Boot Problems

I have recently retrieved my A1200 from the cupboard where it has been for about 2 years.

It switched on OK and worked fine after an initial boot-up failure.

But after a while it would NOT boot up at all.

It would not boot from the hard disk - or any Boot Floppies.

The only thing on the monitor is the Insert Floppy Disk screen.

Pressing the 2 buttons on reboot ..... select BOOT options ..... and the only drives available are DF0 (the Floppy) and CC0 (the card) .... but NOT HD0 or HD1 (my hard drive partitions) ...even though the hard drive should be present.

Any help would be most appreciated............

[RetroMan]

Check the HD cable inside, maybe it got loose ...

[LUKas007]

But it seems not to be booting even from floppies..., so maybe check up all the cables inside the Amiga...

I have checked HD cable - 44 pin ribbon cable seems OK - what other cables inside A1200 may be loose / damaged which may affect kickstart / booting ?

Thanks.

[Amiga1992]

Look at the FDD data cable, flat-ribbon on the right of the meega. Check if it's loose. nd check the FDD's power cable as well...

If all is well, seems like yoru initial bootup has killed one or both of your accessories
Sometimes HDs like not to spin up after being off for such a long time.

Things to check:
-Put your ear over the A1200's vent, middle/left. Can you hear the hard disk spinning? Does it spin up, spin down, spin up, spin down and then shuts up for good? Or does it not spin up at all? Try powering on/off a few times if the former happens. See if teh drive revives.

- Put your ear near the vent, on the right side of teh meega. Does the disk-drive click?

[Bloodwych]

Sounds like a possible PSU problem. It's no longer providing enough current for the A1200 devices.

[LUKas007]

Yes, PSU - the thing that has the ON/OFF switch on it may be damaged. If the mainboard is covered with dust, then clean it... using for example a DRY cloth.

[Bloodwych]

I'll just add that my old A1200 PSU (the infamous underpowered white brick) slowly died giving me boot problems very similar to those you've experienced. The PSU is under most stress during boot so if it falters in anyway this is when you'll notice.

Replaced it with a Goliath 200W and everything was fine once again.

[Paul]

My A600 problems were also due to my PSU. I'm using a 4.5 one now from the dead 500+ and all looks ok.

[Amiga1992]

I never had power outages, my A600 PSU just... blew up because of intense heat. 3 times :P

[Paul]

I think my old PSU was damaged after being in the loft with the A600 for so long, but I think my A600 has now forgiven me as it is permanently set up.

[blackcornflake]

First of all, I would be very surprised if any serious damage has been done to your hard drive, kmmc55. The lack of HD0: and HD1: on the Early Startup Screen is not necessarily a sign of a dead drive.

Process of elimination. Dr blackcornflake recommends temporarily disconnecting the HD to see if it is possible to boot from floppy. If successful, the floppy power and data cables are obviously OK. Add the HD again. If your A1200 has an accelerator card, try booting without it. Remove any additional stuff like PCMCIA cards. If the HD is recognised, it's definitely a power problem.

Power problems aside, is your HD a particularly old model? It may be taking too long to spin up. The Amiga only waits for a HD for so long, then ignores it and goes to the purple screen. Cutting a line on the HD cable often fixes this.

Thanks for suggestions so far, ... you guys are very impressive ........but unfortunately still no joy.

A1200 HD, very clean - no dust internal or external, No accelerator /PCMCIA cards etc...........So far I have ........

1. Listened to A1200 HD -- does not sound as if HD spins on power up (quite sure it is NOT spinning).
2. Listened to A1200 FD --- FD spins floppies but does not boot Bootable floppies (drive clicks when empty).
3. Removed A1200 HD (Seagate 2.5" Int. IDE 170Mb) --- still will not boot floppies.
4. Checked A1200 cables / ribbons to floppies etc -- all seem OK.
5. Checked A1200 PSU on my even older A500+ -- A500+ booted up floppies no problem (No HD on A500+).
6. Connected up external FD to A1200 and still no boot-up (drive clicks when empty).
7. Re-connected A1200 HD checking all cables ribbons etc again, still no boot-up.

Is A1200 shafted ? , or any other suggestions ? , or can any kickstart chip etc be replaced to enable boot-up ?

Thanks ......kmmc

[blackcornflake]

The Kickstart ROM chips are easy to pop out and back in, as they are socketed, (unlike most of the other chips on the motherboard, which are surface-mounted).

I assume the purple boot screen still appears, and the Early Startup Control menu is still available. If so, the ROM chips are still OK. If they were at fault, you would be greeted with something nasty, like a red screen.

I suggest trying a different floppy drive with the A1200.

My Bootscreen / Insert Floppy Screen still appears....
Early Startup Control menu is still available.....
So ROM chip seems ok ?

I have tried another floppy, as stated in my previous entry :-
6. Connected up external FD to A1200 and still no boot-up (drive clicks when empty). !!!

Sorry to go on........ , But ..........any other ideas ???

[blackcornflake]

Sorry, I should have been more specific. I meant I recommend trying a replacement internal floppy drive, DF0:, as opposed to an additional external drive. Is this yet to be tried?

I reason that testing a different floppy drive will provide more clues as to what the problem may be. Hopefully, a busted floppy, not a busted controller chip...

Perhaps try booting with no startup-sequence (from Early Startup), with floppy in drive. Use AmigaDOS to 'cd' into the volume [i.e. "cd swos:"]. "Dir swos:" would list the contents. Small, quick operation, but only possible if floppy and all associated components are functioning properly.

BTW, have you checked the keyboard ribbon cable? Does rebooting with Ctr-Amiga-Amiga work, for instance?

[Amiga1992]

You have an external FDD? Good. It just wont boot like that...

Get into the Early Startup menu, go to Device Options and select, as your boot drive, DF1:

Return, click on Boot and see if the disk in yoru external boots. It should boot.

Are you sure your disk spins in the internal FDD? I had a TEAC that I thought was spinning, but I opened the machine, took the diskdrive in my hands, flipped it over to see the disk plate and when I inserted a disk, it wouldn';t spin. I recommend you doing this, take a look at the plate and see if it really spins. The ear could be tricked here (because the drive makes many noises)

If when you insert a disk, the drive clicks like if it had no disk in it (click..click...click... all the time) it might be a problem with the drive's disk sensor.

Tell us what happens

Almost there .......................

The A1200 H Drive still refuses to spin / start / boot etc, but ......
I have got Amiga 1200 to boot-up from floppy drive !

When Hard Drive failed to work, I checked drive cables etc. before trying Boot Floppy. For Amiga to Boot, the Hard Drive Cradle MUST be firmly in place for the bootup process (the HD Cradle must press a switch or complete a circuit , or something ??). I had removed cradle with the HD when checking - sorted !

So my problem now appears to be an HD problem......

any suggestions ? .. the 44 pin ribbon appears to be OK and firmly into both unit and board...

Early Startup Screen/Device Options does not report the HD partitions, HD0 or HD1, but A1200 works OK otherwise.

[Amiga1992]

Originally posted by kmmc55
For Amiga to Boot, the Hard Drive Cradle MUST be firmly in place for the bootup process (the HD Cradle must press a switch or complete a circuit , or something ??)

This is not true. my HD is not in teh craddle because it's an ultraslim 3.5" HD, and it still works. the craddle is NOT needed!

I think your HD is dead. Try getting anotehr one to check it in your meega.

Amiga not booting from floppy again.....

sounds like 2 faults....

1) Dead HD.
2) intermittent fault on motherboard causing 1200 not to boot.

Looks like I got a dead meega