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Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Hardware Issues and discussion => Topic started by: mchaggis on February 14, 2009, 07:36:19 AM
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Hi all,
I have an Amiga 2000, in the following config.
2 * A2091 SCSI cards both with 2MB RAM.
1 * A2058 RAM Board.
1* Lyra KB adapter.
I am experiencing the following problems with the A2000.
1. The machine resets intermittantly during use, sometimes not even when i'm using the keyboard or anywhere near it. Is the old machine haunted? Or possibly shorting out?
2. The A2058 will not show up on the list of devices, any hints?
3. The FDD's generate seemingly random read/writer errors; unreadble block xxx and somesuch. Is there a problem with all three drives, not likely DF0 is brand new from Amigakit.
I was going to redress the intermittant reboot problem by stripping and reseating everything, including physical motherboard mountings. Any other suggestions?
Is there known problems with the IDE (read equiv) controller on A2000's that I should look at?
Should I get a priest in to exorcise the old A2000? Who knows what happened to the previous owner???
Maybe the PSU is stuffed?
Any suggestions appreciated. As once it's stable I'm going to order a Buddha controller.
Cheers!
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Check your RTC battery, a leaking one can wreak havok on an A2000 board. I would say the PSU is quite possessed, there is one on eBay right now that might be demon-free. BTW, the Buddha IDE is a great investment, beats my GVP combo ATM. Good luck, gotta love these machines of steel, they have a different allure then your typical A500.
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The RTC has already been removed by the previous ghost.
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But was is a Holy Ghost? :angel:
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Nope, he was just an old Scotsman.
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I wouldn't rule out memory either, I had Workbench freezing problems until I replaced my memory. The odd part was I could keep working in what ever app I was using as long as i did not return to Workbench after 5 minutes of running the machine. :-? :-)
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Same here too !
1st : replace all caps in PSU
2nd : replace all caps on the mobo
3rd : désoxydate all chips on supports.
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I would try the following:
- clean out your powersupply (no dust/dirt)
- take out all the cards, boot workbench 1.3/2.04/3.1 (whichever) off floppy disk. see if machine crashes with nothing in it.
- if not then add 1 scsi controller. see if machine
crashes with nothing in it.
- if not crashing then add 2058 card. see if machine
crashes with nothing in it.
etc.
why do you have 2 2091 controller cards? you know only one is bootable other has to be disabled wiht jumper J2.
http://bboah.amiga-resistance.info/cgi-bin/showhardware_en.cgi?HARDID=1161
confirm all your jumpers.
We have ROM v 7.0 so email if interested (you need it with hard disks > 1 gb, plus it fixes many bugs in previous versions).
"2. The A2058 will not show up on the list of devices, any hints?"
- sounds like misconfigured system, bad jumper settings, or bad memory.
"3. The FDD's generate seemingly random read/writer errors; unreadble block xxx and somesuch. Is there a problem with all three drives, not likely DF0 is brand new from Amigakit."
you're a 3rd person I hear complain about Amigakit drives. could be that they didnt make them properly. anyway this isn't our problem since you bought it off them, they should support you in this problem. 8520 CIA chips might be old, but if they worked fine with another drive then get another floppy drive. we sold one few weeks ago:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190282050763
and these work fine (we still have a few left) as they all have been tested & converted properly. :-D
drop an email amiganospamatnishtekcom if interested.
Why bother with buddha? you got 2091 scsi and thats plenty enough, might be worthwhile investing in a accelerator board graphics, network card instead.
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try also using high density disk with the hole taped up. no dsdd disks.
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Hi,
The 'new' DFO drive from Amigakit was with the machine when I bought it; hadn't been installed by the previous owner, but was definately new/unused. So not being the direct purchaser from AmigaKit, it's not really there problem.
Interestingly enough, the external 1011 works alot more reliably than either of the internal drives. Does this offer any more clues?
Yes I am interested in some v7 ROMs for the A2091, and am only using two A2091's to increase the amount of available RAM, i don't intend to run both cards with drives on them.
