Blizzard 1230/IV

Eny- · 02 June 2004, 16:58

Just got my Blizzard off e-bay, and it refuses to work... i got a black screen...

First... the blizzard only runs with memory SIMM, or will it work without too? Since it didn't came with a SIMM, so i can locate the problem from being from the SIMM sticks i have (that may be faulty)...

Any ideas?

fiath · 02 June 2004, 17:23

Your certainly right that the Blizzard does not work without a SIMM attached. I seem to remember just getting a black screen in this case also, so yeah, try with alternative SIMM's.

Fingers crossed...

Eny- · 02 June 2004, 17:40

If i take the blizzard out, it boots normally... maybe the PSU isn't powerfull enough for it all?

Eny- · 02 June 2004, 19:30

[UPDATE]

I remove the SIMMS from the Blizzard, and booted up the amiga, same black screen...

I removed my HDD and FDD from the miggy and same black screen... does this mean the blizzard is death??

RetroMan · 02 June 2004, 19:58

All accelerators will work without mem except the PPC cards !!!

Try to remove the 030 CPU *CAREFULLY* and put it back afterwards, also clean all contacts on the mainboard, where the turbocard is attached .....

fiath · 02 June 2004, 20:24

Are you sure the Blizzard does? I was so sure this exact thing happened to me when I didn't put a SIMM in properly.

Eny- · 02 June 2004, 20:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by RetroMan

All accelerators will work without mem except the PPC cards !!!

Try to remove the 030 CPU *CAREFULLY* and put it back afterwards, also clean all contacts on the mainboard, where the turbocard is attached .....

Done that, problem persists...

02 June 2004, 21:21

Blizzard 1230-IV works without rams attached but it won't be any faster than a 020.

RetroMan · 02 June 2004, 21:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by fiath

Are you sure the Blizzard does? I was so sure this exact thing happened to me when I didn't put a SIMM in properly.

Yep, I´m sure

Only PPC Cpu´s need Ram to work at all

mr_0rga5m · 02 June 2004, 21:41

The 030 card i have (Taifun 1230) starts up my amiga with a black screen ... And waits for a mouseclick before booting. Maybe yours is the same?.

I dunno why it does this as i bought the card a coupla months back real cheap off ebay and it came with no manuals etc.. (and none on the net i know off

)

But it works sweet.

Eny- · 02 June 2004, 22:14

Doesn't work on my Blizzard unfortunatly

02 June 2004, 22:25

Your SIMM sticks need not be faulty not to boot your board. 1230-IV is extremely picky when it comes to memory sticks. It can fail to detect the right memory size, do nothing or just work! I had to replace a lot of SIMMs to find a working one. Apart from that your boards does have a problem if it doesn't work without SIMMs.

See this and this and this

This is about how the board should boot like.

Eny- · 02 June 2004, 22:33

Yes, to narrow down the problem, i'm testing it without the SIMMS.

Eny- · 02 June 2004, 22:41

I've got one jumper set, (it seems that i need two jumpers, one to set the MAPROM and the other for the RAM ns... i only have one) could it be the position of the jumper that prevents the board from function correctly? and the lack of one jumper?

02 June 2004, 22:48

There are two jumpers. One is for enabling/disabling the maprom feature which lets you use a kickstart file instead of the one available in hardware. Good for having kickstart 3.1 on a kick 3.0 system but this is not our issue now. Putting a jumper there will disable maprom.

The other jumper is for defining the speed of the ram. 60ns or 70ns. If you don't have a jumper there this means it's set to 70ns which is slower. Telling a wrong value to the board can prevent it from booting. I'm not sure how the board reacts to this setting if there are no SIMMs plugged in. This is probably ignored then. I think 60ns rams will work as 70ns but not vica versa.

Eny- · 02 June 2004, 22:55

ok, was just a thought, since i'm getting really desperate by now

Eny- · 02 June 2004, 22:56

What a about the PSU? I have a stock A1200 PSU 25w, i was reading in other forum, that this could be the cause of the ' no boot '.

02 June 2004, 23:04

Right, I'm using a converted AT power supply for the 1200! I never use standard 1200 psus on expanded amigas. Old A500 PSUs, the ones that are noticeably heavier are also good for powering up an expanded system to some degree.

A poor attempt I know, but can you reach the boot menu by holding down both mouse buttons while resetting? Can you see the board from the "expansion board diagnostic" setting there. If you see the board id then this means it's "alive" somehow.

Galaxy · 02 June 2004, 23:11

I had a similar problem with an accelerator card (a DKB Cobra EC030 40MHz) that I got for my A1200. Apparently there were some 1200s that had compatibility problems with some cards. I took the card back and got another one which worked with my machine. I hope that your machine is not one of these. Are you able to try your card in another 1200?

02 June 2004, 23:16

True. Some A1200 board revisions are "bad". 1230s are known to work with most 1200s but it's still wise to read this:

http://www.eyetech.co.uk/SUPPORT/S1200/AMIGA001.HTM

02 June 2004, 16:58	#1
Eny- R3tr0 G4m3r Join Date: May 2004 Location: Lisbon - Portugal Age: 44 Posts: 327	Blizzard 1230/IV Just got my Blizzard off e-bay, and it refuses to work... i got a black screen... First... the blizzard only runs with memory SIMM, or will it work without too? Since it didn't came with a SIMM, so i can locate the problem from being from the SIMM sticks i have (that may be faulty)... Any ideas?

