stripped out the battery in ALL of my Amigas, as I had my beloved A500+ die on me many years ago due to battery leakage (and therefore wreakage of the motherboard)
 
Hi guys id be very upset if my A1500 died just because of the battery leaked it will be coming out this weekend.

But as any one got a picture or link to help me sort out the jumpers with the floppy drive issue please so i can do that at the same time as the battery.

Thanks for your help so far.
 
The battery is very easy to spot and you'll see it when removing the power supply/floppy cage.

It lies in the front part of the computer, near the mouse/joystick/keyboard connectors and have a barrel shape.

If you find white "fur" coming from the sides of it, it already started to mass destruction action.

If you see green gunk staining the motherboard, be sure the spillage already started to eat the copper from the tracks.

Hurry up and don't get desperate, since the Amiga is working, there is nothing to worry about (much).
 
Thanks for the help with the battery ill be removing it at the weekend, i know what the battery looks like, the only other problem i have is sorting out the floppy drive d? Do i have to leave a jumper on df1 or take it off thanks for the help so far
 
I'll have a look in my 2000HD manual tonight and see what I can see.

Dave G :cool:
 
Mate that would be appreciated or a picture of your jumpers setting from the back of the drive would be a great help ive been pulling my hair out for a few weeks now.

But thanks for trying to help i appreciate it and glad i signed up to the forum now
 
Mate that would be appreciated or a picture of your jumpers setting from the back of the drive would be a great help ive been pulling my hair out for a few weeks now.

But thanks for trying to help i appreciate it and glad i signed up to the forum now

Can't do you a picture of the floppy - I sold my 2000HD a good while ago :oops: But I've still got the manuals and circuit diagrams.

Dave G :cool:
 
Ah ok mate any help would be great to get these floppy drives working as df0,df1 and im taking it apart the weekend to take the battery out so want to to do both at the same time

Thanks
 
Hi guys since posting this I've managed to search google and find a floppy manual and have sorted the floppy issue out, but still both drives light up but they do work independently as df0, df1. Tested with sword of sodan great game.

Also since reading this about the battery on saturday i checked the mother board, there was acid all over the back of the board, i touched the battery and it came away from the mother board, i cleaned the board and round the effected area and put the amiga back together and luckily the Amiga came back to life to the 1.3 workbench screen, i was relieved .

So thanks guys for your help.
 
Remember you must neutralize the spillage. Once the battery leaked the base spillage will form copper peroxide, which reacts with metallic copper (the thing the motherboard traces are made from), creating more copper peroxide in a chain reaction.

Since the battery leak is a base, it is totally neutralized using an acid. Evidently you'll not use a strong acid as it will eat the traces away.

So a weak acid is used: lemon juice (from a squeezed lemon) or spirit vinegar (also known as vinegar of alcohol or white vinegar).

Drop some where you see darkened areas on the green varnish (you must remove the green varnish with a fibreglass pencil to expose the copper) and even where you see green gunk on chip terminals.

Let the acid neutralize the spillage for half an hour, then clean with a lint-free soft cloth. After that, iso alcohol (isopropanol) to wash the residues and only then you can be sure the problem is over.

To re-seal the exposed copper you can use clear nail varnish. Rob some from your wife/girlfriend when she is not looking.
 
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