X-surf-500 woes

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.
  • Hi,

    I have a rev 6a A500 which was working very happily with a 1st gen ACA500plus + ACA1221, with a "Matze" graphics card on a Zorro-Adaptor. I just bought an X-surf-500 to complete the setup and it's all gone wrong after installation. From what I can tell the X-surf-500 has done bad things to the ACA500plus.


    Details :

    1st boot with X-surf-500, amiga doesn't boot at all.

    2nd boot, after wiggling all connectors, the DisMo gets to 14 and stops


    Unplug everything, start again.


    Repeated attempts with / without the Z2 card eventually gets to the ACA500plus's boot screen, pressing F1 to start booting the default config makes DisMo count to A3, then everything goes black. No CF activity on either card, no floppy noises.


    A rather unscientific process of plugging in things at random has got it roughly back to where it was, but it's not as stable. It can take a few reboots to get started now, whereas it used to spring into action.


    I've not been brave enough to try again with the X-surf-500. Is it possible that it causes a clash with the Z2 card, or is it on a different address space entirely?

  • ACA500plus + ACA1221, with a "Matze" graphics card on a Zorro-Adaptor.

    That's not a supported config. The ACA500plus is meant to be plugged directly to the A500, which must be free of any expansion on the CPU - see manual.


    I'm sorry, but if you deviate from the recommended config, there is no support from our side.

  • Please check if it's completely pushed all the way in, and that no pins are sticking out on either side. We've had other cases here on the forum where a bad connection was the cause for a malfunctioning X-Surf-500.


    Are both bolts of the X-Surf-500 tightened?

  • Yes, although not very tight as the instructions were very clear on zero-force insertion and not over tightening. I'll give it another try.


    An unsupported configuration aside, is there any reason to exclude it working with a Z2 card? If it's simply not possible then I think I'll need to return it. :(

  • is there any reason to exclude it working with a Z2 card

    The available adapters don't buffer the Z1 bus of the A500, but just wire it to a 100-pin connector that happens to have Z2 pinout. There is no Buster (or equivalent PAL circuit, which can be copied from the A2000a) to take care of bus collisions and limit damage in case of a bus collision. I've expressed concerns about this a number of times, but the Amiga community likes to declare things "good" if a single instance is working. I prefer the engineering approach over tingering like that.

  • I see in SysInfo that there's a board at 0xee.0000 from manufacturer 4626, product 73 (iComp?) ; this is the address for the X-surf-500 according to the register info page on the wiki. It shows up even when the X-surf-500 isn't connected. I guess this is causing the clash?

  • So it turns out that it does work with the Z2 card, by some miracle of autoconfig and generosity on behalf of whoever wrote the firmware for the ungainly stack of accelerators.


    I guess the issues before were either bad connection or power related.


    Now I'm online in glorious 24 bit colour at 1024x768 :)

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