What's wrong with my Blizzard PPC?

vitux · 14 January 2013, 00:10

What is wrong with my Blizzard PPC?

when connected, else fails, almost no sign of life.
is necessary to change the battery to blizzard?

If someone wants to help me, I can give more details of the symptoms

prowler · 14 January 2013, 00:15

Please give as many details as you can.

Don't wait for a response. The more information you can provide, the more chance there will be that another Blizzard PPC owner will recognize the symptoms and be able to offer a solution.

fitzsteve · 14 January 2013, 00:29

Indeed as prowler says we need to know a little more.

Battery is only to keep clock time when you switch off, it does not stop normal operation.

My Blizzard PPC was failing to boot (got caught in endless reboot loop) and re flashing the firmware cured the problem but of course we need more info on your symptoms before we can give you more advice.

For example, it could be that your PSU does not have enough voltage on the +5 to get it going, it could be that contacts to A1200 motherboard are dirty or even that your A1200 has leaking capacitors or another fault.

vitux · 14 January 2013, 01:05

thanks friends.
Clear to me that the battery is not.
I am very tired, I summarize some symptoms:
Negative symptoms connected with the blizzard, black screen, the floppy drive does not make noise, HD not spinning, key 2 does not work, neither the menu from the A1200
Positive symptoms: the 060/PPC heated gradually, it seems that everything works fine without Blizzard connected keyboard LEDs work.

I'll have to see if the connectors are OK, also the corrosion, I will also try prove another PSU by the theme of the accursed +5 v. I have some small white spots on the accelerator, also on the board a1200. although as I said, a1200 board works well (it seems).
Sorry my English, use translator.

I think everything the hard Amiga classic is so old that sooner or later dies :-(

fitzsteve · 14 January 2013, 01:15

Hi again vitux,

My first advice is to clean the edge connector on the A1200, you can use IPA (Isopropyl alcohol) or you can use a pencil eraser.

You should also clean the connector pins of the BPPC, IPA is good again and a tooth brush (soft brush is best)

I recommend also trying another PSU, the brick from an A500 is better than a standard A1200 PSU, but you might have a Tower, so maybe let us know the full configuration of you system. Using a standard A1200 is not recommended!

If you are using a converted or ATX PSU, try also connecting a floppy power connector to the A1200's floppy power connector.

Also please at least try another PSU.

If you crystal oscillators are socketed (for 68k side) you could try to fit another crystal.

If these tests fail I recommend contacting stachu100 on these forums, he is an expert with these cards and may be able to repair it for you.

Possibly it might need PPC or 68k CPU re-soldered. Also he can solder a new flash chip for firmware if this is fully dead. (i.e beyond re-flashing) Since you need to boot with a workbench floppy to launch the firmware updater.

Other faults such as dead CPLD cannot be repaired as the code does not exist, let's hope it's something simple.

All the best & good luck.

Steve.

vitux · 14 January 2013, 01:26

Yes, it's a tower, Yes, use floppy connector from the PSU. I forgot to say that the fan rotates.

Will test all this you say, even in another board a 1200.
Tomorrow.

fitzsteve · 14 January 2013, 01:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by vitux

Yes, it's a tower, Yes, use floppy connector from the PSU. I forgot to say that the fan rotates.

Will test all this you say, even in another board a 1200.
Tomorrow.

Good luck with your tests

Indeed it's time to....

Bamiga2002 · 14 January 2013, 07:04

You don't happen to have one of those nasty incompatible HP server simms in your BPPC? Also try without HDD if you can get to the BPPC bootmenu hitting ESC when resetting the A1200.

orange · 14 January 2013, 14:43

sorry to intrude..

@fitzsteve
is there a way to backup existing firmware?

fitzsteve · 14 January 2013, 15:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by orange

sorry to intrude..

@fitzsteve
is there a way to backup existing firmware?

Hi!

The Firmware files are on the Phase 5 Website you can get them any time:

http://phase5.a1k.org/index.php?driverslibraries

The chip is programmable, if you have the chip and tools required can program & solder a new chip if this fails.

A partially corrupt firmware can be recovered if you can at least boot into Workbench with a floppy disk and disable the board or SCSI then you can re-flash the firmware with the update tool. (this is how I fixed my BPPC when it stopped booting fully)

The CPLD is locked and the code cannot be read, the code does not exist anywhere that we know of. This is the reason for many CSPPC out there that cannot be repaired

Korodny · 14 January 2013, 15:24

Some BlizzardPPCs always crash the system at power-on, no matter what PSU you are using. Usually this happens to cards with a 68040 CPU, but I also heard from people with a 68060 that suffered from this problem.

Turn the system on, then reset the computer using the keyboard or a reset key. See if it boots now.

And the BlizzardPPC doesn't work without memory, always use it with at least one module. Try different modules, if you can. The PPC card is much more picky with RAM than most 68k cards, so "it worked in my other accellerator" doesn't proof anything.

orange · 14 January 2013, 15:41

@Korodny
I noticed that too, with '040 ppc. but it seems to depend on outside temperature.

