Escom A1200 overhaul

[Ox.]

Hi, I want to give my recently aquired Escom A1200 a complete overhaul, up to now I've done the motherboard floppy drive fix, added a gotek drive, purchased a cf card + interface and 8mb memory card with co-pro and clock. The CF card and memory card are not installed at the minute as they are not working in conjunction with each other (black screen, fails to boot), I also have a heavy A500 60W 4.5A PSU on order to supply the extra juice as I fear that may be part of the problem.

So at the minute I'm not sure if I'm encountering compatibility issues due to software or hardware hence the need for the complete overhaul, so far I have read that the machine may need Re-capping, Ferrite beads fix, timing fix etc. to completely fix it, I'm hoping some of you experts on here can advise me better as to what would be the best approach to this and if anyone in the UK offers a complete service to cure these problems?

[amiman99]

Honestly speaking, I have my NTSC Escom A1200 with Blizzard IV 030 50MHz since 1996 running almost every week or so and never had any problems with it.
Knock on wood.

[roy bates]

never heard of anyone needing a timing fix for a memory card.

maybe the edge connector is dirty or the shielding is touching the card.
or the card simply isent in far enough,ive seen that before.

i have to assume its works without the memory card and cf drive?
or with the cf drive on its own or the memory card on its own?

[Ox.]

Originally Posted by roy bates

never heard of anyone needing a timing fix for a memory card.

maybe the edge connector is dirty or the shielding is touching the card.
or the card simply isent in far enough,ive seen that before.

i have to assume its works without the memory card and cf drive?
or with the cf drive on its own or the memory card on its own?

Yes, both components are not an issue on their own but when I put them both in the machine it black screens, I'm hoping this is just a power issue and a more powerful psu will sort it although I'm not sure tbh but when I had everything plugged in at once the gotek drive led's flickered and slowly died, yet when I disconnected the cf drive and memory card it worked again leading me to believe it was a psu issue.

[prowler]

The CF card will conflict with memory cards carrying more than 4MB (5.5MB to be exact), because then they will be using the same memory space.

[Ox.]

Originally Posted by prowler

The CF card will conflict with memory cards carrying more than 4MB (5.5MB to be exact), because then they will be using the same memory space.

Damn, I thought this was only an issue when using the pcmcia slot? The memory card I have in the trapdoor expansion is 8mb and the cf card is connected internally via and ide to cf adaptor, is there any way to get them working together without decreasing the 8mb simm to 4mb as I heard 8mb is needed in able to run all whdload games.

[prowler]

Yes, you're right, of course. It is the PCMCIA slot and 8MB memory cards that are incompatible. I'm sorry, I had misread your post and thought your CF card was connected via PCMCIA.

I don't think that a fully working standard A1200 PSU can be causing your problems, so I am guessing that it's probably faulty. In which case the A500 4.5A PSU should do the trick.

[Ox.]

Originally Posted by prowler

Yes, you're right, of course. It is the PCMCIA slot and 8MB memory cards that are incompatible. I'm sorry, I had misread your post and thought your CF card was connected via PCMCIA.

I don't think that a fully working standard A1200 PSU can be causing your problems, so I am guessing that it's probably faulty. In which case the A500 4.5A PSU should do the trick.

I'll find out soon enough when the new PSU comes in the mail.

I've been reading up on the card I have, it's a Marpet 1207 (Amitek Hawk variant) with RTC and 33mhz FPU, I'm reading that these cards can have issues themselves with using 8mb simms - http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=70763, really hope this isn't the case in my instance as i bought the card in confidence on Amibay, anyway looks like a recap is also a good idea to eliminate problems and prolong the Amiga's life.

[roy bates]

have tried the card on its own with a 8mb simm?