D88.R-WESTMAN@linus.ida.liu.se (Rickard Westman) (07/22/89)
I've had an XpanderII box with 2 MB of RAM for more than a year now. Except for some initial problems caused by a couple of bad RAM chips, it has worked flawlessly. However, when I tried to use it together with a 30 MB Alcomp hard disk, my A1000 started to guru regularly. One at a time, both devices work nicely (well, the hard drive is extremely slow, so I will return it anyway, but apart from that). The guru meditation numbers are of type 00000003 and 00000008, indicating address errors and privilege violations. Typically, they occur after about ten minutes use, but sometimes much earlier. The hard drive does not even need to be turned on to cause these problems, so I guess there might be something wrong with the pass-thru/interface. But - I have returned it to where I bought it, and they couldn't find anything wrong with the interface (but they did replace the controller, power supply and box - but it is still slow, and makes my Amiga guru...) I've read in an article by Perry Kivolowitz, that problems like these could be caused by poor grounding of some chips on the Kickstart RAM daughterboard, or possibly by PAL devices with weak drive capacity. Since the motherboard of my Amiga does not *have* this daughterboard (it is a REV B european type board) I wonder about the second alternative. Where could I buy replacement PALs? Is it likely that my problems are caused by bad PALs at all? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Richard Westman ! ! ! University of Linkoping ! d88.r-westman@linus.liu.se ! 'Hmm. In B, Fenby.' ! Sweden ! ! ! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------
bear@bucsb.UUCP (Blair M. Burtan) (07/25/89)
In article <20192@louie.udel.EDU> D88.R-WESTMAN@linus.ida.liu.se (Rickard Westman) writes: > >The guru meditation numbers are of type 00000003 and 00000008, indicating >address errors and privilege violations. Typically, they occur after about >ten minutes use, but sometimes much earlier. The hard drive does not even >need to be turned on to cause these problems, so I guess there might be >something wrong with the pass-thru/interface. > >I've read in an article by Perry Kivolowitz, that problems like these >could be caused by poor grounding of some chips on the Kickstart RAM >daughterboard, or possibly by PAL devices with weak drive capacity. > Well, I have the same problems with a lengthy history. Here's the scenario: I've had my 1000 with a Starboard 2Meg and a Microbotics 20 meg harddrive for about a year running on DOS 1.2 with no problems. Ever since I upgraded to 1.3, I've experienced frequent crashes to the point of having to re-insert Kickstart. When I say frequent, I mean several times a day. This was unacceptable. During the crash, the hard drive light would be lit. The lead me to believe that there was an incompatibility between the controller and 1.3. I called Microbotics and they told me to check/ground the PALS. First, the Texas Instruments PALs are supposed to be the good ones. Next ground the chips with some heavy wire (not wire-wrap wire). There are several articles on teh subject. The end result. Nothing. No change. Grumble, grumble, grumble. So, I broke down and bought the 1.3 kickstart eliminator. Unfortunately that's curing the symptom rather than the disease. Well, as it turned out. I had a really old version of Supraboot. The new version helped a great deal. But not entirely. And now I hear that there are problems with SetPatch leaving the writeable control store open to attack. Oh, and by the way, GOMF 3.0 gets fried as well. It can't catch this type of crash. So, does anyone have the same problem? And can we throw our 1.3 disks at CBM until they do something about it? Let's hear some feedback. - Bear
denbeste@bbn.com (Steven Den Beste) (07/25/89)
In article <2895@bucsb.UUCP> bear@bucsb.bu.edu (Blair M. Burtan) writes: >Well, I have the same problems with a lengthy history. Here's the >scenario: I've had my 1000 with a Starboard 2Meg and a Microbotics >20 meg harddrive for about a year running on DOS 1.2 with no problems. Given that the hard-drive can't cause the central CPU troubles, my system is essentially the same: A1000, Starboard 2Meg, Microbotics SCSI and an ST277N. Until just recently I also had a Michigan Software Insider 1M board. >Ever since I upgraded to 1.3, I've experienced frequent crashes to >the point of having to re-insert Kickstart. When I say frequent, >I mean several times a day. This was unacceptable. During the crash, >the hard drive light would be lit. The lead me to believe that there I've been using 1.3 with the Starboard SCSI module for about two monthx. The SCSI module is new - before that I used a C-Ltd SCSI for several months before that. I didn't have