ACA1221 Fitted Now no boot from CF HDD

[RSwipe CA]

Hi all.

I have an A1200 that I recently fitted a CF HDD to, that has many games and programs including WHDLoad.  Here's a link to the actual one I bought ....

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/272429590324?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT


Anyway, it works great and I can see the drive partitions on the CF Card loaded with games and demos etc. Now, when I try to play any of the games or demos the system refuses to load any, saying that I have insufficient memory or words to that effect. My 1200 does not have a memory expansion fitted. So I bought an ACA1221 from Individual Computers, link here...

http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1251

I fitted the accelerator, and it is operational as far as I can tell. But, now when I switch on the computer it doesn't boot from the CF HDD any more. It just sits there with a black screen. If I switch it on with a Workbench disc inserted it will boot from the floppy no problem. If I remove the Accelerator it will boot from the Workbench file on the CF HDD once again.

What am I missing here guys, all I want to do is play some games lol!
 
Did I do the wrong thing buying the Accelerator? It has onboard memory so I assumed that would fix my issues with the programs on the CF HDD and give me a little performance boost at the same time.

Any input would be very much appreciated.

[RSwipe CA]

I can't think of anything obvious.  Does the CF card appear in the early start menu or when you boot Workbench from the floppy?

I'm not sure what you mean by 'early start menu', sorry im a bit of a noob.

 The Amiga had an 80mb traditional mechanical hard drive in it. It worked fine. I replaced it with the CF HDD that has Workbench 3.0 already on it. Without the ACA1221 fitted in the trap expansion port the Amiga will boot directly off of the CF HDD into WB3.0 and work perfectly. I do not need a WB floppy unless I fit the accelerator, the only way I can get to the 'desktop' if the accelerator is fitted is by using a floppy to boot from. If I don't insert a WB floppy when the accelerator is fitted, the Amiga won't boot, it just shows a black screen. I have waited to see if anything happens but nothing does.

[RSwipe CA]

Ok Guys, just got back from working away. Thanks very much for all your help so far.

I read all of your comments, and can now get the machine to boot from the CF HDD even when the ACA1221 is fitted. Once at the desktop I see all my drives and files. Games/files run perfectly. It is still not right though, as I cannot get it to work 'automatically'. I will try to explain. Please see the images they may help you understand what I don't LOL.

http://www.dropshots.com/RSwipeCA/date/2016-12-09

If I switch on the Amiga whilst holding both mouse keys I can go to the boot options screen (please see the image). If I select DH0 it will boot to the desktop. If I reset I have to go back and reselect it again, I am guessing it doesn't remember the previous setting. Also, sometimes by holding the mouse buttons on startup it will got to a different screen ( the picture with 'Max-Mem Sequence' options listed). Out of those options if I select 'Reboot' it will boot straight into desktop and everything is perfect.

If I select 'Boot with no startup sequence' I get the Amiga DOS prompt screen as shown. It doesn't go to the 'Tick' screen.

Also, there was mention of adding  a '-p' to slow the system down in order for it to have time to boot from the right drive. How/where to I go to add that '-p'?

I will admit I'm a bit lost here, I assumed adding the accelerator would have no effect on the booting of the system. If I have to hold the mouse buttons down each time I boot in order to select 'Reboot' from the Max-Mem box to get to desktop, then so be it. But I am guessing that shouldn't have to be the case.

I hope this, plus the images makes sense to you guys.

Thanks again.

[RSwipe CA]

@RSwipe CA

Can you get it to boot to the Workbench again (desktop) please. Then hold down the right mouse button to access the top left menu (Workbench) then select 'Execute Command'. In this box that appears type:

multiview s:startup-sequence
(if the above doesn't work, type 'sys:utilities/multiview s:startup-sequence' instead)

Then press return. This should display the first screen of this file. Can you take a photo of it for us? Then we'll be able to see what needs to be changed to add or amend the ACATune command. Might as well scroll down a bit too so I can check the rest of the file (you might need to take two or three photos depending on its length).

Ok here you go, the images are in reverse order for some reason.....

http://www.dropshots.com/RSwipeCA/date/2016-12-10

Thanks for your help so far.

[RSwipe CA]

Did you set the Maxtransfer value to 00x1fe00 in HDToolbox for every partition?

When setting the maxtransfer value doesn't help, then you need to do timing fix on the A1200 motherboard.

I didn't set any maxtransfer values, it is set up as it came.

I'm out of my depth here lol.