#Flaky A1000
10 messages in this thread
I've had an amusing little glitch occur lately. It's intermittent, but
irritatingly frequent. When the system reboots (usually 'cause I crashed
it, but not always), it doesn't. Everything goes fine up until the
startup-sequence has completed and the system attempts to validate the disk
in df0:. It tells me the disk is unreadable and continues to try to
validate it. Moreover, with _no_ disk in df1:, I get the little disk icon
with the caption "DF1:BAD". If I reboot again, it usually comes up no
problem.
I have an Amiga 1000 with a StarboardII (1/2 meg) and a Supra hard drive
controller. I've done a memory diagnostic and it passed with flying colors.
I just wondered if this sounded familiar to anyone.
BTW. Please don't advise me to replace my 1000 with a 2000 (and
especially not a 500). I can't afford to. It's that simple. Maybe next
Christmas.
MCR – San Jose, CA
Michael –
I strongly suspect that you have a bum chip or solder joint that goes bad
after the unit warms up. The trick is to determine (A) if I'm right and
(B) where the heck it is. My first impulse is to suggest that you let your
Amiga dealer see it; but that may not be reasonable for several reasons.
Barring that, you need to isolate the problem. Given that you understand
that a careless person can QED blow the heck out of the system trying to
fix it,,, meaning if you don't know how to fix modern, static sensitive
electronics don't try to learn on your Amy! … here are some suggestions
on how to isolate the problem:
1 – If you have an external floppy swap it with the internal unit making
sure that necessary straps are noted and switched. This will determine if
the problem is in the floppy or the "box" and will do so with the least
amount of hassle. And frankly, given your description it seems like an
obvious point of interest.
2 – Open the case and leave it open while using your A1000. Difficult but
possible. IF the unit does not fail with the case open try warming it
up… a hair dryer on low will typically help. BTW – With the case open
you can also make sure all sockets and connections are good by pressing
them together. It could indeed be a problem.
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3 – If you can get the unit to fail continuously once warm then you need to
use some circuit cooler and a hair dryer to alternately try and isolate the
area of the unit that is mis-behaving.
I have not tried to be specific, because I figure that if you don't
understand what I am talking about then you definitely don't need to be
mucking about inside your Amiga. I don't know what your capabilities and
skills are. You might be a super tech, then again you might not know which
end of the screw-driver does what. (heh heh the blunt end is easier on
thumbs than a hammer!!)
– Nelson …
Nelson,
I thought about the temperature sensitivity idea. The problem is, the
Amiga does not necessarily have to warm up first before the problem occurs.
But your point about a bad solder joint is good. If it were vibration
sensitive it would be consistent with the symptoms I'm observing.
I know my way around when dealing with electronic equipment. I also know
enough not to muck with things if you don't have the right tools, which I
don't. I used to do hardware, years ago, not anymore. I don't have the time
or tools to do it right, so if it gets done, it will be done by my Amiga
dealer. HT Electronics is pretty good about this stuff.
MCR – San Jose, CA
Michael,
I sometimes have the same problem occasionally myself on each of my 4
A-1000's. I find that after turning ALL POWER OFF, disconnecting the
StarBoardII and the HardDrive interface and re-connecting them has always
cleared the problem for me. However, this may not be your problem.
I hope that this might help.
— Gary Lucas —
Gary,
Actually I find a similar thing. Usually it just reboots if I try it
again. But if it is stubborn, turning off the power to the A1000 for 30
secs and starting over from the kickstart fixes it fine.
MCR – San Jose, CA
I've had yearly trouble with the internal drive connector loosening up. It
doesn't fit very tightly. Also, the edege connnnector for the 256K memory
on the front can get dirty, I've had similar (not identical) problems until
I cleaned it. I eventuallly took the entire PCB to work and cleaned it.
Harry,
Well, I found that just keeping a disk in DF1: prevents the problem
altogether. Now I'm totally confused. But it works.
MCR – San Jose, CA
Michael –
Are you running some sort of NOKLICK program? Could that be the culprit?
– Nelson …
Nelson,
Nope, no NOKLICK programs on my machine. I don't find the click
irritating. I find it reassuring, I know the machine is still running. I
started with version 1.0 of the OS….
Anyway, I spoke too soon. I started keeping the disk in DF1: and it
didn't crash for a couple of days. Then it did. <sigh>
MCR – San Jose, CA