A1200 seemingly random crashes

[ikorodu]

Hello!

Over the weekend I finally got round to getting my a1200 up and running from it’s dusty resting place under the bed.

It’s a standard a1200 that I bought from eBay last year. I have added to it an sd to ide thingy for a hard disk and the Kipper2k A1208 sde+ memory card. The a1208 is just being used for memory, not added a microscope card to it nor have I looked at adding Ethernet.

I have an sd card that had my WHDLoad games and workbench on that the system boots to quite nicely.

The problem is that the system seemingly randomly crashes. It could be after 5 mins of being on or after an hour. I can happen when I’m just navigating windows or menus in wb or when loading a game or when playing a game. The game seems to make no difference, as I can reboot and then load the same game with no crashes.

I have used that Amiga test kit to test the ram and it says all is well.

Any ideas anyone?

Could it be bad caps? I can’t see any mainboard damage but I’m no expert.

Could it be a dodgy sd card for the hdd?

Any ideas anyone?

All help gratefully received!

Ikorodu

[Vypr]

Bad caps ar emore likely to result in distorted video and sound but it's always a good idea to get them replaced anyway.
Are you using the original PSU, it might be worthwhile to check the power rails as you might be getting some power fluctuations out of it due to its age.

[Sim085]

When I had random restarts on my A1200 it was because i had added an 030 card and the power supply I was using (modified ATX) was not providing enough power - therefore triggerign a restart. However in my case after a while it entered a restart loop so not sure if it is same thing.

[ikorodu]

Thanks for your ideas.

I am using the original psu. It’s a small lightweight brick with a 3amp 5 volt line. It’s physically smaller than the lightweight 3amp one that my A600 uses. The A600 has a furia and is very stable so might try swapping psu’s. I also have an a500 heavyweight power brick in the loft so can try that too.

Time for some testing methinks!

[ikorodu]

So an hour spent trying to diagnose.

Got my a500 psu out and tried that, no change, still hangs.

Was crashing after around 2 mins of a reset.

I tried swapping out the ide to sd with the ide to cf from my A600. This saw the a1200 run better. I was able to get to the end of level 1 of swiv before another crash.

All the chips oh the main board seem to be getting warm to the same degree.

I’m lost as to what’s going on.

Might try getting it recapped next.

[aeberbach]

The power supply contains capacitors that are just as old as the ones in your Amiga, possibly worse off since they live in a pretty warm environment. I would not expect many original PSUs to be working at close to full capacity these days. Tried another?

[ikorodu]

I can try the one that powers my a600. The A600 runs without fault. I’ll give it a go tomorrow.

[ikorodu]

I tried the psu from my a600 this morning. Same result.

I noticed a pattern in that the system will run for around 10 mins after first powering on. After the first crash I’m luck if I get 2 mins until the next one. What ever is causing this is worse once the machine is warm.

I’ll try removing the kipper 1208 sde memory expansion tonight and testing again.

[Kin Hell]

You could try re-seating the ROM Chips.... ** Please be Careful **

Just about all components are surface mounted in the A1200, but it sounds like something is expanding/moving when it's getting warm. - Could even be a partial dry joint....

Slightly lift each ROM Chip & re-seat by applying an even pressure along it's length.

Any luck for removing the A1208?

[8bitbubsy]

I don't see why dying capacitors couldn't lead to a symptom like this, so I'd get them replaced if I were you. Given that they haven't already been replaced before, that is...

[Kin Hell]

Originally Posted by 8bitbubsy

I don't see why dying capacitors couldn't lead to a symptom like this, so I'd get them replaced if I were you. Given that they haven't already been replaced before, that is...

Absolutely.

He's got quite a checklist to go through.

[rcman]

Originally Posted by ikorodu

Hello!

Over the weekend I finally got round to getting my a1200 up and running from it’s dusty resting place under the bed.

