aaf4808@venus.tamu.edu (FORD, ANDREW ALLEN) (06/21/91)
I am in need of some help. After 2 trouble-free years with my A500, I recently Power-Upped to an A3000-16/50. I have had nothing but problems with it. I originally received it on 6-14. UPS shipped from Houston. It wouldn't boot up. No disk activity, nothing. I sent it to Houston (Micro Search) and the tech guy there said it was working okedokee. I got it back from them today (6-20). I fired it up and it worked. For about twenty minutes. I was playing with the backdrop pattern and the whole thing just froze. No guru stuff, just everything stopped moving. I couldnt warm boot. So I powered down and then on again, after a suitable pause. Now, before kickstart or anything else is loaded, I get: ERROR CAN'T GET MEMORY! Or something really close. The guy at MicroSearch said it might be a bad or improperly seated chip. I havent yet had the opportunity to check all of the chips. If it turns out that they are seated properly, what then? A friend of mine said that I should stop fooling with Micro Search and get in touch with Commodore and their Gold Plan people. Any suggestions or comments will be much appreciated. Its going on 5 weeks since I have had a computer. Withdrawl is painful. Andy.
darrell@comspec.uucp (Darrell Grainger) (06/22/91)
In article <17614@helios.TAMU.EDU> aaf4808@venus.tamu.edu writes: > >I am in need of some help. > >After 2 trouble-free years with my A500, I recently Power-Upped to an >A3000-16/50. I have had nothing but problems with it. I originally received >it on 6-14. UPS shipped from Houston. It wouldn't boot up. No disk activity, >nothing. I sent it to Houston (Micro Search) and the tech guy there said it >was working okedokee. I got it back from them today (6-20). I fired it up and >it worked. For about twenty minutes. I was playing with the backdrop pattern >and the whole thing just froze. No guru stuff, just everything stopped moving. >I couldnt warm boot. So I powered down and then on again, after a suitable >pause. Now, before kickstart or anything else is loaded, I get: > >ERROR CAN'T GET MEMORY! > >Or something really close. The guy at MicroSearch said it might be a bad or >improperly seated chip. I havent yet had the opportunity to check all of the >chips. If it turns out that they are seated properly, what then? A friend of >mine said that I should stop fooling with Micro Search and get in touch with >Commodore and their Gold Plan people. The error message has to do with the FAST RAM (usually). The computer has to grab 512K of FAST RAM for the Kickstart. when it cannot you get the error noted above. This could be 1) bad RAM 2) mixing Page mode and Static column or 3) RAM in the wrong socket or improperly seated. Last time I saw this (and the first time) it was number 3. > >Any suggestions or comments will be much appreciated. Its going on 5 weeks >since I have had a computer. Withdrawl is painful. If you just got the system it should be under warrantee so I'd say don't mess with it and send it to some other Authorized Commodore Service Centre. If you are thinking about opening the machine and checking the RAM yourself then you should know that everything but the motherboard must be removed to get to the FAST RAM sockets (they are right under where the second floppy drive goes). > >Andy. -- Darrell Grainger % Comspec Communications Inc., Toronto, Ontario, Canada darrell@comspec % Disclaimer: All opinions expressed are my own. (416) 617-1475 % (416) 633-5605 (416)785-3553
rzv30@cccvm.ccc.amdahl.com (Rene' A. Vega) (06/28/91)
