Previous Q & A

These are questions and answers that were previously posted to the Q & A page but have been archived here to keep the latest Q & A shorter and more manageable for download.

Philippe Desalle in Brussels, Belgium at 10:41:2 Friday May 30 97
Where can I get service for an old - but loved - CPC 6128 in Belgium?
Amstrad answers: You could try just contacting local computer stores but the fact is that Amstrad has now closed all it's overseas subsidiuaries so you may need to contact a service centre in the UK but as a 6128 is only worth about £20 it's almost certainly going to cost more to repair it than to pick up another one second hand.

As I said via email, when you've just got a single disk to be transferred it's probably easiest to contact one of the companies that offers a bureau copying service for about ten quid per disk. Click here for more details.

I'm endeavouring to find this in my archive of old manuals but in the meantime I kind of wonder why you want this. My guess is that you probably think that you can wire up some other keyboard to replace a faulty/missing one on that machine. If that's the case I'm afraid that you should read this.

For that machine you'd be wanting to use parity checked SIMMs (so either 3 or 9 chips) but your main problem is that you haven't set the jumpers. The full details of how to upgrade the memory can be found here.

Rather than trying to get it going with an Epson driver first select the "Generic: Generic/Text only" and try that. This driver will just try to print simple characters (a, b, c, etc.) rather than the complexity of sending graphically generated Truetype patterns for a, b, c, etc. If even this doesn't work then the problem is more fundamental than the selection of the graphic print driver so check cable connections etc. and see if, for example, at the C:\> DOS prompt, a command such as COPY AUTOEXEC.BAT LPT1 will work. If, however, this does work then perhaps you are using the wrong Epson driver. The one to use for LQ3500 should be LQ550

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Anders Aspaas in http://www.uio.no/~aspaas/ at 10:23:5 Thursday May 22 97
My mother got an old PCW 8512, she bought it some 10 years ago here in Norway. And it still works! But she'd like another one in our summer-house. Any idea how to get one?
Amstrad answers: Well we made about 1.5 million of those machines so there must be literally thousands sitting in peoples attics and garages attracting dust. I'd try classified ads in local papers or perhaps one of the "for sale" Usenet newsgroups. As an alternative perhaps you'd consider the very latest machine in the PCW range - the PcW16 which will read all the old data from previous models but it works in a quite different way so maybe she'd prefer to stick to a secondhand one of the older models. The new PcW16 is only on sale in the UK via Dixons/Currys.

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PAUL SKORNIA MILW. WISCONSIN at 15:26:12 Wednesday May 21 97
I have got a PC 1640 HD 20, with 640k, while working with some old floppy disks the computer locked up. I powered down and powered back up to find out that I lost communication with the hard drive.The message that comes up is Insert a system disk into drive A then press any key. This creates one problem, I don't have disk 1 of the start up disks. I also noticed that an error message comes up that my PC is stoned. What if anything can you suggest that I do to attempt to correct this problem. I have also lost the capability to use the mouse, I bought a replacement that also doesn't work. If you have any solutions I would sure appreciate the help. Thanks, Paul Skornia
Amstrad answers: I don't still have copies of the MS-DOS 3.2 disks for that machine but if you know anyone with a 5.25" drive on a PC get then to FORMAT /F:360 /S a disk with any version of MS-DOS, PC-DOS or DR-DOS and you should be able to use that to boot the system. Once DOS is going use FDISK to see if the hard drive is still visible. If it is and you can type C: to access it then you should be able to just use SYS C: to copy the MS-DOS system files back onto it.

