Pegasos on the way - yay!

[Wilse]

KennyR wrote:
Use any term program. AmTerm on Aminet will do the trick.

I'll download it tonight, cheers.
What was the spec. of that null modem cable again?
9-pin serial to something or other?  :-?  :-P

[KennyR]

Peg->Amiga: 9 pin female to 25 pin female cable

Peg-> PC: depends, Edit: 9pin female to 9pin female is most likely (some PCs have a mix of serial ports).

A Laplink cable has both 9 pin and 25 pin on each end, and you can use whatever one you like. I recommend this cable.

But whatever you do, you MUST make sure it is nullmodem and not just a straight serial, or you will fry the chips of your Amiga!

[Wilse]

A Laplink cable has both 9 pin and 25 pin on each end, and you can use whatever one you like. I recommend this cable.

Cheers Kenny.

make sure it is nullmodem and not just a straight serial, or you will fry the chips of your Amiga!

Noted. :-)

[Warface]

Something I hadn't noticed before was that the fan on the graphics card *does* spin up. It's so quiet compared to the PC and facing downwards, that I hadn't noticed it.
The output to the monitor is still blank though. (light grey/white screen)

That is a good sign. There IS electricity at least. :-) The serial debug will be decisive though - if you get no serial debug output at all, then the mobo is broken. If serial debug works - it will tell you what the problem is. :-)

Wishing it's the latter. Good luck!

[DaveP]

Sweet. I hope you add all what has been discussed in this thread into an FAQ or into something that gets shipped with later Pegasos motherboards ( on paper! ).

Something I hadn't noticed before was that the fan on the graphics card *does* spin up.

Well, based on the assumption that a Pegasos is a PC motherboard with a different CPU and Northbridge, it's definately your RAM that isn't working. I'd order some more off the net.

[Warface]

DaveP wrote:
Sweet. I hope you add all what has been discussed in this thread into an FAQ or into something that gets shipped with later Pegasos motherboards ( on paper! ).

For MorphOS there is a guide at here.

As for the HW, if you order a preinstalled system you will not face problems, except damage caused by the transfer.

When you buy a standalone system and you buy all the accessories then you're on your own. The schemantics is pretty self explanatory in most cases.

A short troubleshooting guide and a few words about the OpenFirmware serial debug would be nice though. I agree.

[DaveP]

Its the debugging thing I think is important. It is too easy to lose self confidence when setting up hardware when it doesn't come on.

Thought process is:
1. #### #### ####!
2. Did I hit it with static electricity - I forgot to touch the radiator pipe before opening oh no that will invalidate my warranty.
3. Right, dissemble everything and start it without anything in.
4. #### #### ####!
5. Oh no, maybe I wasn't supposed to start it without anything in, maybe Ive ####ed it up by doing that!
6. Manual. Wheres the ####ing manual.
7. Ive got no bloody manual!
8. Ah schematic. What the hell does all this mean? Locking nut A and Flange B! WTF a flange?
9. Internet, Ill ask someone on the internet.
10. Oh no! They don't know what it is either.

Versus

"IF your Pegasos does not come on, don't panic, switch off and run a terminal program on another machine, plug in the provided serial cable between your debug machine and your Pegasos and switch back on again. It will give you an X-digit code. Here is a print out of what these mean"

[Wilse]

OK - getting somewhere at last! :-)
I have now got the Smartfirmware screen up. I'm still puzzled as to why it didn't work originally but....


Anyway, when I type:
boot/pci/cd boot.img
I get:
no such symbol "boot/pci/cd"
error: undefined word
no such symbol "boot.img"
error: undefined word
ok_

Will the terminal prog tell me what's causing it or do you think it's the RAM stick?
I have "Hyperterm" on the PC but haven't a clue how to set it up.

Anyway, main thing is, I've got something happening! :pint:

[Madgun68]

@Wilse:

boot /pci/cd boot.img
(need a space after boot)

[Wilse]

Madgun68 wrote:
@Wilse:

boot /pci/cd boot.img
(need a space after boot)

OK, getting somewhere;

error: error while trying to load or boot

Could it be my aging CDROM?

Thanks again,
Robert

[KennyR]

Will the terminal prog tell me what's causing it or do you think it's the RAM stick?

You don't need the terminal prog any more. The only reason it was needed was in case no memory could be allocated to init the gfx card to show the openfirmware screen in the first place. The nullmodem isn't useless however, especially if you want to network your machines (or debug).

So your RAM seems to work, luckily enough. Question is, is it all detected or just half of it? You won't know until you boot MOS (or look at the serial debug).

error: error while trying to load or boot

Could it be my aging CDROM?

Very possibly. I hear people had problems with the Peg not recognising old drives - not older drives, old drives - ie. 1998 and before.

You're making progress. Bet you're glad you didn't send the Peg back now, eh? ;-)

And the problem was probably a loose CPU card. I thought my board was broken too, for a while. You have to make sure that thing is really in there.

[Wilse]

Hi Kenny,

You don't need the terminal prog any more. The only reason it was needed was in case no memory could be allocated to init the gfx card to show the openfirmware screen in the first place.

Good. Glad that's out of the way.

The nullmodem isn't useless however, especially if you want to network your machines (or debug).

Would I be able to transfer files from the A1200 to the pegasos or PC this way?

Very possibly. I hear people had problems with the Peg not recognising old drives - not older drives, old drives - ie. 1998 and before.

I think mine is from '98, actually. I'll switch this PC off in a minute and raid it!  :-D

You're making progress. Bet you're glad you didn't send the Peg back now, eh?

Don't I just know it!  :-P
Strangely, it always seems to be when I'm just about stumped that things start working again. Same thing happened when I towered my A1200. Then it turned out that the Scandoubler wasn't pushed down firmly enough.

And the problem was probably a loose CPU card. I thought my board was broken too, for a while. You have to make sure that thing is really in there.

Possibly, as I did remove it, then replace it, although I was sure I'd wedged it in properly and it was a bitch to get back out.
I'll probably never know for sure.  ;-)

[KennyR]

Would I be able to transfer files from the A1200 to the pegasos or PC this way?

Of course, a serial network. Don't ask me how to set it up though, it's something I've never done.

[Madgun68]

OK, getting somewhere;

error: error while trying to load or boot

Could it be my aging CDROM?

Perhaps. Then again, perhaps it's something else.

At the firmware prompt, type show-devs and press enter. If it scrolls by too fast (and it probably will) then press space shortly after pressing enter. What you're looking for is an entry that has cd@x,y. It should be right near the entry for your harddrive. If you see one, use what you see to boot. For example, you might need to type:

boot /pci/cd@1,0 boot.img  to get it to boot. If that fails, make sure it's connected. :-) If all else fails, yeah, the drive is probably too old.

Good luck.

[Wilse]

OK, it was the CDROM. I've replaced it and now have:

ok boot /pci/cd boot.img

followed by a series of columns and rows that look a bit like a tracker display. There are 8 rows and 16 columns, 0 to F. Under this is:
Root dir: " " flags-0x2 extent=0x17 size=0x1000

Any ideas what now?  :-)

Cheers,