Will A3000 boot from Buddha?

Caution: Non registered users only see threads and messages in the currently selected language, which is determined by their browser. Please create an account and log in to see all content by default. This is a limitation of the forum software.


Also users that are not logged in can not create new threads. This is a, unfortunately needed, counter measure against spam. Please create an account and log in to start new threads.

Don't Panic. Please wash hands.
  • More investigations/hints:


    - emulation setup just uses a DOS\1, bootable partition.


    - the file and path name are not case-sensitive, as this is handled by the file system, which isn't case-sensitive either.


    - tested with FFS V40.1 in RDB, but also tested with pfs3aio (see Aminet), showing that there is no requirement on flags being set/unset for the kickstart file.


    So there is really no reason why it should not work in the configs that you have described here. If this is an attempt at getting an unnecessary product mentioned in this forum, you've failed - people reading this only see that it's a waste of money and a loss of support from iComp. Don't try this again.


    If you're serious about debugging this, please click the "hidden" close-button at the top right of the kickstart selection screen (not the cancel button that reboots) and see if the partition is really mounted. You'll have to boot from a WB1.3 disk in that case, as the "Kick1.4" will fail to boot from anything newer. The "Info" command works the same and will reveal if the partition has been mounted.

  • With these suggestions I had another try. I first renamed the wb_2.x: partition so the kickstart wouldn't load from there. Then when I turn on the computer, I get the options to load kickstart 2.x or 1.3 from floppy, the options to load it from the hard drive are grayed out.


    I then tried the hidden close button. But I guess it's hidden too well, I couldn't find it. After trying some things, I got a kickstart selection screen. Not sure how that happened, and I couldn't get it again later. This kickstart selection screen only gave me KS 36.0 as an option.


    (The system also tries to boot with this kickstart when clicking "cancel" on the load kickstart 2.x/1.3 from floppy/HDD screen.)


    With kickstart 36.0, the machine will not get very far booting, but far enough for me to run info, which only shows me the SCSI partition and DF0 + DF1.


    I can also run Sysinfo, which shows me the only board that is recognized is the ISDN Master. The Cybervision 64/3D, X-Surf and Buddha don't show up.


    Could this have something to do with the order in which the cards are placed? the ISDN Master is at the bottom, above it the CV64/3D, then the X-Surf and the Buddha at the top. Unless I'm mistaken, the CV card is the only Zorro III one, the others are all Zorro II.

  • I can also run Sysinfo, which shows me the only board that is recognized is the ISDN Master. The Cybervision 64/3D, X-Surf and Buddha don't show up.

    That's an interesting one - if autoconfig fails, we're looking at a completely different thing. Not sure if we can do anything about it, but a valuable hint. I'll dig.

  • Thanks to Toni Wilen who spottet the culprit:

    The Z3 card is not supported by Kickstart 1.4, so all cards that come after will not be configured. I suggest to re-order the cards; my personal recommendation would be to remove the ISDN Master for good, as to my knowledge, there's no ISDN any more, and you're better off with Ethernet anyway. Put the Buddha in place of the ISDN Master (bottom slot), and it'll be configured first. That should make it work.

  • I decided to open up the A3000 once again to get to the bottom of this. The good news: with the Budda in the first / lowest slot, it's autoconfigured on boot and the superkickstart can be loaded from a drive connected to the Buddha (a CF card in my case).


    I tried this with the SCSI drive disconnected, so I'm sure it works.


    So I put the Buddha in the lowest slot, then the X-Surf, followed by the ISDN Master and the Cybervision 64/3D. When booting under kickstart 36.0, now the first three cards are all recognized, only the CV64/3D is missing from the list. So it looks like the bootROM has an issue configuring the CV64/3D cards, as well as any cards that come later in the AutoConfig process.


    So I'd say: put the Buddha in the first slot whenever possible.


    Another thing to keep in mind: the bootROM will only automatically load the superkickstart from the wb_2.x: drive if that drive has the highest boot priority. If not, it will boot by itself, i.e., under kickstart 36.0.

  • .... now the first three cards are all recognized, only the CV64/3D is missing from the list. So it looks like the bootROM has an issue configuring the CV64/3D cards, as well as any cards that come later in the AutoConfig process.

    I also have a Cybervision C64 RTG-Card installed before the Buddha - so eventually the reason of my difficulties to boot from wb_2.x by the 3000 bootstrap-ROM is the same. But because at the moment everythings works well after the exchange of the Rom by an 3.x , it has currently not he highest priority for me to change the ROMS back and test an other order of the cards. But eventually I will do this to get my AMAX II+ Card to work - this requires Kick 2.04 and WB2.1..

    Anyway it is impressive to see how good the support of icomp is!:):thumbup:

  • The last reply was more than 365 days ago, this thread is most likely obsolete. It is recommended to create a new thread instead.