V067MAJP@UBVMS.BITNET (Arion) (01/15/89)
Help!
I'm not sure watch to do with my ST. Anyone have any suggestions?
(Before you start, let me list some symptoms.)
VERY erratic behavior. Sometimes, it works perfectly, others it refuses to
boot.
When it does boot, sometimes it will refuse to recognise that my disks are NOT
blank! Other times, it will just continuously reboot by itself over and over.
Sometimes, the screen literally goes crazy and the ST crashes (or small blobs
will appear on the screen and then the works)
Sometimes a program which works fine (such as Uniterm) will end execution and
return to the desktop at random (sometimes right after it loads!)
Just to put things in perspective, this has been happening since I've gotten
the computer (and I was zealous, from what I can make out on the motherboard is
dated 1985 rev. A) and has been "repaired" quite a few times.
Any suggestions?
John
Bitnet: v067majp@ubvmsd
(the others, who knows? I'm still new at this stuff, I'm still not sure what
USENET is.)rich@lakesys.UUCP (Richard Dankert) (01/16/89)
In article <8901150021.AA01172@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> V067MAJP@UBVMS.BITNET (Arion) writes: >Help! >I'm not sure watch to do with my ST. Anyone have any suggestions? >(Before you start, let me list some symptoms.) >VERY erratic behavior. Sometimes, it works perfectly, others it refuses to >boot. Misc stuff deleted.... Try reseating the MMU in it's socket. If that does not work, if you have `any small electronics knowledge, and can get your hands on a dental type tool, remove the MMU from the socket, then slightly pry the pins outward. I have seen this and many other symptons just like it. Today I just repaired a system that made the owner really think that he had some breaks in the pcb, for all his keyboard troubles. Re-booting etc.... That one small fix did the trick. If the machine that you have is indeed a 1985 board, it may have been one that at one time had a ram expansion installed in it. Some of these ram expansion units press the pins in too tight so the mmu cannot make contact correctly. Now if you do not have the expertise in this area, then I advise you to take Atari up on their exchange offer. At $95.00 it really is a deal. rich..... UUCP: rich@lakesys.lakesys.COM {always .... }
Xorg@cup.portal.com (Peter Ted Szymonik) (01/16/89)
Sounds very much like a loose connection or loose chips - especially since you mention that its been repaired many times! Open up the case and make sure each chip is firmly seated in the board. If its not the chips or a loose connection then it could very well be a tired drive mechanism that is reading disks as well as it used to - get a drive speed checker from any major board and test your drives RPMS - should be at 300RPM, 299-301 shouldn't cause problems but any more than that is bad news. This sounds like work for a skilled techy. Pete
med@druwy.ATT.COM (Myron Drapal) (01/17/89)
in article <8901150021.AA01172@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>, V067MAJP@UBVMS.BITNET (Arion) says: > > Help! > I'm not sure watch to do with my ST. Anyone have any suggestions? > (Before you start, let me list some symptoms.) > VERY erratic behavior. Sometimes, it works perfectly, others it refuses to > boot. > Any suggestions? > John > Bitnet: v067majp@ubvmsd > (the others, who knows? I'm still new at this stuff, I'm still not sure what > USENET is.) One easy solution... Gentle lift the ST up about 4 inches and drop *sharply* on the tabletop. This actually works much better than it sounds. The chip sockets for most of the ST's, especially the old ones, were absolutely the *CHEAPEST* ones that Atari could buy. My ST used to exhibit many of these symptoms, and I got fed up with it and brought it in to a de-solder station and removed all of the sockets and replaced them with new, (and more expensive ;-() sockets, and have had very little problems with it since. It's a little radical, but it sure fixed it up proper. Myron Drapal att!med@druwy.ATT.COM
med@druwy.ATT.COM (Myron Drapal) (03/14/89)
