paleo@ecsvax.uncecs.edu (Constantine A. LaPasha) (10/25/88)
:{
HELP...
I've just started having guru visitation problems on my Amiga 1000 system.
After several hours, I get lots of gurus fairly regularly, seemingly
independent of what software I am running, and independent of what I
am doing, or not doing - it will sometimes guru just sitting there in the CLI.
I'm requesting suggestions, and opinions as to the source/cause of these
problems. (PAL grounding? chips with thermal problems? chips not seated
properly? ...)
system hardware configuration:
Amiga 1000 - 512K internal (circa Nov. 1985)
(rev 6 motherboard, rev 3 small board)
Amiga 3.5" external floppy drive
Microbotics StarBoard - 2M
Amiga 1300 genlock
DigiView - (sometimes)
Sony Trinitron 12" monitor
basic system software config:
KS 1.3 AmigaDos 1.3 qMouse 1.3 csh 2.07M... or ...
KS 1.3 AmigaDos 1.3 Mach csh 2.07M... or ...
KS 1.2 AmigaDos 1.3 Mach csh 2.07M... or ...
KS 1.2 AmigaDos 1.2 (+ARP) Mach csh 2.07M conman
...
Symptoms:
Turn on the system and boot. After a while, generally a few hours...
guru# 00000003.
or # 00000004.
or # 00000005.
the 03. guru seems to predominate.
the 03 and 04 gurus often alternate --
last few gurus (within the last 20 minutes) were:
#00000003.0020F890
#00000004.002038F0
#00000003.00200E8A
#00000003.0025E858
#00000003.002038F0
#00000004.002038F0
#00000004.0020F8B0
It doesn't seem to matter what I'm running. When the problems start,
the guru visitations seem to come fairly regularly, even after rebooting
or power down and cold starting. The problems started soon after I
started using 1.3, but does not seem to be connected to 1.3 since I can
cold start with the same 1.2 configuration I had been using for months,
and still get frequent guru visits.
The problems got much worse when I moved the system to do some demos
for some visiting researchers. (don't gurus make great impressions when
you're trying to show off a system :-( After some tinkering, I got the
system to stabilize after reseating the 2M board. The next day, doing
demos of DigiView, DigiPaint, Dpaint ... for our local users group at a
local computer show - the system started acting up again after running
fine for about 3-4 hours. Again, it seemed to be a problem with the 2M
board coming off line. Since then I've carefully cleaned the whole machine,
and I've gotten the 2M board secured properly. Now, I have no problems with
the memory going off line, but I still get lots of gurus after the machine
has been running for a few hours. I ran the mem test that came with the
starboard (after tracking down a copy of KS 1.1 :) and the 2M board
tested ok according to their test program.
So far, I haven't done any internal modifications on the 1000.
???? Anybody have any suggestions on what might be the trouble, or
what I should try next? The most annoying thing, is that the trouble
persists using the same software that I've been using for months without
previous problems. Could it be something other than hardware? If hardware,
what's the most probable problem? Should I try tracking it down
further, or haul it to the techs at my dealer? (these guys are real
good, and very helpful).
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
(Ahh...got the ol' CP/M machine out to use online till I get Amy fixed up -
what nostalgia! Just like working with my fossils :)
--
=== If at first you don't succeed, hire a grad student... ===
Kostya LaPasha paleo@uncecs.edu or paleo@ecsvax.uncecs.edu
=== NCSU takes no responsibility for anything above ===wtm@neoucom.UUCP (Bill Mayhew) (10/26/88)
Frequent gurus 3 and 4 sound like what happend shortly after I bought an A1000 back in fall of 1985. I discovered that I was missing audio channel #3, so I took the machine back to the dealer, who replaced Agnes (sp?). I happily took the machine home and played the Bach demo in Amigabasic to my content (about the only thing at the time that was convenient for testing the audio). The mahcine started throwing gurus like crazy. I suspected it was Amigabasic, so I recopied it from the dealer's backup copy. The copy I made bombed too. I was just about ready to write off Amigabasic as buggy, when CLI started to guru too. I took the machine back for a second swap of the same chip. For nearly the last 3 years, the machine has been fine. One might try reseating the LSI chips. I had a problem a few months ago where the 68010 in my Unix PC seemed to be going bad. Removing the 68010 and resocketing it put an end to the address faults. Old Apple IIs ran pretty hot. I one case a person brought me a sick Apple II. Popping the lid off revealed that the 6502 had jumped completely out of its socket! I subsequently saw wayward CPU chips in several other Apple IIs. Apparently they used pretty cheesey sockets. --Bill
hansel@amy.uucp (Steve Hansel) (10/28/88)
paleo@ecsvax.uncecs.edu (Constantine A. LaPasha) writes: > HELP... > I've just started having guru visitation problems on my Amiga 1000 system. > After several hours, I get lots of gurus fairly regularly, seemingly > independent of what software I am running, and independent of what I > am doing, or not doing. ... > The problems got much worse when I moved the system to do some demos > for some visiting researchers. This sounds like a bad connection or sodier joint that you knocked lose when you moved your system. Thermal expansion probably causes the connection to break after your amy gets warm. I'd suggest that you ground yourself and reseat every chip that is socketed. You could also do this with the circuit board that is supported above the main board (kick start board?). Remember to remove the screws first! > Now, I have no problems with > the memory going off line, but I still get lots of gurus after the machine > has been running for a few hours. How do you know? If the memory goes off line, after your system is depending on it, it will guru. Remove your memory board and see if it still gurus after it's warm. If not then it's probably your memory board or it's connection with the Amiga. (The latter is more likely). I have a lot of problems with a memory on the expansion connector. Cleaning the edge connector by rubbing it lightly with a clean pencil eraser seems to help sometimes. > I ran the mem test that came with the > starboard (after tracking down a copy of KS 1.1 :) and the 2M board > tested ok according to their test program. Did you run the test after you started having gurus, when your computer was warm? Leave it run for a few hours (or days). One more thing - Make sure you fan is still running. On the 1000 it's so quite you probably wouldn't miss it if it stopped. > If hardware, what's the most probable problem? Should I try tracking > it down further, or haul it to the techs at my dealer? (these guys are real > good, and very helpful). If you aren't comfortable playing with the guts of your computer, haul it in! > (Ahh...got the ol' CP/M machine out to use online till I get Amy fixed up - > what nostalgia! Just like working with my fossils :) I've got one too. (An Altair 8800B) It makes you appreciate the Amiga! Good Luck Steve Hansel gryphon.cts.com!amy!hansel oberon.usc.edu!amy!hansel rutgers!amy!hansel