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Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Hardware Issues and discussion => Topic started by: 10MARC on October 13, 2019, 04:27:58 PM

Title: Oktagon 2008 SCSI and AmigaOS 3.1.4
Post by: 10MARC on October 13, 2019, 04:27:58 PM
I just updated my A500 in a Checkmate 1500+ case from an A2091 SCSI card with 2 MB (Which was working fine) to my Oktagon 2008 SCSI with 8 MB of ZIP RAM. I have Amiga OS 3.1.4.1 with BestWB installed.
I seem to be getting occasional lockups and reboots with the new card that I was not really seeing on the A2091. Generally when hit the hard wre fairly hard with a graphics program, but sometimes when I do something simple like open a Shell.
I tested the RAM with John Hertell's DiagROM and it seems to pass OK. When it works, it works fine. SCSI is set up with Direct SCSI enabled, Max Transfer set, no long file names, and all partitions < 4 GB (Because my A2091 would not see anything larger, not sure about the Oktagon) Oktagon has version 6.8 of oktagon.device

SCSI Drive is a SCSI2SD with a 64 Gig card, divided into 4 - 4 GB partitions (Because of the A2091 limitations)

Anyone else using the Oktagon with 3.1.4 and had issues? Is it generally not compatible? I tried it for a while under 3.1 and it seemed more stable.

Title: Re: Oktagon 2008 SCSI and AmigaOS 3.1.4
Post by: guest11527 on October 13, 2019, 08:54:06 PM
I just updated my A500 in a Checkmate 1500+ case from an A2091 SCSI card with 2 MB (Which was working fine) to my Oktagon 2008 SCSI with 8 MB of ZIP RAM. I have Amiga OS 3.1.4.1 with BestWB installed.
I seem to be getting occasional lockups and reboots with the new card that I was not really seeing on the A2091. Generally when hit the hard wre fairly hard with a graphics program, but sometimes when I do something simple like open a Shell.
Anyone else using the Oktagon with 3.1.4 and had issues? Is it generally not compatible? I tried it for a while under 3.1 and it seemed more stable.
The oktagon is a very well-behaiving PIO-only adapter, which does not require any specific support from the operating system. Thus, no DMA issues, and nothing but autoconfig required to get it working. It is only the matter of the oktagon firmware itself to drive the disk, not the Os.

Thus, whatever you see, it would really really surprise me to see the Os or the oktagon as the source of the trouble. My best suspect is either SCSI bus termination (which is known to cause lockups) or the power supply. This sounds like a hardware issue to me.
Title: Re: Oktagon 2008 SCSI and AmigaOS 3.1.4
Post by: 10MARC on October 15, 2019, 05:00:32 AM
Thanks, Thomas.
When it works it works great, but it just causes random reboots usually when accessing the drive. I did try the Oktapussy driver from '98, but it did not seem to help. It supposedly replaces the oktagon.device with SCSI.device, and it does seem to, although "version SCSI.device" reports 45.7 which I think is the normal SCSI.device from 3.1.4.
I put my A2091 back in there and it works like a champ, but I miss my 8 MB of RAM!
I will try it again and see what I can do about Termination. The SCSI2SD has termination built in, but maybe it wants to see a real Terminator.
Thanks again for your advice.
Title: Re: Oktagon 2008 SCSI and AmigaOS 3.1.4
Post by: guest11527 on October 15, 2019, 06:50:10 AM
When it works it works great, but it just causes random reboots usually when accessing the drive.
If you see random reboots, then this is more an indicator of insufficient power supply. Note that all the power supplies are aging, and if you draw additional power - not only for the drive, but also for the RAM - then it is likely that the supply occasionally falls below a minimal required voltage to keep the system happy.
Title: Re: Oktagon 2008 SCSI and AmigaOS 3.1.4
Post by: 10MARC on October 17, 2019, 06:21:54 AM
This one is on Stephen Jones new Checkmate 1500+ case and has a 300 Watt power supply. Of course that does not mean that the A500 interface for the Zorro II slots is providing the correct power. It may not be.
I did reseat all of the RAM chips and it seems much more stable.