Arctic Retro’s restoration project breathes new life into a vintage Commodore Amiga 600, a compact 16-bit home computer known for its graphics and multitasking.
Unboxing and Initial Challenges
The Amiga 600 arrived in its original, weathered packaging, missing key components like the power supply and floppy disk. The included mouse was faulty, with an unresponsive left button.
Repairs and Upgrades
- Mouse Repair: Cleaning the rollers, replacing a worn-out microswitch, and inspecting optical sensors restored full functionality.
- Motherboard Inspection: The capacitors, likely at the end of their lifespan, were replaced through a meticulous recapping process. Challenges included lifting solder pads and corroded traces, which were repaired using copper tape and UV-cured solder masks.
- Keyboard Replacement: A faulty membrane was resolved by installing a new one, restoring full key functionality.
Enhancements and Testing
- The Amiga featured an 8MB memory expansion and an “A608” module for fast RAM and PCMCIA support.
- Testing included diagnostics via a Gotek floppy emulator and an external floppy drive, all passing successfully.
- A seasonal treat, Santron 2024, demonstrated the enduring creativity of the Amiga community.
