ACA 1211 + OS 3.1.4 problems

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Don't Panic. Please wash hands.
  • Hi, I purchased OS 3.1.4 last week for my A1200. Yesterday I received my ACA 1211 so I started setting things up. However, there always seem to be some issues with this combination (ACA 1211 + Kickstart 3.1.4). Here is a list:


    Stock Kickstart 3.0 No Maprom

    This was my first attempt at installing 3.1.4. I installed everything using the 3.1.4 install disk + the additional A1200 modules disk. It installed ok, booted fine (I used PFS3AIO with direct access to partition my CF card).


    However, ShowConfig shows over 1.6MB of RAM at $C00000 address, which should be 1.5MB (that's what it shows using Kick 3.0 or 3.1) and I got weird crashes from time to time. Directory Opus 4 would always cause Software Failure, if I booted with startup sequence (it would start without SS).


    Another issue I had was with WHDLoad. It would say that the kickstart file used for games is incorrect (40.068), even though this same file works with Kick 3.0 or Kick 3.1.


    The next issues is with PCMCIA Ethernet card. It refused to work. If I hot plug when fully booted, it would either crash the system, or at least cause Miami to crash when opened. The LoadModule ROMUPDATE command would always crash the system with the PCMCIA card present.


    Kickstart 3.1.4 via Maprom

    I did a clean install of Workbench 3.1.4 using the Install disk. Everything installed just fine, however LoadWB would always cause Software Failure (80000006), regardless, if I booted from the CF card or Workbench floppy. ShowConfig still showed 1.6MB at $C00000.


    Now to the PCMCIA Network card - it did not crash the system, but with Kickstart 3.1.4 loaded via Maprom, it would not detect my CF card (I guess it's IDE that is not detected at all - not enough address space left for some reason?). So it's either CF drive of PCMCIA card, which renders this method useless (it was already useless when I could not get Workbench to load at all).


    Interestingly, with the PCMCIA card present (without the CF card), I was able to boot to Workbench 3.1.4 from the floppy. So perhaps it's an issue with one of icon/workbench.library, but it's weird, as I only did clean install from floppies.


    WHDLoad still insists kickstart files are corrupt (perhaps they are loaded in the incorrect memory space (after $D7FFFF?).



    So, I guess Kickstart 3.1.4 does not play nice with ACA 1211, which I guess forces me to go back to 3.1.

  • So, i installed wb 3.1 and there is instability with pcmcia card. Extracting a WHDLoad lha archive to ram crashes the system. No issues without the card. WHDLoad won't start with the pcmcia plugged in - it gives a yellow alert.

  • Just an update - I had some time to troubleshoot. I purchased 3.1.4 physical ROM chips and tried to narrow down the issue of not being able to load Workbench. So it didn't load with physical ROM either (I did fresh install). It did from the floppy though.


    To cut the long story short, it turned out that the root cause of many problems with 3.1.4 was the max transfer value for the boot partition. I'm not used to having to confirm input fields with Enter (20 years of not using Amiga), so apparently max transfer I entered for that partition (PFS3) was not in fact set. After setting it to $1FE00, Workbench loaded fine, WHDLoad accepted ROM files, PCMCIA instability issues persist though. I am able to download some files via FTP if I hot plug the network card after boot sequence, so I guess I'll try to live with that for now and stick to 3.1.4.

  • I have some similar issue, i cant get cf card via pcmcia work at all, more over when i insert adaptor with card in and poweron amiga,

    it will not boot (just goes to kickstart screen), in the quick startup menu in that case i dont even see the internal DH0 disk, if i take CF card out of pcmcia converter all works just fine.
    I have acatool latest version where keep pcmcia is ticketed,
    My setup :
    a1200

    kick : 3.1.4,

    Os: 3.1.4

    internal 32GB CF card

    ACA1211 Extension,

    PSU from here.

    PCMCIA Adapter from Amazon i think with 16GB SanDisk CF Card

  • if i take CF card out of pcmcia converter all works just fine.

    This indicates that the CF card occupies memory space where it shouldn't. There is nothing that the ACA1211 can do about it - you might be lucky and find a CF card that only occupies IO space (which is kept free by the ACA1211).


    An accelerator with it's own CPU (minimum ACA1221lc) will solve this, as it will hide any fastmem access from the main board. However, the Gayle chip has a design error and will still do a PCMCIA cycle, although the memory expansion says "this is my cycle!".

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