Choosing a new ATX power supply for an expanded Amiga 4000

[AC/DC HACKER!]

I never pronounce a zero as the letter "O" as many people do. Since I was small that made zero sense. Same with phone numbers.

I've already stripped it some months ago. That's what I mean, what works for the original PSU isn't working for these. Actually, I have swapped the Daughter board with another I have. Same thing. I'm about to go to my other A4K I've not tried with the CS550M. I also have 1 more idea.. I'm going to pull out my A4KT and check what happens with it. But anyway, the A4K should be working. Only thing left to figure is something is funky with my Motherboard OR..the adapter. New one should be here anytime between Now and middle of next month.

I know, that's why I considered discounting your hardware, hahaha!!! Yours has a true ATX connector and all that goes with it. If I had the soldering know-how..I'd order one of those after being sure someone would transplant my MB's parts to the new.

[AC/DC HACKER!]

I got my new Amiga-Kit A4000 ATX adapter and it didn't solve the crashing problem my 2 ATX's. Within 16 minutes Wipeout 2097 crashed, within 30 minutes or so Payback PPC crashes. So, that didn't solve that.

[AC/DC HACKER!]

After several other tests, and using my 68040 board I'm at the conclusion that the A4K PSU has something special about it that the Cyberstorm PPC uses when using the PPC. Amiga is having zero problems with SF450 and CS550M when playing AmigaAMP or anything that lightly uses the PPC or 68060 only. Some kind of change of energy is happening that I don't understand and it seems ATXs aren't able to handle, so the CyberstormPPC crashes when the demand isn't met.

Is ANYONE able to confirm this or...offer another solution? Is anyone able in the States or (cheap) enough to send one of these ATX's and convert it to AT? Or offer some other idea? I really don't want to pay a bit of cash to repair one of my A4K PSUs.

Do appreciate ALL the help that has been offered. I'm really scratching my head as to understand. I'm going to start looking around a bit more to see if I can find some other kind of Adapter solution. Maybe a power regulator someone has made? Any suggestions that DO function with CyberstormPPC?

[Liqourice]

Well. Recapping the original PSU is more and more becoming the preferred solution then. I really don't want to but it seems to be the best option. I have no PPC card though, right now only a CS MkII-040 that I hope to upgrade to 060. Question is how an SFX PSU will work with that setup?

[AC/DC HACKER!]

As I typed above, a few times, the 68060 of the CSPPC runs very well with the SF450 and CS550M, I've not noticed any crashes when using 68K. So A4000 with 68060, 68040 or below...are doing well.

For Cyberstorm MK3, I'm looking at http://www.ianstedman.co.uk/Amiga/de...x_adaptor.html as a solution. It LOOKS like Original/Big box adapter is the way to go. __LOOKS__ like. I'm still digging into information about it. Also talking to Paul (from earlier mention in this thread) about decoupling the PPC...but I don't yet understand what that means.

At: "Cost of recap:
A4000D PSU recap - skynet type - 80EUR - 87.23 USD
A4000D PSU recap - LiteOn type - 125EUR - 136.29 USD
Repair - depending what is broken - 20 to 150EUR - 21.81 to 163.55 USD
Postage back - 30EUR - 32.71 USD

Please send complete PSU with cover."

Is about 158.01 USD if it's simple. This is well over the price of a new or older ATX. Or if it's really broken 332.55 USD for my LiteOn. Which is highly expensive next to newer ATX PSU. I also understand the Amiga market is small and it's partly labor. Still, very high price as far as I'm concerned so I'm seeking alternatives. I'm not including the return trip.

[Liqourice]

I could do the recapping myself, just need to get the correct caps. It's just a lot of work doing it so it would be easier to buy an SFX PSU. Already have the adapter and a friend 3D-printed the mounting adapter.

But if you say the 68k part runs well and without issue then I might just get a new PSU. I'm never gonna have a PPC in it anyway, those boards are just to darn expensive to be justified, if any is for sale at all and in a working state.

If it doesn't work well I can always find a use for the PSU in some other build.

[AC/DC HACKER!]

You seem to be misunderstanding. I have 2 newer ATXs already. I also have 3 that are years older. None of which are functioning with the CyberstormPPC's PPC correctly. Which means I already own the CyberstormPPC...from the 90's, which has been updated.

