phase 5 blizzard iv 1230 64 mb not booting up

[digiflip]

I thought it was power supply problem, but i think can safely rule that out tried 3 different power supplys atx type (using ian steadmens atx adapter)and now just bought a brand new antec earthwatts 430 watts, just in case my old power supplys weren't pumping out enough 12volts but still same problem won't boot when connect blizzard to my amiga 1200 power tower.

I have some 4 meg simms tried managed to boot to workbench but then crashed. When rebooted software error.

I got ibm 64 mb simm (FRU 42L0255) with it. Using a1200 motherboard revision id1.

I plugged in power monitor to my ac outlet to see if the blizzard is drawing any power it seems to draw 4 watts surely it uses more than that?

looking for any suggestions?

[NovaCoder]

Make sure the MAPROM jumper is not enabled if you're not trying to soft kick your ROM.

Also try disabling the card (using the keyboard short-cuts, I can't remember what they are) and make sure your 1200 boots ok (make sure you have an OS install that will actually load with 2MB RAM).

Blizzard 1230's don't really need much power so that's probably not your issue, have you tried a clean (or ClassicWB) OS install with it?

Has the card ever worked?

[digiflip]

its never worked for me but the person who gave me the blizzard said he tested it on his amiga 1200 before he sent it me. I have at the moment disconnected my ide splitter to see if will boot to normal floppy boot up and early startup screen with 2 mouse buttons pressed.

I am double checking the connections to my ian stedman atx adapter
 ie +5v -12V + 12V and ground connections.

[digiflip]

this what it looks like i have no jumper connected.

http://www.amiga-hardware.com/display_photos/blizz1230ivfront_small.jpg

[scuzzb494]

I thought it was power supply problem, but i think can safely rule that out tried 3 different power supplys atx type (using ian steadmens atx adapter)and now just bought a brand new antec earthwatts 430 watts, just in case my old power supplys weren't pumping out enough 12volts but still same problem won't boot when connect blizzard to my amiga 1200 power tower.

I have some 4 meg simms tried managed to boot to workbench but then crashed. When rebooted software error.

I got ibm 64 mb simm (FRU 42L0255) with it. Using a1200 motherboard revision id1.

I plugged in power monitor to my ac outlet to see if the blizzard is drawing any power it seems to draw 4 watts surely it uses more than that?

looking for any suggestions?

Ok I have a dozen of these cards in various A1200s and I never have had a problem with power. In fact I started using the Blizzard as opposed to the Apollo for the stability it provided.

The card I believe should look like this... which is one of mine.

http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com/amiga/car_0507/a_scuzz_retro_0507_102.jpg

First up... do you see blue wavy lines across the screen when it tries to boot.

You can deactivate the card without taking it out of the machine by holding the keybutton number 2 on your keyboard. Not the Numpad but the main keyboard. This also kills the RAM and the SCSI Kit if you have it. Just do it as the computer boots.

MAPROM

If memory is installed on the Blizzard 1230-IV you can load Kickstart into the faster RAM to speed up the execution of the operating system functions. If the MAPROM jumper is removed, Kickstartwill be automatically copied over to the RAM. If the jumper is installed Kickstart will be executed on the ROM. Remapping the ROM-image to the FAST RAM will occupy 512K of your installed RAM.

RAMSPEED

The Blizzard's RAM access can be adapted to the type of memory used on the Blizzard 1230-IV by use of the RAMSPEED jumper. If only one module is used with access time of 60ns or better, the RAMSPEED Jumper can be set to improve RAM performance. If two modules are used ( only with the SCSI-Kit) or if the access time of the SIMMis 70ns the jumper has to be removed. Setting the jumper can improve RAM access up to 10% depending on the application used.

MEMORY CONFIGURATION

You will require a 32-bit SIMM for the memory. You can use both single-sided and double sided SIMMs. The Blizzard 1230-IV accepts SIMMs with a memory size of 1MB, 2MB, 4MB, 8MB, 16MB, 32MB, 64MB and 128MB. You can configure both 32-bit  and 36-bit SIMMs.

The Blizzard 1230-IV with 50 MHz processor needs SIMMs with a speed grade of 70 ns or faster.

JUMPER

With the processesor below the jumpers and the battery to the right the one closest to the processor is the MAPROM. The one above it is the RAMSPEED.