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Jean-Pierre Bouchard at 23:57:22 Tuesday May 20 97
How do I run the BIOS setup on my amstrad 1640? CTRL-ALT-S does not seem to work. Amstrad pc 640k (v3) (c) 1987 amstrad plc
Amstrad answers: Simple answer - you don't. The concept of a "Setup" program was something introduced by IBM when they went from the IBM PC/XT to the IBM AT design. With PC/XTs there was no support for a hard disk in the BIOS. Instead each hard disk came with it's own matched controller card with on board BIOS. In the AT the main BIOS tries to support the hard disk but because it could have one of a number of drives added it has to have a settable hard disk type number to tell it how to support a given HD mechanism. This then required a "Setup" program to configure that type number. In the early days the program came as a .COM/.EXE on the supplied DOS disks while in later years the program was built in so it could be accessed with Ctrl-Alt-S or whatever.
Therefore, the 1640, being an XT compatible does not have a setup program BUT, having said all that, Amstrad did put some special info into the machine's CMOS memory (also known as Non Volatile RAM or NVR) and to set those values there is a program called NVR.EXE which you can find here. But this has nothing to with hard disks and my guess is that your original question arises because a hard disk isn't working and you think it's just a type number that needs setting. If I'm right then the problem with the HD is probably more mechanical. Suggest you check connections and if that seems OK try accessing it with FDISK from the A:\> prompt. If even that fails then use DEBUG and scan around Cx00:0000 to see if you can see that the HD BIOS ROM on the card has been recognised.

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David James in Melbourne, Australia at 9:27:52 Tuesday May 20 97
Hi, I have an Amstrad NC100 notepad, that I would like to connect to a pc to tranfer documents to and from Microsoft Word. I have sucessfully done this in the past using a serial connection with the Windows terminal program. Lately, I have attempted this, and found that when receiving documents into the notepad, it crashes and I lose all of my data. Do you know what I might be doing wrong. Alternatively, could I connect the notepad to an external 3 1/2" floppy disc drive, or could I get PCMCIA cards for the notepad and somehow "plug" these into my pc. Regards David James.
Amstrad answers: This is very strange. Especially the fact that it was working then suddenly stopped. Can you remember what else changed at the same time that the problem started. Like did you upgrade Windows on the PC or, perhaps, was it then that you started using a PCMCIA card on the NC?
I don't know of any way to add a drive to an NC. There is a company called Ranger Computers Limited (maybe ranger.co.uk) who did an add-on parallel port connected drive and these certainly worked with the NC150 because they had some extra software built into the ROM but that wasn't the case for NC100 so I don't think the drive can be used.
Fraid that it isn't possible to read/write NC type PCMCIA cards in a PCMCIA drive on a PC (well you can but only in raw binary mode). You see, PCMCIA cards on PC have MS-DOS style FAT filing structure whereas the data organisation on an NC PCMCIA card is quite different. It is a sort of allocation table structure but in no way compatbile with the far more complicated MS-DOS system. I'm afraid serial transfer is the only way - Sorry.

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Ken Garvey in the SW of England at 10:46:56 Monday May 19 97
Starting with the good news; I asked for help some months ago finding a copy of the Eden Organiser connectivity pack for the PDA600. I found one by chance in Tandy, the Quedam centre, Yeovil, Somerset!!! And they wanted to sell me the other 4 copies too :-) BUT I'm having problems transferring data. Looking at the connection on the PDA side I see only 6 pins out of 8 in the serial port. Is this intentional or have they been damaged at some point??? Any general advice also welcome...and I plan to try programming...is there a 'c' compiler for the Z80...and a PDA function library??? (I know, I'm an optimist) ciao!
Amstrad answers: Nope that serial is right - two of the pins are "missing" so that a "locating pin" can appear in the connector to make sure you plug it in the right way round (then the cables that someone made for us ended up not having the locator! Sod's Law).
As for programming it, I'm afraid there is no way to do it in C. It must be done in Z80 Asm (my personal favourtie flavour of Asm!). The reason is that the programs you write have to chopped into 12K blocks because only 12K of the PCMCIA card program is visible in the Z180 address map at any time. I don't know of any Z80 cross compiler that has a linker that could be persuaded to write stuff in neat 12K chunks and fixup cross block calls with the right block siwtching mechanism. However, have a look at some of the files in my archive about PDA600 programming and try doing some Z80 - it's fun, belive me!