@fitzsteve
thanks.

vitux · 14 January 2013, 20:41

Hallelujah! My BlizzardPPC still lives! http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/1299/dscn1165su.jpg
I used a PSU Amiga 500 and started.(I disconnected the Mediator)
I tried also a PSU AT also adapted to Amiga500 (I need a connector P8 / 9) and also worked

I keep having strange problems, random PCs PSUs, sometimes the floppy drive does not work, sometimes the HDD. 5v defective?, Or clable etc?, these things seem to cause conflict but at least that BlizzardPPC is not the cause.

I continue testing

Bamiga2002 · 14 January 2013, 21:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by vitux

Hallelujah! My BlizzardPPC still lives! http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/1299/dscn1165su.jpg
I used a PSU Amiga 500 and started.(I disconnected the Mediator)
I tried also a PSU AT also adapted to Amiga500 (I need a connector P8 / 9) and also worked

I keep having strange problems, random PCs PSUs, sometimes the floppy drive does not work, sometimes the HDD. 5v defective?, Or clable etc?, these things seem to cause conflict but at least that BlizzardPPC is not the cause.

I continue testing

It's ALIVE!

PSU's are important, especially for cards like this. Get a good quality PSU that can deliver and maintain a good voltage output to the BPPC, it's picky about it.

vitux · 14 January 2013, 22:29

Bamiga2002: Incidentally, I used about two years ago a couple of modules HP as you mention. Luckily it seems that the PSU had protection and stop. I mean that when connecting on the blizzard simms the PSU is disconnected automatically. The Blizzard seems not damaged. I did not know the problem of those memories HP

orange · 15 January 2013, 07:53

another important thing besides PSU is cooling, I'd add fan on the ppc heatsink and perhaps another one on '060. the larger the better. if you are skilled, it might be a good idea to replace thermal paste.

S0ulA55a551n · 15 January 2013, 13:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by orange

another important thing besides PSU is cooling, I'd add fan on the ppc heatsink and perhaps another one on '060. the larger the better. if you are skilled, it might be a good idea to replace thermal paste.

You don't really need to worry about the 060 it shouldn't be getting that hot. Not like the the 040 you could fry an egg on

vitux · 15 January 2013, 14:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by orange

another important thing besides PSU is cooling, I'd add fan on the ppc heatsink and perhaps another one on '060. the larger the better. if you are skilled, it might be a good idea to replace thermal paste.

PPC already has a fan. 060 no, heated slightly. But not a bad idea to put one. What we not know is like sticking it. Besides the paste, thermal adhesive is needed, right?

adonay · 15 January 2013, 17:47

Sounds familiar. On both my BPPC cards i had issues with different power supply's. My first card a rev 1 060\240 would never boot from a amiga 1200 psu it worked with a few AT psus but i had very big problems when i went to ATX. Weird thing is that it worked with a A500 power brick . Card number two 040\210 would boot from a 1200 psu but crash later it worked great with allot of other psus.

orange · 15 January 2013, 21:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by vitux

PPC already has a fan. 060 no, heated slightly. But not a bad idea to put one. What we not know is like sticking it. Besides the paste, thermal adhesive is needed, right?

I've used double-sided-sticky-thermal-tape on '040. iirc, there are some versions of '060 that can get pretty hot.

14 January 2013, 00:10	#1
vitux Banned Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Spain Posts: 495	What's wrong with my Blizzard PPC? What is wrong with my Blizzard PPC? when connected, else fails, almost no sign of life. is necessary to change the battery to blizzard? If someone wants to help me, I can give more details of the symptoms

14 January 2013, 01:05	#4
vitux Banned Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Spain Posts: 495	thanks friends. Clear to me that the battery is not. I am very tired, I summarize some symptoms: Negative symptoms connected with the blizzard, black screen, the floppy drive does not make noise, HD not spinning, key 2 does not work, neither the menu from the A1200 Positive symptoms: the 060/PPC heated gradually, it seems that everything works fine without Blizzard connected keyboard LEDs work. I'll have to see if the connectors are OK, also the corrosion, I will also try prove another PSU by the theme of the accursed +5 v. I have some small white spots on the accelerator, also on the board a1200. although as I said, a1200 board works well (it seems). Sorry my English, use translator. I think everything the hard Amiga classic is so old that sooner or later dies :-( Last edited by vitux; 14 January 2013 at 01:13.

14 January 2013, 15:24	#11
Korodny Zone Friend Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Germany Posts: 812	Some BlizzardPPCs always crash the system at power-on, no matter what PSU you are using. Usually this happens to cards with a 68040 CPU, but I also heard from people with a 68060 that suffered from this problem. Turn the system on, then reset the computer using the keyboard or a reset key. See if it boots now. And the BlizzardPPC doesn't work without memory, always use it with at least one module. Try different modules, if you can. The PPC card is much more picky with RAM than most 68k cards, so "it worked in my other accellerator" doesn't proof anything. Last edited by Korodny; 15 January 2013 at 16:59.

