ScuzzBlog: Diaries March 2026 Entry 24th March 2026: Post 1: Amiga 1200 - Not an A500 then. Amiga 1200 - Not an A500 then. Amazing .. I found my original blog from 2017 featuring the A1200 from the other day that was labeled as an A500. The pictures were taken very crudely on the chair in the next room and literally recorded 'on the hoof' as it were as I took the computer apart to see what was going on inside. The blog explains that the hard drive wasn't working and how I hit it with a screwdriver to fire it up. Amazing that the drive is still working today. At that time it had the Apollo accelerator onboard which I later removed. Well I never ! I was just checking over some of my old text listed blogs (without picture menu) and at the bottom there was this blog about an A500 that wasn't what it seemed. Note the rom cover which is an oddity. Anyhoo here is the blog which was one of my first for the new look website. I hadn't quite worked out how I was going to display stuff. I had spent most of 2017 unpacking kit from piles of boxes. It was the start of a new era for the collection. Entry 1st October 2017: Post: 1 Not an Amiga 500 then !! Further to my discovery yesterday of the Amiga 1200 with the broken 2.5 hard drive that to my recollection was running an early Amiga 500 hard drive with Workbench 1.3 installed, I decided today to open up the Amiga and have a look inside. A rather shabby discoloured Amiga 1200 that hasn't seen the light of day for over six years The machine was clearly marked with the word A500 indicating the 1.3 Workbench installed When I opened up I discovered a loose section of shielding that was the cause of the clanking noise as I turned the computer over That was odd. The Computer had the 3.1 ROMS which had my hand writing on them The hard drive was a Seagate 420MB which sadly is broken. It currently gives out a high pitched screeching noise and then dies The card turned out to be an ACT Apollo 1230 LC made in Germany by Elbox. The writing on the main face is covered by the shielding on the SIMM which is why I couldn't read the name Quite a nice card. Think I will use this The hard drive appears a little more new than I would have anticipated for an A500 Anyway, as one last act of desperation I decided to hit it with the blunt end of the .. screwdriver. Remarkably that worked and the drive sprung to life giving me an unexpected Workbench Workbench 44.2 and that means OS3.5 and not Workbench 1.3. Also means the computer must have had a CD-ROM as the OS comes on CD. Also an odd version of DOpus which was not of my making. All very strange to me. The drive data shows 401MB of a 420MB drive There is a 41MB Workbench partition And a 360MB DH1 or Work: Also had a later install of SensiSoccer than I would normally have installed I couldn't run SysInfo from the OS3.5 so I booted with a floppy 3.0 and read off the data SysInfo picked up the Zorro II Picked up the DH0: Picked up the DH1: And the 8MB RAM on the card DOpus 5 which I really never ever used I concluded that I must have bought a 2.5" drive off the Bay when the earlier 1.3 drive busted and the drive was already loaded with OS 3.5. The Apollo struggles with the PCMCIA so I doubt I had a Squirrel installed. The drive has way too much stuff on it that I just do not recognise. The Workbench 1.3 drive if I recall had a ribbon that was a whole mass of single wires for each pin connection. It was in the machine originally I was sure it packed up though. Anyway I guess when all else fails hit it with a hammer

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Last updated 24th March 2026

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