A5000 - diving in at the deep end!

Blogs & guides and tales of woo by forum members.
User avatar
rubber_jonnie
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 10472
Joined: Thu Aug 17, 2017 7:40 pm
Location: Essex
Contact:

Re: A5000 - diving in at the deep end!

Post by rubber_jonnie »

Just found the GND connection to R301, the - side of the battery was not connected, though it looked like it was. Now fixed.
stephen_usher wrote: Thu May 26, 2022 9:06 am The drive spinning up and down doesn't sound good. That sounds like a bad drive.

The problem will be getting a working RiscOS system and formatting it. I think the A5000's IDE sub-system is better than the A4000's in that it can handle partitions and drives larger than 512MB. You may have to hack something together using a Raspberry Pi running RiscOS and a USB-IDE adapter and do a bit of hacking.
As for the HDD I'm considering it may be bad too, as even if I disconnect the IDE cable it still spins up and down.

I'll try it with a known good PSU see if it does the same. I'll try the RPI if I can get past that.
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
User avatar
rubber_jonnie
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 10472
Joined: Thu Aug 17, 2017 7:40 pm
Location: Essex
Contact:

Re: A5000 - diving in at the deep end!

Post by rubber_jonnie »

So, the HDD has been hooked up to a known good PSU, and it spins up, then powers off. Not a good sign, so I'm thinking it's dead :(

On a positive note, the IDE track I thought was done for isn't. I'll take the win.
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
User avatar
stephen_usher
Posts: 5580
Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 7:19 pm
Location: Oxford, UK.
Contact:

Re: A5000 - diving in at the deep end!

Post by stephen_usher »

I just checked. The internal IDE interface is pretty dumb and it can't do partitions, so 500MB is the largest drive you can have.

With respect to the original drive, it's probably the bumper which has gone to goo and stuck the heads on the landing zone. If you're willing to risk taking it apart then it's possibly fixable.
Intro retro computers since before they were retro...
ZX81->Spectrum->Memotech MTX->Sinclair QL->520STM->BBC Micro->TT030->PCs & Sun Workstations.
Added code to the MiNT kernel (still there the last time I checked) + put together MiNTOS.
Collection now with added Macs, Amigas, Suns and Acorns.
User avatar
rubber_jonnie
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 10472
Joined: Thu Aug 17, 2017 7:40 pm
Location: Essex
Contact:

Re: A5000 - diving in at the deep end!

Post by rubber_jonnie »

stephen_usher wrote: Thu May 26, 2022 10:17 am I just checked. The internal IDE interface is pretty dumb and it can't do partitions, so 500MB is the largest drive you can have.

With respect to the original drive, it's probably the bumper which has gone to goo and stuck the heads on the landing zone. If you're willing to risk taking it apart then it's possibly fixable.
I think it's worth a go, I'd like to see what, if anything, is on the HDD.
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
User avatar
rubber_jonnie
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 10472
Joined: Thu Aug 17, 2017 7:40 pm
Location: Essex
Contact:

Re: A5000 - diving in at the deep end!

Post by rubber_jonnie »

Incidentally, it's a 250MB drive, Connor CP30254
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
User avatar
rubber_jonnie
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 10472
Joined: Thu Aug 17, 2017 7:40 pm
Location: Essex
Contact:

Re: A5000 - diving in at the deep end!

Post by rubber_jonnie »

@stephen_usher Well, I found out why the HDD doesn't work:

PXL_20220526_100827323.jpg
PXL_20220526_100827323.jpg (229.94 KiB) Viewed 1166 times

I can only guess a previous owner (Probably before the person I got it from) didn't want their HDD contents to go with the machine. The giveaway was the loose cover screws when I came to remove it.

I at least now know what I need to do next!!!
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
User avatar
stephen_usher
Posts: 5580
Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 7:19 pm
Location: Oxford, UK.
Contact:

Re: A5000 - diving in at the deep end!

Post by stephen_usher »

Now, that's what I call a virtual hard disk!
Intro retro computers since before they were retro...
ZX81->Spectrum->Memotech MTX->Sinclair QL->520STM->BBC Micro->TT030->PCs & Sun Workstations.
Added code to the MiNT kernel (still there the last time I checked) + put together MiNTOS.
Collection now with added Macs, Amigas, Suns and Acorns.
User avatar
rubber_jonnie
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 10472
Joined: Thu Aug 17, 2017 7:40 pm
Location: Essex
Contact:

Re: A5000 - diving in at the deep end!

Post by rubber_jonnie »

stephen_usher wrote: Thu May 26, 2022 11:53 am Now, that's what I call a virtual hard disk!
Indeed!!

I have just found a CF IDE adapter and have some cards spare so I'll try that later.

I have also fitted a CR2032 battery holder and rechargeable cell so I can do some testing until the proper battery arrives.

I'll finish the remaining repairs later, the are only traces going to the FPA but for completeness I want to fix.
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
User avatar
stephen_usher
Posts: 5580
Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 7:19 pm
Location: Oxford, UK.
Contact:

Re: A5000 - diving in at the deep end!

Post by stephen_usher »

By the way, which mouse came with the machine? The early one or the later Logitech?
Intro retro computers since before they were retro...
ZX81->Spectrum->Memotech MTX->Sinclair QL->520STM->BBC Micro->TT030->PCs & Sun Workstations.
Added code to the MiNT kernel (still there the last time I checked) + put together MiNTOS.
Collection now with added Macs, Amigas, Suns and Acorns.
User avatar
rubber_jonnie
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 10472
Joined: Thu Aug 17, 2017 7:40 pm
Location: Essex
Contact:

Re: A5000 - diving in at the deep end!

Post by rubber_jonnie »

stephen_usher wrote: Thu May 26, 2022 12:04 pm By the way, which mouse came with the machine? The early one or the later Logitech?
Early one I presume, flat, beige, 3 buttons. It works, just no ball.
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
Post Reply

Return to “MEMBER BLOGS”