Commodore Amiga 2000 Motherboard Repair - Part 1

[@Neffers_UK]

Great stuff as always Gadge! For those that get confused as to why a new vid gets comments from a week or so ago, I got to see this vid early due to supporting GadgetUK on Patreon, well worth a quid a month guys.

[@GadgetUK164]

Thanks mate =D

[@stephenbruce8320]

The A2000 is my absolute favorite Amiga. These big box Amiga's need to be preserved and its great to see people like yourself taking the time to work on them and hopefully along the way it will help others keep their A2000's as well as other Amiga's fully functional

[@cardoc9231]

My Dad had one of these when I was a kid. I remember playing games and learning on it. I watched a ton of videos on these and I had been worried that the board was rotting away. I pulled the Computer apart last night and removed the clock battery. I guess due to the climate of the basement it was stored the battery had corrosion but the motherboard looked perfect. I had to clean the negative contact on the motherboard up a little, and that was it. I couldn't believe it, most of the pictures and videos I have seen on these they look like a horror show from the clock batteries. I am planning on using a CR2032 socket in its place. Thanks for the amazing video, keep up the good work!!

[@GadgetUK164]

Thanks =D And thanks for sharing that back story there =D

[@GadgetUK164]

Part 2 - kzbin.info/www/bejne/pnPFmp-VeNKibM0 Here's a link to that video regards bipolar caps - kzbin.info/www/bejne/hpbNYoGwhbWSZ9U The example in the video isn't quite the same thing, but never the less it shows the effect seems to be nothing. That pin header at the back near the parallel port - that connects to the PC bridge side of things. So if you have a PC card in there the PC and use the parallel port. For some modern accelerators you need to remove the 68K from its socket, but with older accelerators the two can coexist!

[@osgrov]

I enjoyed this thoroughly! It's most valuable to see you work on a 2000 board. They're just far more involved than your average A500 or so, and I haven't seen many detailed repairs of them, probably because they're far more difficult. :) Love all the tips and tricks you share, and really appreciate your macro lens footage. It's pretty crazy the amount of work you put into these. Truly a labour of love, eh? This board must've taken you many hours to get this far. Will be back on Patreon soonish. Lost my job awhile back, had to cancel everything. Keep up the great job till then. :)

[@GadgetUK164]

Thanks! Very much appreciated! Sorry to hear about the job situation - that really sucks! =/ Don't worry about Patreon lol, sort your job out!

[@taylorhelm7146]

Great diagnosis vid, I appreciate it as I have 4 2000 boards. Hopefully I can get them working with these board/self repair issues shown. Helps to know what I've fixed vs what I've done. Another good show my friend.

[@AdamSommer70]

Great video, seems like I always pick up a new technique from watching your vids. Used the diagramming technique the other day to repair a couple of broken pads and traces on a Famicom. Big thank you for sharing your knowledge, and it's also entertaining :-)

[@GadgetUK164]

Thanks =D

[@AntStiller]

Yes! I've been keenly waiting for your A2000 videos. I've got two 4.x boards I'm trying to fix so this is great. Thank you!

[@demoscenes]

I simply love your work! So many good tips and tricks that is being shared. Totally a dream to see a fine Amiga 2000 come alive :)

[@GadgetUK164]

Thanks, much appreciated =D

[@Four_X]

Top video Chris, that poor board. I'm surprised none of the traces, pads or via's weren't damaged by the corrosion. Top clean up by the way; hope your viewers can appreciate the amount of time and effort that goes into cleaning up a board like this.

[@GadgetUK164]

Thanks! I am surprised too lol! Not what I expected at all! Not one wire at all!

[@Neffers_UK]

@FourX2k3 as a steadfast viewer, yes I really do appreciate the effort that goes into these vids, the behind the scenes stuff must take a few days, or a week, or even months between cuts at times. Gadge is a fastidious guy, nothing will go past him, and I'm super happy he documents this stuff.

[@ChadDoebelin]

Thanks for the lesson. I have got one of these bombed a2000s to fix up. Also, I have the same exact fluke multimeter as you.

[@garystevens6831]

Arcade Doc uses Tarn-X tarnish remover on chips, gets good results as well.

[@MarkReed-smokindeist]

I had a DKB Mini Megachip, 2mb Agnus and a Super Denise in my A2000. I also had a 3.1 ROM. They originally lived in my A500 but thankfully they are compatible between the two systems. I also had a Supra Turbo28--if you remove the board from the case and set a jumper, you can plug it into the A2000's processor slot.

[@lactobacillusprime]

It's good to see you work on this. Curious how this will fare.