in article <8901150021.AA01172@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>, V067MAJP@UBVMS.BITNET (Arion) says: > > Help! > I'm not sure watch to do with my ST. Anyone have any suggestions? > (Before you start, let me list some symptoms.) > VERY erratic behavior. Sometimes, it works perfectly, others it refuses to > boot. > When it does boot, sometimes it will refuse to recognise that my disks are NOT > blank! Other times, it will just continuously reboot by itself over and over. > Sometimes, the screen literally goes crazy and the ST crashes (or small blobs > will appear on the screen and then the works) > Sometimes a program which works fine (such as Uniterm) will end execution and > return to the desktop at random (sometimes right after it loads!) > Just to put things in perspective, this has been happening since I've gotten > the computer (and I was zealous, from what I can make out on the motherboard is > dated 1985 rev. A) and has been "repaired" quite a few times. > Any suggestions? > John > Bitnet: v067majp@ubvmsd > (the others, who knows? I'm still new at this stuff, I'm still not sure what > USENET is.) One easy solution... Gentle lift the ST up about 4 inches and drop *sharply* on the tabletop. This actually works much better than it sounds. The chip sockets for most of the ST's, especially the old ones, were absolutely the *CHEAPEST* ones that Atari could buy. My ST used to exhibit many of these symptoms, and I got fed up with it and brought it in to a de-solder station and removed all of the sockets and replaced them with new, (and more expensive ;-() sockets, and have had very little problems with it since. It's a little radical, but it sure fixed it up proper. Myron Drapal att!med@druwy.ATT.COM From vn Mon Jan 16 15:58:47 1989 Subject: Re: Flaky ST! Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st References: <8901150021.AA01172@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> in article <8901150021.AA01172@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>, V067MAJP@UBVMS.BITNET (Arion) says: > > Help! > I'm not sure watch to do with my ST. Anyone have any suggestions? > (Before you start, let me list some symptoms.) > VERY erratic behavior. Sometimes, it works perfectly, others it refuses to > boot. > Any suggestions? > John > Bitnet: v067majp@ubvmsd > (the others, who knows? I'm still new at this stuff, I'm still not sure what > USENET is.) One easy solution... Gentle lift the ST up about 4 inches and drop *sharply* on the tabletop. This actually works much better than it sounds. The chip sockets for most of the ST's, especially the old ones, were absolutely the *CHEAPEST* ones that Atari could buy. My ST used to exhibit many of these symptoms, and I got fed up with it and brought it in to a de-solder station and removed all of the sockets and replaced them with new, (and more expensive ;-() sockets, and have had very little problems with it since. It's a little radical, but it sure fixed it up proper. Myron Drapal att!med@druwy.ATT.COM From vn Mon Mar 13 10:05:33 1989 Subject: Re: Adaptec controller boards Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st References: <2312@van-bc.UUCP> in article <2312@van-bc.UUCP>, rthurlow@van-bc.UUCP (Rob Thurlow) says: > > NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! > > Please, people, check your facts! This thread could result in a lot of > people buying the wrong card. I quote from the Adaptec "ACB-4000 Series > User's Manual": > > "The ACB-4000A Controller ... supports SCSI features and controls two > Winchester drives. The ACB-4000A also supports both hard-sectored and > soft-sectored removable drives, as well as all ST506/412 type fixed > drives. The ACB-4000A was previously known as two separate products, the > ACB-4000 and the ACB-4010. It is fully compatible with these products." > > The inescapable conclusion I come to after reading that is that the Adaptec > 4000 (no 'A') is NOT complete, and that you would need the 4010 as well to > get a working system. If this is wrong, someone with a 4000 (no 'A') should > break their silence and put us straight about the differences. DO NOT BUY > AN ADAPTEC 4000 unless you know how it differs from the 4000A, because the > 4000A is the one people are running. > Right quote, wrong conclusion... I have both ACB-4000 and ACB-4000A and they work *exactly* the same. In fact, the only difference that I could find is that the board layout is slightly different, and the mounting holes in the 4000A match the mounting holes on the bottom of a 5.25 hard disk, where the older 4000 board does not. The way I would then read the above quote from the ACB-4000 manual is that the 4000A is a (newer) replacement for the 4000 *OR* the 4010. So, buy the 4000 if you "get a deal on it" (Time Line has the 4000 in their ad for $60, but it's really a 4000A), otherwise buy an OMTI (its faster ;-)). Myron Drapal AT&T Bell Labs Denver ========================== Disclaimer: These are my own opinions.