Oh sigh, Commodore's quality control isn't very high. I received my A3000 through the mail (actually UPS). When I turned it on, I too got the CAN'T GET MEMORY message right after superkick tried to load in 2.0. I wasn't about to send the machine back to Commodore and wait around a couple of months, so I decided to repair it myself. In the end all I had to do was reseat the ZIPPs to get it to work correctly. It really isn't all that difficult to gain access to the fast memory area - the manual that comes with the A3000 is quite clear on how to do it. Doing this will void your warranty, but if you carefully remove the C= sticker then replace it after you're done, who's to know??? Good luck... Rene' A. Vega *** the original renegade ***
tagreen@lothario.ucs.indiana.edu (Todd Green) (06/28/91)
>Doing this will void your warranty, but if you carefully remove the C= sticke >then replace it after you're done, who's to know??? My original 3000 had motherboard probs and when the service person came to replace it he just pulled the sticker off and never put it back on. Go figure. Todd -- Internet: tagreen@bronze.ucs.indiana.edu NeXTMail: tagreen@lothario.ucs.indiana.edu BitNet: tagreen@iubacs.bitnet
bja20850@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (B.J. Anderson) (06/28/91)
tagreen@lothario.ucs.indiana.edu (Todd Green) writes: >>Doing this will void your warranty, but if you carefully remove the C= sticke >>then replace it after you're done, who's to know??? >My original 3000 had motherboard probs and when the service person >came to replace it he just pulled the sticker off and never put it >back on. Go figure. >Todd >-- >Internet: tagreen@bronze.ucs.indiana.edu >NeXTMail: tagreen@lothario.ucs.indiana.edu >BitNet: tagreen@iubacs.bitnet I had my dealer install 4MB before he sent me the machine. He cut the sticker and didn't bother adding a new one either. Shouldn't they have a supply of these on hand??? No wait, I'm sorry, I forgot, this is commodore :) -Beej -- I must remember to be cheerful and obedient. I must remember to be cheerful and obedient. I must remember to be cheerful and obedient. mail: bja20850@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu
daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com (Dave Haynie) (06/28/91)
In article <f8od02dX08Ir01@JUTS.ccc.amdahl.com> rzv30@cccvm.ccc.amdahl.com (Rene' A. Vega) writes: >Oh sigh, Commodore's quality control isn't very high. I received my A3000 >through the mail (actually UPS). Remember those "American Tourister" ads? The ones with the gorilla taking advantage of a suit-case. Mail/UPS was actually the inspiration for that. In other words, things loosen up in shipping. That's one sound reason to avoid mail ordering hardware, others do exist. -- Dave Haynie Commodore-Amiga (Amiga 3000) "The Crew That Never Rests" {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!daveh PLINK: hazy BIX: hazy "I looked for it and I found it" -R.E.M.
arno@cbmnlu1.cbm.nl (Arno Griffioen) (06/28/91)
In article <1991Jun28.074005.28074@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> bja20850@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (B.J. Anderson) writes: > >I had my dealer install 4MB before he sent me the machine. He cut the sticker >and didn't bother adding a new one either. Shouldn't they have a supply >of these on hand??? No wait, I'm sorry, I forgot, this is commodore :) Why? A customer can open his A3000 without losing his/hers warranty (at least that's the situation here), how else would you add boards or HD's? There is a second sticker covering a screw in the motherboard. This is the _real_ warranty sticker and this may not be broken. Of coure, I don't know about the situation in the U.S., but I would be surprised if opening the A3000 would void warranty. >-Beej Bye Arno. -- Arno Griffioen | Commodore Nederland B.V. Unix Support Center Email: arno@cbmnlu1.cbm.nl | Tel: (+31) 020-5806748 or: arno@cbm.nl | "The light at the end of the tunnel... Is the headlamp of an oncoming train!"
