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Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Hardware Issues and discussion => Topic started by: thorrin on December 12, 2003, 06:02:50 PM
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OK, so I finally get another MB for the 4000 and pop in the PPC card. Nothing happens. I then go back and put in the 040/25 card and the amiga comes to life.
I forgot that I had to change jumpers with the PPC card, so I go back and change the clock jumpers (I think thats what they are) and put the PPC back in. Still nothing. Black screen of death.
I dont have the original instructions that came with the PPC card, but as far as I can remember, there were 2 jumpers under the processor card on the MB that had to be changed and that was it. Is there anything else? My amiga was running with the PPC when it died so the proper drivers were on the hard drive when I reconnected it. I hope this EXPENSIVE card isn't dead, but I read that the DCE cards had a bad run. I got this one in 2001.
Any ideas? Did I overlook something? Any chance to get this thing fixed or is it a doorstop?
-Thorrin
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Jumpers for card should be set to external it should then work .If the card is faulty then it can be repaired here http://www.amiga.fr/ (http://www.amiga.fr/)
I have not used them myself but they have been recommended by quite a few amiga users here for fast reliable service. :-)
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the two jumpers under the CPU card need to bot be set to "external". thats the only configuration you should have to do so the mainboard clock signal comes from the CPU clock. but as you have an 040 board, this is probably set already. is it the commodore 040, or something like a warp engine?
when you say black screen, does the keyboard capslock light flash? the floppy click?
take the simms out and only have the mainboard memory see what that does. ok it'll be dog slow, but it'll show if you have bad ram on board.
while the simms are off, are there any burn marks around the mach logic chips between the simm slots?
if you have the card out, give it a sniff, does anything smell cooked? have a look at the card. its a 6 layer board so if its warped some of the traces inside the card may be broken, does it look bent? i remember mine have seating problems (and was slightly crooked), so i ended up making my own mainboard standoffs to mount the thing with. no more problems having to reseat the card on the CPU slot.
pop the PPC heat sink off. is there any discolouration on the chip itself? does it smell "hot"?
another thing, with the machine starting from cold (and i mean temperature wise) and with the simms off, and that you have grounded yourself, do any of the chips on the board heat up REALLY quickly? if so, this could be a sign that the chip has gone byebye. this also works with memory aswell. sure all the chips on the board run warm, but i mean finger burningly hot after a few seconds.
and keep that PPC cool. i ended up mounting a Socket7 headsink and fan on there with heatsink paste, and 1mm studding. make a world of stability problems go away.
check its seated properly. mine occasionally squeezed itself slightly off the slot when first put in.
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Don't disregard your PPC card as dead just yet. The two clock jumpers must be set to EXT position. The card doesn't boot when those jumpers are set in INT.
Also, it could be that CSPPC makes bad contact, or not as good as A3640 with your motherboard's cpu slot. If possible, try testing your PPC card in another A4000.
2 things. It could be that your motherboard has a flakey fast slot connector and that affects the CSPPC, but is good enough for A3640, and it could also be that CSPPC comes with a flakey connector which just doesn't sit right when inserted in the CPU fast slot.
I hope that your card is fine afterall! :-)
edit:
Also, your card will not boot if the simms installed are not paired properly. Install a matching simm in ever other slot. For example:
0 -> 32MB Brand A
1 -> 16MB Brand B
2 -> 32MB Brand A
3 -> 16MB Brand B
Make sure to get matching simms for best results! The above rule is a must. Also, CSPPC needs some memory on it in order to boot. Remove motherboard memory and try booting just with CSPPC memory.
Try holding ESC on boot and see if you get the CSPPC early boot menu.
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Well, I have tried the card in 2 different machines... I will play around with it some more this weekend but if I cant get things going, I may have to send to France. Are they reasonable with their prices?
Again, the card DID work in my original 4000, but I turned it on one day and nothing. The new 4000 is having issues with the card too. Im thinking this is either a blown up card or a bent card not quite fitting properly.
I will check the keyboard lights and see whats going on there...
-Thorrin
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I hope its not dead, but the jumpers and even more so the RAM must be correct. The card wont boot if it has RAM on it that the card doesnt like.
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(oops... double post)
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Heh, funny thing. I got the PPC up last night and this morning I was typing my victory message on my amiga 4000, then it froze (ahh, the memories).
The PPC DOES work, but its one of those contact issues. It has to be in the slot juuuust right. Is this something that is common with these cards? Is it worth sending it to Amiga France?
BTW, I dont have those little white pegs on the MB that go under the card. Lol, maybe that has something to do with it :) I found one a little while ago, but thats it.
Almost there!
Thorrin
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mmm you need the white nylon pieces to keep the board firm... cyberstorms are quite sensible to that...
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>BTW, I dont have those little white pegs on the MB that go under the card. Lol, maybe that has something to do with it :) I found one a little while ago, but thats it.
They may be dearly needed; I was lazy and tried my CSPPC with just 2 and got constant crashes which disappeared as I bothered to install 2 more pegs.
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@zipper:
That probably has to do with the fact that the PPC-accelerators draw lots of power compared to normal accelerators and needs a perfect connection between the motherboard and accelerator which might not be the case with slightly tilted card.
/Patrik
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Well, if anyone has some of these white pins lying around, let me know... Im relieved that the problem was something simple like that... although I wonder if my old MB was ever dead!?
Ahh well, it gave me time to miss the Amiga and rekindle the fire ;-)
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@thorrin:
If you dont get hold of the original plastic spacers you could do something like what has been in these four pictures:
Bolted down CSPPC Picture 1 (http://amiga.org/gallery/index.php?n=387)
Bolted down CSPPC Picture 2 (http://amiga.org/gallery/index.php?n=388)
Bolted down CSPPC Picture 3 (http://amiga.org/gallery/index.php?n=389)
Bolted down CSPPC Picture 4 (http://amiga.org/gallery/index.php?n=390)
This is actually a better solution than using the original plastic spacers if done properly.
Good luck!
/Patrik
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I'm glad you've got your card working again. But reading this sort of thing, it makes me glad that I dont have to rely on hacks, kludges and old flakey hardware etc anymore now that I've got an AmigaOne. Just need OS 4.0 for it now.