A4000D rebooting after Early Startup, but otherwise normal.

[slaapliedje]

So I've ran into this odd issue.  Firstly, I ordered a ZorRAM card (128MB) and it seemed to not like my Mediator 4000Di.  The tech support from Amigakit suggested I pull out the Mediator and test it without any other cards in (I am assuming they meant for me to put in my original Busboard, since... well you know I don't have any Zorro slots on the actual motherboard..., but they did not specify.)

Regardless, once I put that in, I couldn't actually get back into the Early Startup long enough to click the button for Expansion Diagnostics.  As soon as that screen comes up, the screen goes black and the hard drive light flashes, but then the screen turns off saying there is no signal.

I have an Indivision AGA in it, with it connected to an LCD monitor.  The Mediator 4000Di itself has a Radeon 9250 and a 10/100 Network card.  

The oddest thing about all of this... it boots up just fine and works as it always has.

The stranger thing is that it seems when I put the mediator back in, but didn't have the bracket on top yet (I was testing things) it seemed to work, but then when I put it on, and started putting everything back in, it again has the same issue, where the Early Startup freaks out the system, yet it still loads up workbench just fine.

So it's almost like somewhere there is a solder joint that isn't quite what it should be.

I did notice when going over my system and seeing if anything was loose, that there is a 50.000Mhz chip just like the one on the A3640 board underneath it that seemed to not be entirely connected (one of the corners was up, rather than it being flat against the board).  I had no clue the system had two of those, I thought that was the crystal that needs to be twice the Mhz of the actual chip.

I also ended up reseating the Chip and Fast Memory, 'cause it had looked for a moment that I had only 8MB of the 16MB working.  I thought that initially had fixed it.  

Anything else I should / could check out?  I did apply some pressure to the ROM chips, but it didn't seem to help, and they were in there pretty solidly.

slaapliedje

[slaapliedje]

No progress yet.  I did leave the Amiga on all day at 1024x768 through the Radeon, and it didn't crash.  It's almost as if the ROMs themselves are messed up.  I did have some weird coloring on the Indivision output once, but I moved the VGA cable around, and that fixed it.  The Indivision is on there so tight I was afraid it would snap if I tried to pull it off to reseat it.

slaapliedje

[slaapliedje]

Quick update, seems it definitely I'd something between the mediator and the zorro slot.  Occasionally it doesn't detect any of it.  Of I do a soft reset, it is detected, and then a soft rest again with both mouse buttons pressed, Early Startup works.  Weird...

slaapliedje

[slaapliedje]

So in part of my tweaking things, I had put on some Arctic Silver 5 on my CPU.  At first it felt like the heatsink wasn't doing it's job (it was somewhat cool to the touch, even though the old heatsink goop had kept it rather toasty).  After leaving it on all day (I had forgotten that is the real key to AS5, so it works as it should) it seemed to make the heat sink nice and warm again, but more evenly distributed (if that makes any sense)

In feeling around on it last night the only thing I really did was make sure the Mediator board was in there tight (it was).  Then I booted it back up and it was working!  I tried it a few more times and everything seems fine.

So at this point I'm not entirely sure what the deal was.  During this whole process I was also attempting to install the coin battery holder, but since the pegs on the one I received from Amiga kit didn't quite fit right, I couldn't get it in, and ended up breaking the pins off of it (fortunately that was only 1.26!)  I'll have to search to see if I can find a better fit for that, but the battery that is on there looks fairly new, so I'm thinking the previous owner must have already gone through the motherboard fairly well (it wasn't dusty and crappy when I got it).

slaapliedje