A1200 and On-Board Zorro Expander

alewis · 17 November 2006, 14:37

Ok, got the A1200 tower, hard disk, and Blizzard 060 playing together.

Now the real head scratcher. The tower has an On-Board 1200 Zorro expander board, which is 'reluctant' to work.

It did once, using the same PSU as currently fitted.

The On-Board consists of a passthru trapdoor adaptor (to plug the OB1200 and a trapdoor expansion card into), the OB1200 trapdoor board, and the Zorro expander board.

With just the passthrough and 060, everything is fine. With th OB1200 added, with or without 060, with or without Zorro board, I get at best a red screen. Sometimes what appears to be a pink screen with white vertical lines (this is using the composite out, so can be a bit weak at times).

Any ideas?

Tried both mouse buttons at bootup, to no avail. The jumpers are correctly set - although is there anyway to tell the difference between a Mk1 and MkII Blizzard 060?

keropi · 17 November 2006, 14:51

I had on of these RMB busborads, mine was v2.0 ... do u have the jumpers on it set correctly? do u have power on it?

alewis · 17 November 2006, 23:19

Well, I'm not sure.

I have a second one, (with a v2 BIOS, the board in this thread is v2.5) which is hardwired to a PSU in a completely different way...

The fitted On-Board expander board is connected to the PSU via a set of leads. The Onboard 1200 card has no power going to it.

The spare Onboard 1200 is hard-wired via the 6 pole screw block, and, has a thinner power cable soldered to the points by the reset/floppy/HD jumpers.

I have a poor quality photocopy "fitting instructions". Its evidently missing a page, one page has Pic 5, the next page has Pic 8.... a page or two with Pic 6 and 7 is missing!

Does the OB-1200 board need power? If so, presumably that goes to the 5 pin header. But there is no adaptor that fits that, and no mention of it in the parts list...

keropi · 18 November 2006, 20:40

My v2.0 needed both the AT power plugs to operate, and it got the nescesary cables from the keyboard converter, which used an atx psu...
so the connection was like this:
ATX PSU -> RMB keyboard converter -> busboard ...
Amigaz has now this tower...

alewis · 18 November 2006, 23:53

Does he have the docs to go with it?

Mine has an Eyetech keyboard connector, which may not be the same principle., although it *takes* power from the second floppy power connector.

Actually, on closer inspection... the Eyetch keyboard connector does this:

Code:

________________________________________________
|           0 (cap)             (cap)0          |
|           ________________________________    |
| :        | EZ-Key from Eyetech for A1200  |   |
| :*1      |(this is up the other way on the|   |
|          | fitted chip                    |   |
|           ---------------------------------   |
| ==*2      ================*3         (==)CAP  |
________________________________________________|

*1 4 pin power going TO a PSU fed molex, which also connects to the A1200 via a floppy molex

*2 5 pin adaptor that goes to the AT keyboard interface

*3 A1200 keyboard interface cable.

I presume the EZ-Key needs power??? why does it need 5v and 12v?

Dang, what happened to Eyetech! They used to have documentation on-line, grrh.

I'm wondering if the red screen is indicative of an initialisation problem due to [lack of] power to the Onboard 1200, as the expander has power.

keropi · 19 November 2006, 10:37

I can't remember of the docs, whether I have sent them to amigaz or not... it was not much, 2-3 photocopies in German...
either way it is on difficult , the v2.0 busboard needs power from the standar p8+p9 AT power plugs (black wires on the middle!!!) and set the jumper it has on the correct accelerator. nothing more... it does not show up as a device, and u can check it if u connect a zorro card, and go to early startup menu to see if the card appears...
as for the ezkey, it needs floppy power AFAIR...
alewis, post some pics of the hardware!!! it would help a lot...

keropi · 22 November 2006, 09:35

wow, I have discovered the manual for the whole RBM Towerhawk 2.0 tower system... there is not much info for the busboard in there, mainly mounting info... if u want it, I can scan it or something...

alewis · 22 November 2006, 17:21

Yes please!

keropi · 22 November 2006, 17:28

allright! tomorrow on my workplace that I have a scanner, I will do it...

keropi · 23 November 2006, 20:22

all done, I have uploaded the manual here, soon it will be on BBOAH too!

Your Download-Link #1: http://.com/files/4540969/...erman.zip.html

alewis · 24 November 2006, 10:23

Many thanks!

AMIGAZ · 24 November 2006, 13:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by alewis

Many thanks!

Still need the photos?

alewis · 26 November 2006, 00:19

Yes please.

Alex · 02 December 2006, 22:08

Here's the manual in english if needed:
http://amiga.resource.cx/manual/ONBoard1200ex.pdf

18 November 2006, 23:53	#5
alewis Monochrome and 8 bit Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Underbarrow, Gods Country Age: 57 Posts: 600	Does he have the docs to go with it? Mine has an Eyetech keyboard connector, which may not be the same principle., although it takes power from the second floppy power connector. Actually, on closer inspection... the Eyetch keyboard connector does this: Code: ________________________________________________ \| 0 (cap) (cap)0 \| \| ________________________________ \| \| : \| EZ-Key from Eyetech for A1200 \| \| \| :1 \|(this is up the other way on the\| \| \| \| fitted chip \| \| \| --------------------------------- \| \| ==2 ================3 (==)CAP \| ________________________________________________\| 1 4 pin power going TO a PSU fed molex, which also connects to the A1200 via a floppy molex 2 5 pin adaptor that goes to the AT keyboard interface 3 A1200 keyboard interface cable. I presume the EZ-Key needs power??? why does it need 5v and 12v? Dang, what happened to Eyetech! They used to have documentation on-line, grrh. I'm wondering if the red screen is indicative of an initialisation problem due to [lack of] power to the Onboard 1200, as the expander has power. Last edited by Jope; 26 November 2006 at 09:33. Reason: Added code tags and redid the ascii art with a fixed-width font

