Random A3000 lockup problems

[Prmetime]

Hi.  My A3000 has a history of locking up at odd times.  Each time it locks up, the Hard Drive light is on.  Usually the hard drive then spins like crazy (like the partition is invalid) upon rebooting.  Rarely is the HD or a partition invalid and Quarter Back tools fixes the problem if that is the problem.  

Just so you know, my A3000 has all of the latest chips (WD ver8, Super buster Rev11, DMAC 4, Ramsey 7) full memory on the MB plus a Warp Engine 040/40 card with 32 Megs of Ram. I use OS3.9 with Boing Bag 1 and 2 installed.  I use the stock file system.

The maddening part about this is that it will happen at random.  Some mornings I will turn my machine on and it is finicky right from the start.  Other times it will take an hour.  Other times it runs fine. I even wiped my HD and reinstalled the OS hoping that the problem was a overly patchy version of the OS.  Yet I still get the crashes and wierd file things going on (like the drive icons changing their positions on the workbench and they will not go back to the  original positions even if I snapshot them in the positions I want them to be in). The only thing that seems consistent is the HD light is on when it locks up.

Does anyone have any ides?  I don't know if this is a HD problem, a file system problem, or something else on the motherboard.  I appreciate any help you can give me.  

[redrumloa]

Aaah the joys of old hardware :-(  If nothing else open her up and just verify everthing is seated nice and tight.

[Prmetime]

@Redrumola

When I was trying to Get a Cyberstorm MK II to work, I did all of that.  It doesn't seem to have fixed the problem.  :-(

[SilvrDrgn]

How is the hard drive connected to the system?  Be specific about the wiring layout and termination, if any.

[98PaceCar]

Prmetime,

I just got done fighting this myself. The system would work fine for a while, but then start giving me random guru's. What I ended up doing was pulling all of the fast ram out of the mb, cleaning the legs (used a small emory board), and put them back in. Also on my system, the ram speed was set to 16 instead of 25 (it's a 25 mhz machine). Don't know if that was a problem or not, but before I did it I couldn't run a single burn in loop successfully and after I did it I was able to run till I got bored with no problems.

Try the ram, see what that gets you.

Good luck!
98PaceCar

[DanDude]

How old is this HD?

Try testing it in another Amiga if you have one around.   Otherwise I'd buy a new HD if I were you.

If you suspect that RAM may be the cause, get a ram tester program on a floppy and leave it testing overnight.  If it freezes, there could be something else interfering or loose.  Otherwise you know what to do if a bad chip is shown.

[Prmetime]

The Hard drive is connected to the system using the internal SCSI cable of the A3000.  However that is terminated is all that has been done with it.  The HD istelf is a 1Gig Seagate that I picked up back in 1994 or 1995.

[Prmetime]

Given that the primary RAM is now on the GVP Warp Engine accelerator and I haven't done anything with the memory since I installed it all those years ago, I wonder if this will really make a difference?  Still it wouldn't hurt to try it if nothing else is wrong.

[98PaceCar]

I'd at least give it a shot. I was at my wits end before I decided to try this and sure enough, my system has been stable ever since! Course, it's only been 2 days now, but I've run a lot of burn in on it with no problems!

And if you aren't using the zips on the mb anymore, you should sell me 8mb worth!!!!  :-D

Good luck and if you need a test program, let me know!

98PaceCar

[Framiga]

@Prmetime

so . .could be a FS related problem or a flat cable also.

Which is your MaxTransfer value? and then, if you can, replace the flat cable.

Ciao

PS- is your A3000 in its original case?

[Prmetime]

@Framiga

My A3000 is still in its original Desktop Case.  I happen to like that case quite a bit.

As for the cable, it is the original cable that came with the machine.  I don't know the max transfer rate.  Where would I look that up?  Where would I get another cable?  Can I use an aftermarket one or do I need to find an original one without much use?

[jonbyk]

How does one change from 16 to 25?

My A3000 has memory problems too. I have a 128mb
board but half the time I only get half.

My machine crashes and locks up with great regularity.

Mediator, Cybergraphx, 6340, all newer chips.

[98PaceCar]

@jonbyk,

It's jumper 852. I forget which is which, but it's marked on the motherboard. This is of course assuming you have a 25mhz machine.

Kinda sounds like you've got more going on than just the ram speed, but who knows!

Good luck,
98PaceCar

[Brian]

First of make sure the HD is healthy, try a different HD in your system or try your HD in a working SCSI system. Second thing that hit's me is that it might be heatproblems with your 040/40 and it's now giving upp after years of too hot conditions? Last thing is a blind shot in the sky but I've seen A3500 to have trouble with onboard fastram when a CSPPC was installed so try to just remove the fastram from the motherboard and just use fastram on the warpengine.