Mediator and Voodoo

[easy_john]

Few month ago I bought new mediator 4000di from Elbox.

Now I have a problem with the stability of warp3d with Voodoo.
I use
- Amigaos3.9 + BB2
- mediator_up_3.12
- mmcd_up_1.31
Hardware: A4000, Cyberstorm PPC-233/060-50/128 Fast, Medaitor, Indivision, Buster11.

The system has just installed anew for the test.

I tried to use:
- Voodoo 3000 - 2 pieces
- Voodoo 4500
- Voodoo 5500

After install each card I'm re-tuned system - a jumper "winsize", memory address, the ENV variables, according to the documentation.

I tried to use every video card in different PCI slots. Any other cards removed during tests.

Symptoms include:
With any Voodoo video card, some time after launch 3d applications Amiga hangs. This is usually from 5 to 30 minutes.
I checked in: Gears-ppc-window, Wipeout, Quake, Quake2, Payback.
Two "gears-ppc-window" running simultaneously 100% hang amiga in 2-5 minutes.

- Amiga does not overheat during the test - case is opened and Amiga blown with 2-3 BIG fans.
- Power supply in accordance with the voltage, never drops below 4.8 volts on 5+ line.
- In the same Amiga, in the same configuration, with CyberVision PPC - all 3d applications steadily working hours without any glitch.

Yesterday i upgrade MMCD to new MM_CD_UP2.0c - all problems are remaining.
Can someone give me idea?

[stachu100]

Привет!
 
To be honest I do not know the reason of this strange behaviour...
I know that for A1200 Mediators there was a must to upgrade MACH chips with never version to have extra features (more card support, better stability).
But if Mediator is new it's not the case.
 
I'm sure you have sent an e-mail to Elbox about that.
What was the reply from them?
 
This is the site where my friend described Mediator installation:
http://www.amiga.pekdar.net/amiga/index.php?artid=89
In Polish, sorry but you can use Google translator.
 
Пока!
Станислав

[HammerD]

Few month ago I bought new mediator 4000di from Elbox.

Now I have a problem with the stability of warp3d with Voodoo.
I use
- Amigaos3.9 + BB2
- mediator_up_3.12
- mmcd_up_1.31
Hardware: A4000, Cyberstorm PPC-233/060-50/128 Fast, Medaitor, Indivision, Buster11.

The system has just installed anew for the test.

I tried to use:
- Voodoo 3000 - 2 pieces
- Voodoo 4500
- Voodoo 5500

After install each card I'm re-tuned system - a jumper "winsize", memory address, the ENV variables, according to the documentation.

I tried to use every video card in different PCI slots. Any other cards removed during tests.

Symptoms include:
With any Voodoo video card, some time after launch 3d applications Amiga hangs. This is usually from 5 to 30 minutes.
I checked in: Gears-ppc-window, Wipeout, Quake, Quake2, Payback.
Two "gears-ppc-window" running simultaneously 100% hang amiga in 2-5 minutes.

- Amiga does not overheat during the test - case is opened and Amiga blown with 2-3 BIG fans.
- Power supply in accordance with the voltage, never drops below 4.8 volts on 5+ line.
- In the same Amiga, in the same configuration, with CyberVision PPC - all 3d applications steadily working hours without any glitch.

Yesterday i upgrade MMCD to new MM_CD_UP2.0c - all problems are remaining.
Can someone give me idea?

Is your Cyberstorm ram set to 60 or 70ns?  Try 70ns.  Cyberstorm is really picky about ram.  Just something to try.

[easy_john]

Is your Cyberstorm ram set to 60 or 70ns?  Try 70ns.  Cyberstorm is really picky about ram.  Just something to try.

Cyberstorm ram set to 70 ms.

May be some other cyberstorm options, firmware, drivers? But what.

[easy_john]

But if Mediator is new it's not the case.

how i can check mediator chip version?

I'm sure you have sent an e-mail to Elbox about that.
What was the reply from them?

Elbox request from me configurations, and no more reply. It was two month ago.
 