[@Neffers_UK]

It's in safe hands. This machine will live, 100% sure of that.

[@Dust599]

Brings back memories... I used to Fix the Amiga's at a local Polytechnic back in the day.

[@Plan-C]

Thanks for another great video! That looked scary at the start with all that battery damage. Good stuff. Looks like a fun project. ps I have that exact de-solder station but it is branded as Duratool. I have been through two guns for it over a couple of years. Keep an eye on the 3 screws that hold the nozzle to the gun. They only screw into plastic and I managed to break them on my first gun by orbiting pins too heavily. Farnell does spare guns for about £30. The nut holding the barrel on seems to work itself loose over time with heat/cold cycles as well. Keep it up..

[@GadgetUK164]

Thanks - yes, that's precisely what the issue was! That nut unscrewed and the tip was barely hanging on lol! I check that regularly now!!!

[@andrewclegg9501]

Mine was a bit wobbly, and decided to bend a bit much, broke the locking parts inside on the black ring, and ended up at 45 degrees. Had to epoxy the black part in the body, its never coming apart again, even if I wanted it to. Be careful taking it apart, the spring where the glass container lock is decides to make an escape. CPC does the guns for under £23

[@Plan-C]

@@andrewclegg9501 Yeah, the glass tube on my first gun went bye bye early doors🤣

[@MrWaalkman]

I start out with the board in a vinegar bath. Once the fizzing subsides I take it out, rinse it under the tap, give it a really, really good shake (those Zorro sockets hold about a gallon of water each), and then off to a 91% IPA bath. Then I hit it with my hot air station (on low) to dry it off. I use white vinegar and I just let it soak for however long it takes.

[@AmericanThunder]

My first job was assembling the motherboards for the original Amigas, in 1985.

[@georgelea4297]

aww yes another quality video from you Chris I find these really interesting and helpful thanks for the quality you put into your videos

[@GadgetUK164]

Thanks =D Much appreciated! These are taking me way too long lol.

[@redcatimaging]

Thank you very very much, your video was great and will be so helpfull when I attack the battery damage on my 1992 A2000R6 in the next weeks. Just de-dusted it today and got a slight shock 😪. The area is not as big, but between the CPU socket (especially under it -.- ) and the Rom it looks pretty bad. Let's hope it will go as nice as for you :). 😊✌👍

[@75slaine]

Perfect accompaniment to my bank holiday weekend mornings. 👍

[@tedvanmatje]

It bloody works too!! You've got more jam than Hartleys, mate ;) Neither of the two rev. 6 boards I have chooch at all - the one with the golden solder mask is as dead as - the green board boots with a grey screen. Sadly, the board which was populated with the A2630 and oktagon had the worse battery damage, with the battery's goop eating halfway up both cards. It's going to be a huge undertaking but worth it in the end. Your's will turn out mint, no doubing that! Thanks for uploading and be well :)

[@GadgetUK164]

I know lol, I am as surprised as you are! Just lucky I think, but I also lucked out (perhaps even more) on the corrosion on the fully cased one too! Ouch at the corrosion getting onto those cards there =/ That does sound like a major case of corrosion for sure!

[@spidermcgavenport8767]

Thank you, GadgetUK164, much appreciated Amiga 2000 repair.

[@spidermcgavenport8767]

The Amiga 500+ would be a nice one to own.

[@tahustvedt]

Jedi level troubleshooting skills.

[@Channel-Zx]

Awesome video mate really enjoy watching them looking forward to more from you.

[@GadgetUK164]

Thanks =D

[@8bitdreams217]

It is 4.x revision, unfortunately these are very picky about Zorro cards and CPU Slot, Accelerators are not working quite often on these if You insert it into CPU slot. i have a list with BUS fixes to make it closer to 6.x revision thanks to them i managed to let all my accelerators work on rev.4.1 Will send it to You As about PSU connectors - will send You one with TF534. Regards, 8 Bit Dreams

[@GadgetUK164]

Wow, that would be awesome if you could provide one of those connectors!!! I can wire it up to my ATX PSU then and use that for working on more of these boards! The mod list sounds useful too - I've done a some mods to the board in part 2 (factory corrections etc), but your list might have some that I am not aware of! Thanks!!!!!

[@AntStiller]

Any chance of making that list available?

[@adamlips1711]

Amazing as always my friend :)

[@che1602]

Tip for desoldering station - can’t remember from your review if you allready do this; clean spring and glass, mount both on rubber gasket and spray a bit of WD40 (eww), or a real and good lubricant, inside to coat spring and glass lightly. Don’t get it wet, just a bit of a coating. Cleaning it will be much easier next time. Works a treat on manual desoldering pumps too of course.

