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Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Hardware Issues and discussion => Topic started by: Chartus on January 07, 2014, 06:48:46 AM
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I have a rev 5 A500 that works great until I plug in the ACA 500. No boot, black screen and no power light on the computer. Cntrl amiga amiga results in the screen flickering and I get a white screen most of the time. An infrequent yellow screen and just once I got a purple screen. Take out the ACA 500 and everything works. I have another A500 MB (rev 5) that I tried with the same results.
Is the Rev 5 MBs incompatible with the ACA 500
By the Way one has V2.05 kickstart and the other has v1.2
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Rev 3 and below is incompatible. Can't find any info on supported internal KS version. Contact your supplier.
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I have a rev 5 A500 that works great until I plug in the ACA 500. No boot, black screen and no power light on the computer. Cntrl amiga amiga results in the screen flickering and I get a white screen most of the time. An infrequent yellow screen and just once I got a purple screen. Take out the ACA 500 and everything works. I have another A500 MB (rev 5) that I tried with the same results.
Is the Rev 5 MBs incompatible with the ACA 500
By the Way one has V2.05 kickstart and the other has v1.2
I've an A500 Rev5 + ACA500 (Firmware V081). I had some problems to run the card but I adjusted the card by moving it into the slot (Power off). Make some tests with swapping your PSU & try to clean your A500 connector!
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Sounds like a power problem. Try with a different PSU, also make sure the edge connectors are clean.
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It was the same power supply I used for both boards when I tested the ACA . I have cleaned the edge connectors and I think they are clean enough for it to work.
I guess I will wire up another power supply and give it a try. Right now I am using an AT power supply out of an old IBM PS1 computer. Never had any native Amiga power supplies for any of my machines.
I have a new AT power supply. Just need to find it.
Thanks for the suggestions. I welcome any more thoughts anyone might have. We are here to learn.
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DOA unit is also always possible.
ACA500 is not really well ESD protected :) being in the open like that.
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Finally got around to trying a new power supply. Wired up a new ATX power supply and turned it on. Nothing....black screen....same as before. Started tapping the numlock key. The light turned on and off about six times and then stayed off. I think I read somewhere that this indicates a bad CPU. I unplug the ACA and the computer works fine.
Do you think that the CPU is bad or might it be something else. I did notice that some of the solder points that hold the edge connector on are less than perfect. I think they are making contact though.
The power Led does not light up with it installed if that's is any help[
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I did notice that some of the solder points that hold the edge connector on are less than perfect. I think they are making contact though.[
Got a pic? doesn't sound very good.
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Look at this .http://www.amiga.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=3428&stc=1&d=1389508427
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You know looking at the pictures I just took. I would be embarrassed to sell something that bad. Need better quality control.
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Oh, its through hole that just hasn't wicked through... That isn't so bad ;)
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You think if I reflow the pins if it would help. Not looking forward to sending it back. It looks Ok on the other side. I think I will see if any of them are loose. Looking at it closely I count 6 or more pins that are like that.
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If it hasn't wicked through, its probably because there's a ground plane on the top layer, or even on an internal layer.
So most times, simply reheating it, and even adding more flux to the top side won't help, unless you're using a hotter/higher wattage iron, or applying the heat for longer.
Its not impossible that the through hole plating is missing... but have a closer look at the top side to see if all the pins that didn't wet through are on the ground plane ;)
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I think I might want to skip that. Thats how I got into trouble with my A600. I got it working again but its not pretty
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pics? lol
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A few thoughts:
- My advice is not to complete any rework on the ACA500 unless you are happy with voiding its warranty and potentially ending up with a broken board that cannot be returned regardless of why it's faulty. If you have problems it would be best to talk to AmigaKit (I assume that's where you bought it?), who will be able to advise further.
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- Regarding the 'suspect' solder joints, these are through-hole joints and will be plated through. As long as there is a sound joint on the top-side then an electrical connection is made and you can rule this out as being the cause of any fault.
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- The fact that the power LED goes off suggests a power problem. Either a problem with your supply in terms of its ability to supply current, or a short circuit on the 5V rail when your expansion board is connected. The third pin down on the expansion edge connector is VCC. Also you can get to VCC via pin 4 of the 8-way keyboard connector. With the ACA500 disconnected I would measure the resistance between VCC and ground. Then plug in the ACA500 and, without applying power, try to measure between VCC and ground again. This might help you determine whether a short circuit condition is being applied to the edge connector.
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- You could also try measuring the voltage at VCC with the ACA500 disconnected and the Amiga powered ON. Then connect the ACA500, power the Amiga ON, and measure VCC again. It would be interesting to see what's happening to the 5V rail. I kind of doubt that it's being completely shorted to ground because then I wouldn't expect the CPU to be able to run ANY code, and I guess it is at least running its self-test because it's reporting errors to you via the coloured screens.
Out of general interest:
The power LED should illuminate immediately as the 5V is applied. The only control that the Amiga exercises over the power LED is a switched dimming of the LED which it uses for error reporting. Otherwise, as long as 5V is present and the keyboard is plugged in, you should have some kind of power illumination. The only condition under which the power LED does not illuminate at all is a problem on your 5V rail.
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Only the later revisions dimmed the LED. The earlier versions turned it off instead. In this case, it's starting up but crashing before it's turned on the power LED. If he had no 5V, he would have no display at all and the Caps Lock light wouldn't work.