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Andre williams in Nottingham at 19:14:8 Sunday May 18 97
Hello again Mr amstrad did you forget about lil ol moi? Just thought I'd share with you the latest on the ANB386/20 laptop of mine First those batterys they use are SOOO expensive and you can hardly find 'em anywhere anymore so Believe it or not I've found out MOTORBIKE 6V batterys work fine..(well they do in mine (no responcibility if you try this!))and they last for over 10 hours non stop!
Second I've found all the scatemem.sys, display, discharge etc etc programs for the OS..(took lots of adverts in local fee ad papers). But I've got em If you want them for your file suite let me know and I'll mail the little buggers down to you!
BTW I found It quite easy to dismantle it lost most of the screws, then when I'd got it back to gether the sound didn't work. So dismantled it again, and reconencted the piezo thingy then the floppy buggered up when the end fell of a disk inside (still wondering wher that spring is!
But it seems to work (most of the time) if I repetedly shake it violently from time to time. Problem now is the BIO battery (looks like a watch battery , is begining to fade is it ok to take this out? or should I note the bio setups first?
Thirdly, (I think) I'm trying to locate the internal modem for this CPC hasn't got one any ideas (if it's below 9,600 din't bother
Forthly, is it possible to upgrade the uart to allow me to use a DECENT external modem at the moment it looks like it's max speed is 11,600 (not like my 16550 in my long suffering desktop.
Finally The 386sx chip it's a genuine intel if my soldering is up to it, is it theoretically possible to stright swap a 486 chip?..I was looking at a site that offers this sorta upgrade on 486 laptops to amd586 whaddaya recon? anyhow hope you can help and keep up the good work! PS don't forget to mail me if you want those Progs for the lappy cheers Andre
Amstrad answers: Not sure what it is I'm supposed to have forgotten about!
I'd like those utilities to put on my page for others. I'll email you about this.
I can't remember the CMOS in that machine but I presume i is a "Dallas" chip which combines a battery and the CMOS RAM into a single package. It should be possible to replace the whole thing but DO take a note of your BIOS settings before undertaking this surgery. Actually, now that I think about it, I'm not sure if maybe the CMOS batery was a rechargeable so once you've used the machine for a few hours it should be good for the next few months (certainly was the case in 5x86 machines which are also a C&T design).
The modem card never entered prodcution but I think it would have been just 2400 data, 9600 fax so is absolutely hopeless in this day and age of 56K modems!
If the internal UART is an 8051 (which I doubt) then it would be possible to desolder that and put in a pin compatible 16550 UART but I have a feeling that the UART is just one of the modules within the chipset gate arrays and so cannot be replaced.
486 processors cannot just be plugged straight in in place of 386(SX) processors but you can get 386->486 upgrade processors that "piggy back" onto the back of an in circuit 386(SX) but the problem in the ANB is that there just isn't room inside the cabinet for this- they ae intended for upgrading desktop machines.