02 June 2004, 17:40	#3
Eny- R3tr0 G4m3r Join Date: May 2004 Location: Lisbon - Portugal Age: 44 Posts: 327	If i take the blizzard out, it boots normally... maybe the PSU isn't powerfull enough for it all? Last edited by Eny-; 02 June 2004 at 18:49.

02 June 2004, 22:41	#14
Eny- R3tr0 G4m3r Join Date: May 2004 Location: Lisbon - Portugal Age: 44 Posts: 327	I've got one jumper set, (it seems that i need two jumpers, one to set the MAPROM and the other for the RAM ns... i only have one) could it be the position of the jumper that prevents the board from function correctly? and the lack of one jumper? Last edited by Eny-; 02 June 2004 at 22:53.

02 June 2004, 22:48	#15
oldpx Posts: n/a	There are two jumpers. One is for enabling/disabling the maprom feature which lets you use a kickstart file instead of the one available in hardware. Good for having kickstart 3.1 on a kick 3.0 system but this is not our issue now. Putting a jumper there will disable maprom. The other jumper is for defining the speed of the ram. 60ns or 70ns. If you don't have a jumper there this means it's set to 70ns which is slower. Telling a wrong value to the board can prevent it from booting. I'm not sure how the board reacts to this setting if there are no SIMMs plugged in. This is probably ignored then. I think 60ns rams will work as 70ns but not vica versa. Last edited by oldpx; 03 June 2004 at 00:02.

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02 June 2004, 17:23	#2
fiath Moderator Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: South East / UK Age: 46 Posts: 1,930	Your certainly right that the Blizzard does not work without a SIMM attached. I seem to remember just getting a black screen in this case also, so yeah, try with alternative SIMM's. Fingers crossed...

02 June 2004, 19:30	#4
Eny- R3tr0 G4m3r Join Date: May 2004 Location: Lisbon - Portugal Age: 44 Posts: 327	[UPDATE] I remove the SIMMS from the Blizzard, and booted up the amiga, same black screen... I removed my HDD and FDD from the miggy and same black screen... does this mean the blizzard is death??

02 June 2004, 19:58	#5
RetroMan Registered User Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Germany Age: 51 Posts: 3,704	All accelerators will work without mem except the PPC cards !!! Try to remove the 030 CPU CAREFULLY and put it back afterwards, also clean all contacts on the mainboard, where the turbocard is attached .....

02 June 2004, 20:24	#6
fiath Moderator Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: South East / UK Age: 46 Posts: 1,930	Are you sure the Blizzard does? I was so sure this exact thing happened to me when I didn't put a SIMM in properly.

02 June 2004, 21:21	#8
oldpx Posts: n/a	Blizzard 1230-IV works without rams attached but it won't be any faster than a 020.

02 June 2004, 21:41	#10
mr_0rga5m Tik Gora :D Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Round yo momma's Posts: 1,273	The 030 card i have (Taifun 1230) starts up my amiga with a black screen ... And waits for a mouseclick before booting. Maybe yours is the same?. I dunno why it does this as i bought the card a coupla months back real cheap off ebay and it came with no manuals etc.. (and none on the net i know off ) But it works sweet.

02 June 2004, 22:14	#11
Eny- R3tr0 G4m3r Join Date: May 2004 Location: Lisbon - Portugal Age: 44 Posts: 327	Doesn't work on my Blizzard unfortunatly

02 June 2004, 22:25	#12
oldpx Posts: n/a	Your SIMM sticks need not be faulty not to boot your board. 1230-IV is extremely picky when it comes to memory sticks. It can fail to detect the right memory size, do nothing or just work! I had to replace a lot of SIMMs to find a working one. Apart from that your boards does have a problem if it doesn't work without SIMMs. See this and this and this This is about how the board should boot like.

02 June 2004, 22:33	#13
Eny- R3tr0 G4m3r Join Date: May 2004 Location: Lisbon - Portugal Age: 44 Posts: 327	Yes, to narrow down the problem, i'm testing it without the SIMMS.

02 June 2004, 22:55	#16
Eny- R3tr0 G4m3r Join Date: May 2004 Location: Lisbon - Portugal Age: 44 Posts: 327	ok, was just a thought, since i'm getting really desperate by now

02 June 2004, 22:56	#17
Eny- R3tr0 G4m3r Join Date: May 2004 Location: Lisbon - Portugal Age: 44 Posts: 327	What a about the PSU? I have a stock A1200 PSU 25w, i was reading in other forum, that this could be the cause of the ' no boot '.

02 June 2004, 23:04	#18
oldpx Posts: n/a	Right, I'm using a converted AT power supply for the 1200! I never use standard 1200 psus on expanded amigas. Old A500 PSUs, the ones that are noticeably heavier are also good for powering up an expanded system to some degree. A poor attempt I know, but can you reach the boot menu by holding down both mouse buttons while resetting? Can you see the board from the "expansion board diagnostic" setting there. If you see the board id then this means it's "alive" somehow.

02 June 2004, 23:11	#19
Galaxy Registered User Join Date: May 2004 Location: Canberra, Australia Age: 46 Posts: 1,417	I had a similar problem with an accelerator card (a DKB Cobra EC030 40MHz) that I got for my A1200. Apparently there were some 1200s that had compatibility problems with some cards. I took the card back and got another one which worked with my machine. I hope that your machine is not one of these. Are you able to try your card in another 1200?

02 June 2004, 23:16	#20
oldpx Posts: n/a	True. Some A1200 board revisions are "bad". 1230s are known to work with most 1200s but it's still wise to read this: http://www.eyetech.co.uk/SUPPORT/S1200/AMIGA001.HTM

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