It's a CPU problem. probably a bad connection stopping the CPU connecting to the motherboard, so it's waiting for the chipset to acknowledge, and it's never happening so it's stuck waiting all the time.
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I just started a return authorization ticket with AmigaKit. Looks like I will have to wait another month or 2 before I can enjoy my 500.
I hate floppies.
Oh yeah... no pics of my A600 ....well maybe...hmmm... no
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Have you tried without Kickstart on the motherboard?
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Only the later revisions dimmed the LED. The earlier versions turned it off instead. In this case, it's starting up but crashing before it's turned on the power LED. If he had no 5V, he would have no display at all and the Caps Lock light wouldn't work.
It's a CPU problem. probably a bad connection stopping the CPU connecting to the motherboard, so it's waiting for the chipset to acknowledge, and it's never happening so it's stuck waiting all the time.
That's good information - I didn't know that! :hat:
For my understanding, would this be the model that had the red power LED? I never owned one of those. My A500 has a green power LED, the same as the A500+.
In light of the information you have given I agree; it sounds unlikely that this would be a problem on the 5V rail.
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It will almost certainly have a red LED, yes. My first A500 was like this :)
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Yes both of my A500s have the red power led. Probably a higher number of 500s in the US are earlier versions in comparison to the EU versions.
I wish I could get an A500+ MB
I read that you could take out the Kickstart chips and it would still boot. I might try that just for kicks.
I think the bad solder job with the edge connector is probably not the problem it's just not something you like to see when you get a new part.
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I am reporting the exact same issue on my ACA500 - i am running A500 Revision 5 mobo. I have a ticket open with Amiga kit but they are just telling me to clean the connectors. I have done that of course but it does not work - i get the exact same black screen as what you are experiencing. It wont boot.
Now whats interesting is i can get to the boot screen if i attach an ACA1232 but most of the time it wont boot to CF and locks up. Right now my ACA500 is rather worthless. The ACA1232 is working incidently as its been tested in my A1200.
Incidently my solder joints are horrible also - it looks like it was hand soldered and could be a refurbed unit. Here is what mine looks like.
(http://i.imgur.com/vOW3js8.jpg)
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They told me to clean my connecters also. I tried with an eraser but it didn't have any affect. I will make a trip to Austin on Friday an pick up some chemical cleaner and try that. I really don't want to ship it back because that would be a pain.
You have a A1200 . Why are you messing with an A500
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I know it works without the ACA connected, but have you re-seated the socketed chips inside the computer? Simply giving them all a firm push until they stop making "crunch" noises is usually enough.
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Glad I opted out of buying one of these. I always thought it was sub-par performance, but owning a rev 5 motherboard, I'm glad I avoided it, all together.......
Sorry for you people that got duped into buying one.
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I was looking forward to using my 500 and have a little extra speed. Too bad it doesn't work with my rev 5 MB.
oh well...I guess I will start working on my second A600. I need to replace all of the caps on it.
ACA 500 goes back in the box. I might get another MB if I can find a later revision.
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I can pretty much confirm the a500/rev5 compatibility problem. I have 3 rev5's and none of them work with the aca500... They all work with other side expansions and have perfectly clean connectors.
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I looked on the BBOAH site and I found out that mine is a rev.5 type 2
I think. That picture matched my MB layout. Commodore made some weird tweaks to the MBs
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yep, ive tried everything here
- eraser
- IPA board cleaner
- Reseated all chips
as for why? Well i have an Indivision ECS and an ACA1232 board. I wanted to implement Indivision ECS chunky mode in my ports. Looks like ill be waiting a while before that happens now :\
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Was this ever resolved? I just got my ACA500 and the same thing is happening. When I flip the power switch the caps lock light comes on for a second then turns off. No screen flicker or anything, power light never illuminates.
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Nope, still doesn't work with NTSC Rev 5. Rev 6A works fine though.
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Yep, the ACA500 does NOT work with NTSC Rev 5 boards. Works on NTSC rev 6+. It does seem to work fine with PAL Rev 5 boards though. Jens was unaware of this issue and is now looking into it.... He just bought a Rev 5 NTSC motherboard to figure out the problem...
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I had the same problem with mine. Rev 5 NTSC. Black screen. At the end I sent it back to Amiga Kit and got credit. They tested the board on arrival and it worked. I am guessing it works on Pal A500s not NTSC.
Got an IDE controller instead and Kick 3.1. more work but just as happy.
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Doh! My A500 is NTSC Rev 5 and no go either with my new ACA500. Wonder how hard it would be to source a Rev 6 motherboard...
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Doh! My A500 is NTSC Rev 5 and no go either with my new ACA500. Wonder how hard it would be to source a Rev 6 motherboard...
If you are willing to use eBay and expand the search to include "Worldwide" you'll usually find several at least. I recently picked up 2 from the UK.
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The same here , My Aca 500 on my 500+ Ks 2.0 dont boot the aca menu' some time i have a guru , without the CF installed i have purple screen and after black screen.
With CF installed i can run games and workbench from FFD , i had been run sysinfo and the ACA cpu is running 68000 14mhz little faster than an a 1200.
I can use only the ks 2.0 from the machine and not the 3.1 on the aca.
I have a cabletronic psu it is working great i had been clear the traces on my a 500 expansion and have the same result.