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Thomas Teo in sydney australia at 11:5:28 Saturday May 17 97
just to answer the other questions
1: When it boots up it just flashes the 1701 error on startup
2: No messages about the hard disk.
3: it just says invalid drive specification
4: no, fdisk canot see the drive it just says no fixed disk present.
5: yes, i have taken apart the computer. not only to get the hard drive to work but just to find out how it works. Any dissambly hints-removing the big metal box that houses the power supply-which screws do it????
LASTLY, in a review i read you used simms in the pc2086. Why???????
Amstrad answers: Ah, well the message "1701" is a very helpful IBM defined message that really means "hard disk controller error". This tells me two things. Firstly that the hard disk fitted to the machine is not one that Amstrad supplied. We always arranged for ours to actually say "Hard disk controller error" in plain English. The reason that IBM (and some compatibles) used just "1701" was so that it could be sold in any language. Interestingly 1701 is also the registration number or the Enterprise in Star Trek (NCC 1701). I believe this was not entirely co-incidental! The second thing the message tells me is that's exactly where the error lies - in the controller. As that is failing to startup, for anything after that, all bets are off. FDISK, etc won't see the drive because it has already reported it's untimely death by the time you get as far as running FDISK.
The reasons for the production of the 1701 message could be several. It may be that the controller is functioning OK but when it gives the actual mechanism a strong kick in the morning it fails to respond. This could be a power supply/cabling problem or possibly an effect know as "stiction". If the computer had been left for several months tihout being used ti is sometimes possible for the HD head to "weld" iself to the surface of the disk. I think the bottom line of all this is that if you have wiggled all the power connections and drive cables and possibly even given the HD a strong tap and it STILL doesn't work then it's time to find a new hard disk.
If the power supply in a 2086 is anything like that in a 2286/2386 (which I'm more familiar with) then it is just held down be the four obvious screws.
As for SIMMs in a 2086. I'm not sure that's right about it using SIMMs as I'm pretty sure that they would have been far more expensive than discrete packages back in 1986-87, especially with the cost of the SIMM holders but that would have been the only reason for us having used SIMMs if it were the case that they happened to be a cheaper solution at that time.

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Thomas Teo in Sydney,Australia at 11:2:16 Friday May 2 97
I have a pc2086 with a broken hard drive. When i first boot the hard drive makes reading noises but after that the read light just flashes with no noises. It is the factory fitted hard disk (i think)
Amstrad answers: You haven't really given me enough to go on there. What happens on the computer screen? Do you see any messages about the hard disk? If you boot from A: and then type "C:" what happens? Can FDISK see the hard disk? Often the problem with drives is simply that one of the two cables has become slightly disconnected. It would be worth opening the machine and giving things a bit of a wiggle.

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DAVE in Lincolnshire, England at 0:15:28 Saturday May 17 97
How do I install a hard drive into a Amstrad PC1640 computer. From information you are required to enter debug to set up? Could you provide a step by step instructions? Thanks
Amstrad answers: I suggest you have a look at this, then, if that doesn't answer your question, come back and tell me what else you need to know. The bottom line is that you best bet is to try and buy an old, second hand 8 bit "hard card".

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Phil Tyler in Bolton (UK) at 15:44:28 Friday May 16 97
Is it possible to use more than 4Mb of RAM on an ancient Amstrad ALT386 laptop? It has 4 SIMM sockets (30-odd pin variety) and dip switches to tell the machine how much memory is in it. My machine has 4 single meg SIMMS in the slots but I would like to replace those with 2Mb SIMMS but don't want to do it unless it'll recognize them.
Amstrad answers: I think I'll add something about this on my ALT page as this definitelty ranks as the most asked ALT question. The fact is that you CANNOT have more the 4MB in an ALT. This is a limit of the chipset at the heart of the ALT design. It only has enough external address pins for 4MB so the limit could never be exceeded. Back in the days when the ALT was designed 4MB was considered "more than anyone could possibly ever want" - how times change eh?

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john booth in west wales at 8:35:50 Wednesday May 14 97
I have been asked about a Amstrad word processor with 3" disk they have upgraded to a Amstrad 9486 want to know if I can transfer there letters I have not seen it yet I would like to know if its possible to take out the 3" disk drive and temporally put in my p.c. to copy the disks to my hard drive then on to 31/2 " disk for them? thank you for your timeJohn booth
Amstrad answers: Hi, didn't we talk about this via email? Just in case it wasn't you, the fact is that it would be possible to add the 3" drive from a PCW to a PC with a suitable cable to map the signals from the PC drive cable to the 3" mechanism because, although they are on different pins, the signals are electronically the same. You could then get the shareware "22DISK" program which runs in DOS but which can read PCW CP/M format disks. However, a far easier solution is to use one of the disk copying bureaus to get the info across. Details can be found here.

