Walkthrough: The Commodore Amiga 500 "Chicken Lips"

[@keithruhl3545]

I am happy to say I have one with the chickenlips case and mechanical keyboard.

[@kolamik2]

Great info. After the video I had to check my "chicken lips" Amiga 500. It apparently has the "space invaders keys" by Hi-Toro and rev. 3 motherboard. Even more to love now.

[@AmigaLove]

Really glad you liked it, Kolamik2! Space Invader switches are sweeeeeet! Nice one

[@kolamik2]

@@AmigaLove Agree. Keep up the good work!

[@michaelwallen738]

Wow I learned something new today. Thanks to you Eric I've been going back to more pure A500 setup with wb1.3 and only period upgrades...

[@RonHelton]

Nice video. Thanks for sharing. Time for me to unpack my Amigas and play with them again. ; )

[@AmigaLove]

Thanks very much, Ron. I really appreciate it!

[@TheGuruMeditation]

I AmigaLove this video. I love all your fly over shots and I never knew much about the Chicken Lips 500. Now I do! So much great info dude. This rocks!

[@AmigaLove]

THANK YOU! You are my inspiration, no doubt.

[@TheGuruMeditation]

@@AmigaLove Awesome! I love the movin' lights

[@mark12358]

Wow. Just found and bought one boxed at (almost) a decent price. However, I would have paid more, but it was worthy I've waited for a perfect, clean, boxed, great unit!

[@AmigaLove]

Congrats!! I'd love to see some photos of what you picked up.

[@mark12358]

@@AmigaLove Yup, of course. Let me just think in which way I could share those pics of this beauty. I sought after one for a long time, it's another Amiga 500. Did you know there is a rarest edition, too, sporting grey cursor keys? Look at the pictures on the A500 manual, and I saw a real one on an actual Commodore magazine, some years ago.

[@mark12358]

FOUND another one! Lowest serial, just last 3 digits only! Better details when it arrives.

[@mark12358]

0:23 Amazing Computing - that's my last adding to the collection, exactly as that. This is one of the best videos about early A500s. Cheers! M

[@123DarkG123]

awesome video. I am so happy I did repair my Amiga 2000 mechanical keyboard. Took me a while to replace all those keys and put them back.......... but the feeling on those keyboards are awesome. Nice information and maybe sometimes the music is over your voice a little bit :).

[@kristeremtweden1481]

One thing to consider is that ( atleast here in sweden ) the Amiga 500 is probably the the most hacked computer in the world right after C64. We made so many hardware hacks on them , took the best parts from different revisions etc to make it fit our needs. I am a musician and I made for example a 500 in a tower case with MIDI-interface, sampler and even built a soundblaster sound card to work with it, A friend constructed a hard drive interface for IDE hard drives that I put in my tower. It was a perfect ( for that time ) music producer machine. I also had a genlock and a small 6 chanel mixer built in . So.. often you took the parts that was left over and put it together in a standard amiga case and sold that once you where done with the build you wanted

[@DomedagsPoeten]

Nice video, and at least every day SHOULD be an Amiga day 😀

[@AmigaLove]

haha!! Oh man I couldn't help myself from being a massive dork there at the end. :D Cheers, dude

[@DomedagsPoeten]

Amiga Love thank you for being a great Commodork! That’s why I watch this channel

[@captainnostromo]

Holy grail has Rev3 board. Never Rev.5, as my A500 from calendar week 25/1987

[@LeftoverBeefcake]

Well this was certainly educational! I didn't even know "chicken lips" machines were a thing when I got mine this year, all I knew was that my original A500 back in the day had the badge set into the case, and it was strange to see this one with the embossed logo. This doesn't have the special touches of a true proper chicken lips, though. :(

[@AmigaLove]

I've got one exactly like that, too. Embossed logo but no mechanical keyboard. It's like it was made right on the cusp of the cost-reduced swap, but we still got the early case.

[@nigelrhodes4330]

@Amiga Love The rev 3 chicken lips A500s that came out in Australia came with the Chinon F-354E ( REV. A ) drive that has a soft eject, good luck finding one of those drives though. My rev 3 has the complete package, embossed case, Chicken lips keyboard, rev 3 mobo and the rev A Chinon drive, it also still has the KS 1.2 rom installed. Another thing to note is that if you wish to use this keyboard on a later rev board you need to do a mod that consists of adding 2 caps.