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14 January 2013, 00:15	#2
prowler Global Moderator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Sidcup, England Posts: 10,300	Please give as many details as you can. Don't wait for a response. The more information you can provide, the more chance there will be that another Blizzard PPC owner will recognize the symptoms and be able to offer a solution.

14 January 2013, 00:29	#3
fitzsteve Professional slacker! Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Kent, UK Age: 44 Posts: 6,683	Indeed as prowler says we need to know a little more. Battery is only to keep clock time when you switch off, it does not stop normal operation. My Blizzard PPC was failing to boot (got caught in endless reboot loop) and re flashing the firmware cured the problem but of course we need more info on your symptoms before we can give you more advice. For example, it could be that your PSU does not have enough voltage on the +5 to get it going, it could be that contacts to A1200 motherboard are dirty or even that your A1200 has leaking capacitors or another fault.

14 January 2013, 01:15	#5
fitzsteve Professional slacker! Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Kent, UK Age: 44 Posts: 6,683	Hi again vitux, My first advice is to clean the edge connector on the A1200, you can use IPA (Isopropyl alcohol) or you can use a pencil eraser. You should also clean the connector pins of the BPPC, IPA is good again and a tooth brush (soft brush is best) I recommend also trying another PSU, the brick from an A500 is better than a standard A1200 PSU, but you might have a Tower, so maybe let us know the full configuration of you system. Using a standard A1200 is not recommended! If you are using a converted or ATX PSU, try also connecting a floppy power connector to the A1200's floppy power connector. Also please at least try another PSU. If you crystal oscillators are socketed (for 68k side) you could try to fit another crystal. If these tests fail I recommend contacting stachu100 on these forums, he is an expert with these cards and may be able to repair it for you. Possibly it might need PPC or 68k CPU re-soldered. Also he can solder a new flash chip for firmware if this is fully dead. (i.e beyond re-flashing) Since you need to boot with a workbench floppy to launch the firmware updater. Other faults such as dead CPLD cannot be repaired as the code does not exist, let's hope it's something simple. All the best & good luck. Steve.

14 January 2013, 01:26	#6
vitux Banned Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Spain Posts: 495	Yes, it's a tower, Yes, use floppy connector from the PSU. I forgot to say that the fan rotates. Will test all this you say, even in another board a 1200. Tomorrow.

14 January 2013, 07:04	#8
Bamiga2002 BlizzardPPC'less Join Date: May 2004 Location: Finland Age: 46 Posts: 3,210	You don't happen to have one of those nasty incompatible HP server simms in your BPPC? Also try without HDD if you can get to the BPPC bootmenu hitting ESC when resetting the A1200.

14 January 2013, 14:43	#9
orange Registered User Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Belgrade Posts: 567	sorry to intrude.. @fitzsteve is there a way to backup existing firmware?

14 January 2013, 15:41	#12
orange Registered User Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Belgrade Posts: 567	@Korodny I noticed that too, with '040 ppc. but it seems to depend on outside temperature. @fitzsteve thanks.

14 January 2013, 20:41	#13
vitux Banned Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Spain Posts: 495	Hallelujah! My BlizzardPPC still lives! http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/1299/dscn1165su.jpg I used a PSU Amiga 500 and started.(I disconnected the Mediator) I tried also a PSU AT also adapted to Amiga500 (I need a connector P8 / 9) and also worked I keep having strange problems, random PCs PSUs, sometimes the floppy drive does not work, sometimes the HDD. 5v defective?, Or clable etc?, these things seem to cause conflict but at least that BlizzardPPC is not the cause. I continue testing

14 January 2013, 22:29	#15
vitux Banned Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Spain Posts: 495	Bamiga2002: Incidentally, I used about two years ago a couple of modules HP as you mention. Luckily it seems that the PSU had protection and stop. I mean that when connecting on the blizzard simms the PSU is disconnected automatically. The Blizzard seems not damaged. I did not know the problem of those memories HP

15 January 2013, 07:53	#16
orange Registered User Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Belgrade Posts: 567	another important thing besides PSU is cooling, I'd add fan on the ppc heatsink and perhaps another one on '060. the larger the better. if you are skilled, it might be a good idea to replace thermal paste.

15 January 2013, 17:47	#19
adonay active amiga 1200 user Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Either Haugesund /Norway or Vaxjø Sweden Posts: 220	Sounds familiar. On both my BPPC cards i had issues with different power supply's. My first card a rev 1 060\240 would never boot from a amiga 1200 psu it worked with a few AT psus but i had very big problems when i went to ATX. Weird thing is that it worked with a A500 power brick . Card number two 040\210 would boot from a 1200 psu but crash later it worked great with allot of other psus.

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