Amiga 2500 Video Toaster restoration Part 1

Correction: The 68030 CPU card adds 4 MB of RAM, not 8. There's another 2 MB of RAM on the hard drive controller, too. So overall, the system 6 MB of Fast RAM and 1 MB of Chip RAM, for a total of 7 MB.
Restoring a Commodore Amiga 2500 computer with Video Toaster that had gotten damaged during shipping. Once I put the expansion cards back into place it came back to life. Now I just need to replace the clock battery and add a few other components to turn it into a complete, working Video Toaster system. (But I just realized that its 100 MB hard drive is 97% full -- yikes! I'll need to delete some stuff to free up some more space.)

[@vwestlife]

*Correction:* The 68030 CPU card adds 4 MB of RAM, not 8. There's another 2 MB of RAM on the hard drive controller, too. So overall, the system 6 MB of Fast RAM and 1 MB of Chip RAM, for a total of 7 MB.

[@sandmanxo]

Nice score. I've only seen an Amiga (A3000 or A4000) in action a few times back in the day. A casual friend of mine had one that he was using in 1995 and remember being impressed how well it got around compared to my 486dx4/100 with Win95 did. I'd still love to find a cheap Amiga with a video toaster though, those were the shit back then.

[@Maxxarcade]

This is awesome, I've always wanted to see the inside of an Amiga with the video toaster. They were so ahead of their time!

[@mats1975]

I may not be a nostalgic person, I used to work for an Amiga distributor those days, and then worked as a 3D animator (Lightwave and toaster) at a local cable channel. They're nice to look at these days and maybe play with them for a second before going crazy, but I don't see the appeal of having one wasting space at my place, I do completely understand why most people would though, props for taking the time to restore it !

[@vwestlife]

That is the question! The value is not printed on the board, and what's left of the blown capacitor has no markings on it. I'll try to contact Newtek and see if they can look it up on the schematic.

[@vwestlife]

No, after the 2500, Commodore later introduced the Amiga 3000 and 4000 (along with Tower case versions of both, the 3000T and 4000T), as well as two new all-in-one home computers, the Amiga 600 and 1200. There were also two Amiga-based video game consoles, the Commodore CDTV and CD32, which could be expanded into a computer by adding a keyboard and disk drive.

[@davidchristensen6908]

400 MEGABYTES hard drive? Ohh my you’ll never fill that, that will last you the rest of your life. I have to say you do find the most amazing computers and composite. My hats of to you sir. Do you have a video with a walk through of all your computers? You must be a computer museum all by yourself.

[@vwestlife]

Regular Trinitron TVs are vertically flat, but from side to side they do curve. The later FD Trinitron TVs, also known as WEGA, are flat both horizontally and vertically.

[@lawrencedoliveiro9104]

2:50 All professional gear had TBCs, but to keep the cost down for consumer gear, the timebase was left at the mercy of the stability of the mechanical playback system. In the early days of VCRs, some TVs actually needed some slight modification to cope with the wobbly sync. Before that, TVs only ever had to deal with broadcast-quality video timing.

[@BertGrink]

Fun facts: The Video Toaster was used to create all the CGI footage in the TV show Babyon 5. NewTek, the company that made the VIdeo Toaster, also sold a complete system consisting of a rebadged A2000 with the VT card installed. This system would go on to win an award for the best APPLE MACINTOSH peripheral one year!

[@obsoletepowercorrupts]

Another fun fact is that the babylon5 series used the a3000 with the video toaster (many a3000 networked together) and Scotland Yard, at the time, used multiple A3000 computers. Which makes you wonder what happened to all those lovely a3000's from SY.

[@vwestlife]

Yes, it can be used live, or you can use it as part of a linear video editing system.

[@x9x9x9x9x9]

Thats pretty neat. I havent seen one of these since like 1996. Weird to think they were still used in local news stations until about then.

[@vwestlife]

Unfortunately a scan doubler (to get VGA output) uses the same slot as the Video Toaster, so you can't use both at the same time.

[@hakemon]

Whats the value of the capacitor? I may be able to mail you one in a simple envelope. Got a few ISA cards laying around that I am destroying for parts (as the ASIC IC's are long dead and not worth replacing).