This is the site where my friend described Mediator installation:
http://www.amiga.pekdar.net/amiga/index.php?artid=89
In Polish, sorry but you can use Google translator.

nothing unusual in this description. no secrets tricks or something.
i just cant understand - if voodoo work ok in all other mediators - which part of my amiga is broken?

[koshman]

Well, on my A4000 with Mediator and Voodoo 3 (no PPC, just 060) e.g. Quake also freezes from time to time. I consider occasional freezing normal for a heavily expanded and patched system Dunno what's the real culprit though..

[CLS2086]

How large is your Stack ?

[easy_john]

Well, on my A4000 with Mediator and Voodoo 3 (no PPC, just 060) e.g. Quake also freezes from time to time.

I've got freeze every 5-15 minutes, so i don't think this is normal.

I consider occasional freezing normal for a heavily expanded and patched system Dunno what's the real culprit though..

Some people report, that they play games for hours without any hangs.
I not use any paches or other board for tests - and nothing changes.

[easy_john]

How large is your Stack ?

Current stack size is 4096 bytes

[HammerD]

Current stack size is 4096 bytes

Do you have a fan on your voodoo card? I always worried about mine, as the voodoo chip gets deathly hot.  I always wonder why the voodoo 3 never shipped with a fan.

As a pre-caution I have placed fans on my voodoo 3's.  My voodoo 4 came with a fan pre-installed.

[easy_john]

Do you have a fan on your voodoo card? I always worried about mine, as the voodoo chip gets deathly hot.  I always wonder why the voodoo 3 never shipped with a fan.
As a pre-caution I have placed fans on my voodoo 3's.  My voodoo 4 came with a fan pre-installed.

Yes, voodoo 3000 with fan, and a large fan blows on the left all the mediator and boards.
voodoo chip is abot 45 celsius. I can not find another hot part in amiga, 68060 48 celsius, ppc 54 celsius, all other chip - 40 or less.

And voodoo 4-5500 board hang too fast, sometimes gears_ppc hang 5500 in 10-15 seconds after start, its not look like overheat...

[HammerD]

Yes, voodoo 3000 with fan, and a large fan blows on the left all the mediator and boards.
voodoo chip is abot 45 celsius. I can not find another hot part in amiga, 68060 48 celsius, ppc 54 celsius, all other chip - 40 or less.

And voodoo 4-5500 board hang too fast, sometimes gears_ppc hang 5500 in 10-15 seconds after start, its not look like overheat...

I really don't know then.  Weird it happens with Mediator but not Cyberstorm PPC.

I had similar issue but it was RAM related. Changing to different RAM on the cyberstorm fixed it, at least mostly.  This was with my overclocked 366MHz cyberstorm.

After testing about 30 different 72-pin simms, I finally found 4 that work *MOST* of the time.  All the other rams would lockup within 5-10 minutes.  Total system lockup, no crash error message, just frozen mouse.

Even the new rams are not 100% stable, but normally I can get a few hours out of them before a freeze.  I currently have that cyberstorm at a friend's house to make a modification, to clock the 060 chip synchronis with the PPC bus clock, so hopefully that will fix this.  If not I will have to down-clock the board.

[easy_john]

I really don't know then.  Weird it happens with Mediator but not Cyberstorm PPC.

Nothing overclocked in this amiga.
May be it's cyberstorm error?
But how to test?

Perform few tests today - 5500 voodoo hangs in 0.5-1 minutes in any 3d test, 3000 hangs in 3-5 minutes on two gear_ppc-window.

And again install CV PPC (even not remove mediator and voodoo) and get two gear_ppc-window running for hour without any hangs.

[HammerD]

Nothing overclocked in this amiga.
May be it's cyberstorm error?
But how to test?

Perform few tests today - 5500 voodoo hangs in 0.5-1 minutes in any 3d test, 3000 hangs in 3-5 minutes on two gear_ppc-window.

And again install CV PPC (even not remove mediator and voodoo) and get two gear_ppc-window running for hour without any hangs.

Do you have another gfx card for mediator (like another voodoo) to test?

[rkauer]

Also, anything below 4.85V is not good enough for a heavily expanded system. Swap the PSU for another with better regulation and clean the contacts with IPA and a soft brush (a toothbrush is good for this job).