A3000 - Cyberstorm MkIII problems

[AmireX]

Hi, yesterday I put a Cyberstorm MkIII 060/50 into my A3000 and strange things happened. If I start the machine without any Zorro card then sometimes :-( is starting up. But in some cases the power LED keeps half bright or I get a software failure (kick rom 3.1 crash's ??) two times I had a green boot screen (CHIP RAM Failure).

If I put my Ariadne I and Cybervision in the Zorro daughterboard then the power LED always keeps half bright and the machine is freezed. On the Cyberstorm card there is a SCSI UW controller (not connected).

On my A3000 motherboard is a Super Buster 07 (really old) but before the Cyberstorm MkIII I had a MkII 060/50 running in the same machine, with the same configuration What is the different ? Is it the integrated SCSI controller on the MkIII (and so the additional DMA request) ?

Here the whole configuration:

A3000 25 Mhz, 2MB Chip, 16 MB Fast, Kick 3.1 / 40.68
Board Rev. 9/03, 08 Onboard SCSI chip
Super Buster 07
INT2 modification
Ariadne I
2GB SCSI Quantum
CyberVision 64 (4MB)
Buddha IDE controller + 160 GB IDE

Hope anybody could help, best regards ReX

[AmireX]

Sorry, I forgot. The jumper settings are correct. This was my first mistake :-)

But the power supply could be weak. I'll try to check it.

[AmireX]

Does anybody know the real different between the Buster revisions (07 / 09 / 11).

My first idea was that the number of extension in the zorro slots and the additional SCSI controller of the CSMKIII (not so on the CSMKII) produce these strange effects.

It seems that the the machine is really instable. Without any card it boots up OFTEN but not EVER. Adding other expansions freezes the machine at boot time.  :-? Eject the CSMKIII everything is working well (after correcting the jumpers).

Tommorow I'll get an Super Buster 11 and will change the '07.

There is always hope  :-)

[AmireX]

alexh wrote:
Be careful when changing chips over. I think the Buster is a PLCC chip and the plastic that makes up the sockets gets brittle with age. ALWAYS use a real PLCC extractor tool (costs a few bucks).

Ok, I used the extractor and changed the Buster 07 to Buster 11, but no success. The problem still remains :-(

I also used complete other SIMM modules and configured 2 or 4 SIMM's ... no effect. When I switch back to my Cyberstorm MkII, everything is working well. I hope that the new CSMKIII is not defect !

There seems to be one more different between MKII and MKIII. For the MKII I don't have to change any jumper on the A3k motherboard. But for the MkIII I have to change 2 jumper positions (QUADCLK to EXT, BRDCLK to EXT). The other jumper (CPUCLK) is INT for both cards  Seems to me that they changed the whole design.

[AmireX]

Seems to me that they changed the whole design

I'm sure they had to for the Dual CPU / 233MHz clock rates.

Apparently the SCSI on the MKIII has to be terminated whether you are using it or not.[/quote]

Dual CPU mean PPC and 060 ? There is an empty PPC place on the card. Unfortunately I have no terminator for UW SCSI. I'm getting more and more crazy :-)

The reason why I try to run the MKIII is that in my A3k are to systems, AOS 3.9 and Amix on an extra hdisk. Amix is running only with 030 CPU and so I wanted to switch of the 060 via software and then reboot to amix. Up to now I had two A3k's running one with Amix, the other one with AOS 3.9. The MkII isn't switchable via software.

If anybody knows a trick how to switch of a CSMKII .. all my problems are solved :-) I tried to make the voltage regulator make switchable. But when you turn it of then the CSMkII is running anyway and takes the needed current via CPU Fast slot (so my theory ..)

One card isn'nt to stop, the other one wont run  :boohoo:

[AmireX]

Now I changed the power supply .. no success. Then build the card in my second A3k and ... (what do you think .....)

FREEEZE, CRASH,  BLINK    the complete program :-(

I contacted the seller now, hope he can help ..

[AmireX]

alexh wrote:
If you need anyone to test it independantly

If I were you, I would remove EVERYTHING except the accelerator.

Take out all the Zorro cards, all the hard drives, all the motherboard fast ram (as someone here said).

See if you can get it to boot to the KS screen. From there try and get some diagnostics on what version firmware it's got etc.

So I tested the whole time, empty A3k, no FAST MEM, no zorro cards, but the daughter board.