[@CantankerousDave]

Wow, lots of nostalgia for me. I bought an Amiga 2000 in 1991 and added a Video Toaster 2000 a bit later. An 030 processor card I added gave me about the same specs as what you have here, though I had 2MB on the mobo and 8MB on the accelerator card. I also had an "enormous" 50MB hard drive. Kids today have no idea how expensive this stuff was back then. An no CD-ROM meant a 12-disk set of install floppies for the Toaster software. I think you're running Workbench 1.3 there. 2.0 was a huge step up, though you had to physically install a new EEPROM for it. I also saw a Mac emulator I used to use, though it might just have been to read Mac floppies. It's been 20 years, so things are hazy. The downside to the 2500 is that you're stuck with the old video modes. The VT4000 gave you fancy color transitions. You might also look for a scan doubler to let you use a VGA monitor. It was much easier on the eyes. Anyway, thanks for the video and I hope you brought this old beast fully back to life. I'll always have a soft spot for 'em.

[@vwestlife]

This is running Workbench 2.04 (revision 37.67). And I did get the Video Toaster working. See: Amiga 2500 Video Toaster restoration Part 3

[@CantankerousDave]

I didn't see the links to the subsequent videos until after I posted, naturally... I'm watching them now, wallowing in a warm, cozy nostalgia blanket. As a side note, I have a sales flyer from an old Amiga store in Chicago called Ring Video framed on my wall as a reminder of old prices. 2MB (MB, not GB) SIMMS, $94.50. 9GB Seagate Elite video drives for the then-new Toaster Flyer were a whopping $2500.

[@stephenbaldassarre2289]

The main reason for the external TBC (vs internal to the deck) is to ensure the timing of the incoming video is exactly what the input in expecting. This avoids glitches and image alignment issues even on rock-solid decks.

[@vwestlife]

I discovered a blown capacitor on the Video Toaster card, so the presentation will have to wait until I can either get that fixed or find a cheap replacement. The hard-card is not held in as securely as I'd like. It just has the slot bracket on the back and a plastic card guide on the front.

[@MrSramsay91]

its amazing how far computers have come .... think in the next 20 years how they will be

[@wilkes85]

Too bad it got damaged during shipping, but it's a good thing it was so easy to get up and running. I'm sure that no matter what was wrong with it though, you would have been able to fix it. You're gonna be able to do all kinds of interesting things with this! As I understand, you can make animations with it too. I can't wait to see what you come up with!

[@lmull3]

now this looks fun! can't wait to see what the video toaster does.

[@robertmiles9942]

I was a 14 year old kid when this gear was new, and back then I would have committed grand larceny to have an accelerated Amiga with video toaster. Instead I saved up and bought a RAM-expanded, 14mhz accelerated A500, and then later an A1200 with 68030 accelerator.

[@NJRoadfan]

The real reason for the TBCs in Toaster setups isn't so much for its actual time-base correction. They are primarily used as frame-syncs to gen lock external sources to the Toaster's master video clock (derived from whatever video signal is present on Input #1). The Toaster was still an analog video mixer (aside from a handful of digital effects) and required synchronized video sources to work correctly. If you need wiring help, you know where to reach me.

[@rick62008]

So much "kewlness" in this sole computer! Please make a part 2 fast :)

[@MaximumRD]

Even back in the day that was how most pronounced it and everyone knew exactly what it was referring to, in fact it would seem odd for someone to break it down verbally as S-C-S-I. I know as I dealt with that interface a lot.

[@weezerbluealbum5984]

does the video toaster make video toast?

[@chairuser4]

i love amigas so awesome,love it nice resto cant wait to see it run.

[@deltaray3]

Just think, back in the day, all that would all be about $8000 retail. And the Video Toaster was a huge breakthrough on the price of professional video production.

[@MicamInDK]

Cool video of the Toaster, and very funny to see "Danske småkager" (Danish cookies) on the top of your Sony TV :-) I am Danish and love Amiga, and have been using Amiga video video production since the '90.

[@BertGrink]

Hi there fellow danish Amiga fan :D

[@50LightSabersInAPack]

So is this computer one of those real-time video crossfaders? You know where you have different inputs and you can pull and level and it fades from one to the other? Used with Projector systems etc, and is not pre=edited?

[@mockersmidwestboardsmore4187]

Hi, did anyone ever find schematics for the Toaster? I am trying to repair one and would be super helpful to have some tech doc. Minimum a list of caps would be a great time saver. Thanks

[@HowardAbraham]

I would love to explore your shop. Thanks for the memories! I am jealous.

