{"id":24469,"date":"2021-04-24T19:00:30","date_gmt":"2021-04-24T17:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jungsi.de\/?p=24469"},"modified":"2026-08-27T22:00:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T20:00:10","slug":"commodore-amiga-600-commodore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jungsi.de\/en\/commodore-amiga-600-commodore\/","title":{"rendered":"Commodore Amiga 600 [Commodore]"},"content":{"rendered":"

The idea of developing a low-cost Amiga had been on the cards at Commodore since 1988. Work soon began on the A250 Game System, but this was shelved due to the excessive marketing and manufacturing costs of the cartridges. In 1989, the project was revived, this time with a keyboard, mouse and floppy disk drive. The plan was to reduce the memory to 256 KB, which would save costs \u2013 but this made little sense, as almost all games required 512 KB. Things got serious with the A300 (development name) when Jeff Porter set out the key specifications in 1991:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Removal of the numeric keypad \u2013 Removal of the expansion port (Zorro interface) \u2013 Introduction of the PCMCIA slot \u2013 Smaller power supply \u2013 Smaller connectors \u2013 Smaller motherboard using SMT technology \u2013 ECS chipset, first used in the A3000 \u2013 1 MB chip RAM \u2013 ATA hard disk controller<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Die Umsetzung \u00fcbernahm George Robbins, der ohnehin als \u201eVater“ der Low-End-Amigas galt \u2013 schon A500 und A500 Plus stammten aus seiner Feder. Robbins gab dem Projekt auch den passenden Codenamen: \u201eJune Bug“ \u2013 nach einem Song der B-52’s, in derselben Tradition wie zuvor \u201eRock Lobster“ (A500) und sp\u00e4ter \u201eChannel Z“ (A1200).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To put this into context: in the summer of 1991, Mehdi Ali, then president of Commodore, had appointed former IBM manager Bill Sydnes as head of the development department. Sydnes scrapped the original design objectives for the A300, cancelled the A1000+ and A3000+ at the same time, and delayed the AGA chipset \u2013 decisions that were to come back to haunt the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the project progressed, it became apparent that the new computer would not \u2013 as Dave Haynie had originally planned \u2013 be 50 to 60 US dollars cheaper than the A500, but would in fact be more expensive to produce. One of the main reasons for this was the new SMD technology. It seems that the developer was not particularly interested in the project either and did not make the most of the opportunities for cost reduction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"PCMCIA
Amiga 600 – PCMCIA Slot<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Commodore \u201el\u00f6ste“ das Problem mit den Kosten, indem aus dem A300 der A600 wurde, um bei den K\u00e4ufern die Erwartung zu wecken, etwas Besseres als den A500 zu kaufen. Egal ob pl\u00f6tzlich kein Ziffernblock mehr vorhanden war oder die Erweiterungen des anderen Ger\u00e4ts nicht verwendet werden konnten \u2013 Verwirrung entstand auch bei den Kunden, die das Ger\u00e4t \u00f6ffneten und auf der Platine den Aufdruck \u201eA300″ sowie den Codenamen \u201eJune Bug“ fanden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At that time, GVP (Great Valley Products) was a thorn in the side of Commodore\u2019s senior management, as it was making a lot of money from devices for the expansion bus, such as turbo cards. This would come to an end with the A600, as it lacks the relevant port\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Im M\u00e4rz 1992 wurde das Ger\u00e4t auf der CeBIT vorgestellt, im April 1992 startete die Massenproduktion des A600. Kurz darauf war das Ger\u00e4t in den L\u00e4den und der A500 wurde \u201egestoppt“. Aber nicht \u00fcberall: Laut Petro Tyschtschenko (in seinem Buch Meine Erinnerungen an Commodore und Amiga<\/em>) str\u00e4ubte sich Commodore Deutschland gegen die Einstellung des erfolgreichen A500 und lie\u00df ihn in Braunschweig parallel weiterproduzieren. Die Engl\u00e4nder mussten den A600 und den A600HD (mit 20 oder 40 MB Festplatte) nehmen und verkaufen, da sie keine andere Wahl hatten. So sieht Einigkeit in einer Firma aus \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Strom,
Power, RF, composite, audio<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The reviews that followed were predictably critical: it wasn\u2019t any faster, it wasn\u2019t upgradeable, and the rest of the hardware offered no improvements in any key area \u2013 neither resolution, nor colours, nor sound. What\u2019s more, the A600 was Commodore\u2019s last home computer to feature a Motorola 68000 processor and an ECS chipset \u2013 just months later, the A1200, a 32-bit successor with AGA graphics, was released.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another shortcoming only became apparent when the case was unscrewed: unlike the A500, almost all the circuit board components on the A600 are permanently soldered in place using SMD technology; only the Kickstart ROM is still socketed. As a result, many classic A500 expansion modules simply no longer fit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then there was the oddity with AmigaOS 2.0 and the Kickstart ROM 2.05: \u2013 Version 37.299: no support for ATA and PCMCIA ports (drivers could be loaded from a floppy disc) \u2013 Version 37.300: hardware support, but hard drives limited to 40 MB \u2013 Version 37.350: hard drives up to 4 GB<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On top of that, some older, popular games did not work with Kickstart version 2.0 or later. This made the A600 unattractive to its main target audience \u2013 gamers. In Germany, only 193,000 units were sold, which was a ridiculously small number compared to the Amiga 500.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyone wishing to add extensions is limited to the few remaining interfaces: the trapdoor slot on the underside accommodates up to 1 MB of chip RAM (for a total of 2 MB of chip RAM), including an optional real-time clock, whilst the PCMCIA slot can hold up to 4 MB of Fast-RAM, a network card or, via an adapter, a CF card.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Amiga
Amiga 600 Seriennummer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Type plate and serial number<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