[@AmigaLove]

Hi Nigel - thanks for that very cool info. Out of curiosity, what is the S/N on the back of your machine? I assume it is the European style with the thin silver label. Thanks!

[@nigelrhodes4330]

@@AmigaLove Mine is HB4 006493 and the box I have is HB4 006516, made in Hong Kong.

[@TheZax85]

Hi Nigel. Can’t find any information on the mod you mention. Could you point me in the right direction?

[@sviru007]

@@TheZax85 same thing. I use this keyboard with my rev6a - no issues i think. At least i think so...

[@a500]

I was a lucky owner of one such Amiga when I was a teenager. Sadly I sold it to help fund an a1500 a few years later.

[@AmigaLove]

The 1500 was a pretty interesting machine in its own right, especially its origin story.

[@a500]

Amiga Love : indeed. I was actually going to by a CheckMate A1500 from Steve Jones and put my A500 inside. But by the time I went to purchase one they were unavailable (I now know why). So I’m glad that I did not ruin it myself. I do wonder what happened to it.

[@RETROCENGO]

Amiga500s are pretty common in Denmark, ive owned several of the old rev5 boards with mechanical keyboards, once a rev. 3, but they are usually smashed to pieces, plastic is more brittle, I allways try to swap em out for as new revs as possible. My favourite is the Amiga 500 plus, wich makes me a non purist then🤗😁

[@nigelrhodes4330]

I have a rev 8a with a Hi-Tek keyboard installed, best of both worlds.

[@RETROCENGO]

@@nigelrhodes4330 Love the 8a

[@mark12358]

Here another comment to your nice video. You can add another item to be found, usually - not always, and that's the floppy drive. The early A500 models (CL and rev.3) got the Chinon FB354 rev.A. It has a softer mechanism and button release action. Cheers! M

[@FuZZbaLLbee]

I have one, with the gold motherboard and embossed logo It stoped working though. And it has a small crack in the case, from when I wanted to see if I could repair it. What do you think I should do with it?

[@AmigaLove]

I mean, that's hard for me to say. What would you like to do with it; do you want to actually use it, or repair it? Is it an NTSC or PAL version?

[@FuZZbaLLbee]

Amiga Love since I don’t have a second Amiga, I can’t test if it is something trivial, like the power supply. Did almost buy an other second hand one, but then I thought, that one might brake as well, by leaky capacitors or something else It’s the PAL version. I would much prefer an Amiga 600 tough. But those are quite expansive.

[@AmigaLove]

@@FuZZbaLLbee The good news about 500's is that their caps almost never have issues like some of the other Amiga models (600, 1200, 4000). They are more like C64s in terms of longevity. PSUs can indeed go bad, but there are nice new replacements for those these days. If you don't want to invest in it, though, you could always put it on Ebay as "untested" and someone will figure out something to do with it, I guarantee.

[@vectrex28]

I lucked out and I got a chicken lips 500 as my first amiga. Later on, I tried typing on a later Amiga and I just couldn't believe how lower quality the later keycaps were

[@mark12358]

Lovely video. I'm really going to hunt down a nice "collector status" A500 (CL) but it's so difficult to find one. However, I actually have an A2000 keyboard that has the same features as yours 500's. It's a pleasure to type on wp software, yup. Cheers, M

[@AmigaLove]

@Mark, the Chickenlips can be difficult to track down, yes. Incidentally, I did a video on all of the A2000 keyboards a few months ago you might be interested in. I walk through the 3 types - two of which are mechanical. One is Cherry MX, and one is "Hi-Tek". I logged it all here (with video at the top). Thanks for the kind words. amigalove.com/viewtopic.php?t=1196

[@mark12358]

@@AmigaLove Yes, and I've got both the nice HiTek (with the Commodore key instead of Left Amiga) and one Mitsumi (rubber type). The "Cherry MX" type was only for the early A2000 (A - model) made at the Commodore Factory in Braunschweig - W. Germany, if memory serves me. Cheers, M

[@jonnymyrberg3180]

I have one :) But its a Rev 3 motherboard.. I heard that rev isnt too good but it still works. ordinal kick 1.2 but now 1.3

[@user-wj9xq7ig2v]

I'm in Canada. My a500 has the Commodore key and the small A key but also does not have the embossed logo.

