AmigaOne XE 800MHz Processor connection problem.

[watsonfmly]

Good day.

I recently purchased an AmigaOne XE computer.

The seller told me about a problem with the board. It seems to be a known problem, but here is some info:

He said that to get it to boot to U-Boot, I would have to hold the processor at the corners above the connection to the motherboard:


Before I booted it, I did some work.

1. The CPU cooling fan was connected with twisty ties It was just dangling there (very loose).
I put some thermal paste between the CPU and the heatsink. I also put some plastic bolts / nuts to hold it on properly.

2. The CPU card was missing one of the nuts to hold it to the motherboard.
I added a new nut to replace the old one.

I thought "Yee Ha! The CPU card was loose, and that is why he had to hold it!".

No such luck.

So, here are my symptoms:
I have to hold the CPU at the upper arrow to get it to boot to U-boot. Once I see text on the screen, I can let go.

During my testing, I found out that every now and then, it would boot properly without me holding it.

And my questions:
1. Is there a way to fix this easily? I read about baking the CPU card, but I am really afraid to do that. I wouldn't want all of my circuits to fall off of the board in the oven.

2. The upper arrow has a little hole. Below the hole (on the motherboard), it appears that there are no tracers or anything on either side. Would it be possible to drill a small hole in the motherboard and put another plastic bolt / nut to hold the CPU card at that location?

3. Is there another way I can tighten the CPU card on that side?

Thanks for your help!

[Vot]

What a joke for the amount that thing costs it should work without any fiddling with it.

[fitzsteve]

Originally Posted by Vot

What a joke for the amount that thing costs it should work without any fiddling with it.

Not a very helpful comment here.

This isn't brand new hardware it's some 15 years old.

@OP, good luck. I've got an XE here that was working well when first got it but now giving me problems booting. Re-seating the Graphics Card got it booting a few times now it seems to be more of a problem as not booting at all.

Need to do more work my end to fault find when time permits.

[Vot]

If you want some real advice, i wouldn't try reflowing it in an oven, sounds like a great way to destroy it. If the bga package needs reballing, find someone who does this work with a proper reflow oven.

Also i would check the board isnt a multilayer board before drilling holes in it. You could short planes or destroy some traces on the internal layers.

[wawa]

you might try to search amigaworld.net for similar threads, there seems to be quite a number of people who have had the same issue, tried to fix it in different ways for months, invested loads of money and frankly i dont remember anybody to succeed. sorry to say.

[watsonfmly]

I got it working!!!!!!!! It turns out that it was still the bolts/nuts holding down the processor.

I had replaced the missing nut, BUT the n.a. screws under the motherboard going to the riser were bent and couldn't hold the cpu down.

I replaced them with new ones and now all is perfect!

Thanks!

[Vot]

Originally Posted by watsonfmly

I got it working!!!!!!!! It turns out that it was still the bolts/nuts holding down the processor.

I had replaced the missing nut, BUT the n.a. screws under the motherboard going to the riser were bent and couldn't hold the cpu down.

I replaced them with new ones and now all is perfect!

Thanks!

Thank god thats all it was, the other options sounded like a sure fire way to destroy it.