Floppy Failure Leads to Full Repair
In Amiga 1200 Floppy Fix – Part 1, GadgetUK tackles a tricky motherboard repair after viewer Andrew accidentally reversed the floppy power cable, releasing that dreaded “magic smoke.” What begins as a floppy disk formatting issue quickly evolves into a full-blown Amiga 1200 restoration, complete with diagnostics, trace repair, and a recap recommendation. The focus? Finding out if a damaged U26 chip or corroded trace is the root cause of the drive failure.
Diagnosing the Disk Dilemma
From the start, GadgetUK suspects the 74LS86 chip at U26 may be fried. But things get more complex as he inspects for corrosion, measures voltages, and runs software tests. Despite booting to Workbench and reading disks, the machine refuses to format. After digging through schematics, he finds one of the write-enable signals isn’t reaching the floppy drive header. The culprit? A tiny corroded via—so blocked, it resists solder, wire, and even logic.
Not one to be defeated by oxidized holes, Gadget breaks out a microscopically thin drill bit, pushes through the blockage, and installs a wire patch. With the trace finally reconnected, he confirms full signal continuity. The result? Formatting works again—and that floppy controller lives to spin another day.
More Mods to Come
This is just the beginning. In Part 2, Gadget plans to recap the board with polymer capacitors, install a socketed FPU, and address parallel port and timing issues. There’s also a hint at future accelerator tests and more homebrew hardware demos.
Whether you’re deep into retro repairs or just love watching meticulous diagnostic work, this video delivers a satisfying journey from scorched silicon to successful save.
