Expert: Gregory Donner - 7/3/2005

Question
Hi Gregory, I have an Amiga 500 that i have owned since new, some 18 years i think. Any way i have used it on and off all this time since and have only had one problem previous being a resistor failed. All has worked well since untill now, when i turn the power on the start up screen comes up all broken and coloured. The usual screen is white with a blue disk in the center then once a disk is inserted into the drive it loads up and starts the program. Any way with the screen funny it won't even read a disk so i was wondering if the kickstart ROM may be faulty? Any idea's would be much appriciated.
Mant thanks Timo.

Answer
Timo,

I agree--the first thing I would suspect is the Kickstart ROM. Normally, when the ROM is working, even if another component or chip is bad, the screen would turn a solid color to indicate what the problem is (i.e. red, green, yellow, or blue depending on the kind of problem). Seeing as it's completely garbled, I would suggest first trying to push down the Kickstart ROM to ensure it's properly seated in it's socket. If this still doesn't help, then you should be able to buy a replacement ROM from either Software Hut (www.softhut.com), or Centsible Software (www.centsible.com).

I hope this helps!

Regards,

Gregory Donner