Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!decwrl!shelby!unix!hplabs!hp-pcd!hp-sdd!ncr-sd!ncrlnk!ncrcce!klein From: klein@ncrcce.StPaul.NCR.COM (Tony Klein) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Re: A500 resets itself Summary: It's just a sh*tty computer Message-ID: <1961@ncrcce.StPaul.NCR.COM> Date: 13 Mar 90 21:08:48 GMT References: <1291@carroll1.cc.edu> Reply-To: klein@ncrcce.StPaul.NCR.COM (Tony Klein) Followup-To: comp.sys.amiga Distribution: na Organization: NCR Comten, Inc. Lines: 69 In article <1291@carroll1.cc.edu> plonka@carroll1.cc.edu (Dave Plonka) writes: >My Amiga 500 has become very tempermental lately. It just RESETS itself. >very similarly to a CTRL-AMIGA-AMIGA. Mine too, and its really PISSING ME OFF. >Sometimes it will happen 5 times in 10 minutes, other times it has been on >for hours straight with no problems. >It doesn't seem to be related to heat generation, since it is just as >likely to reset just after being turned on as it is hours later. And it always seems to 'zap' right when a disk is being written..or just BEFORE writing a bunch of edits out to disk..(Murphy's Law?) I have had it to the shop (he 'reseated the chips', the cure-all for A500 problems), I have reseated the chips myself (twice), I have disconnected all the peripherals, it still has random crashes. I have checked the power supply. I eventually discovered that if I leave it on all the time, I get some relief. It says booted for days at a time! But then it crashes... >NOW, the important part (hopefully), >When it reboots after the reset, the CAPS-lock light is on, and can't be >shut off. Also the keyboard is disabled. Sometimes this happens to me, but not very often. I can power cycle to make that one go away. >WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? I'll tell you what it means to me: THE A500 SUCKS. It's far and away the most UNRELIABLE computer I have ever used. It is getting to the point where it is USELESS! Every little 5 MINUTE JOB I wanna do turns into a 2 HOUR MARATHON DISK RECOVERY operation! Followed by crashes DURING disk recovery operations!!! Followed by CRASHES during CRASHES!!! I COULD JUST SCREAM!! AAAHHHHGG!!!!! [Whew. Sorry. I feel better now. Excuse me. Thanks.] [Pause while I unlock the caps and regain my composure.] Despite my wild and dangerous tone, I am not ready to smash my A500 into a little pile of silicon just yet. (soon,...) I would like to figure this out. My latest theory is that the random crashes are related to the monitor 'snapping' problem. I will look into that next, maybe get my monitor fixed, or do it myself if I can find more details. But in the long run, >WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? I see this thread come up every so often, I have talked to a coupla others with this 'random crash' problem, and I think 1) its fairly common, and 2) we are all screwed cause no one can figure it out. It's just some kinda quality control problem. We all bought lemons. Even if a monitor fix makes some difference, I have no faith in this unit. I wanna get rid of it. There is no way I would ever add a hard disk to this crumby thing, so I guess I have to get an A2000 in order to add a HD. I thought the A500 would be a nice cheap way to get an Amiga, but I guess not. It's lousy. [Why is this? Do the boards sag in the case, causing the chips to shift and come loose? Does my pounding on the keys rattle the sockets? Do the vibrations from some speed bump in West Chester keep reverberating through some etherial plane until they ping my machine? Beats me.] >Thanks for ANY help. There is little hope of help, I think we're hosed. > plonka@carroll1.cc.edu Dave Plonka /// > plonka@carroll1.UUCP ARS: N9HZF \\\/// AMIGA -- ____/| Tony Klein NCR Comten, St.Paul, MN 612-638-7861 () \| klein@stpaul.ncr.com ...uunet!ncrlnk!ncrcce!klein