Your v7 ROM's will come in handy, as I'm using a SCSI-III 10GB drive; and the A2091 miss reported it's size, but the machine isn't stable enough at the moment to give it a thorough test.
The Buddha was on the shopping list, because it allows me to attach IDE devices, including a CF card to replace the machanical HDD. I use a CF in my A1200; it's a very nice solution.
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I've had a closer look at one of the A2091's.
It uses the following two ROM chips:
- 3900722-02V6.6
So that doesn't explain why the 10GB drive was mis-reported; or *must* it be the v7 ROMS?
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I'm just using standard PC floppy disks with the hole tapped up; this used to work fine ages ago?
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The A2058 has no socketed RAM at all; only the board mounted stuff.
J1 and J2 are both closed.
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Interestingly enough, the external 1011 works alot more reliably than either of the internal drives. Does this offer any more clues?
That's normal/
Older driver got true "DD" head which are "larger" and have a better trackability than "HD" ones.
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true, if its not direct purchase from them.
Try using high density disks, tape up the other hole, and format using amiga os. you'll find it should work better.
private message send also. send me back the model or look at the bottom pcb to see whats on it. that may help me give you more hints. (i have several drives for sale that have been converted and i can use reliably).
about scsi-3 10 gb drive, thats why you need rom 7.0 :-)
no problem with buddha, just personally, i'd rather get graphics card, accel board. :-D
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The version 7 ROM fixes the following bugs in the 6.6 ROM
- >1GB HD support
- DMA reselection bug fixed
- disconnect/reconnect performance improved a lot
- Sync messages are handled
- Error handling improved
- Sync problems with Seagate/Syquest fixed
- Removable media recognition fixed
- Slow boot jumper now does a 15 second wait plus 300ms scan
http://bboah.amiga-resistance.info/cgi-bin/showhardware_en.cgi?HARDID=1161
try rom first. the other option would be to get the newer revision scsi chip mentioned here:
http://www.amiga.org/forums/showthread.php?t=38747
currently sold out, but if there's enough interest i may stock up on more inventory.
select the other 2091 to "not bootable".
JP2: Autoboot Enable
AUTO: Set to enable autobooting from the A2091.
DIS: Set to disable autobooting from the A2091.
the hangups could be due to larger hard disk, not properly recognized and not properly prepped (see other suggestions above also).
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i think only one of the 2091 drives (one that you use for booting) should be autoboot on. the other should be disabled. (its the jumper below the 4 rows of ram).
http://bboah.amiga-resistance.info/cgi-bin/showhardware_en.cgi?HARDID=973
only 8mb can be autoconfiged, unless you change the jumper. i assume you're under 8mb ram still? you should consider buying ram for 2058 board (i can check things up on that) if you don't plan on getting accelerator.
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if you use disks on one drive, i found they work just as well as on 1011 drive. I use high density disks (hole taped up) only on the pc converted drive and it works great.:-D
i don't use these disks on 1011 though. (no mixing disks between two drives).
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Interesting that you say not to mix disks between the drives. I'll reformat my disks using my A1200, copy across fresh ADF's and try reinstall WB3.1. We'll see if that solves my read / write errors.
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Zorro socket 1, seems bodgy. The A2058 is not recognised in it, but is recognised in socket 2. Although the RAM isn't shown in either socket, strange...
Both jumpers are on.
After some further fiddling with the A2058, there was oxydation on the jumpers and fully inserting the card causes problems, don't stick it all the way in!
When the machine starts up, I get a red Diagnositc screen with the following:
Board Manufacturer Product Status
1 514 10 Defective
From ShowConfig:
CBM A2052/58/10.RAM I 590/2091.RAM : Prod=514/10($202/$A) (@$200000 2meg Mem)
WorkBench does not report the RAM, although I can now see the card in ShowConfig, no closer to being able to use it though!
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here's another tip for you.
what software do you use when writing adf? [important question] write the adf using only the pc converted drive and do not use those disks on the 1011 drive. use only high density ones, wiht hole patched up. if you encounter bad disk, simply format using Amiga OS format command, and write the adf again. I stored my disks for several months and all of them can be read fine. (maybe my luck?) the pc drive and 1011 drive have different mechanisms.