taak9@isuvax.iastate.edu (Steve Sheldon) (06/28/91)
In article <f8od02dX08Ir01@JUTS.ccc.amdahl.com>, rzv30@cccvm.ccc.amdahl.com (Rene' A. Vega) writes: >Oh sigh, Commodore's quality control isn't very high. I received my A3000 >through the mail (actually UPS). When I turned it on, I too got the CAN'T GET >MEMORY message right after superkick tried to load in 2.0. I wasn't about to >send the machine back to Commodore and wait around a couple of months, so I >decided to repair it myself. In the end all I had to do was reseat the ZIPPs to >get it to work correctly. It really isn't all that difficult to gain access to >the fast memory area - the manual that comes with the A3000 is quite clear on >how to do it. > >Doing this will void your warranty, but if you carefully remove the C= sticker >then replace it after you're done, who's to know??? Not surprising. Anything sent by UPS/Mail gets tossed around a bit. The packaging saves it from the worst. And socketed chips are notorious for loosening during shipment. That's why it's better to purchase hardware thru a dealer who will perform these simple repairs for you. Or do what you did, and reseat the chips. I've had to do this a couple times with my A500, as a result of moving back and forth when in College. If Commodore is at fault for anything, it's for socketing the chips. But then I prefer sockets, over soldering, especially over surface mount. Oh, and at least Commodore just uses a sticker. They could be really nasty, and lockwire, or use special screws and such. Steve Sheldon /// taak9@ccvax.iastate.edu /// Iowa State University \XX/
es1@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Ethan Solomita) (06/29/91)
In article <1991Jun28.162816.21184@news.iastate.edu> taak9@isuvax.iastate.edu writes: > > Oh, and at least Commodore just uses a sticker. They could be really >nasty, and lockwire, or use special screws and such. > Kinda like on the A500 with the Torx (sp?) screws! 8) -- Ethan FF buckets of bits on the bus, FF buckets of bits. Take one down, Short it to ground, FE buckets of bits on the bus.
rkushner@sycom.UUCP (Ronald Kushner) (06/29/91)
arno@cbmnlu1.cbm.nl (Arno Griffioen) writes: >In article <1991Jun28.074005.28074@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> bja20850@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu >> >>I had my dealer install 4MB before he sent me the machine. He cut the sticke >>and didn't bother adding a new one either. Shouldn't they have a supply >>of these on hand??? No wait, I'm sorry, I forgot, this is commodore :) > >Why? A customer can open his A3000 without losing his/hers warranty (at >least that's the situation here), how else would you add boards or HD's? > >There is a second sticker covering a screw in the motherboard. This is the >_real_ warranty sticker and this may not be broken. > >Of coure, I don't know about the situation in the U.S., but I would be surpris >if opening the A3000 would void warranty. Especially when they give you a poster showing it opened up...And the little booklet that came with mine also showed you how to install the RAM(Which after installing it, I realized it would be easier to pay someone to do it for you...It wasn't hard, but kinda confusing and time consuming, not for someone in a hurry, a clutz, or a PARANOID) Speaking of hard drives, the empty 3.5" area won't let you mount a 3.5" Quantum, unless you drilled holes into the mounting plate and the darn power supply bracket to keep the drive from hitting the case...I was very disappointed in this...Is there any special plates that dealers can get to mount another internal 3.5 HD...and I was kinda surprised to find an E.C. on the backplane as well... -- C-UseNet V0.42f Ronald Kushner Life in Hell BBS +1 (313) 939-6666 P.O. Box 353 14400 USR HST V.42 & V.42bis Sterling Heights, MI 48311-0353 Complete Amiga Support UUCP: uunet!umich!vela!sycom!rkushner (We are not satanic, just NUTS!) People don't plan to fail, they fail to plan.
Greg_Bastow@tvbbs.UUCP (Greg Bastow) (06/29/91)
In a message dated Sat 29 Jun 91 09:03, Rkushner@sycom.uucp (ronald Kushner
wrote:
RK> Speaking of hard drives, the empty 3.5" area won't let you mount a
RK> 3.5"
RK> Quantum, unless you drilled holes into the mounting plate and the
RK> darn power
RK> supply bracket to keep the drive from hitting the case...I was very
RK> disappointed in this...Is there any special plates that dealers can
RK> get to
RK> mount another internal 3.5 HD...and I was kinda surprised to find an
RK> E.C. on
RK> the backplane as well...
