4000 hangs when Picasso IV is installed! *help*

[bertambala]

Hello everyone,

I just got a Picasso IV (rev. 1.2) that I bought on eBay, and I followed the installation instructions I found on aminet (http://main.aminet.net/docs/rview/PicassoIV.txt).  However, whenever I boot the machine with the PIV installed it hangs.  More specifically, no video signal is sent to the monitor and the HDD light stays on for about 15 or 20 seconds, though it doesn't sound like it is being accessed.

I've also hooked my external scandoubler/flicker fixer up at the same time and the monitor receives a signal (turns on), but the machine still hangs and no image is ever displayed.  The machine works normally when I remove the PIV.  

Info about my machine:
- A4000D
- 16 MB of Fast RAM
- Socketed Buster 11
- X-Surf 3c
- Kickstart 3.1 ROMs, OS 3.9 (Boing Bag 2 with 3.9 soft ROM)

Is the card hosed, or am I (hopefully) missing something?  Thanks in advance...

[MastaTabs]

Hi,

you should check two things first.

Make sure that the gold plated pins on the cards zorro connector are clean. If not, clean them best with some pure alcohol or sometimes an eraser can also be used for that.
Then make sure that the socketed chips are 'well' enough into the sockets. Just put some good presure onto them with your thumbs and don't be to afraid if you hear a cracking noise.

If that doesn't help there are other things to check.
Just come back to me then.

regs
Masta

[mrbill317]

Well if you cant get it working heh Ill buy the picasso

[bertambala]

Hi Masta,

The gold plated connectors look to be in pretty good shape, but I cleaned them with a little 91% isopropyl alcohol all the same.  A little bit of dirt came off of them, though not a whole lot.  I also tested each of the PLCC chips, but they were all firmly seated.

After letting everything dry for a good wile, I reinstalled the card and gave it another shot.  Still no go unfortunately.  I've made extra sure to seat the card fully into the daughtercard.  I should note that one of the gold plated connectors looks to be missing some of the gold plating in a very small area in the middle of the pin.  I'd say that it is a circle with a 1 mm diameter, so there's still plenty of area for contact...right?

I found a thread on comp.sys.amiga.misc from 1999 (http://groups.google.com/group/comp.sys.amiga.misc/browse_thread/thread/64ba7831c62c3c6b/f064f3981523b19d?lnk=st&q=%22Picasso+IV%22+loose+connector&rnum=3&hl=en#f064f3981523b19d) regarding a 4000 that wouldn't boot, and one gentleman replied with:

I've had quite the same problems with my A4k and it all falls back to some loose connector of my Picasso IV board! Now, you havent written anything about some graphicsboard so maybe this wont help you at all! :-)

Not sure if that would have anything to do with my situation though.

MrBill:  Thanks for the offer, but if things don't work out I'll be contacting the seller for a refund, since it was "guaranteed against DOA".  Unless of course you're in the market for a $240 broken PIV.  :-P

[alexh]

Which accelerator do you have?

If it has a MAPROM jumper, disable it.

[MastaTabs]

Well, there is another thing you could try.

Carefully remove the two 8 pined chips next to the Zorro connector with a small screwdriver. Then check if the machine still doesn't boot with the card inserted.

If it does boot it means that at least the FPGA on the card is working. If not, the FPGA is broken.

Make sure to reinsert the chips at the right position.

regs
Masta

[Framiga]

@bertambala

try to remove the XSurf for testing. Only PicassoIV and no external scandoubler (if you can)

[bertambala]

alexh:  It has a stock A3640 (25MHz '040).  Based on what I just read at www.amiga-hardware.com I need to close jumpers 3 and 4 under J400.  I will give it a try.

masta:  I will give that a try as well.  I must admit that I'm not clear on what the FPGA handles, but if it is broken, is it something that can be fixed?

Framiga:  Thanks for the input.  Unfortunately I've already tried booting the machine both with and without the X-Surf and sd/ff.  I was certainly hoping it was a simple conflict, but no such luck.  After lusting for a PIV for the past 10 years, this is quite a disappointment.

I'lll report back my findings.  I think I'll also try hooking the card up to my 3000 if I can't get it working on the 4000.  *fingers crossed*  Thanks for the help everyone...

[bertambala]

Ok, so I first disabled MAPROM on the A3640 - made no difference.  (It turns out that I needed to close pins 2 and 3, as there isn't a 4th pin on J400.)

Removing the two 8 pin chips near the ZIII bus allows the computer to boot with the PIV installed, and display video through the 23 pin RGB port, but not through the PIV (I didn't suspect it would).

My 3000 also hangs when the PIV is installed.

Does this sound like something that can be reasonably fixed, or should I begin the sure to be unpleasant process of getting my money back?  Thanks again...

[billchase]

I have seen this problem before.  Find the jumper that determines
which zorro mode is active.  Set the jumper to force zorro2, do not
leave it on auto.  Let us know what that does.

C Snyder

[whiteb]

Just out of pure curiosity, did the Picasso IV come from Queensland Australia (I noticed you mention it was from Ebay) ?

[MastaTabs]

If the machine boots with the 8 pin EEPROMs removed the FPGA is in working condition and something else must be wrong.

Either the EEPROMs content is borked or the flashs content. But its also possible that something else is wrong.

I could probably check that but I would need to have the card here for that. I have all the equipment and parts needed.

regs Masta

[bertambala]

C Snyder:  I closed the #2 jumper to force the card into Zoro II mode, but it still behaves the same way.  Blimey.

whiteb:  I saw that card from Australia, but I got mine from a seller in Tennessee in the US.  I actually bought my 4000 and a Super Buster rev. 11 chip from him/her in the past, both of which are great.  Hopefully things get sorted out...

Masta:  That's very tempting and I appreciate the offer.  I've contacted the seller regarding the card, so I'll see what comes of that.  I'll definitely follow up here again though.  

Thanks again for all the help everyone!

[Argus]

Ah, so you are the one who bought that PIV?  The seller only bought that two weeks ago or so for less than half the price you paid.  I saw the auction but was suspicious of the original seller's rock bottom price and the sudden reappearance of the board for buy-it-now at $249.  It is entirely possible that it is a dead board, or perhaps just the flicker fixer is kaput.  I have heard of cases where the flickerfixer dies but the ZIII graphics card portion still works fine.  It is also *possible* your daughterboard has a bad video slot or something is wrong with the video circuitry in your A4000. Try it in an A2000 if you have one, w/o the flicker fixer installed (just leave it hanging) and see if the rtg software works.  Or you could try it in an A3000 which has a video slot but the extra AA pins just hang unconnected.  btw, the same seller is flogging a dead CSPPC at the moment, also bought from the same original seller so beware.

Good luck anyway, I don't know if the board is repairable.  Certainly Villagetronic doesn't make Amiga stuff anymore.

[alexh]

Tobias Seiler, one of the creators of the Picasso IV does repairs. Catch him on the Picasso Yahoo group.