ACA620 locking up when full memory is addressed - Page 4

FOL · 06 October 2013, 13:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by hansel75

Well that's interesting to here Akira, as i mentioned earlier in this thread that my ACA620 works fine with my original chip ram expansion.

But whenever i try it with the new A604 ram expansion, i have freezes and issues like you have had.

If i may ask, what would a replacement ACA620 achieve? Does it appear that your ACA620 is faulty, or that they are simply fussy with different chip ram expansions?

Do you think i should i seek out a replacement as well?

We are still investigating, but I have found when using an AMRAM6001, it works perfectly all day long without crashing.

Whats your board rev?

Amiga1992 · 06 October 2013, 14:36

I sure hope it was just my unit being faulty, otherwise i'm fucked. Not really looking forward to change my chipram expansion because of this, an incompatibility would be unaccptable.

hansel75 · 06 October 2013, 14:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by FOL

We are still investigating, but I have found when using an AMRAM6001, it works perfectly all day long without crashing.

Whats your board rev?

June BUG A600 Rev- 2D

Amiga1992 · 06 October 2013, 16:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by hansel75

June BUG A600 Rev- 2D

FOL said before:

Quote:

Originally Posted by FOL

2D Boards have always had issues, this is why we clearly mention it on the product description.

So maybe you're a bit shit out of luck

hansel75 · 06 October 2013, 18:15

Yer i just noticed that! Oh well at least the ACA620 is stable with my old trapdoor ram, and i don't need to use the A604+IndiEcs in my A600 atm as it's being used on a 1084s monitor!

So i can get by ok. But i might look at getting another A600 with a better revision at some stage, and try the ACA620+A604+IndiEcs+lcd with that instead.

Amiga1992 · 07 October 2013, 14:05

But it would be interesting to see if this is a widespread error on a series of cards.
Even if it works fine on one of your setups it doesn't mean the card is fine.
You are lucky to have more than one Chip RAM board to test, I am not, and don't really want to go hunting for which card might or might not work.

As I said before, compatibility of the ACA620 with ANY Chip RAM device should be guaranteed.

TjLaZer · 10 June 2014, 22:41

Created a support ticket with jens.

in the mean time, anyone else have issue with it locking up without loading acatune? Mine seems to lock up after a few minutes, no matter what I am doing. In WB or a disk game loading. Have not tried WHDLoad yet...

demolition · 10 June 2014, 22:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by TjLaZer

Created a support ticket with jens.

in the mean time, anyone else have issue with it locking up without loading acatune? Mine seems to lock up after a few minutes, no matter what I am doing. In WB or a disk game loading. Have not tried WHDLoad yet...

Yes, had the issue with rev. 1, but rev. 2 solved the problem. If it is Rev. 2, I would suspect bad contacts with the CPU.
Apparently it can have problems with 2B motherboards, although my A600 has a 2B and have not experienced any issues with the ACA620.

TjLaZer · 10 June 2014, 23:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by demolition

Yes, had the issue with rev. 1, but rev. 2 solved the problem. If it is Rev. 2, I would suspect bad contacts with the CPU.
Apparently it can have problems with 2B motherboards, although my A600 has a 2B and have not experienced any issues with the ACA620.

How can I tell if I have a Rev 2 board?

demolition · 11 June 2014, 04:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by TjLaZer

How can I tell if I have a Rev 2 board?

Hold both mouse buttons during boot and check the expansion rev.. Can also be seen in SysInfo and others. Lastly it is also printed on the board. If you bought it recently, it should be good. I think the first version was only sold for 1-2 months after it was launched, and they were replaced free of charge.

mr.spiv · 15 June 2014, 17:11

Ok.. I invested a fair amount to this grief & failing setup. Maybe I should finally understand that it is no use trying anymore

Anyway, I have A600 + aca620 (Rev2) + 604n + indivision (see http://deadcoderssociety.net/pics/a600.jpg) with fair amount of other tuning like fixing the keyboard, HDD leds, new floppy etc. My issue is aca620 locking up. I recon (now) that I have a motherboard Rev-2D. I have it because the Rev-1.5 I had earlier had the same lock up issue (and thus bought a new motherboard). Both Re-1.5 and -2D lock up after max few minutes, sometimes I do not get even into WB after a reboot. I do not use maxmem or actually do anything, just listen the beloved floppy drive to click.

So, can I conclude the aca620 is bad or are there another mysterious reason why things fail (like PSU)?

bubbob42 · 15 June 2014, 18:57

You should try to strengthen the card's ground connection by connecting the small holes to the motherboard. drive small screws though the two holes into the holes for the original harddisk bracket.

This fixes stability issues with some boards.

Edit: Don't use too much force while tightening the screws.

Amiga1992 · 15 June 2014, 19:35

In my experience I'd contact your vendor and file a claim. I had to send the card back and it got replaced.
Does your unit lock up if you DON"T add the extra RAM using ACATUNE?

demolition · 15 June 2014, 19:44

As I wrote in the previous post, it is likely that the connection between the socket and the CPU is bad, so some cleaning should be tried. The machine is ~23 years old, so some corrosion is bound to be on the CPU legs. When things heat up and expand, it can create intermittent connections, causing it to be unstable.

mr.spiv · 15 June 2014, 21:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by demolition

As I wrote in the previous post, it is likely that the connection between the socket and the CPU is bad, so some cleaning should be tried. The machine is ~23 years old, so some corrosion is bound to be on the CPU legs. When things heat up and expand, it can create intermittent connections, causing it to be unstable.

Of course the cleaning procedure has been done..

mr.spiv · 15 June 2014, 21:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Akira

In my experience I'd contact your vendor and file a claim. I had to send the card back and it got replaced.
Does your unit lock up if you DON"T add the extra RAM using ACATUNE?

