Amiga.org
Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Hardware Issues and discussion => Topic started by: x56h34 on February 26, 2004, 05:05:26 PM
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I have a basic 040/25Mhz, no SCSI, rev.0 BPPC card which I'd like to be able to use with G-rex 1200, but as G-rex requires a rev.2 BPPC, I am stuck. I don't plan to send it to DCE, but I was thinking if someone in Germany living close to them would be kind enough to do a walk-in upgrade for my card for a fee? It shouldn't take long, as this is a firmware flash upgrade and not an actual hardware modification, but strangely it can only be done at DCE and not by yourself like when flashing a regular firmware.
I basically already have all the parts necessary for an A1200T system except my BPPC is not rev.2 :-(
Let me know if somebody can help.
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deleted
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"Hi, can you reflash this board for me while it's attached to my wrist by handcuffs?"
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I need a favor....
You mean you *would like* somebody to do you a favour...
:-)
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I thought you were going to organize a small formal visit with others, with baseball bats and such.. but nah.. nevermind...
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So Framiga when are you gonna __do something about it__ instead of whining here all the time ;-)
How many cards of yours do they have and for how long time did they have them?
Are you not able to get ANY contact with DCE or do they just not keep their promises?
Have you asked them to get your stuff back repaired or not, or accepted to wait until they can repair it?
Hope you will get it back working, and soon!
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Anyone got a BlizzardPPC card (repairable) laying at DCE they want to sell cheap?
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@Troels_E
You got a point but three years ago most people didn't knew of the time they kept the cards, and probably they were serviced faster..
What they do is like keeping them! On worst case they should have warned the users of the time it could take.
I can't believe some people havn't yet gathered and sued them cause that's what they deserve after they kept doing it for all this time. Or maybe some european consumer protection in germany can help...
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Hi Troll-
by Troels_E on 2004/2/27 5:13:20
So Framiga when are you gonna __do something about it__ instead of whining here all the time
How many cards of yours do they have and for how long time did they have them?
Are you not able to get ANY contact with DCE or do they just not keep their promises?
Have you asked them to get your stuff back repaired or not, or accepted to wait until they can repair it?
Hope you will get it back working, and soon!
mhhh!!! are you asking me if i've done something about?
Take a look HERE (http://www.amiga.org/forums/showthread.php?t=2633) and HERE (http://www.amiga.org/forums/showthread.php?t=6168)
How many cards?
n.3 Cyberstorm PPC+060 (new DOA) DC50293 DC50146 DC 50342
n.1 Cyberstorm PPC+060 used (PhaseV) under warranty repair DDC0248
n.2 Cyberstorm PPC+040 (new DOA) DC50151 DC50108
n.1 Blizzard PPC/060 (used needs to reflash the Bios ) HAA0033
n.1 Blizzard 1230 IV (new DOA) s.n. 212
n.1 Cyberstorm MK3 060 (new DOA) DC114
No answer to my dozens and dozens of mails and phone calls too.
Ron Van Herk (Palpatine) helped us with the contacts to DCE and thanks to him (Genesi) we've got 1 board back repaired (was new DOA) a SCSI IV module.
As you can see, the most of the cards are NEW and DOA. DCE claimed not repareable.
It is enough?
Ciao
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Hi Framiga
Was just teasing you in the other post, I have read (and commented i believe) the other thread and am aware of you trying to get the cards back.
But to be honest I still don't think you have done enough, considering the many cards DCE still have that belong to you.
Maybe you're just more patient than I would have been in the same situation.
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@x56h34:
How does one know what revision that "basic" firmware is?
/Patrik
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There is a file called "boardtype" that reports firmware revision. Revision 0 is the most common revision and it does not work if used with Grex 1200. Revision 2 is the rarer version that works with Grex 1200 and adds better compatibility with Bvision as well and gives BPPC overall better power management (e.g. no need to provide extra power to the motherboard floppy connector because your Bvision is crashing the system).
There is no physical differences between revision 0 and 2 BPPC cards, but the only difference is that the firmware/logic is a bit better in rev 2 cards. This doesn't concern the flash-rom update which you can download and update your card with. No, this is a special update that can only be done at DCE. If I understand correctly, they attach it to their "update machine" through the Bvision connector and from there apply the update.
Boardtype can be obtained from here (http://grex.amigaworld.de/daten/boardtype.lzh).
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@x56h34:
What happens if you attach a Grex 1200 to non rev 2 board? Does it just not work or can it harm the BlizzardPPC?
/Patrik
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patrik wrote:
@x56h34:
What happens if you attach a Grex 1200 to non rev 2 board? Does it just not work or can it harm the BlizzardPPC?
/Patrik
In my case, as soon as I turned on the power, the chips on the G-Rex immediately got very hot and there was a burning smell, and the hot glue on the G-Rex melted.
The BPPC (rev. 0) survived, but the A1200 motherboard was toast.
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Acill wrote:
Good luck getting it done even if you find someone living close to DCE. If you look at the DCE site they have removed all trace of anything Amiga from it.
Will anyone else ever do a production run (even if limited) of 060 accelerators?
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Acill wrote:
If you look at the DCE site they have removed all trace of anything Amiga from it. That includes all the downloads for drives as well. They have basicly cut off all relations and want nothing to do with the Amiga any longer.
Hmm, then I'll seriously look about reconsidering my Blizzard PPC order which I was going to do the next week. Since I will get no support at all, and the manifacturer abandoned the Amiga, I better look for the AmigaOne then.
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Downloads are still there, just not linked anymore.
http://www.dcecom.de/downloads.html
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@patrik:
Well, there are different reports from different people on what "may" happen. Lempkee for example wouldn't touch a Grex with a 10 foot pole, no matter what revision the BPPC card is. :-) I used a Grex with a rev 2 BPPC fine for about a year, before I sold it. Rev 0 card cannot work with a graphics card inserted in Grex, with the latest Grex flashrom 2.2 (the old 1.x should work, however it is vastly inferior performance wise). There's a Grex yahoo group that answers all of these questions.
@Acill:
It was successfully done, believe it or not. BTW, this is an oooold thread and patrik somehow dug it up again. :-)
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Ok, you got me scared. DCE whiping all traces of their amiga activities would mean my ordered flicker fixer at vesalia will never be produced :-(.
A little bit of hope for me since at dce's site they still link to plenty of amiga related sites. Even vesalia is listed. So they didn't wipe all their traces.
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@ Framiga
Sorry to hear DCE still has all those boards. Do you think you will be successful if you go there yourself and demand them back? I mean that is a lot of stuff they've taken, if it was mine I would go.