[@dbvetter7485]

In 1990 I bought an Amiga 2000 for $1,500 new. A couple years later I bought a GVP 030 accelerator card with 8 Megs of memory for $1,140. And a Video Toaster for $2000. I started doing videos and animations professionally. AmigaOS could’ve (Should’ve) been the future of computing not Microsucks Winblows. I use Mac Pros for my video and music production business now.

[@DrCassette]

I'm looking forward to see the video toaster in action :)

[@vwestlife]

Please watch the video. I show you exactly which ports it has.

[@Andythemanman3]

is that a tandy 1000RL in the back gound? i have one of them too, i love it, cant believe it still workswell

[@Sansui350A]

HELL YES!!! Fun toy Kevin.. those are worth MAJOR bucks on ebay right now.. :D I'm excited to see what you do with this rig... so awesome.. :D

[@Ts6451]

It is to be expected, as the Amiga didn't use a battery backed BIOS configuration memory like the one used on PC systems to hold configuration settings, the battery is just used to power the RTC.

[@elmariachi5133]

The AmigaOS 2 was more advanced than MacOS or others at the time. Multitasking was an all around naturalness, while on the Mac it could only work under special circumstances. Also usability was better, because the mouse could use a hardware sprite on the Amiga, which made mouse movement where more fluid and less laggy. Then you could also use flicker free HiRes workbench on the Amiga of you just had the right monitor - and it didn't have to be monochorme as on the Mac. You could also use skins on the Workbench and enhance or modify it using hundreds of 3rd party tools.

[@Lachlant1984]

I laughed when you said the Amiga came from somewhere in Australia. Though I've not had too much experience with Amiga/Atari ST computer, I understand they were more popular in Europe and Australia and elsewhere in the world than America, at least that's according to some people, I don't know if anyone else here con concur with that or not.

[@vwestlife]

SCSI was based on SASI (Shugart Associates System Interface), so if they had kept that name, everyone would be calling it "sassy"!

[@vwestlife]

USB was introduced in 1996, but did not become widely used until 1998.

[@jussapitka6041]

The floppy drive is same size as a pc drive. It just has a bracket that goes to the bottom of it. Also I have a Amiga RGB to composite called Commodore A520 MOD.

[@TheVFXbyArt]

Great video. Where do you find replacements for the motherboard battery? thanks!

[@mikedefoy]

Loved my 060 3.1 A2000 Toaster Flyer system. It made me money having fun. Spent sufficient time learning Lightwave. Too expensive to upgrade tho, like $600 for a sound card, and to make matters worse I had three A2000's. Ridiculous.

[@obsoletepowercorrupts]

Man the Toaster, what with its Open Source software relased years ago, is surely gagging to be emulated in fpga and have drivers rewritten for it to make usage of redundant registers. That way you could make the toaster do all sorts of nifty things it wasn't supposed to do. Cool! I'm thinking it would be cool to see the Lightwave3D capabilities used for gaming, just for the sake of it. Just to see what it would be like. I bet it would rock as little tricks could be used in games.

[@giammyzanna]

How much did you pay for the Amiga?

[@jetmike747]

Atleast it still works with a dead cmos battery. My 386/25e deskpro won't boot from the hard disk when the RTC is dead cause it forgets the disk configuration when you shut it down! Thankfully I found a replacement RTC.

[@giammyzanna]

Can you make a demo of the video toaster?

[@vwestlife]

Yes, it is a 1000RL.

[@BigSneakySnake]

I have always wanted to play with a video toaster so bad! I really want to make some of those cheesy infomercial backgrounds and transitions with it!

[@crogeek]

Is that latest Amiga which was ever released to the public?

[@MrROTD]

I had a 1200, the games were cool and lots of them

[@MattBytesRetro]

I agree knowing the unreliability of older quantum's, backup ASAP!

[@gamerculebra]

Pretty good video!!! Amiga computers are awesome.

[@Veso266]

Does it still work? Will the new battery leak again?

[@vwestlife]

1. Yes. 2. No.

[@jonvincent5158]

You need to look into the Newtek TriCaster, should you get the chance (and the cash). Nice little Windows XP based video production system. I got the chance to play around with the insides of one... ah, how fun high school was.

[@amigachris]

Looks better with VGA output, rather than the 640x200 TV res which looks a touch clunky. 1.3 was quite nasty - at the time apple were throwing lawsuits at people copying the 'look and feel' of the mac interface which may explain it. The Atari ST Mono mode was nice though, really clear.

