daemon@rutgers.UUCP (02/23/87)
From: <MAESSEN%HWALHW50.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu> Hi folks, I'm quite angry on Commodore support policy since this week. Suddenly my Amiga refused to read any diskette anymore. No kickstart, nothing. My dealer said, it probably was caused by my printer, a Star X10. These printers seem to spontaneously start giving 12 V signals over the parallel port. This caused one of the CIA's in the Amiga to crash. 1. Does anybody know the problem with the STAR printers? 2. Is there any way to avoid the printer ruining my CIA's? Maybe putting a buffer in between? Ok, I can believe this happening. But then? Replacing the CIA I should suggest. Nope. Commodore doesn't supply spare CIA's to customers nor their dealers. The only thing I could do is sending the Amiga to the Commodore Service Dept where they would replace the CIA and send it back. This takes about 3 weeks in Holland. As I needed the Amiga very badly (I'm working on a electronic paper for our Cable TV) we searched for another solution. We think we found it in exchanging the two CIA's. The disk-unit now works again but I'm afraid now something else wont work, although I really don't miss some function in the Amiga right now. 3. What about this kind of service? Is this normal? Cant I get the CIA from CA? ( With the C64 the 6526 could be gotten in exchange of the old one. 4. Does anybody know what may happen now? What is the 2nd CIA meant for and in particular the lines which now are ruined by the exchange? The 2nd disk- drive maybe? What does it mean for 3d and 4th? I think this all shows Commodore's service policy is not so good. Any other ppl with experiences like this? CA pls respond too.... Wiel Maessen Agricultural University Wageningen. The Netherlands.
grr@cbmvax.UUCP (02/23/87)
>From: <MAESSEN%HWALHW50.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu> > >I'm quite angry on Commodore support policy since this week. Suddenly my >Amiga refused to read any diskette anymore. No kickstart, nothing. My dealer >said, it probably was caused by my printer, a Star X10. These printers seem >to spontaneously start giving 12 V signals over the parallel port. > > Is there any way to avoid the printer ruining my CIA's? Maybe putting > a buffer in between? Diodes to ground and +5 would minimize the chances of damaging the 8520, however if the printer really puts out +12 then the diodes might blow... >Ok, I can believe this happening. But then? Replacing the CIA I should >suggest. Nope. Commodore doesn't supply spare CIA's to customers nor their >dealers. The only thing I could do is sending the Amiga to the Commodore >Service Dept where they would replace the CIA and send it back. This takes >about 3 weeks in Holland. I do not know the exact repair/spare policy in Holland, since that is determined by the sales organization in your country. In the US, Amiga dealers are required to provide some kind of repair service and *ARE* able to order replacment parts, including chips, from Commodore. This may be a problem with your local Dealer - I would call the main Commodore office for your country and check what their view of the situation is. >I think this all shows Commodore's service policy is not so good. Any other >ppl with experiences like this? >Wiel Maessen - Agricultural University Wageningen. The Netherlands. There have been similar problems discussed here. Generally, the problem is that the dealer is only interested in selling the equipment, not in providing any "service" except perhaps shipping the entire unit back to Commodore. Often the dealer's employees do not understand the Commodore policy or will lie about it. As I said, check with your local Commodore office. They should be able to explain the situation... -- George Robbins - now working for, uucp: {ihnp4|seismo|rutgers}!cbmvax!grr but no way officially representing arpa: cbmvax!grr@seismo.css.GOV Commodore, Engineering Department fone: 215-431-9255 (only by moonlite)