Many problems, no sleep!

[Synthesize Me]

Hello everyone,

I'm new to EAB (or any forum for that matter) so please pardon me in advance for not quite knowing the proper forum "etiquette" yet.

I've been having quite a few problems lately with my A1200s so this might be a long post (sorry!). I have pretty much exhausted my knowledge of knowing how to fix these types of things and haven't been able to easily find a solution, therefor I am turning to the community!

My gear:
-NTSC A1200, Kick 3.0, ACA1230/42 w/64mb and 4gb Hard Drive. REV 1D
-PAL A1200, Kick 3.1, 4gb CF Hard Drive and a Blizzard 1230-IV/50 w/FPU and 64MB on it's way. REV 1D3

My Problems (in order of importance):

1. My PAL Amiga keeps crashing at random points (usually within the first minute of booting) and ALWAYS when loading a game or program when I insert the ACA1230 from my other amiga. I will get all kinds of Gurus randomly, for example 800..0A,0B,03,04,06 and others. This is a pressing issue because I just dropped some serious cash on a Blizzard 1230 with an FPU and 64mb! Anyway, here is what I have tried: change jumper on the card, try on another Amiga (obviously, because it comes from my other 1200 and it works fine), clean the expansion port connectors (4 times already!!), power supply (already has a 300 watt supply from amigakit). Is it a timing issue maybe? FYI, REV 1D3 just incase you didn't see it written above.

2. My NTSC amiga is doing the good old "click sound on RMB pressing" thing and of course the button doesn't work. I hear this is a common issue caused by leaky caps so I checked the board but couldn't see anything wrong (maybe a slight leak on one or two but I wasn't sure..) except for a wire connecting two chips together!? Anyway, my question is: is it hard to replace the caps? If not, how do I do it, which ones should I replace (can do some preventive work while I'm at it), and what replacement parts do I need? Here is what I tried: I booted off of the WB disks and it still did it, I tried a different mouse, cleaned the ports, and checked if just pressing the LMB made it go to boot options screen (which it did). FYI, REV 1D

There are other problems of course (F**k my life) but I think these are a good starting point! I really appreciate any help guys! Thank you for your time!

S.O.S.

[Bamiga2002]

As a first thing to do please examine this thread http://eabmobile.abime.net/showthread.php?t=55059
Especially the later pages on which you'll find info on timing fixes (maybe) required to your A1200 for an ACA1230 to run without problems.

[8bitbubsy]

The wire you an see on the 1D.1 (or 1B/1A) board is a wire installed in the factory, it's a hot fix for an error they did on the PCB that they didn't spot in time before manufacturing the PCB. No worries, it's supposed to be there, don't remove it.
As for the mouse error, check for any burnt resistor or ferrite bead (looks like a resistor) on the underside of the Amiga motherboard, just near the mouse ports.

[Synthesize Me]

Originally Posted by Bamiga2002

As a first thing to do please examine this thread http://eabmobile.abime.net/showthread.php?t=55059
Especially the later pages on which you'll find info on timing fixes (maybe) required to your A1200 for an ACA1230 to run without problems.

Thanks, I already checked that thread. But I am hesitant on getting the timing fix done because 1.I'm not 100% if that is the problem, and 2.I plan on putting my Blizzard-IV 1230 in this machine so maybe I wouldn't need it(?). What do you think? Is there a chance that maybe this particular rev of a motherboard just doesn't like the ACA accelerator but might work with others? Both accelerators use a 030 CPU so maybe that's the issue? Does it even sound like a typical timming problem?
I guess once the Blizzard arrives i will know if maybe it just doesn't like the ACA or if it is having problems with all accelerators..

Thanks, I really appreciate your help!

Originally Posted by 8bitbubsy

The wire you an see on the 1D.1 (or 1B/1A) board is a wire installed in the factory, it's a hot fix for an error they did on the PCB that they didn't spot in time before manufacturing the PCB. No worries, it's supposed to be there, don't remove it.
As for the mouse error, check for any burnt resistor or ferrite bead (looks like a resistor) on the underside of the Amiga motherboard, just near the mouse ports.

Thanks for the advice! I'll have to check the bottom of the motherboard soon...that is the one place I didn't look yet. Is it a difficult fix? I'm ok with a soldering iron but I lack some experience..

I really appreciate your help.

[Synthesize Me]

So I take it no one here really knows what is going on or has any advice for the accelerator problem? As I said before, I am not sure if it's definitely a timing issue or something else, so if somebody could give me validation on what it is judging by the symptoms that would be great. I'm also still curious if that means that my new Blizzard 1230-IV won't work either.

[clauddio]

try to start cleaning the contacts ...both....turboboards and A1200 motherboards contacts....generally is the problem of ramdom crashes... use alcohol or better a commercial contact' cleaner...it will fix all problems

btw, A1200 'turboboards generally have contacts made of bronze... humididy oxidizes bronze and cause bad contact

[Synthesize Me]

Thanks for the tip! I already tried cleaning the contacts on both several times, but I just used alcohol. I'll give the contact cleaner a try soon.