Be very careful not to apply too much pressure to the board when installing. And make sure it is correctly pushed hard into position. I have had them work loose in a tower and failed to boot.

Hope that helps. Sadly, if the board is broken nothing will help here.

[digiflip]

ok reinstalling os 3.9 to my spare 40gb laptop ide hard drive and see if the card will boot up with that.

[digiflip]

nope just blank screen when insert blizzard card tired number 2 thing still no boot. When load hdd now software error since not enough memory to load os 3.9 rom.

[paul1981]

So what was your system configuration before you installed the Blizzard1230 card?  Did you have a normal ram expansion, say 8MB?
If it was my computer I'd be going back to basics here:

1. Disconnect everything from the 1200 motherboard (including Blizzard)

2. Power on and see if you get the 3.0/3.1 Tick with the animated disk.

3. Boot a disk such as Workbench 3.0/3.1.

4. If No.3 works, try running some software for a while, even some games.

5. If everything seems okay, turn system off, Re-install the Blizzard card.

6. Power on again (with no disk in drive) and see if you get the Tick with the animated disk.

7. If you do, reboot and hold both mouse buttons down and go into Expansion Board Diagnostic....check that your card appears and says "Working" in the status column. If it doesn't, try a different RAM SIMM.
You may have a couple of SIMMS that are bad or just aren't compatible.
Or, your card is defective.

8. If No.7 was okay, do the same...boot Workbench3.0/3.1, run some software or games and see if you get any crashes.  Of course, some games won't like the 030, if you don't know which you may be better off sticking to running Workbench type software.
Also, you may want to download a memory test program from Aminet - there's plenty of them.

9. If all is well, try hooking up your hard drive.  From cold boot, hold down both mouse buttons again and check that it says the board is working.  Then again, load Workbench3.0./3.1 and see if everything is working and stable.  If it is, you have a OS3.5/3.9 issue and not a hardware one.
Just remember though that if you do boot into Workbench3.0 or 3.1 with the 40GB hard drive attached, it won't see any partitions you have made beyond the 4GB border (not without extra software).

I think OS3.5 and 3.9 need 8Megs of RAM, so I'm pretty sure those OS's wouldn't work with the 4Meg Simm anyway.

[digiflip]

thanks for the advice, i think maybe have bad memory since I did manage to get to early startup menu once or twice yesterday with 4meg memory. Also once manged to boot workbench with it but then screen kinda was greeny and then it froze.

I might try getting another simm. or just saveup and buy aca1231 from versali.de

[paul1981]

thanks for the advice, i think maybe have bad memory since I did manage to get to early startup menu once or twice yesterday with 4meg memory. Also once manged to boot workbench with it but then screen kinda was greeny and then it froze.

I might try getting another simm. or just saveup and buy aca1231 from versali.de

I can send you a 16 Meg Simm if you like, just PM me your address.
First though I'd use a memory tester from aminet and test that 64 MB module.

[dougal]

Just a shot in the dark here, but does your A1200 have the "timing fixes" ?

Did you have an accelerator before ? Did it work well ?

Is your A1200 a Commodore A1200 or Amiga 1200 from Amiga Technologies ?

You could also check that the edge connectors of both your A1200 & Blizzard are clean. If you have a PCC cleaner try cleaning the edge connectors.

[digiflip]

Just a shot in the dark here, but does your A1200 have the "timing fixes" ?

Did you have an accelerator before ? Did it work well ?

Is your A1200 a Commodore A1200 or Amiga 1200 from Amiga Technologies ?

You could also check that the edge connectors of both your A1200 & Blizzard are clean. If you have a PCC cleaner try cleaning the edge connectors.

The motherboard is commodore revision 1d1, I think the timing fixes were done by commodore from what I read about this revision on the net.

[bitman]

I recently bought a similar card as defect. The problem with the card was the Crystal Oscilator (the square silver component). First check if it's seated correct (it's not soldered to the PCB) - otherwise try a new crystal which I did, and it solved the problem.

[digiflip]

checked soldering near crystal has mine is not seated is soldered on, two of the solder joins look bad might try re-soldering those two legs. Has bad solder joints are bad lol.

[digiflip]

still the same, so ordered crystal 50 mhz and socket from amigakit.