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get Sysinfo on aminet.
to search for it use http://aminet.net/.
email us if you want an adf image. Use this tool diagnose how much RAM you have, expansion boards etc.
-------- cleaning the card and/or socket --------
clean the card 2058 and the socket 1 with QD Electronic Cleaner or similar. This is "precision cleaning solvent that cleans and protects sensitive electronic components and contacts. Instantly penetrates hard-to-reach areas to safely dissolve dirt, dust, grease, flux and other contaminants on contact" Use swabs or qtips to delicately remove stubborn soil. i'd recommend usng this before spraying and after. it contains methanol, hexane, isohexane, petrolum distillate, and carbon dioxide. allow time to dry your a2000.
http://www.autobarn.net/elcl45wtoz.html
or buy a head/tape cleaner from radio shack (also in spray can).
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ram board - j1 & j2 should be ON as you confirmed, you should have also 2 mb surface mounted chips. also, be sure the card is clean, not covered in dirt/dust etc. what revision is your amiga 2000 (6.x is desirable)
Remove the ramboard, do you still get the red screen message ? if not then the ramboard is defective or needs good cleaning (see above).
Last ensure you remove the battery on yoru A2000, and if its been removed, examine the battery area for "past time" leaks.
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Is someone here selling defective floppy drives converted from PCs? (They're defective if they can't interchange disks with other Amigas.)
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I use ADFBlizter on an A1200 to write out the ADF images.
After reading your ealier post, I have reformatted the erroring disks again using the A1200. I selected a full format, FFS and a Trashcan.
After writting out the new ADF's the disks seem to be behaving themselves; and I'll refrain from switch them between the PC converted AmigaKit drive and the 1011.
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@Iggy_Drougge
Not us. Anyway re-read the postings. :-P
We both discovered some disks usage issues, using the same disk in another drive, caused errors (eg disk created in pc converted drive to 1011 or FB354 drive). And the disk drives come from different sources.
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Transadf is another tool. it allows verifying anything written. (good for checking disk tracks.)
Thats exactly my findings as well - once the disks are formatted and done with adf tool they behave themselves on my end as well. I also found, that data was retained on disks only by using adf tool. copying files to disk, i found some data loss with some disks. no idea why. perils of pc converted drives?
Glad to see your results confirmed with my findings.
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OK, I'll pick up some solvent one day after work, might need to wait until the weekend though.
I'll DL SysInfo and see how that goes; but I bet it will be no better until the socket and board is cleaned up.
The battery has previously been removed, and it had started to leak; looks like it was caught early though, as there isn't much damage to either side of the PCB.
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This is the contac tcleaner most readily available; and it's sold near work
http://www.dse.com.au/cgi-bin/dse.storefront/499a81f808e4deb8273fc0a87e01071f/Product/View/N1072
Will it do?
The A2000 is a Rev6.2
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SysInfo recognises the presence of the A2058, even reports the right amount of RAM. Although WorkBench still doesn't see the RAM.
BUT when I press the "Memory" button,, SysInfo only reports the basic 1Meg. The RAM must somehow be being disabled due to the red diagnostic screen on startup.
TransADF lite and efficient, ADFBLitzer offered a GUI though...less typing, might stick with the ADFBlitzer.
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That cleaner should be ok also.
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Sysinfo should see the 2 mb on board of 2058. are you using kickrom 3.1? You may want to get the 2058 disk and run some memory checks. Could be that the memory got zapped or one or more of ram chips are bad. cleaning the sockets would be a good idea also. Did you point the problem strictly to 2058 board? (as in no red screen messages with the 2 2091 boards plugged in).
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Hi I've stripped and removed every chip on the A2000; cleaned the socket and chip with the spray solvent and reassembled.
The A2058, still doesn't work; looks like I've got a dud! It's now been tried in every slot with all other cards removed.
I'll go look for the A2058 disk, and see if I can just ignore to red error screen on start up.
I'm also using ROM 3.1 v40.063