I just took delivery of a brand new A3000 myself - and installed my Quantum
Pro 210 internally with no problem. It's quite simple actually, all you do is
swap the floppy to the outside and put the HD in the inside bay. It fits fine
- the form factor for the screw holes forced you to raise the HD about half
and inch from the bottom of the bracket though.
-- Via DLG Pro v0.975b
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// unnel \/ ision BBS +----------------------------------------+sticht@edith.UUCP (Stefan Sticht) (06/30/91)
>In article <2062@cbmnlu1.cbm.nl> arno@cbmnlu1.cbm.nl (Arno Griffioen) writes: >In article <1991Jun28.074005.28074@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> bja20850@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (B.J. Anderson) writes: >> >>I had my dealer install 4MB before he sent me the machine. He cut the sticker >>and didn't bother adding a new one either. Shouldn't they have a supply >>of these on hand??? No wait, I'm sorry, I forgot, this is commodore :) > >Why? A customer can open his A3000 without losing his/hers warranty (at >least that's the situation here), how else would you add boards or HD's? > >There is a second sticker covering a screw in the motherboard. This is the >_real_ warranty sticker and this may not be broken. Situation in Germany: There's a sticker which must be broken to open the machine. Serveral dealers told me, that breaking this sticker means losing warranty. Nice, isn't it :-(? >Of coure, I don't know about the situation in the U.S., but I would be surprised >if opening the A3000 would void warranty. > >>-Beej > > Bye Arno. > >-- >Arno Griffioen | Commodore Nederland B.V. Unix Support Center >Email: arno@cbmnlu1.cbm.nl | Tel: (+31) 020-5806748 > or: arno@cbm.nl | > "The light at the end of the tunnel... Is the headlamp of an oncoming train!" -- Stefan Sticht Internet: cbmvax.commodore.com!cbmehq!cbmger!edith!sticht@rutgers.EDU or: IWSTICHT@ibm.rz.uni-passau.de Fido-Net: Stefan Sticht (2:242/16:4)
jtravis@dworkin.Amber.mccc.edu (Jim, Sysop) (07/01/91)
Weenie-alert! Please get ready to skip ahead if you don't want to
read potential flamage...
rzv30@cccvm.ccc.amdahl.com (Rene' A. Vega) writes:
> Oh sigh, Commodore's quality control isn't very high. I received my A3000
Nice rhyme..you think of all that yourself?
> through the mail (actually UPS). When I turned it on, I too got the CAN'T GET
> MEMORY message right after superkick tried to load in 2.0. I wasn't about to
UPS? Ahem....U-P-S? They could put Samsonite out of business!
> send the machine back to Commodore and wait around a couple of months, so I
> decided to repair it myself. In the end all I had to do was reseat the ZIPPs
> get it to work correctly. It really isn't all that difficult to gain access t
> the fast memory area - the manual that comes with the A3000 is quite clear on
> how to do it.
Indeed. Lucky for you that you're a rocket-scientist too, huh?
>
> Doing this will void your warranty, but if you carefully remove the C= sticke
> then replace it after you're done, who's to know???
More mis-information. Since when has adding ram voided your
warranty? That's all you're doing, isn't it - moving ram around. My 3000
says nothing about that, although the book says that any damage caused by
improper installation of ram voids their warranties..
But then again, with your impeccable ethics, why worry?
>
> Good luck...
You'll need it..
>
>
>
> Rene' A. Vega
>
> *** the original renegade *** jtravis@dworkin.Amber.mccc.edu (Jim, Sysop) (07/01/91)
rkushner@sycom.UUCP (Ronald Kushner) writes: > Speaking of hard drives, the empty 3.5" area won't let you mount a 3.5" > Quantum, unless you drilled holes into the mounting plate and the darn >power supply bracket to keep the drive from hitting the case... Umm..what's the problem? I've had no problems putting my 105S Quantum in the drive bay? You'll have to reverse the direction of the drive, so that the drive cable faces front, but from there it's easy sailing. Just be careful of stressing the cables as they tend to get fidgity when the lid goes on. Jim //