mechanicalmike Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 (edited) Hi there everyone, I'm new to this website altogether. I thought I might be able to get some help here. I recently bought a Commodore Amiga 500 at a local thrift store. I'm having issues with it though. The machine will power up and recognize a disk if I put one in, but all I ever get on the monitor is either a blank white screen or a picture of a hand holding a disk. Do I need to install the OS or something? There isn't any kind of boot disk in the box the machine came in. If anyone could give me any tips on getting this machine running, or where to get an Amiga OS download, that'd be great. Thanks so much. Edited July 7, 2009 by mechanicalmike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+remowilliams Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 A hand holding a disk is what you are supposed to get with nothing in the drive. It's the system asking for a bootable/Kickstart (OS) disk. Unfortunately (even though images can be found on the net) your best bet of ever getting a Kickstart disk is to either buy one, or have someone create one for you. There are utilities to transfer Amiga disk images (.ADFs) from a PC back to an Amiga, but you need a Kickstart disk at a minimum to get started. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mechanicalmike Posted July 7, 2009 Author Share Posted July 7, 2009 How do I know which Kickstart disk version I need? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phreakindee Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Hi there everyone, I'm new to this website altogether. I thought I might be able to get some help here. I recently bought a Commodore Amiga 500 at a local thrift store. I'm having issues with it though. The machine will power up and recognize a disk if I put one in, but all I ever get on the monitor is either a blank white screen or a picture of a hand holding a disk. Do I need to install the OS or something? There isn't any kind of boot disk in the box the machine came in. If anyone could give me any tips on getting this machine running, or where to get an Amiga OS download, that'd be great. Thanks so much. You may want to ask at the English Amiga Board (google it) but... Only the amiga 1000 requires a startup disk (kickstart) so you're fine there. The hand is asking for a bootable disk, either Workbench OS or a program disk - games or otherwise. What kind of disk are you trying to boot? If its just showing the white/gray screen with no loading, it could be a number of things... Bad disk Bad disk drive Bad ram Do you know if it has expanded ram? That happened on mine when the ram expansion came loose (its underneath the amiga, beneath the door) just take it out and plug it back in nice and snug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mechanicalmike Posted July 7, 2009 Author Share Posted July 7, 2009 Hi there everyone, I'm new to this website altogether. I thought I might be able to get some help here. I recently bought a Commodore Amiga 500 at a local thrift store. I'm having issues with it though. The machine will power up and recognize a disk if I put one in, but all I ever get on the monitor is either a blank white screen or a picture of a hand holding a disk. Do I need to install the OS or something? There isn't any kind of boot disk in the box the machine came in. If anyone could give me any tips on getting this machine running, or where to get an Amiga OS download, that'd be great. Thanks so much. You may want to ask at the English Amiga Board (google it) but... Only the amiga 1000 requires a startup disk (kickstart) so you're fine there. The hand is asking for a bootable disk, either Workbench OS or a program disk - games or otherwise. What kind of disk are you trying to boot? If its just showing the white/gray screen with no loading, it could be a number of things... Bad disk Bad disk drive Bad ram Do you know if it has expanded ram? That happened on mine when the ram expansion came loose (its underneath the amiga, beneath the door) just take it out and plug it back in nice and snug I checked, it doesn't have expanded ram. I tried booting an Amiga Extras/Basic disk and also a game. Some of the hardware must just be shot then huh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phreakindee Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Perhaps yes... Amigas are some of the most finicky machines I have ever used, and from a thrift store it wouldn't surprise me. I would still ask over at the Amiga Board or Lemon Amiga - many experts there. And if it ends up dead I wouldn't mind buying it off you I enjoy a challenge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mechanicalmike Posted July 7, 2009 Author Share Posted July 7, 2009 Perhaps yes... Amigas are some of the most finicky machines I have ever used, and from a thrift store it wouldn't surprise me. I would still ask over at the Amiga Board or Lemon Amiga - many experts there. And if it ends up dead I wouldn't mind buying it off you I enjoy a challenge I just signed up at the Amiga Board so I'll see what kind of feedback I get. I'll work on it for a while and do what I can, but yeah if I can't get it going I'd be willing to sell it. =] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+remowilliams Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 The hand is asking for a bootable disk, either Workbench OS or a program disk - games or otherwise DOH! Yes, I meant Workbench. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edwood13 Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Its a good thing you got it running! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mechanicalmike Posted July 9, 2009 Author Share Posted July 9, 2009 indeed i did get it running. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+remowilliams Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Cool, if you have a Workbench disk now and are interested in transferring Amiga .ADF disk image files from a PC to Amiga floppies, you may want to check out ADF Sender Terminal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STICH666 Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Any pics? I would love to see the condition it's in considering where you got it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mechanicalmike Posted July 9, 2009 Author Share Posted July 9, 2009 ill take a pic sometime but it's actually in pristine condition Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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