d@alice.UucP (Daniel Rosenberg) (09/10/86)
Hi! It's me again!
- Joe's Garage, Act I, the Central Scrutinizer.
Firstly:
Thanks to everyone who has replied (or tried to reply through
the ruthless uucp mail system) to my query about parallel
cables, and the ensuing cable about blown up Amiga's done in by
fooling with parallel cables at the wrong time.
Let me summarize the responses:
Take an IBM parallel standard cable. Gender-mender that sucker.
Cut pins 16 and 23-25 on the DB-25 end - cut them well. If you get extra
linefeeds and all your drivers and DIPs are correct, don't hesitate to
cut pin 14.
If you decide you want to plug or unplug you parallel cable
(or possibly the monitor cable) while the Amiga is on, and then your
computer doesn't work anymore (the disk drive is freaked in the parallel
case), then you've got yourself a case of 8520itis. Replace the right-hand
8520 (the one that is connected to the parallel interface section and the
internal disk drive section.)
# # # My [hopefully] FINAL query (for a while, hedge, hedge) # # #
I've tried my authorized Commodore dealer. "Call Commodore."
I've called Commodore. "Try your authorized dealer."
I've tried my authorized dealer again. "Sorry, try Commodore."
I've tried UNauthorized dealers. "Duh? What's an 8520? We can't get any
of those..."
Okay. I admit it. I'm stuck. Do I have to creep into another Amiga owner's
house in the dead of night and steal one of his 8520s? Must I dance under
the full moon in jockey shorts? What can I do to convince someone to sell
me an 8520?
(I've gotten the same request through the mail from several people, who
are now becoming as disillusioned as I am.)
It's always fun saying,
"Thanks for your help!"
And to the kind soul in Los Alamos who sent me the Epson driver, it's on
its way back as soon as I can copy and then copy what you want! Thanks
for any patience you have left...
--
# Daniel Rosenberg (CE) @ AT&T Bell Labs, Murray Hill
# disclaimer: These opinions are necessarily mine, not my employer's.
# UUCP: { (ihnp4) || research || allegra}!alice!d AT&T: 201/582-6455 (work)
# "We're not in the eighth dimension! We're over New Jersey!" - BBgrr@cbmvax.cbm.UUCP (George Robbins) (09/13/86)
In article <6040@alice.uUCp> d@alice.UUCP (Daniel Rosenberg) writes: > >I've tried my authorized Commodore dealer. "Call Commodore." >I've called Commodore. "Try your authorized dealer." >I've tried my authorized dealer again. "Sorry, try Commodore." >I've tried UNauthorized dealers. "Duh? What's an 8520? We can't get any >of those..." > >Okay. I admit it. I'm stuck. Do I have to creep into another Amiga owner's >house in the dead of night and steal one of his 8520s? Must I dance under >the full moon in jockey shorts? What can I do to convince someone to sell >me an 8520? OK, here's the dope, so listen closely or print it out for future reference: Custom parts for the Amiga are available *ONLY* through Authorized Amiga Dealers. To become an authorized dealer, the dealer must agree to 'service' Amigas. The dealer gets a Service manual, containing a parts list, and can order, via telephone, any parts on the list. Originally, the parts list did not extend below board level, however as of June it now includes component level parts. If your dealer represents that he can't get the parts, I suggest you probe further, lest you accept a "We can't be bothered with this parts stuff" response. Here are the part numbers and prices for the custom chips and some other parts. The prices are *SUGGESTED LIST* for the *PARTS*, meaning that (a) they are negotiable and (b) dealer service charges are not included. 252125-01 IC 8361 'Agnus' $55.80 (NTSC) 252126-01 IC 8362 'Denise' $65.40 252127-01 IC 8364 'Paula' $70.00 252146-01 IC 8520 CIA $20.75 327137-01 PCB Amiga w/piggyback $200.00 (exchange) 327173-01 Power Supply Assy $142.00 327063-01 Keyboard Assy $100.00 327059-01 Keyboard Cable $10.50 327156-01 3.5" Drive Assy $167.00 (NEC) 327156-02 3.5" Drive Assy $167.00 (Panasonic) 327204-01 3.5" Interface PCB $45.00 -- George Robbins - now working for, uucp: {ihnp4|seismo|caip}!cbmvax!grr but no way officially representing arpa: cbmvax!grr@seismo.css.GOV Commodore, Engineering Department fone: 215-431-9255 (only by moonlite)