[@AmigaLove]

There was a lot of mixing and matching going on when production changes occurred from what I can tell, yeah.

[@user-wj9xq7ig2v]

@@AmigaLove yup and who knows how many hands it's passed through as well.

[@christianjohansson8694]

I have two chicken lips A500s, serials 45154 and 45102, both has swedish keyboard.

[@AmigaLove]

That's awesome.

[@sviru007]

What about embossed logo/ red led / no hitek keyboard? 100% intact.

[@sashboing7709]

Commodore always mixed things togeher, as it was at hand at this time. My own 1st Amiga500 was original new and had the C= key at mech. keyboard, red /green LEDs and a Rev.5 board with Kickstart 1.2 but the "later" labled C= logo.

[@AmigaLove]

Is yours a Hong Kong / Australian model?

[@retrorter89]

Love your video !!! I was lucky enough to get a W Germany 38K Serial Number Chicken Lips on Ebay for $83 + Shipping this week ! has Embossed Logo, RED LED, Commodore Keycap on Left of Space Bar (Space Invaders Keyboard) and Rev 3 Motherboard, Kickstart 1.2, only downside is now I realise how crappy my Amiga 2000 Keyboard is !! Had a RED Screen, cleaned and reseated all chips...bingo, all RAM passed tests too :) Has early Chinon Drive too.

[@AmigaLove]

That is awesome! Congrats!

[@10MARC]

Brilliant video as always, Eric! Only boring A500's at the 10MARC Studios...

[@AmigaLove]

Thanks, Doug. Nothing boring about those 500s. If they can play some Eye of the Beholder, they're good enough for me!

[@10MARC]

@@AmigaLove mine has boring black Amiga keys and no cool Chickenlips logo. I am taking it back to the store I bought it from for a refund. You think the will take it back after 32 years? 😂🤣😉

[@AmigaLove]

@@10MARC ;)

[@snesoey]

So it appears I have a "Chicken Lips" Amiga 500. Sadly it currently doesn't work because of the dreaded battery leak. I should definitely see if it is salvageable.

[@AmigaLove]

Can you just remove the RAM expansion card in the trapdoor and try to fire it back up? Hopefully the leak didn't float to nearby components. Good luck!

[@TheLemminkainen]

Only Amiga!

[@ljp1942]

The sad thing about these machines is most 3.5 inch disks have degraded so much they will not work anymore.

[@AmigaLove]

It's funny, though. It all depends not just on age, but environment. I've bought - and still use - a TON of original floppy disks to this very day. The ones I've bought from overseas often do not survive the trip very well. But the ones in my home? I've (not joking) got hundreds. And 95% of them all work fine. My 5.25" C64 disks have not fared as well, though. Maybe more like 75%. They don't last forever, but honestly in my anecdotal experience it's not _that_ bad. Yet.

[@lee-enfield0247]

About 5% of my disks won't work anymore, but with a Gotek floppy emulator you can load all software ever created from a simple usb key.

[@SammYLightfooD]

Many (maybe the half) of my Amiga Disks dont work correctly anymore (read errors and also errors when formatting them). I think they degraded due to storage in the basement of my last flat where air humidity was about 70%. Back then I didn't know that this could harm the disks.

[@ljp1942]

@Neb6 You are lucky.

[@bweebar]

Nice, I have owned S/N 32656 from new; PAL, made in W Germany, rev 3 PCB, NMB Hitek keyboard (US layout) Not working right now, waiting for some RAM to arrive (all socketed chips test good in my A2000) Other differences from later A500s: - Phillips case screws, not Torx and it never had a warranty void sticker - No Extra Half-Brite mode - No software switchable audio filter (filter off software turns the power LED completely off and the sound does not change)

[@AmigaLove]

The Rev 3! Wow, that's super special indeed. And thanks for those extra tidbits of information. I really appreciate it and will add them to the attached article so it's all in one place.

[@AmigaLove]

I've updated the article and given your YT handle the credit. (let me know if you'd rather I name you something/someone else) Thanks!

