Problem with Amiga 1200 and BlizzardPPC

[neofree]

Hello,

I got the following recently:

Amiga 1200 in Power Tower with 3.1 ROMs.
BlizzardPPC (040/25, PPC/200) with 32megs of RAM and SCSI
SCSI HD and CD

When I got it, something was banging around in the box... I opened it up and the BlizzardPPC was loose banging around...

I just powered it up last night using 1084 monitor and it booted up to workbench.  The display was flickery so I went to change the screenmode and it locked up when I double clicked the screenmode icon.  Before this, there are green garbled lines here and there whenever I double click on any icon and bring up a window.

So I grabbed my OS3.9 CD, but it wont recognize it or boot to it.  I checked that CD0: was loaded and even tried other CD's and none were recongized.  

This is a Rev 0 BlizzardPPC and the previous owner was trying to get a G-Rex to work with it but he couldn't make it work.  He claimed he tested the BlizzardPPC successfully without G-Rex installed...

I don't have ANY Amiga floppies (No WB, etc.)...  So where do I go from here?  Does it sound like damaged hardware?  Or does it sound like bad software loaded or problems because of G-Rex firmware?

Besides ordering WB disks off of eBay, is there anything else I can try (software wise) that might revive the CD so I can format?

Thanks,

Neofree

[cgutjahr]

neofree wrote:
I just powered it up last night using 1084 monitor and it booted up to workbench.  The display was flickery so I went to change the screenmode and it locked up when I double clicked the screenmode icon.  Before this, there are green garbled lines here and there whenever I double click on any icon and bring up a window.

I have never seen "green garbled lines", but BlizzardPPC problems are mostly caused by heat or insufficient power supply.

Check that the fan on the PPC still works. Remove the metal shielding from the PPC and remove any dirt that accumulated below it.

How do you power the whole setup? What kind of PSU, where do you feed power to the A1200 and/or the BlizzardPPC? I'd recommend to feed power to both the original power connector and the power connector that usually feeds the internal floppy disk drive (in the original desktop case).

Did the previous owner use the very same motherboard you are using now? Some motherboards won't work with the BlizzardPPC (or any other accellerator with a 68040 or 68060 CPU) unless they get the famous "timing fixes" applied.

This is a Rev 0 BlizzardPPC and the previous owner was trying to get a G-Rex to work with it but he couldn't make it work.  

A Rev 0 BlizzardPPC will not work with a G-Rex busboard, it needs a hardware upgrade (nobody performs these upgrades anymore, AFAIK).

I don't have ANY Amiga floppies (No WB, etc.)...  So where do I go from here?  Does it sound like damaged hardware?  Or does it sound like bad software loaded or problems because of G-Rex firmware?

Huh? So you *are* using a G-Rex? This is not listed above. Remove it, your system will not work with a G-Rex installed.

Besides ordering WB disks off of eBay, is there anything else I can try (software wise) that might revive the CD so I can format?

Boot without startup-sequence, and run HDToolBox from CLI (this only works if OS 3.1/3.0 is installed, OS 3.9's HDToolbox requires a lot of stuff to be set up before it can be used). Does it list your CD drive?

[neofree]

Firstly, I'm not using G-Rex. But I've heard you can reflash your BlizzardPPC with a G-Rex firmware.  Also, I was told this PPC works in this Amiga fine with the G-Rex out prior to shipment.  

I'm using an Amiga 1200 in Power Tower, whatever the original power supply is in a Power Tower, would have to check more about power issues when I get home.  Yes, the small cpu fan is spinning.  Also, this happened within minutes of first use, barely any time for the unit to heat much.

I'll try nuking the startup sequence...  CD0 was found in the boot menu when I tried to boot from cd, but it said not bootable.  Does that mean the drive is not bootable or the CD was not bootable?  Is it even possible to boot OS3.9 from CD?

Thanks,

Neofree

[cgutjahr]

neofree wrote:
Firstly, I'm not using G-Rex. But I've heard you can reflash your BlizzardPPC with a G-Rex firmware.

Not the Rev 0 boards. You actually *need* to reflash all (most) BlizzardPPC boards to use them with a G-Rex, but that won't make a Rev 0 BPPC work with a G-Rex.

I'm using an Amiga 1200 in Power Tower, whatever the original power supply is in a Power Tower,

That should be sufficient.

would have to check more about power issues when I get home.  

Do that. The setup described above is the absolute minimum to make my BlizzardPPC (same as yours) work reliably.

Yes, the small cpu fan is spinning.