I already know the problem is with the ATX PSUs...in how they deliver power. Which is why I'm seeking an alternative now to the Amiga-Kit ATX adapter, and Amiga-Kit is NOT replied to my Emails since I received it and informed them it does not work well with CyberstormPPC. I Emailed them directly on their site. This is a common problem with Amiga-Kit.

I don't understand your last sentence.

[Liqourice]

Originally Posted by AC/DC HACKER!

You seem to be misunderstanding. I have 2 newer ATXs already. I also have 3 that are years older. None of which are functioning with the CyberstormPPC's PPC correctly. Which means I already own the CyberstormPPC...from the 90's, which has been updated.

I already know the problem is with the ATX PSUs...in how they deliver power. Which is why I'm seeking an alternative now to the Amiga-Kit ATX adapter, and Amiga-Kit is NOT replied to my Emails since I received it and informed them it does not work well with CyberstormPPC. I Emailed them directly on their site. This is a common problem with Amiga-Kit.

I don't understand your last sentence.

No, I understand. I'm talking about MY options and asking what's best. If an ATX/SFX PSU works well with my setup then it's all good and my reference to the CSPPC is that it's not likely that I'll ever get one. Seems you're the one misunderstanding.

[AC/DC HACKER!]

Ohh, okay. I thought there was an odd offer of help in 3rd person.

All is good. Yeah, seems the ATXs I have along with Amiga-Kit Adapter is cool with anything without a CyberstormPPC. But with a PPC on a different board does work.

No, No, you're misunderstanding.. (Doing a 3 Stooges/Abbot and Costello Routine here..I am joking.)

[Liqourice]

I wish I had any ideas that might help you but I'm afraid I don't. Sad to say my knowledge in the area have diminished severely for the last 18 non-amiga years. (I held out until 2002 with Amiga only.)

But I want my faithful old A4000 up and running properly again. She boots but only without the CV64/3D activated. Worked with it activated up until last summer but did lock up or crash more and more often for the last few years. Don't know if that's due to the PSU being bad or if it's some other hardware issue. Gonna try with the PSU to begin with. Having the motherboard recapped is the next step. I will be sad if the gfx card is broken though.

[AC/DC HACKER!]

Now that I understand you were asking for help for You, I get it. She?? ;-)

Is the battery is still good, and has NOT leaked, then you have possibilities of other parts of the Motherboard to be in decent shape. By deactivated you mean the Monitor file is altered in some way so it's not read? Permissions, Executeable..and so on.

I need a lot more info before I could offer more help. Your details are a bit vague. I also don't know the CV64/3D very well, but I DO have a CyberVisionPPC and it doesn't function correctly if some settings aren't correct.

Since the CV64/3D did lock more, I'd wonder about it. But it does Not mean it's the GFX board. Check your settings. Some people make changes and then forget they did.

This isn't really an Amiga diagnostic thread, so I'm going to reserve asking further questions about that. Okay, okay, 1 question...is your Amiga setup to display ONLY through that board or another way?

[grelbfarlk]

Originally Posted by Liqourice

I wish I had any ideas that might help you but I'm afraid I don't. Sad to say my knowledge in the area have diminished severely for the last 18 non-amiga years. (I held out until 2002 with Amiga only.)

But I want my faithful old A4000 up and running properly again. She boots but only without the CV64/3D activated. Worked with it activated up until last summer but did lock up or crash more and more often for the last few years. Don't know if that's due to the PSU being bad or if it's some other hardware issue. Gonna try with the PSU to begin with. Having the motherboard recapped is the next step. I will be sad if the gfx card is broken though.

You might want to get a multimeter so you can at least have one means of measuring something.

But read through the whole thread, many are using specific known ATX PSUs successfully even with the CSPPC.
If the CV64/3D died, I mean that's unfortunate but you have lots of options presently to replace it with another Z3 RTG card, like MNT boards, the new Picasso II+, or even a Mediator. Some guys installed PPC boards on the Mediator for around $120 which are about twice as fast as the fastest CSPPC.

[Liqourice]

Originally Posted by AC/DC HACKER!

