Mediator 4000Di Help Please

[trixster]

Did you ever resolve this? I am seeing almost exactly the same problem with my Mediator 4000Di / Voodoo3 setup - clicking the voodoo monitor driver or picasso96prefs will crash the machine on 90% of occasions.

Using OS3.9 and BB2.

I've tried disabling the usual suspects (fblit, Ftext, mcp, icon.library etc) but still get the lockups.

[trixster]

I've finally managed to get my Mediator to work. The issue was some of the libraries I was loading with LoadModule - layers.library, graphics.library, utility.library and dos.library all from don_adan on eab. Removing those from my s-s solved the problem I was having with constant hangs when launching the voodoo monitor driver or loading Picasso96prefs.

I also noticed that my ratte monitor switch was not seated correctly as I was just getting a grey screen from picasso96prefs when trying to test voodoo screenmodes. That now works ok.

My machine has been running all weekend with zero issues, the Voodoo3, sb128 and Realtek NIC are always recognised fine, ZorRam 256mb zorro 3 card working with no issue. This is with the latest 3v 4000Di Mk III.

So my attitude has rapidly gone from "this kit is a load of old junk" to "it's completely amazing".

[trixster]

There is a library in libs:Picasso96/ witch is called picassolayers.library or superlayers.library or something like that! You have to rename or remove this library to use layers.library with loadmodule.... that should also solve your problem and you can use loadmodules again....

Good to know! I'll give that a test, although I'm happy just to leave the modified layers.library out as I suspect an rtg workbench doesn't require it anymore.

[trixster]

That could well have been the case. No issues now though.

[trixster]

There is still a layers.library. I was using LoasModule to load a patched layers.library which I have now removed. Any Picasso layers librararies remain in place.

[trixster]

I have a Mediator PCI 4000Di 3V MK-III Black Edition and have also been having similar issues that many of you are seeing.

The issues seems to be the 'bridgeboard" itself.  If I use the daughter board without the "bridge" all my zorro cards work.

With the bridge in and no card (zorro or pci) I can sometimes (oh 5% of the time) get the mediator to boot up.  when I put a radeon card in it can get it to boot 5% of the time with only 1-2% of the time were the radeon is recognized.

If I put my 128 meg ZorRam (uses 256 meg of zorro III space) with the bridge and no other cards (pci or zorro) 95% of the time I get a yellow screen, 5% of the time will it boot.

If I put in the zorram and a radeon card with the bridge (either configure with 512 meg space or not) I can get the amiga to boot 5% of the time with like 1% of the time were the radeon is recognized.

Busmastering has even been more of an issue.
Unfortunately I bought this to work with a crescendo 7200, and unfortunately have never seen it work in the A4000.  and yes the crescendo does work in my Mac 7200......:-(

For now I gave up and put the Prometheus back in the a4000 with a voodoo 3 and a ethernet card.

It might be worth sending it back to Elbox. I can confirm that a ZorRam card does work ok with a Mediator 4000Di III as I've managed to get my 256mb one working.

Have you tried a fresh installed of wb3.9 to try and rule out software incompatibility issues?

[trixster]

Did they intimate what might be the issue? Or have they offered to look at it or replace it?

[trixster]

When a number of different A4000s with varying setups all report the same problem it starts to seem less and less anecdotal and more like a genuine fault with the design of the product. There's a guy on the Facebook group with exactly the same issues you're both encountering. It's really rather odd. I'm lucky as I get the warm reboot issue only very occasionally (maybe one reboot in 15) so it's a non-issue for me; I guess it's just luck of the draw determined by the tolerance of your A4000 and the board you get from Elbox. I wouldn't be surprised if there's a 4000Di mk4 at some point (although my impression from Elbox is they aren't the quickest company to react to stuff).