[@TheCRTman]

Awesome video! I love the "Video Toaster" name! :)

[@jbrooks4282]

Hey I think I have the video cable you need for the RGB output. I will look around to see if I have it. PM me if you still need it I'm sure we can work something out.

[@IntelGoesHard]

i thought trinitrons were usually flat screen?

[@xpez]

why didint you buy it on Ebay?

[@vwestlife]

I *did* buy it on eBay.

[@xpez]

lol ok.. I mean a working one thats not broken...These seem like any of them would be dirt cheap...anyway nice video! i watched all of it!

[@xpez]

whoa I just checked they still keep their value! I am amazed!

[@CantankerousDave]

Yeah, the Amiga is a rare example of vintage computer hardware that retains its value or even goes *up*. CPU accelerator boards in particular. Enthusiasts of that platform are hard core.

[@BoyoOfficial]

I had a Quantum 52 mb hard drive installed in my Macintosh SE so it didn't need a boot disk.

[@arthurependragone1992]

PC=MAC still cant beat this thats pretty sad. Great work keep it up.

[@1337Shockwav3]

***** Does the Amiga come with free snake oil?

[@optimalsupreme5080]

Hans Meier no ,but the pc cant even come with multitasking or boot up as fast so sad

[@1337Shockwav3]

Optimal Supreme yawn ... typical hipster nonsense

[@optimalsupreme5080]

Hans Meier whatever ur a typical pc person that knows jack so u say jack. HERE ENDTH THE LESSON

[@1337Shockwav3]

Ehm ... I re-issued and slightly expanded the PAK68/3 speeder card/system for 68k based systems (atari st, amiga mac se) so there goes your PC fanboy. #cut4amiga

[@AbandonedMaine]

Nice little vintage setup. I have to laugh when I see fools trying to foist old Toaster suites for 7 to 8 hundred bucks on Craigslist.

[@Andythemanman3]

you, my friend, just earned a subscriber :D

[@joelcr250]

The CPU accelerator card must be worth a bunch of $ !

[@optimalsupreme5080]

om my gosh it was more advanced then the mac, and it came out in 1985 good grief way off. DID u see the mac way back then. The 3000 came out in 1987. the 1200 came out in 1991 the cd32 came out in 1990. I had one. 1992 a4000

[@armankordi]

I have 2 1200's, a 2000 and a 3000 and there exists a XT bridge board.

[@BertGrink]

There were also AT bridgeboards, with either a 286 or a 386.

[@Octamed]

Yeah, they were massive in Europe and Australia. Macs and PC's were a joke back then. I think Americans got into Macs mainly because they were made in America. There was no technical or price reason Macs should have ever existed. PC were even worse. It all changed when PC's got 3d accerator cards and for Macs it was OSX that changed everything.

[@lawrencedoliveiro9104]

11:20 System 7 was made available for free download from ftp.apple.com in May 1991.

[@vwestlife]

I got mine on eBay.

[@x9x9x9x9x9]

USB ports are to new for this. USB ports came out in 1994-95, This thing is from like 1990.

[@hubzcaps]

I miss my 1084. Sadness

[@computerboy9766]

9 MB of RAM... More than the Nintendo 64 with the memory expansion from years later. LOL

[@francistheodorecatte]

8:54 the mouse icon looks like a Tardis.

[@lmull3]

that's one of the most mundane things in the world to get annoyed at though. it's just how it is, lol.

[@Octamed]

assuming the moon is made of depleted uranium.

[@lmull3]

that's how a majority of people pronounce it, because saying ess see ess eye is just stupid.

[@IntelGoesHard]

ahh, i had a 42 inch wega. heavy as the moon

[@optimalsupreme5080]

640x200 is size not res. . res is dots per sq.

[@optimalsupreme5080]

Optimal Supreme.25 was better then .32 and they even had .15 .Yet they had a 1024x768 at the time with .32 which was worse then the 800x600 .25. Hence 640x200 is size.. Dam redefine that to make pc think they can do great resolution which they cant they suck ,and of course they cant do multitasking or real-time either. You need both to do the other mac=pc.

[@tenaciouslyawesome]

They re-made the commodore 64 at commodoreusa(dot)net its pretty cool

[@1marcelfilms]

hard card

[@chairuser4]

Try to get original parts