Individual Computers - New accelerator cards for A600 & A1200 - Page 68

vroom6sri · 03 January 2011, 21:24

FOL - The install I did using AmigaKit's pre-loaded setup utility was WB3.1 but if you mean I should try wiping the CF card and do a fresh install just from the WB disks themselves I can't help but wonder if it'd make any difference because the A1200 will still lock-up booting a game directly from floppy.
The ROM is 3.0 but I'm not sure how to map to 3.1 - I think I have a 3.1 ROM (does rev 40.68 sound right?) for use in WinUAE so, from what you wrote above, do I just copy that file to a location on the CF card and then use:
"-maprom [path to this 3.1 ROM file]"
?
It really is great the level of support AmigaKit gives especially as you seem to be volunteering your own time to help out. Thanks.

PulsatingQuasar - Thanks for you input but I have no idea in relation to any of your questions. I'm afraid I am a very basic Amiga user. IE I plug it in and play it without much knowledge of how and why it works. Is there a simple way for me to check the motherboard version? It's pretty much been mine from nearly new so I doubt anything was ever changed internally apart from the floppy drive when the old one failed.
How straight forward would it be for me to change the capacitors and apply the "timing fixes" should that be required?

PulsatingQuasar · 03 January 2011, 23:23

The only way I know of to get the motherboard revision is opening the Amiga and read the information from between the kickstart ROM's and the turbo board connector.

If you have never used a soldering iron or are not very good with it, it might be better to let AmigaKit take a look. They have a replacement capacitor service.

From my own personal experience I can only say that the SMD capacitors have reached their end. Certainly after what I saw this past weekend from my CD32 systems.

FOL · 04 January 2011, 00:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by PulsatingQuasar

The only way I know of to get the motherboard revision is opening the Amiga and read the information from between the kickstart ROM's and the turbo board connector.

If you have never used a soldering iron or are not very good with it, it might be better to let AmigaKit take a look. They have a replacement capacitor service.

From my own personal experience I can only say that the SMD capacitors have reached their end. Certainly after what I saw this past weekend from my CD32 systems.

I think your jumping the gun. His machine works fine without the card installed. So I would say that rules out caps in that sense.

Quote:

Originally Posted by vroom6sri

"-maprom [path to this 3.1 ROM file]"

Yes, without the " " and [] and added to the ACATune command.
So ACATune -maprom DEVS:file.rom.

Also, dont erase the card. I didnt mean that, I was just wondering what would happen if you were running KS3.1.
Think its best to stick to amigakit.com ticket system or this is just going to get confusing.

kipper2k · 04 January 2011, 02:06

The caps could still be bad as they are now trying to maintain a steady voltage at a higher clock rate so it is possible that they are "weak"

Damion · 04 January 2011, 08:32

Especially if it's an earlier C= (not Amiga Tech) A1200, I also would replace the caps without question after checking all other basics. I've had A600 and A1200 boards with poor capacitors work fine until you start loading them with expansions, then they become unstable. As mentioned above, often they look OK only to reveal the nasty, tell-tale odor of leakage during removal.

PulsatingQuasar · 04 January 2011, 10:16

Comment removed. Help not wanted. ( re added)

That might be. But if he lets the machine boot to Workbench from the diskdrive in DF0: and the machine crashes then either the ACA1230 is faulty or the Amiga 1200.

If the ACA1230 then works in another machine his Amiga 1200 is faulty. In that case there is a good chance it is the capacitors. Then again, if he still has the top metal shielding on his A1200 it might be causing problems. Shorting or pressure.

Maybe it is good idea to replace them anyway. If he has capacitors with a green writing then they are 100% broken and have leaked. And what I saw from my CD32 systems the capacitors with a black writing are borderline.

My experience comes from replacing capacitors on 2 CD32, 4 Amiga 600, 9 Amiga 1200, 15 Amiga 4000 motherboards and about 10 A3630/A3640 processor boards. And when I replace capacitors I also replace the big through hole ones. In all of those cases the green ones always leaked or corroded and are a goner.

FOL · 04 January 2011, 10:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by PulsatingQuasar

That might be. But if he lets the machine boot to Workbench from the diskdrive in DF0: and the machine crashes then either the ACA1230 is faulty or the Amiga 1200.