[@blakecasimir]

Thanks for the tip, I'll keep this in mind also. Right now though I have one of these Duratool jobs and the gun is properly stuck with solder at the "suction" end of the shaft. Totally unusable, and I can't shift it. :/ Ordered another...

[@ralfr.5974]

Great Video👍 Really Helpful for my A2000 Rev. 4.4Board✌

[@GadgetUK164]

Glad it helped =D

[@ralfr.5974]

@@GadgetUK164Thanks a lot✌

[@amigadude6409]

I aways look forward to your videos...great stuff.

[@GadgetUK164]

Cheers =D

[@vix_in_japan]

Commodore's West German latterly German subsidiary was in Braunschweig (BSW), not necessarily the European HQ due to the corporate structure of Commodore, but they did make a lot of hardware, the very first Amiga 2000s (Rev 4.0 I think) were actually a BSW design and can be easily identified by their short video slots. Thankfully yours is not that revision, as you can see it's using a Fat Agnus and A500 based design rather than the A1000 based BSW Rev 4.0 which uses a DIP Agnus.

[@GadgetUK164]

Thanks for the info there! I wasn't aware that the early 2000's used the DIP agnus - that's super interesting!

[@larsenmats]

Love your videos man. keep em coming :D

[@GadgetUK164]

Thanks =D

[@zxrenew5642]

Really enjoyed that video, I would suggest using flux rather than adding solder whilst removing chips.

[@GadgetUK164]

There are benefits to adding solder rather than just flux. Flux burns up pretty quickly, and mixing new solder with old solder often helps too. The other problem if you just add flux to all the pins you are desoldering - the filters on the desolder station block up 4 or 5 times quicker!

[@zxrenew5642]

@@GadgetUK164 That's weird, when I add solder it clogs more quickly.

[@GadgetUK164]

@@zxrenew5642 It's going to vary on different factors I guess! I've desoldered both ways and for my last (and current) desoldering stations the filter lasts no time when using just flux. That said, the tube will fill up with solder quicker, that's for sure lol.

[@uberdude2555]

I can remember in the early and mid 2000's most Amigans turned their noses up at the A2000, they often fetched a measely £35 on eBay.

[@GadgetUK164]

That's shocking lol - I would have bought 10 at that price lol!!!! They aren't cheap now - around £200 upwards for an A2000 these days =/

[@montesmadness9303]

Great video, love the detail you give. I am just getting into the hobby and learning and saw when you replaced the 470uf cap you put in a 35V not a 16V, I though you have to match the voltages?

[@GadgetUK164]

Thanks! No, you can use higher voltage! Always good to use higher temperture (105 degrees) too. There is an ESR associated with the voltage rating of a cap, but the ones I've used are low ESR Panasonic FR series.

[@cowasakiElectronics]

Have you thought of the dish washer trick ?

[@GadgetUK164]

Yes, it's a good idea (if you have a dish washer - I don't), but there are some issues - moiusture can get under pins and chips etc, so you need to make sure its totally totally free from any moisture before use etc. Dishwashers also often contain lots of salt and other chemicals etc that can affect things on boards. Labels may come off too.

[@tahustvedt]

My mother had an Amiga 2000 in the 80's. I thought it was a pointless thing since it couldn't play any games. All it did was DTP. Reading up on it now it should play games just fine. Not sure what that was about.

[@mikegravgaard340]

Wouldn't foam ani static cleaner be better than vinegar?

[@GadgetUK164]

Not really - the idea with white vinegar is its an acid, and acid is needed to neutralize the strong alkanline from the battery leakage.

[@Mr_Meowingtons]

can you tall me the model solder sucker your using?

[@GadgetUK164]

Just a cheap desolder pump - probably purchased from eBay I think!

[@andrewlittleboy8532]

When i saw this video pop just now i was like 'OH YES!'

[@GadgetUK164]

=D

[@andrewlittleboy8532]

GadgetUK164 - Retro Gaming Repairs & Mods can't wait for pt 2! Would love an Amiga 2000, there's just something about the look of it.

[@hovermotion]

Quite a pricey computer now.....I kept mine and I still use it now and again.. so glad I nerer sold it.....

[@dlfrsilver]

paid mine 150 euros.

[@refractionpcsx2]

That was funny when you were speeding up the desoldering, it sounded like lemmings dying lol

[@GadgetUK164]

Haha =D That made me laugh, and watch that part back again to relate lol

[@refractionpcsx2]

@@GadgetUK164 haha it does, doesn't it!

