Amstrad PCW 16 Troubleshooting Guide
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Amstrad contracted customer support for the Amstrad PCW 16 to LocoScript Software.[1] Most of the problems recorded by Amstrad staff, LocoScript Software and owners in the PCW press of 1996–1998 concern the flash-based operating system, discs and printers.
Start-up and lock-ups
[edit | edit source]| Symptom | Probable cause | Action |
|---|---|---|
| "Fatal Check Sum Error" at switch-on | The operating system or data in flash is corrupt, typically after a crash | Reload the system from the Rescue Disc[1] |
| Screen locks up and no key or mouse click responds | Software crash | Switch off at the mains and on again; if the machine then reports "Fatal Check Sum Error", use the Rescue Disc[1] |
| Machine appears to be off but wakes by itself | Standby; the PcW16 never switches off completely and wakes to sound diary alarms | Normal behaviour. Remove mains power to switch it off fully[2] |
| Faults fixed in later system releases | Early version of Rosanne | Check the version in the System Setup window. Releases included 1.04 and 1.11, and 1.12 was the last. Cliff Lawson of Amstrad put each release and the Rescue Disc FAQ on his web page, and 8BIT offered to copy them to disc for owners without internet access[3][1] |
A disc image of Rosanne 1.12 (BOOT112.CFI) is held on the Internet Archive.[4] John Elliott's ANNE emulator can install a system from a .CFI file instead of a physical Rescue Disc.[5]
Dates
[edit | edit source]The PcW16 stores years as two digits: it treats 80–99 as 1980–1999 and 00–79 as 2000–2079, and rolls over correctly into 2000. Tony Velate found that paging the Diary back past 1900 corrupted the display and locked the machine, and after switching off and on it reported "Fatal Check Sum Error" and needed the Rescue Disc.[1] Do not page the Diary calendar before 1 March 1900.
Discs and files
[edit | edit source]New discs are formatted in MS-DOS format. The PcW16 keeps long file names in a file, \PCW\CATALOG.TXT, which maps them to DOS 8.3 names.[6] In the file manager, Task+M switches off this special directory handling to read and write ordinary MS-DOS discs, and Task+R shows the hidden filename extensions.[7]
| Symptom | Probable cause | Action |
|---|---|---|
| PC cannot make sense of PcW16 file names | Long names held in \PCW\CATALOG.TXT | Use the DOS names, or switch the file manager to MS-DOS handling with Task+M[6][7] |
| Documents on an older PCW's 3-inch discs | The PcW16 has only a 3.5-inch drive | Every PcW16 contains half of LocoScript Software's LocoLink. Run the LocoLink for PcW16 software on the old PCW and link the two machines; the old PCW's disc then appears as drive B: in the PcW16's file dialogues. This works with LocoScript 1, 2 and 3 files; LocoScript 4 has an "export to LocoScript 3" option[1] |
| No room for more fonts | Flash full | A font takes about 120 KB. Deleting the help files frees room for about two more fonts[1] |
| Disc drive fails to read any disc | Dirty heads, failed drive | See Floppy Drive Repair; the drive is a PC-compatible 1.44 MB unit[8] |
Printing
[edit | edit source]| Symptom | Probable cause | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Printer does nothing at all | Windows-only printer | Printers that need a Windows driver cannot work with the PcW16; LocoScript Software reported that Dixons sold the Canon BJ150 with it for a while[1] |
| Long pause before the printer starts | Normal: the page is built in memory before it is sent | Wait; this is how the PcW16 prints[9] |
Display, keyboard and mouse
[edit | edit source]- Faint or blank picture with the machine running: check the contrast and brightness controls on the front before opening the unit.[8] The monitor is a CRT inside the display unit; see CRT Discharge Procedure before working on it.
- Mouse pointer frozen: the PcW16 uses a three-button serial mouse compatible with the Mouse Systems protocol. A replacement must be a serial mouse that supports that protocol.[2][8]
- Coloured function keys: F9 to F12 are coloured on the PcW16 keyboard, and the Diary and help refer to the keys by colour.[8][2]
Related pages
[edit | edit source]References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Brian Watson (ed.), "The PcW16 pages", 8BIT issue 19, May 1998, pp. 23–27, reprinting comp.sys.amstrad.8bit postings by Cliff Lawson (Amstrad) and Howard Fisher (LocoScript Software), April 1998, and Tony Velate's article for the Crawley PCW club. Scan at archive.org/details/8Bit-fanzine-19. Retrieved 2026-10-02.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Nathan Lineback, "Amstrad PcW16", Toasty Tech GUI Gallery. Retrieved 2026-10-02. Standby instead of full switch-off; wake-up for diary alarms; Rosanne 1.12; 16 folders in the flash cabinet; serial mouse.
- ↑ Brian Watson, "The PcW16 pages", 8BIT issue 17, July–September 1997, around p. 16, with replies from Cliff Lawson of Amstrad. Scan at archive.org/details/8Bit-17. Retrieved 2026-10-02. Versions 1.04 and 1.11; the latest OS and the Rescue Disc FAQ kept on his web page; why the screen is drawn as a 640 × 480 bitmap and the 16 MHz processor.
- ↑ Internet Archive, "Rosanne OS v1.12 for Amstrad PcW16", file BOOT112.CFI. Retrieved 2026-10-02.
- ↑ John Elliott, ANNE v2.5 documentation (Docs/anne.txt in the JOYCE 2.5.5 distribution), seasip.info. Retrieved 2026-10-02. PcW16 emulator; installation from a .CFI file rather than a physical rescue disc; 1 MB flash holding the system and settings.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 John Elliott, "The PCW16", seasip.info, updated 30 April 1999. Retrieved 2026-10-02.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Brian Watson, "The PcW16 pages", 8BIT issue 15, January–March 1997, pp. 12–13. Scan at archive.org/details/8Bit-fanzine-15. Retrieved 2026-10-02. Undocumented key presses in the file manager.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Mike Elliston, "The new Amstrad PCW16", 8BIT issue 9, Christmas 1995/January 1996, pp. 2–3, 7 and 11, and the reproduced Amstrad Direct catalogue page. Scan at archive.org/details/8Bit-fanzine-09. Retrieved 2026-10-02.
- ↑ Brian Watson, "At last, the PcW16 show", 8BIT issue 14, October–December 1996, p. 1. Scan at archive.org/details/8Bit-fanzine-14. Retrieved 2026-10-02.