CompuServe Thread

A3000 Toaster HELP

10 messages in this thread
#38195From: Mark DannerApr 17, 1992 7:58 AM
Help! I read on this forum a few weeks ago that running the Toaster in an A3000 was possible and, in fact, worked quite well. Sinse then I have heard of many A3000 owners installing Toasters so I took the plunge. After making the required case modifications, I installed the board and nothing happened. The power light wouldn't even come on. I tried grounding the copper grounding clips – still nothing. I believe this can work but there is simply something minor getting in the way… Does anyone have any helpful hints?
#38199From: SyndesisApr 17, 1992 10:34 AM
Is the board touching anything it shouldn't be touching? I know I covered the sides of my Toaster in shirt cardboard, taped at the edges, in order to prevent it from accidentally touching the circuit board to any of the nearby metal surfaces. Also, are you sure the board is seated correctly? Do you have a lot of other power-hungry boards in there? You might be overloading the A3000 power supply.
#38211From: bill powersApr 17, 1992 8:19 PM
I'm also running a Toaster in an A3000, and everything runs fine except s sometimes out of the blue it won't boot. The only other board in the thing is the TBC I. If I remove the TBC it will boot, and if I put it back in it will work for a few days. Do you think this is overloading the supply? -Bill
#38213From: Mark DannerApr 17, 1992 9:47 PM
Actually, I've tried several things… I have insulated the back side of the board with a cut up magazine cover – including insulating the ground clips, I've insulated everything except the ground clips – making sure they were touching the case, and I've tried leaving the case off… None of these solutions affected the outcome… That is, the machine plays dead when the power is turned on. (Not even a power light). The machine boots perfectly, however, when I remove the Toaster. As for overloading the 135 Watt power supply, I've checked into that as well. There are no other boards in this A3000. It's equiped with 2Meg of Chip RAM, 8 Meg of fast RAM, 1 Q52LPS, and 1 Q240LPS. I've even tried disconnecting one of the drives thinking it might be a real power hog (no match for 135 Watts, though) but I got the same results. Thanks for the response, though. I'll keep hacking away… Any other suggestions? —– Mark
#38215From: SyndesisApr 17, 1992 10:17 PM
Welcome to the world of Amiga variations. I had an A2000 that wouldn't boot with a certain Toaster in it. I sent it back to NewTek, they said it worked fine and sent another. Same problem. I ended up swapping motherboards and it worked fine… No idea what was wrong – I even had Tim Jenison himself on the phone trying to figure out what went wrong.
#38259From: Mark DannerApr 18, 1992 4:20 PM
It's kind of silly. I've tried everything I know of with this machine. I wonder if CBM will replace the mother board (with their Gold service) if the Toaster doesn't work. In the mean time… I'll keep researching this terrible dilemma I've gotten myself into. Thanks.
#38233From: Dan McCoyApr 18, 1992 12:13 PM
Does the Toaster work in another machine? I've got my Toaster in a 3000, 210MB Quantum, 50MB Quantum and 18MB of RAM with no problems booting (unless it's 90 degrees in my room and even then, it's only once in a blue moon). I ran across the first Toaster that didn't work right in a 3000 this past week. The system would boot up fine but after time, the video would start flickering and doing odd things. All other 3000 users I know with Toasters have no problems at all. It does appear that the 3000's power supply in-rush current limit (current limit when turning the system on) is a tad too low. TS Computers in North Hollywood has a fix (change a capacitor). A friend of mine with a Toaster in his 3000 had the same problem once and I don't know what happened but it doesn't happen any more. His Toaster is S/N 16 too! 🙂 Try swapping the Toaster in for another? Dan McCoy – via Whap! and saving money doing it too!
#38263From: Mark DannerApr 18, 1992 4:27 PM
Actually, it does work in another machine. I also have a B2000. It's not equiped to handle 2.0 toasting but at least it booted when the Toaster was inserted in the video slot. However, sinse the B2000 I have is not beefed up enough to run the 2.0 NewTek software, I cannot determine if the Toaster is functioning correctly. It DOES boot, though. Tonight I plan to stuff the Toaster into another 3000 to see if it boots. I'm also bringing my daughter board to see if that is the problem. If the machine boots, I have to try to convince CBM to fix my 3000 because the Toaster doesn't work in it…. Hmmm… If it doesn't work, I have no idea what to do… Get another Toaster because this one doesn't work in a 3000 but appears OK in a 2000… Hmmmm… Does anybody else have any suggestions? — Mark
#38329From: john bennettApr 20, 1992 10:36 PM
I had an early board (sn under 150) and had to swap it back when the 1.0 software came out. I didnt realize it was bad til it wouldnt boot with toaster 1.0!!!! Ijust got 2.0 today…. Its great!!! – via Whap!
#38346From: Mark DannerApr 21, 1992 2:29 PM
Well, the problem with my Toaster and 3000 was the power supply – just like eveeveryone suggested. I swapped my 135 Watt PS with my brother's 135 Watt PS that was in his 3000 (no Toast) and it worked fine. The component tolerances in my PS must have combined to produce a PS that couldn't handle the initial load. If I experience any more flakey problems, I'm going for the 200 Watt PS. THANKS.