Mediator 4000D and Fastlane Z3?

[Heiroglyph]

I've got an Elbox tower for my 4000 that has been working previously.

I got a Fastlane Z3 with 64MB and ROM 8.5 but I can't get them to play nice.

Without the Mediator bridge card, the Fastlane seems to run fine in seemingly any Zorro slot.

If I have the Mediator bridge card installed, depending on the slot the Z3 is in and the jumpers on the bridge, it either doesn't see the Fastlane or it goes into a reboot loop before it hits the startup-sequence.

I've done a clean install of OS3.9, BB1+2 (didn't install BB2 ROM updates), newest Phase5 060 libraries.

The system seems stable without the Mediator bridge card installed.

I have put an ECHO "Startup!" and WAIT SECS=30 in the top of the startup-sequence (another before setpatch as well)

When it can boot, I see these. When it can't, it never displays the message or waits, so it's not making it to the startup-sequence.

In many combinations with each other:
Top, second, bottom and next to bottom slots for the Fastlane.
Set the RAM size to 0MB on the Fastlane.
Change the swap config jumper (normally open in my config)
Change WinSize jumper (normally closed)

I added my Radeon card back in just for kicks, but no improvement.

They just don't seem to get along.

Suggestions?

Thanks,
John

[danbeaver]

You have a working (SCSI) Fastlane Z3 in an A4000?  That is virtually unheard of.  They are such finicky cards that I named their compatibility issues the "Fastlane Blues."  They seem to come mated for life to only one A4000, and in my experience I tried 2 different Fastlanes in 3 different A4000D's and 2 A4000Ts.  They work as partially filled RAM boards, but never SCSI.

I would sell your fastlane and the daughter board as a unit and keep the Mediator.  Then take the income and invest in an A4091 or FastATA 4000.

This only my opinion, but having explored the forums and the web for weeks, plus burning a set of 8.5 ROMs in my attempt to get one working, I determined that Resistance is Futile, and your time will be assimilated.

[Duce]

Had one briefly years ago that worked flawlessly for me, but the next guy I sold it off to, it was next to useless for him.

Ended up just getting a 4091, the Fastlane's seem real finicky.

[Lizard]

I used to have a fastlane working just fine in my A4000, but I needed 2 things to get it stable, the 8.5 roms and buster 11. Also it needed to be in the first slot next to my video slot. I sold it when I got my CS060 MK  II with scsi expsansion.

[mechy]

You have a working (SCSI) Fastlane Z3 in an A4000?  That is virtually unheard of.  They are such finicky cards that I named their compatibility issues the "Fastlane Blues."  They seem to come mated for life to only one A4000, and in my experience I tried 2 different Fastlanes in 3 different A4000D's and 2 A4000Ts.  They work as partially filled RAM boards, but never SCSI.

I would sell your fastlane and the daughter board as a unit and keep the Mediator.  Then take the income and invest in an A4091 or FastATA 4000.

This only my opinion, but having explored the forums and the web for weeks, plus burning a set of 8.5 ROMs in my attempt to get one working, I determined that Resistance is Futile, and your time will be assimilated.

I own 4 of these cards and have used them in every z3 amiga(rev 2.2 to 2.4), they work fine, including scsi,  anyhow they work great. not sure why u had such experiences. It has a work around for buster 9 and even worked fine with it.

[Heiroglyph]

Getting it to work wasn't really a problem in either system until the Mediator came into the mix.

Both have Buster 11. The slot number didn't seem to matter in either one.

The one with the Cyberstorm 060 REALLY didn't seem to like something in my normal MuTools laden startup (I use a lot of Thor's stuff) so I went the safe route with just the Phase5 libraries for now.

Without the Fastlane, I had been using my MuTools stuff with apparently no problems.

The speed was underwhelming, but far better than Zorro2 and I haven't stopped to really tweak anything until I get it in the right system.

So Duce and Mechy, did you have a Mediator with your Fastlane?

And does anyone know how to identify the revision of the mach chips on the Mediator 4000? I don't see an obvious version number anywhere.

