Conference hydra::amiga_v1

    Colin,
    Speaking as an experiences Amiga owner (I got mine from Santa) :-)
    I don't think you've got a problem - if it boots up OK except for
    the pink-white - try setting the colours up in preferences or adjusting
    the TV. 
    
    DPAINT comes on a bootable disk - no WB icon. Insert the DPaint
    disk and hit Ctrl-A-A and when the CLI prompt (1>) appears type
    dpaint and it will load and run. I presume it needs all the memory
    it can get (i.e. doesn't like to have WorkBench in memory  at the
    same time)
    
    			Alan T.
    

    Hi Alan,

    I know notes etiquette says you shouldn't put in thank you notes, but
    for your speed of response and putting my mind at rest I've just got to
    say thanks. The white-pink I can live with but the Guru error was
    getting me worried. Anyway thanks a lot,

    Colin (who originally comes from AYR).
    

    The latest version of DPaint, called DPaint ][, is much more convenient
    to use than the first release.  It now is loadable from a Workbench
    icon, and gives the option of loading the entire program into memory
    or using overlays.  In addition, you can change resolutions and
    screen size (up to 670 x 680) without exiting the program.
    
    

    Also: with the old DPaint, type DPAINT HI  for hi-res, DPAINT MED
    for Medium res.  You can also type DPAINT <LO, MED, or HI> X.
    Subsititute X with the number of bit planes you want.  If you were
    to type DPAINT HI 1, you would get Deluxe Paint, running in hi-res
    with only two colors.
    
    Actually, upgrading to DeluxePaint II is a much better solution.
    It is a vastly improved product.
    
    Randy
    

    I bought myself a 500 just before Christmas. It died badly within
    a couple of weeks. I took it back and got it replaced. The replacement
    unit (brand new) sometimes gliches when performing normal operations
    (like pushing a window to the back) and guru's on me.
    
    I don't know whether to blame faulty hardware or a buggy operating
    system.
    
    	mike
    		(down-under)

When I bought mine (another early Xmas present!) the dealer mentioned
that I might want to open it up and resolder any suspicious connections.

Apparently they had a few customers return A500's with bad and even
unsoldered pins. One lucky sole had a cpu with several pins not even
soldered!

John

    Anyone know where I can get a FAT AGNUS chip?  I know I can send
    to CBM (I assume) or bring my unit (A500) to a repair center, but
    would rather do it myself.  The chip is heat sensitive and only
    affects the expansion bus with a disk controller installed (ask
    me how long it took to find that one!!).  Otherwise, the system works
    fine.  My other A500 has worked flawlessly and survived much hacking
    about for the past two months.
    
    I heard of a service center in Bedford, Ma.  Anyone have any info?
    The A500 that died is 5-6 months old.
    
    -John-
    

    Hi,

    Well I got DPaint to work OK now (but wow, the bundled documentation is
    BBBAAADDDD !) The pink effect when white was displayed has now
    completely disappeared. I didn't adjust anything, sometimes its more
    worrying when these things go away ! Anyway with these problems solved
    more have popped up (in the great tradition of microcomputing).

    Problem 1, I was mucking about using AmigaBASIC (ugh!) when I tried the
    trace option. I wrote a tiny program, used the mouse to select Trace On
    form the Menu and run the program - trace worked fine, the program
    worked fine. I then used the mouse again to turn trace off by selecting
    Trace Off from the menu. As soon as I did this everything (mouse and
    keyboard) froze. After a few seconds the screen fills with garbage and
    the computer GURU's me with a wonderfully user friendly GURU software
    failure error. The BASIC commands TRON and TROFF work fine. Anybody got
    any ideas ?

    Problem 2. My left mouse button seems a bit dodgy. When using the
    workbench to do things like move an Icon it is very common for the
    computer to think I double clicked the icon and to start the
    application for me. Now I have done this a lot and I am convinced I am
    not double clicking the botton I am simply holding it down. Also when
    moving or resizing a window it is common for the computer to think I
    have let go od the button and immediatly redraw the window. Again I
    have not let go od the button. I get a similiar thing when using
    DPaint. When drawing a smooth line it is common for the package to
    break of at some point while I am still holding the button down. This
    is particularly bad when cutting an area for a brush where the cut
    often terminates before I have released the button. Again, any ideas ?

    Problem 3. I also get these unexplained GURU's simple moving a window
    or iconising an application etc. Just GURU's out for no reason I can
    see.

    I really with the machine would blow up so I could know whether it was
    genuinely faulty or not.

    Hoping for help,
    Colin.
    

    This may sound strange, but I also get the frozen system after trace,
    but with Multi-forth, not Amiga basic!  Wish I knew why.	John

    re: .8, problem 2--I started seeing this same symptom after my family
    started playing a game that stressed the left mouse button a
    lot--Arkanoids.  We contacted the store which had sold us the Amiga,
    which sent us a new mouse in exchange for the old one.  Mouse problems
    all gone. 
        John Sauter 

    re: .8 and .10 - bad mouse button 

    I had the same problem with my atari st mouse.  On nearly the last 
    day of the warranty period, I took the mouse back to compuclub, the 
    atari dealer, and I haven't seen the mouse since.  That was two weeks 
    ago.  It seems that neither Atari nor another supplier have been able 
    to supply the replacement parts, so no mouse repairs are occurring. 
    I asked about buying a new mouse.  The price would be $50, if they 
    could get them, but they can't.  Could it be that the mouse is the 
    gating item on the availability of new atari st's?  I wonder if 
    atari and cbm use the same cheap switch. 

    - Roy  (who is getting tired of using "Alternate" + arrow keys as 
            a mouse substitute, but glad that atari and/or dri supplied 
            an altrnative method of generating mouse events.) 

    I have repaired a couple mouses before. The Amiga mouse is pretty
    interesting. If you open it up you will find a small circuit board
    with a couple triangular metal pieces held in place with a piece
    of Skotch tape (yes, you read that right). Sometimes crud collects
    in there and causes problems. My solution:
    
    o  Carefully peel off the tape and discard.
    
    o  Carefully lift off the metal pieces and clean of them and the
       contacts with some alcohol.
    
    o  Replace and secure with a fresh piece of Skotch tape.
    
    Seems to work.
    
    Paul

Re: .12

I once took apart my Amiga 1000 mouse, and I didn't notice any tape.  But
then, my memory isn't that reliable anymore. :-)

I haven't yet taken apart my 2000 mouse, so I can only speculate about what
holds it together (tape, paper clips, rubber bands, chewing gum, ...).

A back issue of Amazing Computing had a do-it-yourself article on mouse
button repair.