elg@usl.UUCP (Eric Lee Green) (09/13/86)
In article <6040@alice.uUCp> d@alice.UUCP (Daniel Rosenberg) writes: > If you decide you want to plug or unplug you parallel cable >(or possibly the monitor cable) while the Amiga is on, and then your >computer doesn't work anymore (the disk drive is freaked in the parallel >case), then you've got yourself a case of 8520itis. Replace the right-hand >8520 (the one that is connected to the parallel interface section and the >internal disk drive section.) > [now, to get an 8250] >I've tried my authorized Commodore dealer. "Call Commodore." >I've called Commodore. "Try your authorized dealer." ># Daniel Rosenberg (CE) @ AT&T Bell Labs, Murray Hill ># UUCP: { (ihnp4) || research || allegra}!alice!d AT&T: 201/582-6455 (work) Your dealer can order any chip in the Amiga straight from from Commodore if he wants to. I've seen my dealer's pricelist, e.g. price of parts, drives, motherboards, etc. and everything not readily available on the open market is on that list, including the 8250. Obviously, your dealer doesn't want to order the chip for you. Else he's thrown away his price list because his technician doesn't know how to repair computers, only how to swap boards. As for the person who mentioned that a computer store couldn't make money repairing the computer as vs. swapping boards: The local Amiga dealer opened his store about a year ago. He isn't carrying IBM clones, because there's 5 gillion IBM stores here. The only computer he carries is the Amiga, and obviously you're not going to make a good living or stay in business selling Amigas. So, the name of the shop is appropriate: "The Computer Clinic". He makes his living repairing computers, since it's becoming impossible for anybody to make one selling them (let's face it, K-Marts and stereo stores have stolen the low end, the high end is mostly direct corporate sales, there's a tight squeeze on the middle right now). And he makes enough to stay in business, at least... he isn't bankrupt yet. Now, if somebody can do that in a li'l ole college and oil town like Lafayette (pop. 90,000), surely it can happen in REAL cities... -- Eric Green {akgua,ut-sally}!usl!elg (Snail Mail P.O. Box 92191, Lafayette, LA 70509) -- Tengo lo mismo que doy y solo sirve al presente.
tim@amdcad.UUCP (Tim Olson) (09/18/86)
> > I've tried UNauthorized dealers. "Duh? What's an 8520? We can't get any > of those..." > > Okay. I admit it. I'm stuck. Do I have to creep into another Amiga owner's > house in the dead of night and steal one of his 8520s? Must I dance under > the full moon in jockey shorts? What can I do to convince someone to sell > me an 8520? Ok. I've seen references to an 8520, 8250, and possibly any other permutation of these numbers, refering to a part in the Amiga. Not owning an Amiga, I got out my old copy of BYTE which reviewed it to find out what this mysterious chip was. Yup, sure enough, in the margin of the board photograph was the text "8250" with a pointer to a pair of chips. But wait a minute, what's this? MOS Technology? Looking closer I distinctly saw the parts labeled "6520". Could it be? The mysterious and unatainable 8520 is really a lil' ol' MCS6520 (MOS Technology's second source number for Moto's MC6820) PIA? Is there a conspiracy involving the SECRET 8520 DISTRIBUTION SOCIETY and Commodore to corner the market on PIAs? ;-) Really, could some Amig[ite,ian...] in the know please tell us if these chips are 6520's or if there really is a part numbered 8520 which I don't know about? As confused as ever.... Tim Olson Advanced Micro Devices ihnp4!amdcad!delirun!tim
grr@cbmvax.cbm.UUCP (George Robbins) (09/19/86)