any more grounding than Michigan Software recommended, which is to say that I didn't have the full grounding mod. I saw no (repeat NO) untoward gurus. Every time I've had a guru it was obviously the result of a badly written program. >was an incompatibility between the controller and 1.3. I called >Microbotics and they told me to check/ground the PALS. First, the >Texas Instruments PALs are supposed to be the good ones. Next ground >the chips with some heavy wire (not wire-wrap wire). There are several >articles on teh subject. The end result. Nothing. No change. Three weeks ago I bought a 68020 board, and in order to get it to work I had to install the real grounding mod. It now works flawlessly with the Microbotics, Kickstart 1.3 and the Starboard RAM. No problems. No gurus unless I deserve them. >Grumble, grumble, grumble. So, I broke down and bought the 1.3 >kickstart eliminator. Unfortunately that's curing the symptom rather >than the disease. Well, as it turned out. I had a really old version >of Supraboot. The new version helped a great deal. But not entirely. I haven't got any idea what "Supraboot" is. I certainly don't use it. Isn't that a software package for the Supradrive? Why are you using Supra's software with Microbotic's board? Why don't you switch to the right software? I'll bet dollars to donuts that this is your problem. I use the real Microbotics driver software, and after a bit of problems getting it up to speed, it works fine. If you have problems getting the speed up, mail me and I'll send you extremely detailed instructions on how to get it to work correctly. >And now I hear that there are problems with SetPatch leaving the >writeable control store open to attack. Oh, and by the way, GOMF 3.0 >gets fried as well. It can't catch this type of crash. > So, does anyone have the same problem? And can we throw our 1.3 >disks at CBM until they do something about it? Let's hear some >feedback. OK, here's the feedback. There is nothing wrong with 1.3. It works perfectly well with my A1000 and a Microbotics SCSI interface. The problem is only with your system. (And I'm getting damned sick of everyone who has a cockpit error blaming the design engineers.) Suggestions: 1. Toss "Supraboot" down a dark hole and use legitimate software. The fact that your problem improved but didn't go away when you changed versions of it really should have told you something. 2. Look again at your grounding mod and see if you really did it correctly. Here's the instructions I worked from: The chips to wire are "J", "K", "L" and "N" on the daughter board. Looking at the front of the Amiga, at the non-component side of the daughter board, the ground leads are the upper left (that is, the left pin furthest from you). Tie those four together and hook it to a decent ground. I'm using a lug on one of the screws which connect to the ground plane on the mother board. Steven C. Den Beste, BBN Communications Corp., Cambridge MA denbeste@bbn.com(ARPA/CSNET/UUCP) harvard!bbn.com!denbeste(UUCP)
bear@bucsb.UUCP (Blair M. Burtan) (07/28/89)
In article <43231@bbn.COM> denbeste@BBN.COM (Steven Den Beste) writes: > >I haven't got any idea what "Supraboot" is. I certainly don't use it. >Isn't that a software package for >the Supradrive? Why are you using Supra's software with Microbotic's board? >Why don't you switch to the right software? I'll bet dollars to donuts that >this is your problem. I use the real Microbotics driver software, and after a >bit of problems getting it up to speed, it works fine. >If you have problems getting the speed up, mail me and I'll send you extremely >detailed instructions on how to get it to work correctly. > Did I say Microbotics? OOPS! I meant to say that I've got a SupraDrive from Supra Corp. The Supraboot software is their custom driver. I spent a lot of time on the phone with Supra Corp. trying to solve this problem. I even had Memory Location do the PAL grounding when they installed the Halfbrite upgrade (Yes my 1000 is that old). Do me a favor and HELP me for peat's sake rather than Flame me. O.K. I've got a problem. It's not a major one but it is a pain in the butt. I'm not accusing the designers of anything. I love the machine. If I've got an inferior SCSI controller (Supra 4x4) by all means tell me and I'll get a new one. Yes, I've got a Starboard 2 Meg with the the clock module vintage Early 1988. Can I get a SCSI module for it? How much? If it's something else then let's here constructive comments. Yes, I had the 1000 serviced. No problems were reported. Even GOMF 3.0 can't catch the guru. When I'm using my Sidecar, I have to disconnect the Starboard, Supra Drive, and Live! and boot with 1.2 and I never have a problem. So, you're guess will be better than mine. I leave it up to you... - Bear