Individual Computers - New accelerator cards for A600 & A1200

Yup.

Originally Posted by NovaCoder

Are you sure that you should have removed 125C and 123C?

Well, they made things worse when in the motherboard, so no harm really. Random lockups pretty much disappeared once they were removed.

Timing issues with 1200 motherboards seems to be a bit of a 'black art', you can't go by your motherboard revision either as they are all a bit 'individual' if you know what I mean.

I'm aware of this. Some 2B boards refuse to even boot with the card in. Mine seemed to be fine until the random lockups.

For anyone having MB issues the first thing I'd recommend is to change your CAPS if they haven't been done already, after that check your power supply and only after you've eliminated those two would I start to investigate timing fixes. You would obviously use a 'clean' install of WB for testing (eg no hacks/patches installed).

The capacitors don't seem to look like they're bulging or leaking, however this will be an option. The 1200 is running a clean install of WB 3.1 and I've already ordered a 300W PSU for it.

I sent my 1200 motherboard to AmigaKit and got them to replace the CAPS and at the same time asked them to test with an ACA card and fix up the timing issues they found. They did a really good job, very happy with the service they offer.

What's the turnaround for the service? Considering it if I run into any other problems.

Further testing shows it does still hang, but nowhere near as frequent. It only seems to randomly do so when doing various actions (ie. copying files on dopus), rather than literally randomly at any moment as it did before. However, I only have encountered this twice so far and the majority of the time I'm able to do the same actions without issue. Also I'm able to soft-reboot this time (ie. by CTRL + A + A), while before I had to switch it off.

@Jens

Is it possible to upgrade the 33MHz CPU on a ACA1232 by a 50MHz CPU?

I mean, of course it's possible to unsolder the original CPU and solder the 50MHz version, and i have all the tools and the expertise to do so. What i want to know is if it's possible to make the board drive the processor at it's new clock rate?

In the table silked on the board there are jumper wirings for up to 40MHz. Is the 50MHz clock possible with the same (standard) FPGA core?

Beside this question, am i wrong in thinking that i may benefit of the CPU change anyway, as the ceramic 50MHz version, even clocked at 40MHz would heat a lot less than the original plastic 33MHz version? Of course, i'm not worried with warranty matters...

Thank you very much!

[FOL]

Originally Posted by shleed

Further testing shows it does still hang, but nowhere near as frequent. It only seems to randomly do so when doing various actions (ie. copying files on dopus), rather than literally randomly at any moment as it did before. However, I only have encountered this twice so far and the majority of the time I'm able to do the same actions without issue. Also I'm able to soft-reboot this time (ie. by CTRL + A + A), while before I had to switch it off.

Can you explain everything you done step by step.
Do you have any pics of what you have done.

[Mr B]

Originally Posted by mugo

Is it possible to upgrade the 33MHz CPU on a ACA1232 by a 50MHz CPU?

Not sure, but i think i saw Jens mentioning this when he was working with the boards, and stated that we shouldn't be tempted to do this, since it's not just a matter of moving a jumper, it also has to have new software loaded. And that software is his own, and not likely to be released.

However, i can't swear i'm right, just putting it out there so you know that if you go ahead your like 50/50 likely to just have a ceramic 33MHz one...
If you decide to go for it, good luck, share the story as it progresses.

[zipper]

And probably screw the pretty tight timings....

Originally Posted by FOL

Can you explain everything you done step by step.
Do you have any pics of what you have done.

From the beginning? I have no pics of the set up, but hardware wise I've done nothing else apart from remove 125C and 123C. Here's what I remember, including stuff I just did today:

- fresh install of workbench 3.1
- installed card
- added ACATune to startup sequence
- random freezes
- took ACATune off startup sequence, still freezes randomly
- took HxC out and plugged out external floppy drives, still randomly freezed
- took ACA card out, completely stable
- put card back in, tried various programs, still randomly freezes
- removed 125C and 123C, desoldered with soldering wick and iron. made sure iron wasn't too hot and didn't leave any remains that could short anything out. wiped with isopropyl alcohol.
- tried WHDLoad games, the games run fine but some demos (ie. state of the art) were glitchy.
- much more stable, but occasionally freezes on certain actions, ie. dopus copying files, or opening too many instances of programs
- took card out, system completely stable once again despite hours of use

today:
- clean contacts with a tiny amount of isopropyl alcohol, put card back in. system stable so far
- tried demos via the HxC, they work fine. State of the Art runs glitchy until I turn CPU caching off and turn the chipset to either OCS/ECS mode.