In article <13058@amdcad.UUCP> tim@amdcad.UUCP (Tim Olson) writes: >> >Ok. I've seen references to an 8520, 8250, and possibly any other permutation >of these numbers, refering to a part in the Amiga. Not owning an Amiga, I got >out my old copy of BYTE which reviewed it to find out what this mysterious >chip was. Yup, sure enough, in the margin of the board photograph was the >text "8250" with a pointer to a pair of chips. But wait a minute, what's this? >MOS Technology? Looking closer I distinctly saw the parts labeled "6520". >Could it be? The mysterious and unatainable 8520 is really a lil' ol' MCS6520 >(MOS Technology's second source number for Moto's MC6820) PIA? > >Is there a conspiracy involving the SECRET 8520 DISTRIBUTION SOCIETY and >Commodore to corner the market on PIAs? ;-) > Gee, I can never get the 8520 vs 8250 right, and I work here! The true facts are that an 8520 is quite unlike a 6520. It is however, quite similar to a 6526, but the 'time-of-day' clock is binary instead of BCD and PC output (Centronics Strobe) has been delayed and lengthened. For those interested, the parts numbering system used by MOS Technology, the chip making divison of Commodore, has the first digit being a technology code, the second being a classification and the last two digits being arbitrary. Thus 6526->8520 and 6510->7501->8502 and worse. Early Amiga prototypes actually used 6526's, but all production units use the 8520 and the software is unlikely to tolerate the older chips. -- George Robbins - now working for, uucp: {ihnp4|seismo|caip}!cbmvax!grr but no way officially representing arpa: cbmvax!grr@seismo.css.GOV Commodore, Engineering Department fone: 215-431-9255 (only by moonlite)
dale@amiga.UUCP (Dale Luck) (09/23/86)
In article <13058@amdcad.UUCP> tim@amdcad.UUCP (Tim Olson) writes: >Really, could some Amig[ite,ian...] in the know please tell us if these chips >are 6520's or if there really is a part numbered 8520 which I don't know about? > The 8520 are a variation of the 6520 created just for the Amiga. We found some timing problems with the clock on the 6520. We also turned the unusable clock/counter(decimal sort of) into something we could use. They are now 2 long binary counters. I use one to keep track of the beam position and trigger a 68000 interrupt to fire of the next beam synced blit. There maybe some other mods we made to it as well but these are the ones that I remember right now. Dale Luck
dale@amiga.UUCP (Dale Luck) (09/23/86)
In article <752@cbmvax.cbmvax.cbm.UUCP> grr@cbmvax.UUCP (George Robbins) writes: >It is however, quite similar to a 6526, but the 'time-of-day' clock >is binary instead of BCD >and PC output (Centronics Strobe) has been delayed and lengthened. > >For those interested, the parts numbering system used by MOS Technology, >the chip making divison of Commodore, has the first digit being a >technology code, the second being a classification and the last two digits >being arbitrary. Thus 6526->8520 and 6510->7501->8502 and worse. > >Early Amiga prototypes actually used 6526's, but all production units >use the 8520 and the software is unlikely to tolerate the older chips. >-- George is quite right here, I forgot it was the 6526 and not the 6520 or whatever. But anyway it is not an off the shelf part by any means. Dale Luck
daveh@cbmvax.cbm.UUCP (Dave Haynie) (09/23/86)
> > The 8520 are a variation of the 6520 created just for the Amiga. > We found some timing problems with the clock on the 6520. Its actually a revision of the 6526, a chip Commodore in general uses all over the place, in C64s, C128s, and 1571 drives. Of course, the C64 and C128 couldn't use a corrected version of any kind, due to software compatibility requirements. Along with the clock correction, I think the output drivers of one of the ports was changed. > Dale Luck -- /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ Dave Haynie {caip,ihnp4,allegra,seismo}!cbmvax!daveh These opinions are my own, though for a small fee they be yours too. \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/