[@tahustvedt]

I like how you clean everything with irish pale ale. ;)

[@GadgetUK164]

LOL =D 99.9% pure alchohol!

[@ChrisCookPrime]

How did you interface the monitor?

[@GadgetUK164]

I just used a standard Amiga RGB Scart cable. It connects to the 23 pin D type socket and goes to a SCART connection on my TV.

[@darrenbeeken8648]

Excellent mate excellent!!!

[@henridutoit7036]

hello my amiga2000 don't work ( black screen ) chips are good , mother board is good , there is no battery but it don't work the cpu is reset ans halt low ! can you help me please

[@GadgetUK164]

You could try and test with Diag ROM. If the halt pin continues to go low, you probably have a databus conflict somewhere or bad RAM. It could be some of the 74 series logic related to that RAM too. Corrosion is the most common cause on 2000 motherboards.

[@StRoRo]

So you said we would see the full computer in a few seconds???? An hour and 12 later I still don't see it ;) I take it we've already seen it on an already uploaded video? This one looks a fun repair. I need to get a desolder station. I spent 40 mins desoldering a C64 CIA.

[@GadgetUK164]

Oops, sorry! I meant we needed the full 2000 for the PSU etc! Don't worry it's coming after part 2 of that board repair.

[@MrWaalkman]

Avoid this one: www.ebay.com/p/Station-Lcd-Rework-Vacuum-Temperature-Desoldering-Zd-985-Controlled-Digital-Dual-89-8513/1428444730?iid=132343795994 It lasted about an hour and the heater melted the case and fell off. A friend of mine who moved to the UK gave me his Hakko. So far it's working well.

[@MarkReed-smokindeist]

There was software that came with the PC bridgeboards that allowed you to switch between the systems via software, IIRC. I do know that the software that came with the boards was called Janus. bboah.com/index.php?action=artikel&cat=48&id=2141&artlang=en bboah.com/index.php?action=artikel&cat=48&id=2142&artlang=en bboah.com/index.php?action=artikel&cat=48&id=2143&artlang=en

[@8bitdreams217]

You don't need RP900 & RP901 Resistor Packs Chris! Just leave them out. Burn a DiagROM and do chipram test, also try to clean Agnus socket, Your fault can hide there...

[@GadgetUK164]

Thanks =D I might remove them, but from what I understand there's an advantage to having those when certain modern EPROM / EEPROM chips are used I think. I did notice it worked fine without that pack whilst I was hunting for a replacement though! DiagROM doesn't detect all RAM faults, as you will see in part 2 =D

[@overdrive39]

I have a Amiga 2000 that has been dead for a while I live in the US and no one repairs them that I have found. Do you do this for a hobby? Would you be interested in repairing my machine? Not for free of course.

[@GadgetUK164]

Thanks, sorry I cannot offer customer repairs!

[@HomelessTechnology]

Have you seen they reverse engineered the A1200 and the gerber files are available to download wordpress.hertell.nu/?p=587

[@GadgetUK164]

Yes - it looks cool! Not in any rush do get one as you need a full set of chips for it. Ideal for super corroded boards etc.

[@HomelessTechnology]

@@GadgetUK164 Yeah looks like acquiring the full set of chips might be challenging.

[@danielson9579]

This is going to be a nightmare to sort out 1 second later it is done 😅

[@GadgetUK164]

LMAO :o)

[@Mamiya645]

Incredible. If I had the ability to, I'd run schools teaching youth how to do these things. The future needs those who can troubleshoot and repair.

[@GadgetUK164]

Thanks! That's the idea of the channel really - to influence people wanting to have a go themselves.

[@danielmantione]

Wouldn't it be wise to treat that battery waste with a bit more caution? You get close to touching it with your hands in the video. Cadmium is poisonous in low concentrations, so I'd say we should avoid touching it. Those cotton swabs are chemical waste. Heating it up with a soldering iron and inhalating it is also a concern, so I'd say you are doing the right thing in doing the cleaning before desoldering.

[@andrewlittleboy8532]

Daniël Mantione would imagine it went straight in the bin! 😂

[@xephorce]

can i ask you a small favor? please mute the audio when you doing the fast forward bits the sound is an ear killer. love the vid none the less.

[@blakecasimir]

I think that would sound a bit weird if it were silent. Maybe just reduce the sound by 4-6dB?

[@josephnealeUKscratchcards]

❤️👍

[@danielson9579]

Dirrty 😒