WB 3.1 will not boot on A2000!?

[Findlarn]

I just ordered a CF card with WB 3.1 preinstalled on it. However, it doesn't work When starting up the computer the screen just remains black, all the lights on the SCSI card reader is constantly on, and nothing more happens. But games, demos etc. works just fine.

And yes, of course I have Kickstart 3.1 installed... I have a switch with both 1.3 and 3.1. I have also double checked that 3.1 is the auto booting one.

Could it be the controller card? It's just a slow A2091. However the ROM's have been upgraded to 7.0...

I have also tried playing around with the JP5 jumper (LUN on or off) with no result.

The CF card is connected to the PCMCIA port...

Any ideas..?

[Findlarn]

Yes it is a Mechware reader.

And well... I've actually had quite some trouble with other cards. In fact it was one of the reasons I ordered this one. (thinking the other ones where incompatible somehow) As I foolishly thought that would be an easy, hassle free quick fix.

The (other) cards (32mb, 64mb and 4GB) where not recognized some times and they where very difficult to set up. Size couldn't always be recognized and once created, partions refused to be formated etc. And the 4GB card was even more useless as it would not even let me into the HDToolbox setup...

So yes, I think we are on the right trace here... So I guess the question is, how do I set up the card reader correctly?

However it has worked somewhat ok in the past with the 64mb card. The only problem then was that I constantly got messages about bad blocks. And that was the main reason why I tried using other cards in the first place.

[Findlarn]

LMAO Paul doesnt do "FUD" that is just dumb. Its based on his experiences. Having said this it  looks like there are several ppl here sucessfully using that hardware

Ok, but if that's true, what would be the first step to try here? And also, how should the jumpers on the card reader be configured? I just checked, and right now they are set to "termination ON" (pin 7-8) Should it be set to 0 instead? And exactly what does "termination" mean in this case? Anyway... the other configuration part (NC and WR Protect) is left as it is, with no jumpers...


Oldsmobile_Mike:

Yes, I'm fully aware that the A2091 isn't the greatest card by any means. It's very slow etc... So what other controller card would you recommend?

 
Acill:

That IDE interface sure looks good. But if other people can manage to get these things going I probably should try solving this issue first, before jumping into something completely new. Besides I really like the feature of having access to everything externally on the front. Especially when swapping files between PC/emulator and stuff like that. And the ability to have one card for the OS and programs and another one for my files.

[Findlarn]

http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/if/scsi/cablesTermination-c.html

tl;dr Terminators stop signal reflection and are built into every SCSI device these days, however they must only be enabled on the furthest devices away from each other and not on devices between.  If you only have a 2091 and a card reader, then both should have termination enabled (the 2091 is just as much a SCSI device as a hard drive). If the cable has more than two connectors then use the ones at each end.

Ok so that's what it means. And thanks for the link! It made me remember those external ones as well...

But what I don't understand however is that the A2091 doesn't seem to have any termination jumpers on the PCB:

http://www.bigbookofamigahardware.com/bboah/product.aspx?id=1161

Should I put an external terminator on the SCSI port on the back? In that case I think I have an old one lying around somewhere...

madgrizzle:
Yes, the card reader is the only thing that is connected. And good question... Didn't think of that... How do I know if it's faulty then? That would be a bit odd however, considering how little use it has seen.

[Findlarn]

Oldsmobile_Mike:

Ok I will check that out as soon as I can. (You posted the same time I was writing my previous reply)

[Findlarn]

Spitballing here, but is JP2 enabled?

You mean autobooting? Yes, it is set to "AUTO"...

[Findlarn]

The 3 black pins between the internal scsi connector and the words "Internal SCSI Connector" are the termination and can be removed.

Do you mean those soldered resistor packs? But if those are there, that means termination is on, right? So no need to remove them... But does that also mean that you cannot have an external SCSI device installed at the same time?...

Anyway... I will play around with those jumpers as soon as I can, and will come back later to report my results...