But now -----    TA TA TA   ---

It R U U U U U U U U U U N S   !!  :-)  :-)  :-)

YEEEEEP, I saw a lot of dust on the whole card and the contacts of the fast slot connector were brown under the varnish. So I cleaned first the contacts with spirit, then new varnish. The card runs more often  :-o

Then I cleaned the whole card with distilled water, moved the 060 out and in and then back into the A3k and voila ....

It runs stable now. Thanks to this fantastic forum. I learned a lot and now I know --- FIRST CLEAN THE CARD  :-D

[AmireX]

Do we have to discuss it here ?

I really need such a CSMkIII because this CS version is turnable off via BootRom Update and this feature I need to run Amix on the same machine (it needs the original 030 processor).

So it makes no sense for me to buy this card for 249 euro to try 3 days get it to run (my home was a big battle field, 2 opened A3k's and a lot of screws and cards and chips ...) and then sent it back to you for 200 euro and donate you 49 euro for playing with a supsect CSMkIII. I have a lot of other hobbies

I could sell it on eBay as a working card (as you say) but I have 100% positive rating ...

[AmireX]

x56h34 wrote:
There is a lot of reasons why this CSMKIII may be a perfectly working card, however not exactly with this user's A3000 system.

I strongly suggest that the following criteria is matched:

- 3.1 roms installed (I think this is not a compromise with A3000)

YES

- No devices installed on the motherboard SCSI

I removed everything except the daugtherboard. Complete FAST MEM, tried 2 different power supplies.

- INT2 hack is installed and verified to be working

Installed

- CSMKIII has proper memory installed (matching pairs must be used...it's best to simply get 128MB in terms of four matching 32MB 60ns simms)

Tried 128 MB and 64 MB with 2/4 pairs

- If you use SCSI devices on CSMKIII SCSI, the chain must be properly terminated (however I wouldn't install any SCSI devices on it until you manage to safely boot the system to the KS3.1 screen)

Not used.

- No ram on the A3000 motherboard other than 2MB chip ram

Done.

- Check if A3000 clock jumpers are set according to the CSMKIII manual.

Checked.

I think I'm getting an expert now :-)

[AmireX]

Effy wrote:
AmireX : "- If you use SCSI devices on CSMKIII SCSI, the chain must be properly terminated (however I wouldn't install any SCSI devices on it until you manage to safely boot the system to the KS3.1 screen)

Not used."

In other words the scsi is not terminated

There are no SCSI devices on the controller !! And to terminate an empty controller makes no sense.

There were spaces in the package to mount the card in the processor slot, have you used them

Have you pushed the card hard enough into the processor slot

I pushed it and the spaces worked well with my old Cyberstorm card.

And YES I moved the 060 few millimeters in an out with a plastic tool to recontact it. After I cleaned the card with DISTILLED water I used a fan to make it dry again. And it worked for a while after that.

What is your message Effy ? Your card is perfect, but you wont get it back ? I have destroyed the card while mounting ?

The card didn't work from the beginning. All I have done was  trying to get it to run. It dont make me happy to built in and out a stupid cpu card.


I think I lost my money ..

Anybody needs a perfect Cyberstorm MkIII with 128 MB RAM ?? (Maybe the card isn't working out of Belgium.)

Good luck with my money - Effy.

[AmireX]

@Framiga

Thank you .. I moved the 060 a little and hoped it helped but I didn't press it at while bootup.

I will try it :-)

[AmireX]

It's from Phase 5. And the quality of the board is really good. I have three other cards from Phase 5 (2 x Cybervision 64 and the other Cyberstorm MkII) and never had any problem.

[AmireX]

@ X-ray

Ok, I will check this. And your boot problems were solved with the right spacers ? I thougt they give only more stability to the card. But we will see :-)

[AmireX]

Ok, back again and the last night I hope. In the A3k case there are other spacers then in the A4k. The card should working also without these spacers. If everything is running fine once can fix the card with 2 screws. That's not the problem.

I pressed the card a little at different positions and found an interesting electronic part. Dont know exactly what it is, but maybe a temperature fuse. If I do some pressure on this element the card is booting. But it needs decent pressure. So the card is twisting a little and the contact problem could be elsewhere.

But anyhow .. the magic part is labeled with "150 PU90" and it's made of two metal parts on top of each other. It is in the near of the voltage regulator and a little diode is direct connected labeled "PH-".

So the card has a problem, because, if I put my finger on this metal all the time it boots up, so my hardware config is ok. But I have only 2 hands and need them both  :-)

How can I post a image ? Then I could show the special part.

[AmireX]

No success at all. The card has a contact problem or is incompatible in a special way with my A3k.

I GIVE UP - Thanks for the fantastic help and ..