A3640 rev. instabillity

[Effy]

Assuming he uses V3.0 ...

"V3.0

This revision will not work in A3000's at all (unknown if this also applies to the A3000T and A4000T) because of a conflict with the DMA handling of the onboard SCSI controller and some Zorro cards. Although it will work with A4000's. A bug in the design allows the board to grant DMA access to more than one device, causing the machine to hang. There is also a problem with the STERM* signal that can cause sporadic crashes with some cards such as the Cybervison 64. The PAL or GAL chip located at U209 should be -01.

V3.1

This card works fine in general however it does have a bug related to Zorro II DMA that causes some cards like the GVP Phonepak to stop working, when installed in an A3000. The PAL or GAL chip located at U209 should be -02.

V3.2

No known problems. The PAL or GAL chip located at U209 should be -03."

[Effy]

"Apparently, C105, C106 & C107 were added as an afterthought. I can only theorize, but I'll bet that the engineer in charge of the A3640 passed the schematics by his senior engineer for approval. The senior engineer may have then suggested that a few more electrolytic capacitors be added for good measure."

Brain : that is indeed stuff for a horror tale  :-o