Hello from Canberra

[Korsier]

Hello fellow retro computing denizens! I had an Amiga 500 as a teenager back in the 80s and I absolutely loved that sleek looking machine and all it could do. I reluctantly parted ways with it in the 90s but now that I'm old and gray I decided to get myself another one of these lovely machines.

I fortunately found one nearby depsite living in a smaller city, and it had been living in the original owner's garage for quite some years. It's definitely showing its age with the telltale yellowing of the upper case and most of the keyboard, but I hope to restore it to its former glory along with some upgrades (a Gotek is a must).

I'm attaching some photos for anyone interested. On the whole I don't think it's too bad for a machine that's over 30 years old. Today I'm attempting to bleach the case (ie. retrobrighting). If that doesn't work I plan to spray it, probably either vintage white or matte black - suggestions?

My amateur attempt at retrobrighting.


She scrubs up okay for an old girl.


But the colour of those keys... yuk!


I intend to get a Gotek to replace the existing df0 floppy, a trapdoor memory expander and a parallel port SD card reader so I can transfer files. Once I have that setup working I'll probably look at a CPU upgrade and a HDD of some description - probably emulated via onboard SD card)??

I basically want to build the machine I could only have dreamed of as a kid. Suggestions and comments welcome!

[McTrinsic]

Welcome!

Thanks for sharing your story.

One big alert: make sure there is no expansion in the trapdoor slot. If there is the original memory expansion, the battery will have leaked and will probably have caused some destruction.

I know you said you’d want one, but after all this time you may have forgotten there is o e in there. Just to make sure, it would be a pity.

As for expanding it, this is a dangerous rabbit hole that you should think twice about before starting.

There are numerous replacements for the floppy drive (you already found out ), memory, CPU, HDD, and much more. Depending on your budget even including graphics adapters or sound adapters. Some internal, some external. Some expansions use FPGA technology and replace original chips.

Why don’t you open a specific thread where we might discuss details??

Regarding the floppy replacement. I might suggest looking for a drive switch. You could leave the original drive inside and use a Gotek (or a HxC) externally. Then you switch off the internal drive and use the external in place of the internal as boot drive etc. or toggle internal/external drive.

If you place the switch somewhere out of sight it might be the most unobtrusive solution, easily reversible.

To be fair, the best place to look for expansions or specific boards or adapters for the Amiga is AmiBay nowadays. eBay is a good place when and if you know exactly what to buy from whom.

And of course, it is always worth it to ask around in this forum or at your local user club if there are some in your area. I’ve seen general retro-computing clubs emerge in the last 10 years.

In any case: have FUN going down this road!!!

[intric8]

Hm.. something seems to have happened to the images/permissions in the original post. (?)

[Korsier]

@McTrinsic Thanks for that awesome reply. Yes, I did check the trapdoor and there was nothing in there. I'm currently restoring this old computer which is half the fun as you say. When I got this machine is was *very* yellow so I've bleached the case and since re-sprayed it. I've posted some photos on Imgur which will hopefully work better than Google. I've also taken the opportunity to remove many years of fluff from the motherboard and it now looks great!

My A500 case after retrobrighting it (but before respraying) - keyboard for colour comparison


The motherboard after removing 30+ years of fluff and dust


I've ordered the internal GoTek and a 2MB trapdoor expansion, and I have an external floppy in case I need to get anything off disk so I think that will work as a solution. I'm also looking at getting an external SD card adapter (plugs to the parallel port) for ease of getting files on and off. I'll post some more photos once I get it all up and running.

[kinmami]

welcome

[Korsier]

A small update. Trapdoor memory and GoTek installed. The IDE cable barely reaches the GoTek so I hope it won't come loose.



Next step is to give the upper case a touchup where the paint didn't stick and then I can put her all together. At least until the new keyboard arrives.

[McTrinsic]

Looks good!

I am still surprised that you can live with an internal Gotek instead of switching off the internal drive, but each to his own.

[fxgogo]

Welcome, welcome. I embarked on a similar trip to you at the beginning of lock down.
I ended up putting a Flash Floppy (similar to the Gotek) inside the machine while keeping my floppy there. I then had a small baord made with a switch that allows me to flip between the two devices.
I did do some case mods to have the display and rotary device on the Amiga, but I know that is not for everyone.
I like the idea of painting it as well.

[A1-X1000]

welcome aboard looks like a nice clean A500 ya got there...if keeping it out in the sun doesn't get the yellow staining out then just spray paint it carefully as I did that years ago on my C128 case and it still looks great!