Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Author Topic: about mobo's revisions..  (Read 1252 times)

Description:

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Amiga4k

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Join Date: Feb 2002
  • Posts: 300
    • Show all replies
Re: about mobo's revisions..
« on: November 27, 2003, 05:45:45 AM »
My most humble apologies for the length of this: EyeTech is source for the first part. The second part's source is a saved file off the net (2002).
**** I am not the author, nor liable for the content****

When the A1200 was designed there were - as is common in  designs of that complexity - some 'bugs' in the chip designs. Many  of these were corrected by the time the main production runs  started, but some were not, and in fact several bugs still remain in  the latest revisions of the AA chip sets.

   The main production board issued in the UK - Rev 1.D.1 - had  onboard provision for hardware workarounds to fix the main bugs,  notably bus timing problems in the Gayle and Budgie chips. In  general these boards work fine with most combinations of  expansion hardware and are the boards which we use to test  A1200 expansion products on before shipment.

   The later revisions of motherboards - particularly the revision 1.D.4 and 2.B are a different story however. These boards revisions were  designed to take corrected versions of the Gayle and Budgie chips -  and therefore were designed without provision for the earlier  hardware workarounds. However, revised versions of the custom chips were never produced and as a consequence all but a few of  the last of the AT/Escom manufactured motherboards were shipped  without either bug-free chips or hardware workarounds.

   In general these 1.D.4 & 2.B defects only make themselves felt  when the A1200 is expanded by the addition of an '040 (or above) accelerator, high performance IDE hard drive/CDROM  subsystems, Zorro slots or I/O expanders (PortPlus etc). Often any  one such accessory will work, but two or more will not work in combination. Typical symptoms are an accelerator exhibiting  instability problems, a graphics card failing to be recognised or a  CDROM failing to show disk icons.

   In response to these problems, and in conjunction with Amiga  International, Eyetech has developed a set of hardware  modifications applicable to 1.D.4 and 2.B motherboards. These  modifications bring the 1.D.4 and 2.B boards up to 1.D.1  specifications and result in the correct and stable operation of the A1200 with most permutations of performance-enhancing accessories. If you send us your A1200 motherboard (on its own or  in its metal shield - but not in the A1200) we can undertake these  modifications for a fixed charge of £30 + return carriage. Alternatively we can make the modifications and fit and test your accessories at the same time - please ring for details
.
Second part of my "saved files":

Okay, due to popular demand I have decided to do a full post on fixes for A1200 problems with some expansion slot hardware.  This takes moderate technical knowledge.  I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY HARM THAT MAY COME TO  YOUR COMPUTER FROM PERFORMING THIS MODIFICATION.  This modification comes direct from Commodore Engineering on Jan 21, 1994.

Text follows:

BOARD REV. 1D.4

   -Budgie Rev -01

      Remove E123C and E125C from the A1200 motherboard

   -Budgie Rev -02

      Remove E123C and E125C from the A1200 motherboard
      Remove XR358 470 ohm pull-up resistor
      Add 470 ohm pull-up resistor at pin 43 of U2 (ie Alice)

BOARD REV. 2B

   -Budgie Rev -01 and -02

      Remove E123C and E125C from the A1200 motherboard
      Add 470 ohm pull-up resistor at pin 43 of U2 (ie Alice)
      Change R118 from 470 ohm to 220 ohm

To find your Budgie Rev, look at the end of the C= part number. It should be something like 365xxx -01 or -02.  That's the revision.
Won\'t hide my location.
"I know if you have been good or bad!"