My unit bears the serial number M 185361<\/strong> and, according to the markings, was manufactured in the Philippines<\/strong> \u2013 one of four Commodore production sites for the A600 (alongside Irvine in Scotland, Braunschweig and Kwai Chung in Hong Kong). The marking \u2018Funkentst\u00f6rt n. DBP Vfg. 1046\/84\u2019 refers to Decree 1046\/1984 of the German Federal Post Office and indicates that the device was certified for the German market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anders als beim Amiga 1200, dessen Seriennummern-Schema von Petro Tyschtschenko dokumentiert wurde, existiert f\u00fcr den A600 keine \u00f6ffentlich belastbare Aufschl\u00fcsselung \u2013 das vorangestellte \u201eM“ ist vermutlich ein interner Werks- oder Chargencode, eine offizielle Bedeutung ist mir nicht bekannt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A well-known weakness: SMD electrolytic capacitors<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

As with many Commodore devices (and those from other manufacturers), the same applies here: replace the capacitors and remove the batteries, as these are highly prone to leaking. With the A600, however, this is a particularly sensitive issue: Commodore used SMD electrolytic capacitors extensively for the first time here \u2013 a type of component that, as is well known, begins to fail in the A600, A1200, A4000 and CD32 are known to start leaking after a good two decades. The leaked electrolyte corrodes solder pads and circuit tracks, which can lead to picture distortion, sound dropouts, unstable operation or, in the worst case, an irreparable motherboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike the A500, with its through-hole electrolytic capacitors which are more likely to dry out than to leak, you shouldn\u2019t wait too long with an A600. The usual approach these days is to replace the SMD electrolytic capacitors with ceramic capacitors (Kerkos), which, by their very nature, cannot leak. I sent my machine to a professional who took care of this for me \u2013 this laid the groundwork for subsequently giving the A600 a few proper upgrades<\/a> (GOTEK, Kickstart 3.1.4, eX601n, Indivision ECS V2, Furia EC020, AM-Sider).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My conclusion<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t actually think the Amiga 600 is that bad: it\u2019s compact, has an IDE interface and, thanks to PCMCIA, offers the option of retrofitting Ethernet, for example, or using a CF card for data transfer via an adapter. There are also a number of manufacturers today who offer all sorts of upgrades: turbo cards, memory upgrades, VGA ports, etc.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Die Idee, einen kosteng\u00fcnstigen Amiga zu entwickeln, existierte bereits seit 1988 bei Commodore. Bald wurde am A250 Game System gearbeitet, das aber wegen zu hoher \u2026<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24685,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1565],"tags":[682,4843,4737,4750],"class_list":["post-24469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commodore-amiga-600","tag-commodore","tag-englisch-verfuegbar","tag-hardware","tag-heimcomputer"],"wp-worthy-pixel":{"ignored":false,"public":"e2ebbaa50963436a9c303e10f00e2f70","server":"","url":"https:\/\/vg05.met.vgwort.de\/na\/e2ebbaa50963436a9c303e10f00e2f70"},"wp-worthy-type":"normal","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.jungsi.de\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Amiga-600-Oberseite-schraeg.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jungsi.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jungsi.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jungsi.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jungsi.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jungsi.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24469"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.jungsi.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24469\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42734,"href":"https:\/\/www.jungsi.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24469\/revisions\/42734"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jungsi.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jungsi.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jungsi.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jungsi.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}