That's good, but also check for dirt when you get back home. The fan simply moves air through a very thin channel below the big flat PPC heatsink. That channel gets easily blocked by dust.

Also, this happened within minutes of first use, barely any time for the unit to heat much.

Without a CPU fan, my BlizzardPPC/BVision combo survives about three minutes.

CD0 was found in the boot menu when

Okay, so your CD drive is probably installed correctly (cables, termination...).

Could you post the whole contents of your "CD0" file? It's just a textfile, perhaps something is set up incorrectly.

Is it even possible to boot OS3.9 from CD?

No. You have to create an "Emergency Disk" which is bootable and will 'boot' the CD afterwards.

[neofree]

About G-Rex.. What I mean is that the previous owner may have flashed the Rev 0 board thinking he might make it work...   How do I check which version I have and if I should flash?

About 3 minutes until it locks...  I can say it's definately not a time issue.  The lockups occur at precisely the same actions.  Like if I double click Screenmode icon, and others.  Other icons work fine though for indefinate amount of time without lockup.  This made me think it's a HD failure but the CD doesnt work either.

Thanks,

Neofree

[X-ray]

@ Neofree

If you're in Europe maybe you should get the 3.1 disks from HopperJF's auction:

here

[neofree]

nope, in USA..  looks like a good collection of software though

[neofree]

Well, I found the problem...  but it isn't good news...

Inspected the BPPC board itself.  Found two pins of a large square chip (not CPU's) smashed together.  Probably smashed together when the BPPC was banging around in shipping since it wasnt secured.

I carefully tried to seperate them, but one of them quickly just fell off completely.  It was loose at the very base of the chip.  

Now.. The unit doesnt come on at all with BPPC in. I took SCSI cable out to see if it it would just mean SCSI is bad, but it still doesnt work at all any longer...



Seeing as the BVision I have coming requires one of these boards, I don't know what to do now...

Thanks,

Neofree

[patrik]

@neofree:

What's printed on the chip? Even better, can you take a picture of the mess and post a link to it?


/Patrik

[nex4060]

if you are REALY! handy with soldering iron, you can make a very fine solder and perhaps use some conductive pen to make the connection relieable, however due to the delicate circuitry I would recommend getting a computer repair centre to do the job.

Did the board sustain any further damage? Like ruined PCB tracks? And it must have banged against something so how does the main board look like?

I’m really sorry to hear about your troubles but it is repairable!

[Gavilan]

Im sorry to ask here, but it seems i have similar problems like you...
I have almost exactly setup (1200 towered in Power Tower), OS 3.9 with PPC 040, Mediator with ethernet and sound blaster cards and BVision.
My system hangs up just 1 or 2 minutes after finishing loading wb.
I get an annoying noise coming from the disk drive, like if it was expecting some disk to be inserted. I mean, nasty cliking noise all time, and in my screen i get a "nodos" icon...that sound makes me really nervous!!

Besides i cant seem to get the Bvision working properly.
I have fed the original floppy drive power connector, but i dont know what else to do.
I read somewhere that i have to give more power to the Bvision , i just dont know how!!!

Any guides please!!!

Regards!
Sebastian

[nex4060]

maybe this could help:

I'm using an A4k with CSMKII 060 and a C64/3D. To make a very long story very short: When ever i would double click an icon my Amiga would crash. I got rid of the CGX-drivers and installed the Picasso96 driver after that it worked perfectly!

It sounds a bit like the problem you have (btw: I was using OS3.9)

[DeQuevedo]

@NeoFree

Dude, sad to say it, but forget running a BVision in Rev0 ppc stable, or ruuning it at all. : (

@Gavilan

Nice to see you. Why you just dont try to get CGX reinstalled up in the machine and see what happens?

AFAIK there is not P96 monitor for Bvision, but i could be mistaken.

It seems its a timming problem in your setup

Best Regards anyone out there, and happy new year

-DeQ

[odin]

I'd go round to the original seller and stick the Bliz in his rectum. How friggin hard is it to package stuff properly! :-x

[Gavilan]

@ DeQuevedo: hola! feliz año para ti tambien!!


I tried installing CGX version 3, since my version 4 got broken and cant get it anywhere
Just the same: i keep seeing the light of the disk drive on all time, and the clicking noise coming from the disk drive very fast, all time , and this nasty requester saying "nodos" disk icon in my desktop... You think this is a timing problem??
Are there some kind of compatibilities between mediator and bvision??
I would like if you can pm and we can keep this in spanish please!!! ) Since i have a lot more questions to do concerning bvision and ppc...
For example, how shall i give more power to the bvision??

Regards
Sebastian