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Where can I find a Zorro prototype board?	gulliver	Hardware mods	6	04 July 2013 11:20
A1200 Zorro daughter board with Cybervision 64-3D	guru	MarketPlace	0	29 August 2011 10:43
Clockport Expander A1200	Retrofan	support.Hardware	56	04 June 2011 17:34
Zorro expander boards and ISA slots	alewis	support.Hardware	1	02 March 2005 15:50
Some tech questions about an apparently modified A1200 board and a Zorro board	eLowar	support.Hardware	10	18 April 2004 19:06

17 November 2006, 14:37	#1
alewis Monochrome and 8 bit Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Underbarrow, Gods Country Age: 57 Posts: 600	A1200 and On-Board Zorro Expander Ok, got the A1200 tower, hard disk, and Blizzard 060 playing together. Now the real head scratcher. The tower has an On-Board 1200 Zorro expander board, which is 'reluctant' to work. It did once, using the same PSU as currently fitted. The On-Board consists of a passthru trapdoor adaptor (to plug the OB1200 and a trapdoor expansion card into), the OB1200 trapdoor board, and the Zorro expander board. With just the passthrough and 060, everything is fine. With th OB1200 added, with or without 060, with or without Zorro board, I get at best a red screen. Sometimes what appears to be a pink screen with white vertical lines (this is using the composite out, so can be a bit weak at times). Any ideas? Tried both mouse buttons at bootup, to no avail. The jumpers are correctly set - although is there anyway to tell the difference between a Mk1 and MkII Blizzard 060?

17 November 2006, 14:51	#2
keropi . Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Ioannina/Greece Posts: 5,040	I had on of these RMB busborads, mine was v2.0 ... do u have the jumpers on it set correctly? do u have power on it?

17 November 2006, 23:19	#3
alewis Monochrome and 8 bit Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Underbarrow, Gods Country Age: 57 Posts: 600	Well, I'm not sure. I have a second one, (with a v2 BIOS, the board in this thread is v2.5) which is hardwired to a PSU in a completely different way... The fitted On-Board expander board is connected to the PSU via a set of leads. The Onboard 1200 card has no power going to it. The spare Onboard 1200 is hard-wired via the 6 pole screw block, and, has a thinner power cable soldered to the points by the reset/floppy/HD jumpers. I have a poor quality photocopy "fitting instructions". Its evidently missing a page, one page has Pic 5, the next page has Pic 8.... a page or two with Pic 6 and 7 is missing! Does the OB-1200 board need power? If so, presumably that goes to the 5 pin header. But there is no adaptor that fits that, and no mention of it in the parts list...

18 November 2006, 20:40	#4
keropi . Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Ioannina/Greece Posts: 5,040	My v2.0 needed both the AT power plugs to operate, and it got the nescesary cables from the keyboard converter, which used an atx psu... so the connection was like this: ATX PSU -> RMB keyboard converter -> busboard ... Amigaz has now this tower...

19 November 2006, 10:37	#6
keropi . Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Ioannina/Greece Posts: 5,040	I can't remember of the docs, whether I have sent them to amigaz or not... it was not much, 2-3 photocopies in German... either way it is on difficult , the v2.0 busboard needs power from the standar p8+p9 AT power plugs (black wires on the middle!!!) and set the jumper it has on the correct accelerator. nothing more... it does not show up as a device, and u can check it if u connect a zorro card, and go to early startup menu to see if the card appears... as for the ezkey, it needs floppy power AFAIR... alewis, post some pics of the hardware!!! it would help a lot...

22 November 2006, 09:35	#7
keropi . Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Ioannina/Greece Posts: 5,040	wow, I have discovered the manual for the whole RBM Towerhawk 2.0 tower system... there is not much info for the busboard in there, mainly mounting info... if u want it, I can scan it or something...

22 November 2006, 17:21	#8
alewis Monochrome and 8 bit Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Underbarrow, Gods Country Age: 57 Posts: 600	Yes please!

22 November 2006, 17:28	#9
keropi . Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Ioannina/Greece Posts: 5,040	allright! tomorrow on my workplace that I have a scanner, I will do it...

23 November 2006, 20:22	#10
keropi . Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Ioannina/Greece Posts: 5,040	all done, I have uploaded the manual here, soon it will be on BBOAH too! Your Download-Link #1: http://.com/files/4540969/...erman.zip.html

24 November 2006, 10:23	#11
alewis Monochrome and 8 bit Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Underbarrow, Gods Country Age: 57 Posts: 600	Many thanks!

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)

26 November 2006, 00:19	#13
alewis Monochrome and 8 bit Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Underbarrow, Gods Country Age: 57 Posts: 600	Yes please.

02 December 2006, 22:08	#14
Alex Amiga Hardware Database Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Budapest / Hungary Posts: 23	Here's the manual in english if needed: http://amiga.resource.cx/manual/ONBoard1200ex.pdf