It’s a standard a1200 that I bought from eBay last year. I have added to it an sd to ide thingy for a hard disk and the Kipper2k A1208 sde+ memory card. The a1208 is just being used for memory, not added a microscope card to it nor have I looked at adding Ethernet.

I have an sd card that had my WHDLoad games and workbench on that the system boots to quite nicely.

The problem is that the system seemingly randomly crashes. It could be after 5 mins of being on or after an hour. I can happen when I’m just navigating windows or menus in wb or when loading a game or when playing a game. The game seems to make no difference, as I can reboot and then load the same game with no crashes.

I have used that Amiga test kit to test the ram and it says all is well.

Any ideas anyone?

Could it be bad caps? I can’t see any mainboard damage but I’m no expert.

Could it be a dodgy sd card for the hdd?

Any ideas anyone?

All help gratefully received!

Ikorodu

Do you have VirusZ installed. This happened when I brought out all my Amigas. I had not used them in a long time and had lots of Viruses.

RC

[Misclegend]

Originally Posted by ikorodu

Hello!

The problem is that the system seemingly randomly crashes. It could be after 5 mins of being on or after an hour. I can happen when I’m just navigating windows or menus in wb or when loading a game or when playing a game. The game seems to make no difference, as I can reboot and then load the same game with no crashes.

I have used that Amiga test kit to test the ram and it says all is well.

perhaps your computer is possessed by some demon?
plz note that computers with more than 128k of memory are capable to hold a demoniac spirit
check here for more info

https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2018/...ed-by-a-demon/

[ikorodu]

A quick update for those still interested in my tale of woe.

Removing the a1208 results in my wb install on the sd to ide to no longer boot. I just get a black screen. The Amiga still boots fine to floppy without the a1208, I played 10 mins of kick off 2 from floppy fine. I assume my wb install needs more than the standard 2mb chip to run.

Removed both rom chips. Pins and sockets looked clean. Reseated chips. Reinstalled the a1208. Booted to wb install fine, but crashed again after a few mins.

Running out of ideas now.

I have 3.1 roms on order so will see if they make any difference.


Also have a new cf to ide on order so I might try a clean install of wb on that.

Perhaps I need to get a recap done and then see what happens.

[Sim085]

So A1200 on its own (no expansion card no cf card) works fine?

if yes, this is similar behavior I had with my A1200 when I had the power issue but for me, with an 030 card, after first restart it entered in a reset loop. In my case an old A500 power supply fixed the issue.

I would agree with what others have said; if a recap was never done then I would consider doing it as those caps might leak and damage the board.

Another thing I would try is to install the expansion card but not the cf card and try to use it like that, this would give an indication if the a1200 starts restaring as soon as the expansion card is used.

[ikorodu]

i don't have many floppy games or apps to try the Amiga without the hdd. I do have kickoff 2 on floppy and eye of the beholder so could try them.

I might have a go at a clean install on a new cf card as well.

[ikorodu]

I have done a fresh install of classicwb on a 8gb sd card.

I’ve had this running for around 3 hours now and it’s not crashed.

I’m having trouble getting WHDLoad games to run but have not looked at that yet.

Appears promising.

[ikorodu]

Looks like I spoke too soon!

Although the system will sit there for hours idle, when I actually use it it crashes.

Have fitted new 3.1 roms, but no change still crashes.

Now testing with new install but without the kipper ram expansion.

[Kin Hell]

Looking like CAP's will be a good shout fella....

Check out Steve over @ Amiga Passion

I went for the Polymer Capacitor option.

[ikorodu]

Originally Posted by Kin Hell

Looking like CAP's will be a good shout fella....

Check out Steve over @ Amiga Passion

I went for the Polymer Capacitor option.

I fear you maybe right.

I have tried running without the extra ram, but still get the machine freezing.

I tried using the pcicma slot with a cf card today and the card was not always recognised. Works first time every time in my 600. Just more oddness that I hope new caps can fix!

I’ll get in touch with Steve.