If the ACA1230 then works in another machine his Amiga 1200 is faulty. In that case there is a good chance it is the capacitors. Then again, if he still has the top metal shielding on his A1200 it might be causing problems. Shorting or pressure.

Maybe it is good idea to replace them anyway. If he has capacitors with a green writing then they are 100% broken and have leaked. And what I saw from my CD32 systems the capacitors with a black writing are borderline.

My experience comes from replacing capacitors on 2 CD32, 4 Amiga 600, 9 Amiga 1200, 15 Amiga 4000 motherboards and about 10 A3630/A3640 processor boards. And when I replace capacitors I also replace the big through hole ones. In all of those cases the green ones always leaked or corroded and are a goner.

This is what I didnt want, this thread has gone way off topic and turned into another "its a cap problem thread".

fitzsteve · 04 January 2011, 10:42

I agree with FOL this thread should soley be for Amigakits updates on the product, its in the 'News' section of the site, not support.

If people have problems with their cards they should be contacting Amigakit for support and if they want forum advice should create a thread of their own in Support>Hardware section of the forum.

Steve.

FOL · 04 January 2011, 11:29

vroom6sri has already contacted us, was trying a few things while I was on here lastnight.

It might just be a timing problem that his rev board may not have had.
But who knows.

vroom6sri · 04 January 2011, 14:21

Thanks for all the help guys and sorry for causing the steer off topic - I am just like a drowning man flapping his arms around for any and all help I can get at the moment coz I am so desperate to have this excellent card 100% running with my new and improved setup. It's like it's teasing me at the moment by giving me a glimpse of what is possible and I go "oh yes!" and then it locks-up and I swear alot.

EDIT - I have just found out someone I work with has an A1200 so I will try to test the card on their machine at some point soon.

FOL · 04 January 2011, 14:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by vroom6sri

Thanks for all the help guys and sorry for causing the steer off topic - I am just like a drowning man flapping his arms around for any and all help I can get at the moment coz I am so desperate to have this excellent card 100% running with my new and improved setup. It's like it's teasing me at the moment by giving me a glimpse of what is possible and I go "oh yes!" and then it locks-up and I swear alot.

EDIT - I have just found out someone I work with has an A1200 so I will try to test the card on their machine at some point soon.

Did you answer my questions on the support ticket.
I really need this info as it may shed some light on it.

Predseda · 04 January 2011, 21:06

A friend of mine, who got his ACA 630 / 30 today, encountered a strange problem. With the motherboard A300 rev1, Kickrom 37.350 he boots up to the workbench, (V2.05), then he opens a drawer window, but after he attempts to open any sub-drawer, it freezes and the Caps-Lock starts to blink. It happens always.

He then tried his ACA 630 with another motherboard, A600 rev 1.5, Kick 37.350, WB 2.05 and it works properly.

Both motherboards were tested with the same CF and the same CF adaptor. Both boards were pure, without any additional RAM etc.

FOL · 04 January 2011, 21:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Predseda

A friend of mine, who got his ACA 630 / 30 today, encountered a strange problem. With the motherboard A300 rev1, Kickrom 37.350 he boots up to the workbench, (V2.05), then he opens a drawer window, but after he attempts to open any sub-drawer, it freezes and the Caps-Lock starts to blink. It happens always.

He then tried his ACA 630 with another motherboard, A600 rev 1.5, Kick 37.350, WB 2.05 and it works properly.

Both motherboards were tested with the same CF and the same CF adaptor. Both boards were pure, without any additional RAM etc.

He needs to contact the reseller, who he bought it off.

mfilos · 04 January 2011, 22:01

This is exactly what Amiga is about! Don't you just love the headbanging while trying to setup shiz?

RMK · 04 January 2011, 22:03

As long as it works out in the end...

Predseda · 04 January 2011, 22:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by FOL

He needs to contact the reseller, who he bought it off.

Okay, he will contact you

FOL · 04 January 2011, 22:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Predseda

Okay, he will contact you

lol, thanks,

.

alexh · 04 January 2011, 22:46

Not wanting to jump the gun but it sounds precisely like the micro fractures we were warned about when ACA-630 was announced. If it is then he will send his A600 motherboard and ACA-630 to his reseller to be reflowed and fitted.

