Does an Apollo A1240 work with a stock A1200 PSU?

Hi, I've bought an Apollo A1240 (on eBay), but it doesn't work.

I've removed the RAM, and set the jumper so that the onboard RAM will not be used. (RAM jumper open.) http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com...df/a_68060.pdf

The A1200 still doesn't boot with the card in place. The HDD light flashes once, but no other activity and no screen display. With the card removed, all is fine.

Have I got a dud card (the seller said that it was untested and had been stored for years)?

The manual mentions that a stock A1200 PSU may get hot and cause crashes, but it doesn't say that it won't boot with one. I've tried removing the HDD to see if it's the PSU, but it still doesn't boot.

Is there any further diagnosis I can do before returning the card?

Thanks,

Chris.

[bdb]

Clean the connector contacts, try in another A1200, pray, and if those fail then return the card.

[fitzsteve]

These are juicy cards, try another PSU.

A500 4.5amp brick or better modified ATX.

Cleaning the contacts is also very good advice.

Also visually inspect the battery area of the card, any previous leakage? (You will see green or white corrosion in the surrounding area if there has been)

Has the battery been removed?

Good luck.

[Stedy]

Hi,

With regard to the stock A1200 PSU, you are right on the limit. An A1200 + Apollo 1240, with HDD will use 2.5A. The lowest power A1200 PSU can supply 2.5A @ 5V. With aging, it may be less.

Check the oscillator (little silver can) mine is removable, if the leads do not make contact properly, it fails to boot. As stated, clean all connectors.

Ian

[ma693541]

I have a Apollo A1240 40/40 card with MMU and SCSI adapter in my Amiga 1200 and never had trouble to boot it with the PSU that was standard for A1200.

Just follow the advices in this thread and see what's happening. Maybe you haven't pushed it far enough in place, remember, you don't have much space around the opening in the trapdoor and don't close the trapdoor with the card in it. Oh and the A1240 have 3 jumpers, check if all 3 of them are there.

[roy bates]

i never used one of these cards with a stock power supply.

have you checked the onboard battery? if it leaks it causes havoc with these cards.

[Xtal]

The stock A1200 powersupply (white) is a switched piece of crap. If you can get hold of a A500 powersupply, it's a lot more suited to deliver the +5v power needed.

But as previously mentioned, a modified AT / ATX powersupply is recommended. (or any PSU with enough +5v, some +12v and a minimal amount of -12v will do)

[jbenam]

My Apollo 1240 had some battery leak damage on the 74F74 (I think it was called like this) and that prevented it to boot. I bet it's the same thing here

I've run mine with the standard A1200 power supply too.

[Sandro]

Originally Posted by jbenam

My Apollo 1240 had some battery leak damage on the 74F74 (I think it was called like this) and that prevented it to boot. I bet it's the same thing here

.

and how you solved that? have you replaced the 74f74 and battery?

[jbenam]

Originally Posted by Sandro

and how you solved that? have you replaced the 74f74 and battery?

No need to replace the battery, the Apollo runs fine without it.

Yes, I had to replace the 74F74 and repaired some broken tracks (Thanks Zetr0!).
I also changed the oscillator (it was dead) and blam, the Apollo started working

[britain4]

I had these exact symptoms (including after I removed the hard drive) with an 030 25mhz accelerator and the problems went away after I started using a modified ATX PSU. I wouldn't even consider using the stock one, use a cheap (free?) ATX and it's something you can rule out if it does ever crash on you.

Also bear in mind there were 2 types of power supply included with the A500 and one is barely any more powerful than the 1200 PSU: http://www.ianstedman.co.uk/Amiga/am..._supplies.html

That website is fantastic and is very clear on how to do it (I bought the adapter and mounted it in the existing PSU casing to keep it tidy).