[Findlarn]

It's been a while since I mucked around with it, but I think you need to have termination on the card, the last device of your internal chain, and the last device of your external chain. But SCSI can be finicky, lol. Still, I wouldn't remove them from the card unless you are really are sure what you're doing.

Edit: btw, what are your Mask and MaxTransfer values in HDtoolbox?

Well, I didn't exactly plan to desolder them... When I said "playing around" I only meant the jumpers on the card reader... I would never attempt to remove those unless it turns out to be absolutely necessary.

And regarding the Mask and MaxTransfer values I will try to remember checking those as well...

[Findlarn]

I'm back folks!

And I think that I have finally solved it now! It was a ridiculously easy fix! All I needed to do was to add another jumper to the card reader, making it device number 1. Previously it was set to 0. I also remember now that when I originally installed it I did not know that the A2091 counts as a device itself, hence I set it to 0. In other words the A2091 is apparently by default set to 0 so therefore your added unit must be 1 or higher in order to work. At least that's what I can make of it.

Matt_H:
That's strange... mine isn't any slow when booting with LUN activated!? Or how inpatient are you? It was painfully slow however, before I changed the jumper settings. But now it boot's up pretty quickly. Even when the CF card is inserted in the CF slot. Although it boots slightly faster when it's through the PCMCIA slot... Actually I'm very surprised at this. So that was indeed a nice bonus feature! In fact I think I can live with this controller card a bit longer now before upgrading. Mine is rev. 4.0 btw...

wlemonds:
Well... That that took care of a lot of confusion for me. Thanks!


And now when all this is taken care of I have a couple of other small questions I would like to take care of in order to get me going with this

What do I need in order for the Amiga to be able to read FAT formatted devices? Where do I find a driver for this? And how do I install it? Do I just need a simple driver file to put in my "DosDrivers" drawer? (I remember having something like that for my 1200, unfortunately I don't remember where I got it or how I installed it) And also, are the cards (other than the HDD with the OS) hot-swap able? I ask this because I (obviously) want the simplest/fastest way possible to transfer files over to the Amiga...

And one more final question... Is there a driver or something for reading jpg/jpeg? (Good for desktop backgrounds etc.)

[Findlarn]

Oldsmobile_Mike:
Thanks for the links! And of course it was on Aminet! Why didn't I think of that!? But on the other hand I didn't remember the name of it.... I know now that I've used it before. But that time I think it was pre-installed and  used under that alternative, strange "clunky" WB version. What was the name of that monstrosity again? Anyway... I also upon further inspection noticed that "FAT95" was already included! But not installed. I've looked into it a bit, but it looks quite complicated... Have I gotten this part right?

compactflash.device in "DEVS"
fat95 in "L:"
CF0 in "DEVS/DOSDrivers"

Is that all I need to know? Or is there more to it? How about the startup sequence? (the part that looked most complicated)

I will eventually check out the jpeg thing as well... It's just that I prefer to focus on one thing at a time, and when that works 100% I can move on to the next. Makes most sense to me...

And yes, I know about "BetterWB" Maybe I should give that a go. Because with my current specs there's no way that 3.9 would work. Plain 68000 processor and 3mb of ram...


Matt_H:
So the 2091's ID is actually 7. Hm... that's interesting... Might be useful to know sometime in the future And pardon my ignorance, but what is "Sneakernet"...? Is that something you use with "X-Surf"...?

[Findlarn]

Sneakernet is a joke networking term referring to transferring files by walking them from one machine (while wearing sneakers ) to another using removable media (floppy, CD, USB stick, etc.). No actual network hardware/software is involved.

Haha ok, you really got me there! :lol: I'm Swedish you know, and doesn't always know these terms :laugh1: And yes I understand what you meant now with the networking thing

Forget about compactflash.device since this is  for the A600/A1200 PCMCIA port only. Fat95 is correct, and you can use  the CF0 file after modifying it a little. Just open CF0 in a text editor  and change compactflash.device to scsi.device. Next you must change the  Unit number, which must consist of the Unit number of your card reader  followed by the LUN number of the slot you want to use. In your case it  should be 10 for Unit 1 and the first slot (LUN 0) for example.