Schoenfeld · 04 January 2011, 23:03

I've had several customers in Germany who had stability problems with their ACA1230-28. Three of them have now confirmed that the attached timing fix is perfectly working for them. One feedback is still pending, and one feedback indicates a warranty case.

Chris from AmigaKit confirmed the fix as well, he even did cross-tests by removing and re-applying the caps to really confirm that these are the cause for the stability problems. Thanks for all that work, Chris!

I have snapped pictures and wrote the attached document. Should anyone of you have stability issues with the ACA1230, please check if you have the capacitors E123C and E125C installed. Only remove them if you really have stability problems. By removing them if you don't have any problems, you're likely to introduce timing issues. In other words: If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Jens

FOL · 04 January 2011, 23:28

Thanks Jens,

Was waiting for you to post.
Didint want to post the info myself until you were happy with it.

On a 2B board, it appears to be very random in crashing.
Once fixes are applied, its 100% stable, after running machine for 2 hours.

On a 1D4 board, it appears to crash when doing anything with the memory.
Again, once timing fixes applied, its 100% stable, after running machine for 2 hours.

As Jens said though, If it aint broke, then dont fix it.

04 January 2011, 10:16	#1346
PulsatingQuasar Registered User Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Netherlands Posts: 57	Comment removed. Help not wanted. ( re added) That might be. But if he lets the machine boot to Workbench from the diskdrive in DF0: and the machine crashes then either the ACA1230 is faulty or the Amiga 1200. If the ACA1230 then works in another machine his Amiga 1200 is faulty. In that case there is a good chance it is the capacitors. Then again, if he still has the top metal shielding on his A1200 it might be causing problems. Shorting or pressure. Maybe it is good idea to replace them anyway. If he has capacitors with a green writing then they are 100% broken and have leaked. And what I saw from my CD32 systems the capacitors with a black writing are borderline. My experience comes from replacing capacitors on 2 CD32, 4 Amiga 600, 9 Amiga 1200, 15 Amiga 4000 motherboards and about 10 A3630/A3640 processor boards. And when I replace capacitors I also replace the big through hole ones. In all of those cases the green ones always leaked or corroded and are a goner. Last edited by PulsatingQuasar; 04 January 2011 at 10:42.

04 January 2011, 14:21	#1350
vroom6sri Registered User Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Peterborough Age: 47 Posts: 845	Thanks for all the help guys and sorry for causing the steer off topic - I am just like a drowning man flapping his arms around for any and all help I can get at the moment coz I am so desperate to have this excellent card 100% running with my new and improved setup. It's like it's teasing me at the moment by giving me a glimpse of what is possible and I go "oh yes!" and then it locks-up and I swear alot. EDIT - I have just found out someone I work with has an A1200 so I will try to test the card on their machine at some point soon. Last edited by vroom6sri; 04 January 2011 at 14:31.

04 January 2011, 23:03	#1359
Schoenfeld electricky. Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: out in the wild Posts: 1,256	A1200 timing fix confirmed I've had several customers in Germany who had stability problems with their ACA1230-28. Three of them have now confirmed that the attached timing fix is perfectly working for them. One feedback is still pending, and one feedback indicates a warranty case. Chris from AmigaKit confirmed the fix as well, he even did cross-tests by removing and re-applying the caps to really confirm that these are the cause for the stability problems. Thanks for all that work, Chris! I have snapped pictures and wrote the attached document. Should anyone of you have stability issues with the ACA1230, please check if you have the capacitors E123C and E125C installed. Only remove them if you really have stability problems. By removing them if you don't have any problems, you're likely to introduce timing issues. In other words: If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Jens Last edited by Schoenfeld; 20 August 2013 at 22:45.

