A1200, HD, and Blizzard 1260 issues

alewis · 07 November 2006, 23:37

Resurrected my A1200 tower jobbie with a view to finally finishing the project off.

I've had this combo for, oh, 7 years now. Its been booted up perhaps twice in that time... (so I know it works!)

Essentially an A1200, Blizzard 1260 c/w SCSI, RBM On-board ISA/ZII expander, Eyetech EZ-key, and some other odds and sods.

Easy starts for 10
A1200 HD interface: Is Pin 1 *really* Pin 1? (looking at the 1200 top down, floppy drive to the right, P1 is towards the bottom of the case, ie nearer the space bar than the rear expansion ports)
The 4 vacant pins on the 44/40 cable adaptor, do they cover the l/h side (pin 1 edge) or r/h side (pin 44) edge? Reason being is no HD is recognised, I get the "insert disk" screen

Maybe easy... What key combination on a PC keyboard equals CTRL-Amiga-Amiga? I remember when I had an A1200 in the early 90's and fitted a 3.5" HD it needed a soft reboot to be recognised. Wondering if that is the problem here, I cant seem to soft reset. I might have booted it thsi way years ago, but that would have been using an AT keyboard, I'm using a PS/2 via a PS/2-AT adaptor into the EZ-Key...

Bit harder. The system tries to boot. it goes through grey, dark grey, sometimes sticks on black, sometimes goes dark grey after black, and sometimes makes it as far as the purple insert disk screen. Any ideas? For troubleshooting I've removed the SCSI+RAM module (and the On-board), and am running with a 4MB 60ns SIMM, maprom enabled or disabled makes no discernable difference.

Bit trickier. Once on boot up it got as far as a guru error. Another time it got as far as displaying - briefly - a multicoloured flashing bar screen. Words fail, the best I can describe is, as being similar to the flashing bars common on packed executable when they decrunched. This was with the HD fitted, so *might* be something on that, but its been that long I dont remember what was in the startup-sequence... Wondering if it is the Blizzard doing something.

There are a few other areas - I cant recall getting the PCMCIA ethernet going, this was an Amiga branded kit, cant remember details/vendor, but is anyone aware of an issue with PCMCIA NICs and Blizzards/accelerators in general? But I'll leave them until I get the basic box going....

Help! (and apologies to those who have read at .org)

kriz · 07 November 2006, 23:47

Yep, Pin 1 is Pin 1 (red). You should try boot with pc key win - win - capslock. Just try combinations like that, you should see it flash for a brief sec when hitting it..

Boot with a install disk and see if you can see disc then.

lopos2000 · 08 November 2006, 10:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by alewis

Bit trickier. Once on boot up it got as far as a guru error. Another time it got as far as displaying - briefly - a multicoloured flashing bar screen. Words fail, the best I can describe is, as being similar to the flashing bars common on packed executable when they decrunched. This was with the HD fitted, so *might* be something on that, but its been that long I dont remember what was in the startup-sequence... Wondering if it is the Blizzard doing something.

I thing the 'multicoloured flashing bar' is normal. I had this with my 1230 MKIV.
The 060 may be disabled at boot time, by holding down the "2" key.

zipper · 08 November 2006, 16:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by alewis

Resurrected my A1200 tower jobbie with a view to finally a multicoloured flashing bar screen. Words fail, the best I can describe is, as being similar to the flashing bars common on packed executable when they decrunched. This was with the HD fitted, so *might* be something on that, but its been that long I dont remember what was in the startup-sequence... Wondering if it is the Blizzard doing something.

That means Blizzard's working. 1230 does it, 1260 does more colours, just like my Blizzard 2060.

CU_AMiGA · 08 November 2006, 17:12

Hi

The flashy thing on the Blizzard is normal as someone earlier said, it shows it working. On my old Power Tower setup, on my old PC keyboard it was Control and the 2 Windows keys that equalled the Control and the 2 Amiga keys. I think it was Control, it may be the Alt or shift key instead. It's something like that though.

Regards

alewis · 11 November 2006, 23:37

Okey dokey, sorted the 060 "problem" out - turns out it wasnt the Blizzard. OS installed to HD, 060 motoring along nicely.

Next task:- the Zorro Expander boards....

07 November 2006, 23:37	#1
alewis Monochrome and 8 bit Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Underbarrow, Gods Country Age: 57 Posts: 600	A1200, HD, and Blizzard 1260 issues Resurrected my A1200 tower jobbie with a view to finally finishing the project off. I've had this combo for, oh, 7 years now. Its been booted up perhaps twice in that time... (so I know it works!) Essentially an A1200, Blizzard 1260 c/w SCSI, RBM On-board ISA/ZII expander, Eyetech EZ-key, and some other odds and sods. Easy starts for 10 A1200 HD interface: Is Pin 1 really Pin 1? (looking at the 1200 top down, floppy drive to the right, P1 is towards the bottom of the case, ie nearer the space bar than the rear expansion ports) The 4 vacant pins on the 44/40 cable adaptor, do they cover the l/h side (pin 1 edge) or r/h side (pin 44) edge? Reason being is no HD is recognised, I get the "insert disk" screen Maybe easy... What key combination on a PC keyboard equals CTRL-Amiga-Amiga? I remember when I had an A1200 in the early 90's and fitted a 3.5" HD it needed a soft reboot to be recognised. Wondering if that is the problem here, I cant seem to soft reset. I might have booted it thsi way years ago, but that would have been using an AT keyboard, I'm using a PS/2 via a PS/2-AT adaptor into the EZ-Key... Bit harder. The system tries to boot. it goes through grey, dark grey, sometimes sticks on black, sometimes goes dark grey after black, and sometimes makes it as far as the purple insert disk screen. Any ideas? For troubleshooting I've removed the SCSI+RAM module (and the On-board), and am running with a 4MB 60ns SIMM, maprom enabled or disabled makes no discernable difference. Bit trickier. Once on boot up it got as far as a guru error. Another time it got as far as displaying - briefly - a multicoloured flashing bar screen. Words fail, the best I can describe is, as being similar to the flashing bars common on packed executable when they decrunched. This was with the HD fitted, so might be something on that, but its been that long I dont remember what was in the startup-sequence... Wondering if it is the Blizzard doing something. There are a few other areas - I cant recall getting the PCMCIA ethernet going, this was an Amiga branded kit, cant remember details/vendor, but is anyone aware of an issue with PCMCIA NICs and Blizzards/accelerators in general? But I'll leave them until I get the basic box going.... Help! (and apologies to those who have read at .org) Last edited by alewis; 07 November 2006 at 23:45.

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07 November 2006, 23:47	#2
kriz Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: No(R)Way Age: 41 Posts: 3,200	Yep, Pin 1 is Pin 1 (red). You should try boot with pc key win - win - capslock. Just try combinations like that, you should see it flash for a brief sec when hitting it.. Boot with a install disk and see if you can see disc then.

08 November 2006, 17:12	#5
CU_AMiGA Banned Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Exeter Age: 39 Posts: 970	Hi The flashy thing on the Blizzard is normal as someone earlier said, it shows it working. On my old Power Tower setup, on my old PC keyboard it was Control and the 2 Windows keys that equalled the Control and the 2 Amiga keys. I think it was Control, it may be the Alt or shift key instead. It's something like that though. Regards

11 November 2006, 23:37	#6
alewis Monochrome and 8 bit Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Underbarrow, Gods Country Age: 57 Posts: 600	Okey dokey, sorted the 060 "problem" out - turns out it wasnt the Blizzard. OS installed to HD, 060 motoring along nicely. Next task:- the Zorro Expander boards....

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