[@bweebar]

That's fine, I just had a look and the PCB has a date code 17-87 (so, April 1987) and the main chips are from around the 10th-15th week '87 to give an idea of the time frame. EDIT, the keyboard PCB has date code 8707

[@TimothyMusson]

So, mine has chicken lips on the left, the small A on the right, the Caps Lock with the hash-pattern, the gold-ish tracing on the PCB. Unlike the one in this video, my case doesn't have an embossed C= logo - it has a square indentation in the same spot, holding a label with the C= printed in white on a grey background (...sounds like it's the same as the Australian (08:10) one; I'm in NZ :) . Underneath, I have the same sticker as the one on the right here: 07:00 - except my serial number's HB4 001208. Inside, there's a printed sticker on the main board reading: A500 P HKC S/N 089327 The main board was assembled in Hong Kong, and the keyboard was made in Thailand. My floppy drive was made by Chinon Ind. Inc. in Japan, and doesn't look quite like other A500 floppy drives I've seen on KZbin. There's a sticker on the top of the drive with "535523 1/12/93" hand-written on it, so I'm guessing that's a job number and date of repair or replacement. It has a normal A500 eject button with no cludges, so I guess it was a Commodore authorized repair. (I don't remember that happening, but it was a while ago ;) And... I have no idea why this stuff is even fascinating. But yeah, it is :) [Edit: Oh! Thanks heaps for the heads-up in this video about potential upgrade trickiness for this particular main board. I'm not quite sure what I'll be doing with mine, BTW, but since there mightn't be many of these left I'm leaning towards preservation over modification.]

[@AmigaLove]

I've left my Chickenlips alone, too. I have other Amigas to fiddle with when the urge arises. :)

[@tsavorite2000]

Nice video and informations! I thought I would check out the internals my “Chicken Lips” A500. I bought in the USA about 15 years ago. Came with everything that it would have come with new and it’s like new still. I only play floppy games with it. It was always the most reliable A500 I have ever had. Results…. Embossed CL top…. Check Made in USA bottom S/N CA120852b …. Check Rev 3 Green Motherboard S/N 000784 - ’87 ’88 …. Check Chinon FB-354 Rev A Disk Drive S/N 10134952 (I love how the disk glides out rather than snaps out) …. Check Space Invaders Hi-Tek keyboard …. Check Kickstart V1.2 .... Check Even the original PSU is “Chicken Lips” If that counts…. Check. Original box with styrofoam inserts (kinda ratty - have not checked the SN) ….. Check Original tank mouse …. Check Nothing is yellowed and the keyboard is like new too. Works perfect. I did however swap out the original Gary chip as someone told there was something odd about it. I did keep the original Gary though! What’s this baby worth!?

[@AmigaLove]

That sounds EPIC! Thanks for sharing that info! "S/N 000784" WOW. As for how much it's worth? I hesitate giving folks advice about value - that's completely dependent on so many variables. But my hand-wavy non-scientific rough guesstimate would be over $500 and probably less than $800 under certain circumstances. But who knows?

[@nigelrhodes4330]

@@AmigaLove I would agree with that estimate but I would say closer to the $500 side, the later bottom case hurts the value a little. If the serial numbers on the box and the system board match that will help a bit.

[@bjorndietens313]

I have exact the same except for the logo, it is a sticker like you told the australian has. I am from Belgium and with rev 3

[@AmigaLove]

You have a Rev 3, but without the embossed logo on the case? Fascinating!

[@bjorndietens313]

If tou are fast enough you can see the pics on the sale www.marktplaats.nl/a/computers-en-software/commodore/m1502544545-commodore-amiga-500-rev3-ks-1-2-chicken-lips-keyboard.html?c=9b26ed2a557deff636f4f8b9c5b7a618&

[@bartekantoniewicz5005]

i have 3 chicken lips one have embossed logo rev. 3 v1, secound has sticker with logo rev. 3 i think v2 and with sticker rev 5. lowest serial number has rec v2 with "sticker logo"

[@ms-ex8em]

what about the amiga b2500 ? was this real or fake ?? thanks

[@AmigaLove]

100% real.

[@hayesmaker64]

who you calling silly moose?!

[@AmigaLove]

LOL! I'm so glad you stuck around to see that. ; )

[@srfrg9707]

There was no European Union back then. And a whole brunch of the countries now in the EU were even communist! I doupt they even heard of Amigas.