[mechy]

You have a working (SCSI) Fastlane Z3 in an A4000?  That is virtually unheard of.  They are such finicky cards that I named their compatibility issues the "Fastlane Blues."  They seem to come mated for life to only one A4000, and in my experience I tried 2 different Fastlanes in 3 different A4000D's and 2 A4000Ts.  They work as partially filled RAM boards, but never SCSI.

I would sell your fastlane and the daughter board as a unit and keep the Mediator.  Then take the income and invest in an A4091 or FastATA 4000.

This only my opinion, but having explored the forums and the web for weeks, plus burning a set of 8.5 ROMs in my attempt to get one working, I determined that Resistance is Futile, and your time will be assimilated.

just installed the fastlane back in my mediator, its working fine. rev 2.2 with 8.5 rom and 64MB. topmost slot(nearest 4k motherboard slot).
did you know about this? the 74hct244 chip change for the fastlanes in 4k's- this chip is usually socketed. the fastlane came with them for A4000's. i forgot to mention this earlier.

http://www.wonkity.com/~wblock/a4000hard/flref.html

http://www.mouser.in/ProductDetail/Texas-Instruments/CD74FCT244E/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMuiiWkaIwCK2ZiNMAcS1yFo7FjGJfpQ0Ao%3d

[Heiroglyph]

just installed the fastlane back in my mediator, its working fine. rev 2.2 with 8.5 rom and 64MB. topmost slot(nearest 4k motherboard slot).
did you know about this? the 74hct244 chip change for the fastlanes in 4k's- this chip is usually socketed. the fastlane came with them for A4000's. i forgot to mention this earlier.

http://www.wonkity.com/~wblock/a4000hard/flref.html

http://www.mouser.in/ProductDetail/Texas-Instruments/CD74FCT244E/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMuiiWkaIwCK2ZiNMAcS1yFo7FjGJfpQ0Ao%3d

That page says for v3.0 68040 (which I assume is the 3640) and those have some known issues.

But I'm not using that card, I've got a Cyberstorm MKII.

I've got a pretty good supply of 74 series chips here at the office, so I'll see if we have one.

[Heiroglyph]

Changing that chip didn't make a difference for me.

Using the same jumper settings as mechy didn't help either.

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

But I'm not using that card, I've got a Cyberstorm MKII.

Probably more work than it's worth, but do you have a different processor card to try it with?  Might help narrow down the incompatibility issues, anyway...

[Heiroglyph]

Probably more work than it's worth, but do you have a different processor card to try it with?  Might help narrow down the incompatibility issues, anyway...

I do, but I've been hesitant to.

It's a Cyberstorm 060 MKII, so you'd think it would work with their own SCSI card.

I couldn't find a SCSI module for the Cyberstorm, so that's why I got the Fastlane Z3. My Warpengine has a fast SCSI controller, but it's not an 060.

So it's kind of a matched set. If they don't work together, one of them has to go.

Edit: Everything points to it being the Mediator IMHO. Seems to work well without it.

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

I had tons of problems using a GVP accelerator at the same time as a GVP HC8+ in my A2000.  You'd think things from the same manufacturer would work well together, right?  *sigh*  Good luck!

[Heiroglyph]

I had tons of problems using a GVP accelerator at the same time as a GVP HC8+ in my A2000.  You'd think things from the same manufacturer would work well together, right?  *sigh*  Good luck!

Yeah, I know it happens unfortunately.

But, my "fastest storage" thread was to pick up a controller of some kind to go with this CPU card and this was the only one I came up with in a reasonable timeframe.

[danbeaver]

I do, but I've been hesitant to.

It's a Cyberstorm 060 MKII, so you'd think it would work with their own SCSI card.

I couldn't find a SCSI module for the Cyberstorm, so that's why I got the Fastlane Z3. My Warpengine has a fast SCSI controller, but it's not an 060.

So it's kind of a matched set. If they don't work together, one of them has to go.

Edit: Everything points to it being the Mediator IMHO. Seems to work well without it.

Well your Warp engine  could be with one of the adapter things being sold on A1K and AmiBay

[Heiroglyph]

Well your Warp engine  could be with one of the adapter things being sold on A1K and AmiBay

In case anyone else is interested, they have a new batch going, but you have to reply and pay ASAP.

I ordered one just now, but I'm still interested in this Fastlane problem.