Rebooting all the time

[swift240]

I have an Amiga 1200 with Apollo Mk III, with 32 meg Fastram no FPU, Mediator SX, Voodoo 3, Sound card ES1373, fastethernet card.
I have got the updates from Elbox and are installed onto the HD.
BUT, after about 10 minutes the Amiga gives me the "Reboot Suspend" box, the mouse feeezes and thats it.
I cant get the Voodoo to work I have to use the Amiga video port using DBLPal the monitor is a Microvitec multisync.
I have got the settings  (I think) set correct in Prefs for the Picasso settings Voodoo on 800 x 600.
The 7 chips on the Mediator get hot after about 10 minutes, but not hot enough as not to touch is this normal?
The monitor is renamed to Voodoo in DEVS/Monitors and the info has been changed to Voodoo in the tool stypes BOARDTYPE
WHat the hell is going wrong ?
Have I got a faulty Mediator board or is it my settings that are wrong?
If I click on PVS in Prefs it tells me "No Picasso96 monitor files located"
And 9 times out of ten when I click on the Picasso96 settings in Prefs it goes to that bloody "Suspend Reboot" box.
I am getting very P***** Off right now.
Can any one please help before I shoot the bloody thing (has any one got a gun)

TIA,
MIke...

[doctorq]

No need to shoot the computer :-)

PVS says the same here at my system, so I don't think you have to worry about that.

Have you never gotten the Voodoo card to work? The changes you have set is all that is needed to be changed. If the screenmodes are alright, and the monitor can show such high resolutions, it can be a matter of overheating of the Voodoo graphics chip.

An other option is a faulty Soundcard and/or fast ethernet card, so try running the computer with only the Voodoo card.

I had some of the same experiences as you (the computer would reset after 10-15 min, but after the first reset it was running stable), and my problems were caused by a faulty ethernet card. If I plug in the D-Link card now, I'm 100% sure that I will get some wired looking graphics on my workbench, and at the end I will only be able to use all the native Amiga screenmodes. In order to get it working again, I have to take the Voodoo card out of the Mediator and reseat it.

I have heard somewhere that the PCI card should be placed in a specifik order, but I haven't gotten that confirmed by anyone yet, so if anyone knows then say it out loud :-)

[swift240]

Well I have found out what it is, its the bloody Apollo MkIII accelerator.
I try it with a HD with just WB3.1 installed and WITHOUT the Apollo it works great no problem IF I use the Apollo with the HD with WB 3.1 installed I get all loads of problems so I now know it isnt the Mediator or the PCI boards that go with it.  I even tried other ram 16meg instead of the 32 meg and still problems.
I am so F****** anoyed I got the board from eBay last week.
Now I need to get hold of another accelerator. (one that bloody works properly)
Has any one got one up for sale, or am I out of luck with that as well?
I cant return the board becuase when I pointed out to the seller that the Apollo came with NO FPU but it was described as having that on the board all I got was total arragance from the seller so thats out.

Ohh yes tried others PSU and still same problems with the Apollo running........


VERY P***** OFF

Mike....

[doctorq]

I don't know much about Apollo cards, sowhat kind of CPU is on it? 68030?

Maybe it's because of poor contact between the accelerator and the connector on the Mediator add-on. Try using a needle and bend all pins in the accelerator towards the middle, but of course not that much that the pins will go out of alignment when you put the card back in.

By the way, how much did you pay for the card?

[smithy]

It could be your power supply isnt powerful enough.

[swift240]

For the Apollo MkII card I paid £53.00.
The PSU is a 300watt ATX, I have tried other PSU and still same problem.
Yes the CPU is an 030.

Mike...

[doctorq]

Damn, I could almost sell you one of my BPPC cards for that price...

Well, the computers gets all the power it needs. Just remember to use the normal power connecter as well.

[Acill]

Those accelerators have known to cause problems. I had an 040 version in my 1200 when I had it for the short time to see how AGA was. It gave me nothing but problems. I soon sold the complete systm off and just upgraded my A3000. If you can get a BPPC from the user that said he has one go for it. You will love it. It would allow you to ass 128MB of RAM and 256 if you get the SCSI adapter for it.

[swift240]

As a matter of interest how much is a bppc card?
And not knowing any thing about them, do they fit a 1200?

Mike.......

[Zetec-S]

I recently sold by perfect Blizzard MkIV '030/50Mhz to Amiga Deals (amigadeals.co.uk).

He still has it available at a rather high £99. But what I can say is that it is in perfect order (or at least was when I sold it) and it comes fully boxed with the original packaging and instruction manual. I think he also offers a 3 month (or is it 30day) warranty.

[amigau]

I found that the Microbiotics 68030/50 is one of the best cards out there, if you can find one.  And it takes a LOT of ram, not that in most Amiga cases do you need it.  But don't forget the beefier PSU, definitely a requirement.

kevin orme
amiga university
www.amigau.com

[weirdami]

When I saw the subject line I thought about my A1200 needing to be lifted up off the desk to allow air to circulate to cool off the trapdoor accelerator. This might not be your problem (overheating), but I figured I'd post anyway, just in case. I use milk jug caps on each foot and that works fine for cooling.

[doctorq]

@Acill
You don't need a scsi controller on the BPPC in order to put 2 x SIMMS on the board, as this board has 2 sockets no matter if it's a scsi version or not. The non SCSI BPPC cards can't be upgraded to a SCSI version.

@swift240
I haven't gotten any for sale at the moment, but when I have some I sell them for £100 and up depending on the specs of the card (a max price of around £180 though). The BPPC cards fits easily in an A1200 tower, but isn't a recommended solution for a desktop Amiga because of the heat the cards produce. Then you have to do something like weirdami suggest.

@amigau
Haven't tried the card you suggest...have always been a Blizzard fan for three reasons. First of all, the possibilty to add a scsi controller later on if you need one (not on the BPPC cards though :-(). Second, because of the MapRom feature set by a jumper. Third, because you can disable the whole card by holding down a key during reboot.