Yep.. never got far enough even to start experimenting with acatune.

demolition · 15 June 2014, 22:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr.spiv

Yep.. never got far enough even to start experimenting with acatune.

It sounds like either you had some back luck with both A600 MBs or the ACA is faulty. I suggest you contact your vendor regarding the troubleshooting/replacement.

It could also be the PSU if it is on the weak/noisy side. Have you tried removing all other expansions besides the ACA?

mr.spiv · 16 June 2014, 00:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by demolition

It sounds like either you had some back luck with both A600 MBs or the ACA is faulty. I suggest you contact your vendor regarding the troubleshooting/replacement.

It could also be the PSU if it is on the weak/noisy side. Have you tried removing all other expansions besides the ACA?

Made some tests.. without 604n+indivision and with internal IDE CF HDD thingy -> locks. Without anything, just aca620 -> seems to runs ok. With 604n+indivision and without IDE CF HDD -> seems to runs ok.

demolition · 16 June 2014, 01:33

Perhaps this is obvious, but did you insulate the bottom side of that CF adapter so it doesn't short to anything? On the picture it looks like it is resting on the ACA.

Anyway, it seems the problem follows the adapter/CF card, so I would first try with another card.

Edit: You could also try bending it the other way so it doesn't rest on the ACA.

mr.spiv · 16 June 2014, 07:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by demolition

Perhaps this is obvious, but did you insulate the bottom side of that CF adapter so it doesn't short to anything? On the picture it looks like it is resting on the ACA.

Anyway, it seems the problem follows the adapter/CF card, so I would first try with another card.

Edit: You could also try bending it the other way so it doesn't rest on the ACA.

Insulation on the CF thing is ok. Plastic and hotglue covering all exposed pins etc. Btw, a600 runs fine with IDE CF HDD when aca620 is off.

Last night I let a600 run for a while. The aca620 runs really hot. Is that normal?

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06 October 2013, 14:36	#62
Amiga1992 Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Location: ? Posts: 19,644	I sure hope it was just my unit being faulty, otherwise i'm fucked. Not really looking forward to change my chipram expansion because of this, an incompatibility would be unaccptable.

06 October 2013, 18:15	#65
hansel75 Walk Off? Boolander! Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Gladstone Australia Age: 48 Posts: 628	Yer i just noticed that! Oh well at least the ACA620 is stable with my old trapdoor ram, and i don't need to use the A604+IndiEcs in my A600 atm as it's being used on a 1084s monitor! So i can get by ok. But i might look at getting another A600 with a better revision at some stage, and try the ACA620+A604+IndiEcs+lcd with that instead.

07 October 2013, 14:05	#66
Amiga1992 Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Location: ? Posts: 19,644	But it would be interesting to see if this is a widespread error on a series of cards. Even if it works fine on one of your setups it doesn't mean the card is fine. You are lucky to have more than one Chip RAM board to test, I am not, and don't really want to go hunting for which card might or might not work. As I said before, compatibility of the ACA620 with ANY Chip RAM device should be guaranteed.

10 June 2014, 22:41	#67
TjLaZer Registered User Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Tacoma, WA USA Age: 52 Posts: 1,915	Created a support ticket with jens. in the mean time, anyone else have issue with it locking up without loading acatune? Mine seems to lock up after a few minutes, no matter what I am doing. In WB or a disk game loading. Have not tried WHDLoad yet...

15 June 2014, 17:11	#71
mr.spiv Registered User Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Finland Age: 51 Posts: 241	Ok.. I invested a fair amount to this grief & failing setup. Maybe I should finally understand that it is no use trying anymore Anyway, I have A600 + aca620 (Rev2) + 604n + indivision (see http://deadcoderssociety.net/pics/a600.jpg) with fair amount of other tuning like fixing the keyboard, HDD leds, new floppy etc. My issue is aca620 locking up. I recon (now) that I have a motherboard Rev-2D. I have it because the Rev-1.5 I had earlier had the same lock up issue (and thus bought a new motherboard). Both Re-1.5 and -2D lock up after max few minutes, sometimes I do not get even into WB after a reboot. I do not use maxmem or actually do anything, just listen the beloved floppy drive to click. So, can I conclude the aca620 is bad or are there another mysterious reason why things fail (like PSU)?

15 June 2014, 18:57	#72
bubbob42 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 585	You should try to strengthen the card's ground connection by connecting the small holes to the motherboard. drive small screws though the two holes into the holes for the original harddisk bracket. This fixes stability issues with some boards. Edit: Don't use too much force while tightening the screws.

15 June 2014, 19:35	#73
Amiga1992 Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Location: ? Posts: 19,644	In my experience I'd contact your vendor and file a claim. I had to send the card back and it got replaced. Does your unit lock up if you DON"T add the extra RAM using ACATUNE?

15 June 2014, 19:44	#74
demolition Unregistered User Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Copenhagen / DK Age: 43 Posts: 4,190	As I wrote in the previous post, it is likely that the connection between the socket and the CPU is bad, so some cleaning should be tried. The machine is ~23 years old, so some corrosion is bound to be on the CPU legs. When things heat up and expand, it can create intermittent connections, causing it to be unstable.

16 June 2014, 01:33	#79
demolition Unregistered User Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Copenhagen / DK Age: 43 Posts: 4,190	Perhaps this is obvious, but did you insulate the bottom side of that CF adapter so it doesn't short to anything? On the picture it looks like it is resting on the ACA. Anyway, it seems the problem follows the adapter/CF card, so I would first try with another card. Edit: You could also try bending it the other way so it doesn't rest on the ACA.

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