I will continue testing once I get the PSU, to rule out power issues. I can send my 1200 to Amigakit to do the full timing fix if all else fails.

[FOL]

Originally Posted by shleed

From the beginning? I have no pics of the set up, but hardware wise I've done nothing else apart from remove 125C and 123C. Here's what I remember, including stuff I just did today:

- fresh install of workbench 3.1
- installed card
- added ACATune to startup sequence
- random freezes
- took ACATune off startup sequence, still freezes randomly
- took HxC out and plugged out external floppy drives, still randomly freezed
- took ACA card out, completely stable
- put card back in, tried various programs, still randomly freezes
- removed 125C and 123C, desoldered with soldering wick and iron. made sure iron wasn't too hot and didn't leave any remains that could short anything out. wiped with isopropyl alcohol.
- tried WHDLoad games, the games run fine but some demos (ie. state of the art) were glitchy.
- much more stable, but occasionally freezes on certain actions, ie. dopus copying files, or opening too many instances of programs
- took card out, system completely stable once again despite hours of use

today:
- clean contacts with a tiny amount of isopropyl alcohol, put card back in. system stable so far
- tried demos via the HxC, they work fine. State of the Art runs glitchy until I turn CPU caching off and turn the chipset to either OCS/ECS mode.

I will continue testing once I get the PSU, to rule out power issues. I can send my 1200 to Amigakit to do the full timing fix if all else fails.

But you have'nt done the timing fixes. Theres more to do, than remove two caps.
What about the E121R, E122R, E121C and E122C?

Pics of what should be done.

http://eab.abime.net/showpost.php?p=879911&postcount=23

To me, removing them have sorted the timing issues for the most part. So far it has been running about 3-4 hours now and it hasn't even froze yet, which shows that it's unlikely and the computer is usable for the most part. While not a full fix itself since it's obvious that it is indeed more than removing a few capacitors, I am not going any further since my confidence in electronics only really goes so far. I'll leave that to Amigakit once it's needed.

However, a PSU-related issue would need to be sorted regardless simply because 1200 PSUs are not known to be particularly beefy. Even with the full timing fixes, there's no harm sorting out a new PSU to completely rule out any other issue that can cause freezes.

Got the PSU for about a week now. The Amiga hasn't frozen since.

I can't rule out that it was a PSU issue, but I know that the random freezing happens too far an interval for me to actually worry about it. I will probably send it off for timing fixes one day, but for now it's fine.

[Apollo]

Got my ACA620 yesterday and I'm pleased to say : it works like a charm! Had to push my CF card IDE adapter gently back into its slot since the adapter and the turbocard 'share' the same space.

Its really good to know that there are still some people forging new products for my beloved classic amigas.

[AndyGarton]

Hi, is there an English instruction page/manual for the ACA 1232 please? I just received mine from AmigaKit but it only came with German instructions?

[Schoenfeld]

ACA1232 - IndividualComputers

[demolition]

I looked there earlier and didn't find it, but I can see it was just added.

[AndyGarton]

Thanks, indeed it was, in response to my support request

(Very quick response from AmigaKit.)

[Schoenfeld]

Originally Posted by demolition

I looked there earlier and didn't find it, but I can see it was just added.

The beauty of a mediawiki: Add info and files within seconds. I try to put all info that I'm asked for into that Wiki, and my employees do the same. I spend way too much time in the support ticket system doing copy&paste - my hope is to answer the majority of support tickets with just a link to the Wiki article in some not-too-distant-future.

Jens

[Amiga1992]

Sorry if this question sonds stupid, but here it goes.
I just bought an ACA620 and m waiting for it.

In preparation, I thought I'd give a clean to the CPU legs just in case. The maual, however, says the following:
"Never use contact-spays for this task!"

What exactly is contact-spays? I swear I googled it and have no idea what it is.
Would regular rubbing alcohol work or do I need isopropyl alcohol?

[Retro-Nerd]

Something like WD-40 or Kontakt 60.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wd40

http://www.amazon.co.uk/CRC-Kontakt-...rds=kontakt+60

[demolition]

Originally Posted by Akira

In preparation, I thought I'd give a clean to the CPU legs just in case. The maual, however, says the following:
"Never use contact-spays for this task!"

What exactly is contact-spays? I swear I googled it and have no idea what it is.
Would regular rubbing alcohol work or do I need isopropyl alcohol?

I'd use isopropyl alcohol since it won't leave any residue behind like an ethanol-based product would. I used isopropyl alcohol, first with a soft toothbrush for the rough cleaning and then finished with a cotton bud.