A1200 + Netgear FA410TX boot problem

[draxx]

OK, I originally had a Billionton LNR-300B PCMCIA network card for my A1200, but it never worked (not even in PC), so I just got myself a Netgear FA410TX, which I know is supposed to work fine in an A1200.

But, evidently not in mine.  If I have it plugged in before I turn the Amiga on, It doesn't boot up.  If I plug it in after the Amiga is on, the Amiga freezes completely and even CTRL-A-A doesn't work.

Any ideas as to what is wrong?  I've pulled the motherboard out, and I cant see any damage anywhere....

Cheers

[Matt_H]

I don't have any experience with PCMCIA network cards, but I will be building a new system around one soon, so I've been reading up on some info.

I can only suggest installing the CardPatch software from Aminet, but if you can't even boot up, that may not help.

How far does the system get in booting? Does it fail partway through? Or does it not even start?

[ncafferkey]

It's true that different motherboard revisions can behave differently with the same PCMCIA card. I wouldn't suspect hardware damage.

I have a PCMCIA card that stops my A1200 booting, except when I earth it by keeping my finger on a metal part of it. Try this.

[Damion]

Hi draxx,

I have that same card around somewhere, and it
never worked in my 1200 either. Didn't stop it
from booting, but nonetheless it never worked.
I always assumed the card was defective, but
maybe it only works on a certain mobo revision,
or Netgear have different revisions of the
same card.

-D-

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Hi,

I'd recommend trying a Linksys EC2T card.  I got mine at Microcenter for like $30, and while I had a few problems with it & my old Commodore MoBo at first, such as the system resetting when I'd insert it, ever since adding the following two lines to my Startup-Sequence (right after my 4xEIDE & setpatch stuff) it's been crash-free.

C:CardPatch
C:CardReset AUDIO ON

(Both of these programs are available on Aminet, running them together seemed to work better than just CardPatch alone)

Mike