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03 January 2011, 21:24	#1341
vroom6sri Registered User Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Peterborough Age: 47 Posts: 845	FOL - The install I did using AmigaKit's pre-loaded setup utility was WB3.1 but if you mean I should try wiping the CF card and do a fresh install just from the WB disks themselves I can't help but wonder if it'd make any difference because the A1200 will still lock-up booting a game directly from floppy. The ROM is 3.0 but I'm not sure how to map to 3.1 - I think I have a 3.1 ROM (does rev 40.68 sound right?) for use in WinUAE so, from what you wrote above, do I just copy that file to a location on the CF card and then use: "-maprom [path to this 3.1 ROM file]" ? It really is great the level of support AmigaKit gives especially as you seem to be volunteering your own time to help out. Thanks. PulsatingQuasar - Thanks for you input but I have no idea in relation to any of your questions. I'm afraid I am a very basic Amiga user. IE I plug it in and play it without much knowledge of how and why it works. Is there a simple way for me to check the motherboard version? It's pretty much been mine from nearly new so I doubt anything was ever changed internally apart from the floppy drive when the old one failed. How straight forward would it be for me to change the capacitors and apply the "timing fixes" should that be required?

03 January 2011, 23:23	#1342
PulsatingQuasar Registered User Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Netherlands Posts: 57	The only way I know of to get the motherboard revision is opening the Amiga and read the information from between the kickstart ROM's and the turbo board connector. If you have never used a soldering iron or are not very good with it, it might be better to let AmigaKit take a look. They have a replacement capacitor service. From my own personal experience I can only say that the SMD capacitors have reached their end. Certainly after what I saw this past weekend from my CD32 systems.

04 January 2011, 02:06	#1344
kipper2k Registered User Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Thunder Bay, Canada Posts: 4,323	The caps could still be bad as they are now trying to maintain a steady voltage at a higher clock rate so it is possible that they are "weak"

04 January 2011, 08:32	#1345
Damion Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: US Posts: 315	Especially if it's an earlier C= (not Amiga Tech) A1200, I also would replace the caps without question after checking all other basics. I've had A600 and A1200 boards with poor capacitors work fine until you start loading them with expansions, then they become unstable. As mentioned above, often they look OK only to reveal the nasty, tell-tale odor of leakage during removal.

04 January 2011, 10:42	#1348
fitzsteve Professional slacker! Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Kent, UK Age: 44 Posts: 6,683	I agree with FOL this thread should soley be for Amigakits updates on the product, its in the 'News' section of the site, not support. If people have problems with their cards they should be contacting Amigakit for support and if they want forum advice should create a thread of their own in Support>Hardware section of the forum. Steve.

04 January 2011, 11:29	#1349
FOL PSPUAE DEV Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Wales / UK Age: 45 Posts: 6,007	vroom6sri has already contacted us, was trying a few things while I was on here lastnight. It might just be a timing problem that his rev board may not have had. But who knows.

04 January 2011, 21:06	#1352
Predseda Puttymoon inhabitant Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Tromaville Age: 46 Posts: 7,545	A friend of mine, who got his ACA 630 / 30 today, encountered a strange problem. With the motherboard A300 rev1, Kickrom 37.350 he boots up to the workbench, (V2.05), then he opens a drawer window, but after he attempts to open any sub-drawer, it freezes and the Caps-Lock starts to blink. It happens always. He then tried his ACA 630 with another motherboard, A600 rev 1.5, Kick 37.350, WB 2.05 and it works properly. Both motherboards were tested with the same CF and the same CF adaptor. Both boards were pure, without any additional RAM etc.

04 January 2011, 22:01	#1354
mfilos Paranoid Amigoid Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Athens/Greece Age: 45 Posts: 1,978	This is exactly what Amiga is about! Don't you just love the headbanging while trying to setup shiz?

04 January 2011, 22:03	#1355
RMK Registered User Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: UK Posts: 189	As long as it works out in the end...

04 January 2011, 22:46	#1358
alexh Thalion Webshrine Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Oxford Posts: 14,354	Not wanting to jump the gun but it sounds precisely like the micro fractures we were warned about when ACA-630 was announced. If it is then he will send his A600 motherboard and ACA-630 to his reseller to be reflowed and fitted.

04 January 2011, 23:28	#1360
FOL PSPUAE DEV Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Wales / UK Age: 45 Posts: 6,007	Thanks Jens, Was waiting for you to post. Didint want to post the info myself until you were happy with it. On a 2B board, it appears to be very random in crashing. Once fixes are applied, its 100% stable, after running machine for 2 hours. On a 1D4 board, it appears to crash when doing anything with the memory. Again, once timing fixes applied, its 100% stable, after running machine for 2 hours. As Jens said though, If it aint broke, then dont fix it.

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