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nicolas calderon in SAN JUAN PUERTO RICO. at 22:16:0 Tuesday May 13 97
I HAVE A AMSTRAD SYTEM UNIT MY PROBLEM IS AT STARTUP IT READS: ERROR:FAULTY SYSTEM RAM. IT IS A-PC 1512-SD UNIT. IT DOES NOTING ELSE. IT HAS A PRINTER IT APEARS TO BE OK THANKS
Amstrad answers: Well my guess is that it's RAM is probably faulty then. It's possible that the CPC company would have suitable replacement RAM chips that could be used to repair the machine but I think you'll find that they probably cost more than that machine is actually worth (about £20).

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fred simmoms in jax.fla. at 4:7:34 Sunday May 11 97
I have a 1986 AMSTRAD PCWP 8256 which has a green screen mointer. Where will I find a disk that will fit this old wordprocessor? Or can I replace fdisk drive? (3.5 disk will not work.)
Amstrad answers: Simpleset way to get a Locoscript / CP/M disk for that machine is to contact Locomotive software (who wrote the word processor). You can get to their web site by clicking this.

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Steve Tartt in Somewhere in wartime England at 13:24:33 Saturday May 10 97
In my bedroom languishes a MegaPCsx25. It is a lovely shade of nicotine brown and still gets switched on occasionally. However, recently, the CMOS back-up battery died a glorious death, leaving me with the joyous task of entering the settings manually at start-up! Knowing the Amstrad ploy of using bizarre components in their machines, I wonder how easy it is to replace this battery. The manual helpfully says "replace the battery", but it is hard-wired to the board ( surprise surprise ). Do you know if it is feasible to replace, and, if so, do you know where I may find a replacement. Thanks for being there, Cliff.
Amstrad answers: I think you'll find that the Amstrad "ploy" of using bizarre components only existed about as far as the 4386SX. After that our PCs just became as boring and "vanilla flavoured" as everyone else's. The only reason for using "strange" components before that was a) nothing was really a fixed standard back then, we were setting standards as much as everyone else, b) we didn't want to infringe IBM patents/copyrights - these days no one cares and c) we did things in whatever way would make the product cheaper and hence more attractive to the consumer.

Anyway, to answer you question, you should find that the battery, like all Amstrad components is available from CPC who's details can be found here. Having said that I'd be surprised if that battery really was dead as they should have a life of more than 10 years - I don't know that model specifically but I presume it is some form of lithium button cell. I'd just make sure that it wasn't simply a faulty connection to it.

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JORAM KAGO in usiu.ac.ke at 11:21:35 Wednesday May 7 97
What are your key success factors?
Amstrad answers: That's a very subjective question I don't know that I could necessarily describe myself as a success!

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Anon at 17:45:50 Tuesday May 6 97
Amstrad answers: Short and to the point! I love brevity, don't you?

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Duncan Campbell in Troon, Ayrshire, SCOTLAND at 21:4:45 Friday May 2 97
I have recently reaquired a cpc464 with external 3" disc drive. I cannot remember how to transfer ftom tape to disc use. I know it involves a symbol followed by tape or disc. I have tried the vertical lines on the @ key followed by disc, and disk(in case I spelt it wrong) or tape. In each case I get "unknown command " message. Can anyone HELP! I am desperate to access files I have on disk from last time Duncan
Amstrad answers: You are doing exactly the right thing, it is the funny bar symbol above the @ key that you use to type |TAPE or |DISC. However they are what are know as "external commands" and only appear when the expansion ROM (located in the DDI interface) is detected during startup. It sounds like the interface is either broken or not making connection correctly. I can't be 100% sure but I think the interface maybe takes it's power from the drive so perhaps you should make sure that is connected and switched on before turning on the CPC.

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