M1200XA Comments
15 messages in this thread
Redmond,
Two things I'd like to ask you about:
Whenever I warm boot my machine, I need to initiate it twice. The first
time it resets, but hangs at the dark grey/black screen and sits like a lump.
Then I need to give it the old "Vulcan Death Grip" again to get it to reboot
completely.
This has been very consistent.
Also, have you ever received any reports that the socket for your custom
logic chip is too tall?
When the board is plugged in and the edge of the board is hooked on the
plastic clip, the shell is forced to bow over the socket.
In other words, the height of the pc board added to the height of the chip
socket is greater than the distance from the inside of the clip and the inside
of the shell.
My 1200 has a definately pregnant look to it now. So pregnant, in fact,
that the right front foot of the shell no longer rests on my desk.
Not good.
Performance-wise, I have not a single comment other than – "stellar!"
Any thoughts?
Joe
– A1200 '030 50MHz '882 50MHz 6MB RAM
Joe: that's the first pregnancy report we've had! But seriously,
what's the serial nr. / motherboard rev of your 1200? Maybe there's
some slight mechanical difference from lot to lot. I will check this
out with our techs and do some measurements. Regards, –Redmond
Redmond,
I found that using "AutoXA", instead of "ROMTag", as the seller
recommended, solves the reboot problem. Much nicer.
As for the machine? It is an early unit. I bought it January 15. Its
serial #8510193365067001000499 (type THAT three times fast!).
As a matter of fact, the MB is one of those Phillipene jobbies with the
incorrect connector for the clock/Chip RAM daughter board.
Face it, the socket on this board is HUGE. If there is anything that
can be done, I'd love to know about it.
Joe
Joe: do you have a calipers? Or a very accurate machinists ruler? If
you do, measure the depth of the plastic on the socket. I'll comppare
it to the standard socket we use (which is a low profile plcc
socket). You are talking about the socket with the Quicklogic part in
it aren't you? Yours is the first incidence of this problem –and
we'e sold a lot of XA's. –Redmond
Redmond,
I'll see what I can do, but I do not think that I can find
anything to measure to industry standards with.
Another thought is the spacing between the motherboard and the
bottom of the shell. If that spacing is less than standard, it would
artificially lower the height of the 150 pin connector end of your
board.
I'll see what I can do.
Joe
Redmond,
After looking at the socket again, it doesn't seem as big as I thought
at first.
The socket + pc height is still too great and the machine is still "a
little pregnant".
I should be getting a set of calipers in a day or two to take the
measurements.
Joe
Redmond,
I finally got a chance to take those measurements today. The results are
probably what you'll be expecting:
PCB .062"
Socket+PCB .390"
'Latch' height .401"
Edge connector to inside of shell .197"
The whole thing is apparently caused by the artificial lowering of the edge
connector to shell distance caused by my hard drive (I have a 3.5" IDE inside
my 1200 and that is adding pressure to the motherboard.
I'll probaby hack out the plastic latch to relieve the strain.
Joe
Yeah, I'd say youre probably right: a big drive is certainly going to stress
the mother board. Just leave the hatch off, why don't you?
–Redmond
When I say that it is bowing the case, I mean IT IS BOWING
THE CASE. I do not have the door on at all. It never factored into
the equation. As a matter of fact, I haven't put the door on since
getting the board. Still, it is a really nice board. Give your tech
guys a tip of the hat for me.
Will do, Joe. Thanks. Jerry Robinson is the designer of XA.
The 1230XA I reviewed also bowed the trapdoor slightly. Not as much
as described by Joe, but noticeable.
Eeek! An epidemic! Seriously, though: we have never seen this problem
before. Could you measure the socket depth, Pete? Like with an
engineer's calipers or steel rule? Thanks, –Redmond
Just for another datapoint, the QuickLogic socket on my M1230XA is
about 1/16 inch taller than the plastic edge connector, and it
lightly touches the bottom of the A1200 when the XA is installed, but
it doesn't cause the bottom or the trapdoor to bow at all.
However, I did notice that the A1200's shielding had pushed the black
tape back a bit in one spot and had exposed 1 trace underneath the
tape closest to the edge. I straightened the shielding where it had
been bent at a right angle to avoid potential problems.
Dan,
Yeah, I know about that sheilding. An M1230XA that I was about to but
used turned out to have been scratched (although I couldn't detect any
electrical breaks or shorts) and didn't run.
I don't know if it was his machine or mine that did it, but
when I got this board, I popped the shell and loosened the screws
holding the sheild down, so I could bow it away from the XA during
installation.
Joe
Redmond,
Shall do, as soon as I get the 1200 back from the magazine photographer
who is taking a pretty picture of it for my article.