A3000 troubleshooting

gdonner · 20 February 2021, 17:50

My A3000 has been giving me some gurus lately--various ones, apparently pointing to a possible(?) RAM issue (8100 0004, etc.)

I bought and installed a set of A3000/A4000 DiagROMs v1.2.1, and when turning on the power, all I get is the power LED flashing, outputting alternating yellow and cyan screens in a constant cycle. This is via the video output of my A3000's VGA connector.

Is there something I'm doing wrong that the DiagROM screen doesn't show? Before I got to this point, it was at least booting enough to almost get to a Workbench screen before it would guru.

There are no Zorro cards installed except for my ZZ9000; does this need to be removed in order for the DiagROM to work?

My A3000 motherboard was recapped and repaired less than two years ago by Anthony Hoffman, and the power supply was also recapped recently, so it should be good--it was working fine until a month or two ago.

Sorry for my ignorance on all this; I'm not much of a hardware troubleshooter. :-|

matt3k · 20 February 2021, 19:28

I have a few suggestions for you, not much of a hardware guy myself. But dealing with 3000D's for 30 plus years gives you something!

Try reseating all the socketed chips, zipp memory in particularly. I have seen flakey behavior with chips needing a simple reseat. May want to clean the sockets just to play it extra safe.

The most prevalent time I see ram lib is with the wrong cpu library or if stack is too small.

Good luck!

gdonner · 20 February 2021, 19:51

Thanks! I didn't even think of that--I'll give the ZIP sockets a good scrubbing with isopropyl alcohol and report back.

Update: cleaned the ZIP RAM sockets, put things back; it boots, and now I get an 0100 000C recoverable alert (see attached)--something is obviously really screwy with my RAM.

I've got some new ZIP RAM on order; will replace it all and see what happens!

mousehouse · 23 February 2021, 21:26

I've had some weird guru's with a botched library as well... Can't remember which one but gave me similar gurus all the time. I probably overwrote it at some point. With a fresh reinstall I was able to fix that.

gdonner · 24 February 2021, 02:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by mousehouse

I've had some weird guru's with a botched library as well... Can't remember which one but gave me similar gurus all the time. I probably overwrote it at some point. With a fresh reinstall I was able to fix that.

Thanks! A fresh reinstall is a good idea--especially as I've run into some issues with Windoze tampering with Amiga software stored on my FAT32-formatted flash drive (it thinks there's an error, and starts adding various files inside drawers).

gdonner · 28 February 2021, 01:56

Success!

When I removed the old ZIP Fast RAM chips, I found that a pin on one of the ZIP chips had been bent.

Just to be safe, I replaced all the RAM with new chips, quick-formatted DH0:, and reinstalled 3.1.4--the memory is now reported correctly, and the gurus are gone!

Thanks matt3k and mousehouse for your help and advice!

Hedeon · 28 February 2021, 08:44

Always cool to read that another Amiga has been saved. Lots of A3000s lately. :-)

mousehouse · 28 February 2021, 20:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hedeon

Always cool to read that another Amiga has been saved. Lots of A3000s lately. :-)

Happy days Greg!

gdonner · 01 March 2021, 01:27

Thanks!

Leave no Amiga behind.

matt3k · 02 March 2021, 05:16

Great news!

Enjoy my favorite Amiga of all time...

20 February 2021, 17:50	#1
gdonner Ancient Amiga User Join Date: Mar 2018 Location: Elkhart, IN USA Posts: 207	A3000 troubleshooting My A3000 has been giving me some gurus lately--various ones, apparently pointing to a possible(?) RAM issue (8100 0004, etc.) I bought and installed a set of A3000/A4000 DiagROMs v1.2.1, and when turning on the power, all I get is the power LED flashing, outputting alternating yellow and cyan screens in a constant cycle. This is via the video output of my A3000's VGA connector. Is there something I'm doing wrong that the DiagROM screen doesn't show? Before I got to this point, it was at least booting enough to almost get to a Workbench screen before it would guru. There are no Zorro cards installed except for my ZZ9000; does this need to be removed in order for the DiagROM to work? My A3000 motherboard was recapped and repaired less than two years ago by Anthony Hoffman, and the power supply was also recapped recently, so it should be good--it was working fine until a month or two ago. Sorry for my ignorance on all this; I'm not much of a hardware troubleshooter. :-\|

20 February 2021, 19:51	#3
gdonner Ancient Amiga User Join Date: Mar 2018 Location: Elkhart, IN USA Posts: 207	Thanks! I didn't even think of that--I'll give the ZIP sockets a good scrubbing with isopropyl alcohol and report back. Update: cleaned the ZIP RAM sockets, put things back; it boots, and now I get an 0100 000C recoverable alert (see attached)--something is obviously really screwy with my RAM. I've got some new ZIP RAM on order; will replace it all and see what happens! Attached Thumbnails Last edited by gdonner; 20 February 2021 at 21:56.

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20 February 2021, 19:28	#2
matt3k Registered User Join Date: Aug 2018 Location: NY / USA Posts: 290	I have a few suggestions for you, not much of a hardware guy myself. But dealing with 3000D's for 30 plus years gives you something! Try reseating all the socketed chips, zipp memory in particularly. I have seen flakey behavior with chips needing a simple reseat. May want to clean the sockets just to play it extra safe. The most prevalent time I see ram lib is with the wrong cpu library or if stack is too small. Good luck!

23 February 2021, 21:26	#4
mousehouse Registered User Join Date: Sep 2019 Location: Netherlands Posts: 107	I've had some weird guru's with a botched library as well... Can't remember which one but gave me similar gurus all the time. I probably overwrote it at some point. With a fresh reinstall I was able to fix that.

28 February 2021, 01:56	#6
gdonner Ancient Amiga User Join Date: Mar 2018 Location: Elkhart, IN USA Posts: 207	Success! When I removed the old ZIP Fast RAM chips, I found that a pin on one of the ZIP chips had been bent. Just to be safe, I replaced all the RAM with new chips, quick-formatted DH0:, and reinstalled 3.1.4--the memory is now reported correctly, and the gurus are gone! Thanks matt3k and mousehouse for your help and advice!

28 February 2021, 08:44	#7
Hedeon Semi-Retired Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Leiden / The Netherlands Posts: 2,009	Always cool to read that another Amiga has been saved. Lots of A3000s lately. :-)

01 March 2021, 01:27	#9
gdonner Ancient Amiga User Join Date: Mar 2018 Location: Elkhart, IN USA Posts: 207	Thanks! Leave no Amiga behind.

02 March 2021, 05:16	#10
matt3k Registered User Join Date: Aug 2018 Location: NY / USA Posts: 290	Great news! Enjoy my favorite Amiga of all time...

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