GVP Spectrum defective - replacement advice?

[Matt_H]

At the very least, try gently cleaning the card edge pins of the Spectrum and try it in a different slot. Maybe it’s just a bad connection. And I’ve had other Zorro boards report as defective when they actually weren’t due to a separate hardware issue. And if you do give up on the card, don’t throw it away. I’m sure someone will want it for parts/repair.

As far as replacements go, I believe the ZZ9000 is the only graphics card that can currently be bought fully assembled. A few others are available as kits. Otherwise you’re looking at the second-hand market.

[Matt_H]

I agree with others above that the problem was your Zorro II bus being maxxed out.

As for the 9-pin adapter cable, it's for passthrough if you want to run the Spectrum and native Amiga video on the same monitor and autoswitch between them. If you want to run Amiga native modes on a 1084 (or similar) and Spectrum modes on a VGA monitor you don't need the adapter.

[Matt_H]

Thinking about it, Spectrum cards are a bit long in the tooth, caps maybe?

Chris

From what I can tell looking at the card, the caps are not the failure-prone electrolytic kind. So while it’s possible, I think it’s unlikely they’re the failure point. This looks like a software config problem now.

[Matt_H]

*Something* is still open on your Workbench screen. It could be AmiDock, it could be a Shell, it could be a clock utility, it could be DOpus, it could even be an AppIcon on the Workbench. Make sure absolutely everything is closed.

Or, hit Save instead and reboot. Workbench will boot up in the mode you selected. This can be risky if you haven't tested the modes yet.

[Matt_H]

Ah ha - thanks.  It was ClickToFront.

As far as I'm aware, that's not possible. ClickToFront doesn't create a window. It must have been something else. Great that it's working now, but be prepared to encounter that message again in the future.