You shouldn't have to change anything in the Startup-Sequence.

Sounds a lot easier then the included instructions... I think I can get it going now. I will try that out as soon as I can

[Findlarn]

Hello everyone! Sorry for the delay. It's been a very busy week...

Anyway... I still haven't got it to work yet. And I have some new questions...

Under what text editor can you edit these type of files? It doesn't seem to work with "Multiview"...

And  is there a way under windows to convert the "readme.too" file so that  you can print it out on paper? Would make thing's a lot easier... (I  don't have a working printer for my Amiga)

Why isn't there  any simple step-by-step instructions for this!? Down below is a list of  how I have understand things so far...

1. Copy "compactflash.device" into DEVS (A600/1200 only)
2. Copy "CF0" into Devs/DOSDrivers
3. Copy files in "C" drawer into "C" in Workbench.
4. Copy files in "L" drawer into "L" in Workbench.
5. Edit "Cf0" to correspond with your setup.

What  should I do next? Follow the instructions provided in the "readme.too"  file? And why doesn't those instructions say anything about editing the CF0 file? And where should the finished "mountlist" be stored?

I'm starting to get very confused by all this. I'm almost at the point of giving up now...

[Findlarn]

C:Ed

As the name suggests, Multiview is just a viewer. Ed is a text editor built into every version of Workbench.

The docs are next to useless - they pre-date your type of setup and have nothing referring to SD cards, but they do give examples of the type of file you'll need to create. Will try to copy an example from my setup later.

Aha ok... Didn't know that. You see I usually use Multiview for everything, and never had any need for editing...

And yes, I started to slowly realize that the docs doesn't match my setup. Hence the big confusion earlier when you guys say one thing here, and the docs says something completely different!

Quick thought: you did enable LUN's on the controller, yes?

Yes LUN's are enabled. In fact I have the jumper hooked up to a wire, leading to a switch on the back for easy access. Sense we all know the card is very slow, having the option to easy switching it off when booting from a gotek or floppy is a really neat feature!

Third thought - I had no problem opening  the .lha archive on my PC with WinRAR and then opening the "Readme.too"  file in MS Word.  If you rename the extension from ".too" it'll open  automatically, or just select Word from the list of "What program would  you like to open this file with?" that Windows pops up.  

I've just tried that, and it worked great!  So I have printed it out now. I always in troublesome cases like this  prefer to have physical documents at hand. So much better in my  opinion At least the setup examples might be useful...

Okay, 4th post in a row now from me and  I'll STFU.  Make sure your card is properly formatted (I would format  and test it on a PC, just to make sure).  Start with a small card to  make it faster.

Next you'll want to put "FAT95" in your SYS:L directory.  I'm using version 3.18, which I think is the latest.

Configure yourself a DOSDriver in SYS: Devs/DOSDrivers/ like my  screenshot attached.  Note that as a previous post said, you'll need to  modify the unit number for your specific device, although you can always  try mine (assuming you have the same model of card reader I do), and  the device name.

Don't forget the tooltypes in your icon info file (see second  screenshot, attached).  Although it may be redundant, it probably can't  hurt.

Make sure your SD card is inserted, reboot, and see what happens.  I  know it works because I used my card right now to transfer the attached  screenshots from my Amiga to my PC to post this.  I suppose if I was  really a glutton I could've posted it directly from my Amiga, haha.  

 
And once again thank you so much for taking your time helping me with this. And as usual I will try things out as soon as I can, and come back later to report

And a little side thought.... You really should sometime in the future when you have the time for it make a Youtube video about this. I've always liked your Amiga related videos. Especially the one on how to install 3.9 Witch I used for setting up my 1200, a bit slow perhaps with the expansion I'm currently using. But at least it worked