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Author Topic: How to get stable Blizzard PPC operation?  (Read 4667 times)

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Offline doctorqTopic starter

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How to get stable Blizzard PPC operation?
« on: April 15, 2006, 06:48:58 PM »
Since I'm a huge fan of the A1200, I have never wanted to get rid of my A1200T. Previously I had a Blizzard PPC 060/240/SCSI with Mediator installed in the tower, but since I only use the tower a couple of times during a month I decided to sell the high spec Blizzard PPC card and Mediator and getting another Blizzard PPC with lower specs.

I got my new Blizzard PPC board recently (actually got two, but one have SCSI issues). It's a 040/160/SCSI with a BVisionPPC added. Both cards works as intended as I have been using PPC datatypes and PPC libraries under OS3.9 and MorphOS. However, that's only when the cards run stable :-(

The tower has a rev. 1D1 motherboard, and gets power from the original power connector, as well as power from the floppy power port on the motherboard. The Blizzard PPC gets power directly from the PSU. The PSU is a 350W one. I reckon the power side is OK then?

The tower has a 80x80 fan mounted in the middle of the tower, moving cold air from the bottom of the tower up and over the BVision PPC graphics card. The 68040 has been mounted with a heatsink with built-in fan, and the fan on the PPC board is also spinning. I reckon the heat issue is OK then?

I'm using the rev. 1D1 motherboard after reading on an Eyetech webpage that this would be the best board to use, since it should already have all bugs fixed before leaving the factory. Can anyone confirm this, or is there another rev. motherboard that is better to use with a Blizzard PPC with BVision?

The problem is that the system is rather unstable. It can lock up when loading the OS (correct libraries are installed), when doubleclicking icons, when playing around it the settings menu of the BPPC, etc, etc.

What do other Blizzard PPC users recommend to get a stable system?
 

Offline 4pLaY

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Re: How to get stable Blizzard PPC operation?
« Reply #1 on: April 15, 2006, 07:14:45 PM »
The ppc cards aint know for their stability :( but to me this sounds like a heat issue more then anything else.

Offline Wayne

Re: How to get stable Blizzard PPC operation?
« Reply #2 on: April 15, 2006, 08:47:40 PM »
clean both sides of the cpu conector of your a1200 mobo with water and replace the original 68040 fan for another big one,
Use only the original 68040 library v37.30 that comes with WB 3.1 disks
also checks for correct voltage of your psu


bye, Laser
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Offline nasty

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Re: How to get stable Blizzard PPC operation?
« Reply #3 on: April 15, 2006, 09:08:26 PM »
I'll second the heat issue make sure the little fan on the card is spinning. Mine stop and i couldnt use the amiga for any longer than 5mins without a lockup!

Just my two pennys :-D
Specs:
A1200PT, mediator c/w voodoo 3 2000, sb128, 60G HDD,OS3.9,LITEON CDR, nec 4x4 changer,External Scan Doubler,Cocolino adapter,PS2 keyboard adaptor.

Morphos 2.6, mini mac g4 @ 1.25ghz.
 

Offline Mugo

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Re: How to get stable Blizzard PPC operation?
« Reply #4 on: April 15, 2006, 10:24:43 PM »
Hello doctorq

First of all, if i remember correctly, the 1D1 revision is pointed as the best one by Eyetech, because it can have all the known issues easily fixed.

Further revisions, had different board layouts, because Commodore intended to have newer revisions of the chipset, correcting these issues. But as we already know, these improved, bug free chips never came out. So despite the boards  with a different layout, the same chipset was used.

For this reason, the bugs are still there, but as the boards are different, the patches are more difficult, and in some cases impossible to apply.

But still, your board need patches ! It didn't have had all the problems corrected on the factory.

That pointed, i would like to comment that i have a 1D3 revision board, with a BPPC (060@70MHz, 603e@270MHz) that's very stable. In fact, most of my problems come from my Mediator, and not from my BPPC.

I think your problem can be a power issue.

Even if the power supply is rated at 350W, it doesn't means it really is. Nowadays is more and more common to find low quality power supplies out there. If you can, try another power supply. Preferably the newer, RMS rated power supplies.

Also, if you have the space, try a fresh system install. Try to not copy old files from a previous setted partition.

I had a problem once, that came exactly from that practice.

I installed the OS several times, but then i copied over some files, that was in my previously configuerd problematic partition. In the end i found that the problem was exactly in these files that i copied over every time.

Good Luck.
 