Now that I understand you were asking for help for You, I get it. She?? ;-)

Is the battery is still good, and has NOT leaked, then you have possibilities of other parts of the Motherboard to be in decent shape. By deactivated you mean the Monitor file is altered in some way so it's not read? Permissions, Executeable..and so on.

I need a lot more info before I could offer more help. Your details are a bit vague. I also don't know the CV64/3D very well, but I DO have a CyberVisionPPC and it doesn't function correctly if some settings aren't correct.

Since the CV64/3D did lock more, I'd wonder about it. But it does Not mean it's the GFX board. Check your settings. Some people make changes and then forget they did.

This isn't really an Amiga diagnostic thread, so I'm going to reserve asking further questions about that. Okay, okay, 1 question...is your Amiga setup to display ONLY through that board or another way?

Nah, I'm not asking anyone to diagnose. Just reflecting on what the situation is.


If I hold both mouse buttons during boot (after the boot menu that is) it defaults to the chipset gfx, hence the card isn't active. Didn't really change any settings between before it stopped working, at least not as I can recall, but I'll check. Even tried to reinstall Picasso96 without any luck so.

No visible leakage from the battery either. It's been replaced a few times over the years.

Again, just mentioning these things. The main issue of this thread is what I try to focus on since I'm quite sure the original PSU is well tired after 28 years and needs to be fixed or replaced no matter what.

[Hewitson]

Originally Posted by DarrenHD

OK. I will let it run...here side by side. Cs ppc on left, cs mk2 with sonnet on right (yes ppc is faster)...37 minutes and counting no crash....both still running.

Update: 2+ Hours both running, no crashes. I guess I need to run my CS PPC ram at 70ns...will do more testing though.

Update: 3+ hours both running, no crashes. I had to turn them off at this point and go out...

I didn't know "top" was available for Amiga. That's awesome.

[Liqourice]

Originally Posted by grelbfarlk

You might want to get a multimeter so you can at least have one means of measuring something.

But read through the whole thread, many are using specific known ATX PSUs successfully even with the CSPPC.
If the CV64/3D died, I mean that's unfortunate but you have lots of options presently to replace it with another Z3 RTG card, like MNT boards, the new Picasso II+, or even a Mediator. Some guys installed PPC boards on the Mediator for around $120 which are about twice as fast as the fastest CSPPC.

I know about the MNT and I've been considering it, but I think I need to fix/replace the PSU and recap the motherboard first to see if that fixes the problems.


Though, I haven't heard of a new Picasso II+ or any other PPC option than CSPPC that's actually been produced.

[spudje]

AC/DC HACKER!you still might want to make 100% sure it's not a heat issue like in my case. If you have a big room fan on a stand, place it right next to your opened A4k case and blow air over the Zorro/PCI cards. If it still crashes you can be sure it's not heat. In my case it was. With fan, stable machine, taking fan away, crash within 10 to 15 minutes.

[grelbfarlk]

Originally Posted by Liqourice

I know about the MNT and I've been considering it, but I think I need to fix/replace the PSU and recap the motherboard first to see if that fixes the problems.


Though, I haven't heard of a new Picasso II+ or any other PPC option than CSPPC that's actually been produced.

Matze did the PicassoII+ a while ago. That's here:
https://webstore.kryoflux.com/catalo...products_id=56
The PCI PPC card homepage is here, there are five different PPC boards supported, being PCI they'd require a Mediator (or perhaps one day a Prometheus) to use though.
https://github.com/Sakura-IT/SonnetAmiga

[Liqourice]

Originally Posted by grelbfarlk

Matze did the PicassoII+ a while ago. That's here:
https://webstore.kryoflux.com/catalo...products_id=56
The PCI PPC card homepage is here, there are five different PPC boards supported, being PCI they'd require a Mediator (or perhaps one day a Prometheus) to use though.
https://github.com/Sakura-IT/SonnetAmiga

See what happens when you're out of the loop to long. We'll see what happens when I find out if the CV is dead or if there's something else causing it to fail.



However, these PPC cards aren't longer avaliable I gather so have to find them used?

[kriz]

Yeah it is older used cards ..

[Liqourice]

Then prices will most likely get as ridicilous as for the CSPPC's.