Offline AmigaMance

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Re: How to get stable Blizzard PPC operation?
« Reply #5 on: April 16, 2006, 12:52:40 AM »
Quote
Use only the original 68040 library v37.30 that comes with WB 3.1 disks
Let's give an end to this 68040.library myth, shall we? :-)
 The BPPC will always use the library which is stored in the flash rom of the card. Any 68040.library in the LIBS: will be ignored.

 I will agree that the biggest enemy of the card's stability is heat. I have applied active cooling in the 2 CPUs and the GPU, and my BPPC/BVision combination is fairly stable.
A1200 PPC user.
 

Offline doctorqTopic starter

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Re: How to get stable Blizzard PPC operation?
« Reply #6 on: April 16, 2006, 07:13:53 AM »
Quote

But still, your board need patches ! It didn't have had all the problems corrected on the factory.


Is there anywhere I can see a list of these patches, and how to do them?

Quote

I think your problem can be a power issue.

Even if the power supply is rated at 350W, it doesn't means it really is. Nowadays is more and more common to find low quality power supplies out there. If you can, try another power supply. Preferably the newer, RMS rated power supplies.


I tried to replace the PSU yesterday, with the one from my A4000 in custom tower. The schematics on both PSU indicates that the new PSU deliveres a lot more amps than the old one. It helped a bit at least, but I still experience lock ups.
 

Offline Framiga

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Re: How to get stable Blizzard PPC operation?
« Reply #7 on: April 16, 2006, 03:53:44 PM »
being an BPPC+040, have you tryed to tie the +5volts even to the fan connector? (i heard that some users do it)

not a "clean" approach but...
 

Offline CLS2086

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Re: How to get stable Blizzard PPC operation?
« Reply #8 on: April 16, 2006, 05:55:28 PM »
Hi,
350W PSU ? it's an ATX, take care ! these aren't so good as they should be !!!
Most of ATX psu don't give 5V, but a lower value under 4.86v that makes hang your system... (PC can support now 4.68v because the 5v is not very need today (but it's transformed in 3.3v or 1.5v !).
Take a voltmeter, and tell me what you read for +5V / +12V !
I had a similar problem due to this kind of PSU !
Take time to use the GREX 2.2 firmware, which work well with Bvision (i know that, i tested it, it's OK !).

Amiga are very stable with 4.96v for 5v... more than with big cooling systems  (take care also to check the solder on the 68k, some like mines were bad !! )
Keep the Faith !
VG 5000/A1000/500/500+/600/2000/CDTV/1200PPC-GREX/1200PPC -ATEO-BV/4060D/CD32/Aone/Peg 1/Peg2 G4/ various funny machines too  :-) http://www.mo5.com/collection/index.php?pseudo=CLS2086
I also repair drives of our old beloved Amiga
 

Offline doctorqTopic starter

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Re: How to get stable Blizzard PPC operation?
« Reply #9 on: April 16, 2006, 08:53:01 PM »
Turns out the problems weren't related to neither power or heat.

I did the timing fixes aimed for the 1D4 motherboards, since the sites I have seen only mentioned the timing fixes for 1D4 and 2B motherboards. All instability problems went away, I have had the tower running for 1 1/2 hour without any lockups. Most likely my other Blizzard PPC works just as well after the timing fixes, as it showed the same kind of errors.

I never in my wildest dreams imagined that the timing issues could have such a major impact on the stability of the computer.
 

Offline lurkist

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Re: How to get stable Blizzard PPC operation?
« Reply #10 on: April 16, 2006, 10:22:38 PM »
Which instructions did you use (URL)?

Which components did you use (URL)?

Been meaning to do this myself for ages.

Cheers
A1200 Power Tower, Blizzard 1260 66 +32MB, OS3.9, 2.5\\" HD, IDEfix97 + DVD-RW + Zip, SD/FF + 15\\" CRT, Ioblix1200P + scanner, PCMCIA LAN + router
 

Offline doctorqTopic starter

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Re: How to get stable Blizzard PPC operation?
« Reply #11 on: April 17, 2006, 06:17:45 AM »
I used the instructions on this site.
 

Offline AmigaMance

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Re: How to get stable Blizzard PPC operation?
« Reply #12 on: April 17, 2006, 06:32:24 AM »
So, which are the A1200 mobo revision(s) that doesn't suffer from timing problems? I am a little confused about this.
A1200 PPC user.
 

Offline zipper

Re: How to get stable Blizzard PPC operation?
« Reply #13 on: April 17, 2006, 10:48:49 AM »
At least 1D1.
 

Offline AmigaMance

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Re: How to get stable Blizzard PPC operation?
« Reply #14 on: April 17, 2006, 11:24:52 AM »
Quote
At least 1D1.
Ok, but not according to what doctorq said in this thread. :-)
A1200 PPC user.