Posts by Jens

Haven't tried it myself yet, but robinsonb5 is registered in this forum. He may be able to spot an obvious installation error.

Jens

For an A3000 or any other accelerated Amiga, I wouldn't ahve recommended to upgrade the controller in the first place, as the improvements over the old one are marginal, and hardly usable if you have memory and a faster CPU already. In that case, only the CF card slot is an actual improvement, as you can connect 4 IDE/Atapi devices and a CF card, so a total of five devices.

While this makes life a little easier, especially when you're setting up a new system with CF card and CD, I don't think that the extra money is worth it.

Jens

Quote from A3000T

Do not use the DOM or it will corrupt your WB OS3.2.

That's the only thing we don't clearly mention in our documentation. However, it's the obvious thing to do, as the DOM is a 3.1-or-older installer, and that should not be used on a 3.2 installation. I have a hard time accepting that obvious things like this must be mentioned in the manual. It may be taken as "oh, they are going the American way of documentation", with associations like "don't spill the hot coffee on your pants or you'll burn yourself" and "don't put hamster in microwave to dry it". This is the way that Europeans make fun of Americans - not sure if you're aware of that.

Jens

There is no way we can detect anything that doesn't use the audio in signal. Authors of such products should contact us *prior* to making such products if they want the C64 Reloaded MK2 to detect it automatically.

Jens

Your pictures may be too large. Please try to downsize them.

Speed-wise, this is about what's expected. The only speed gain to be expected over older versions is on plain 68000 systems - this is clearly mentioned in the product description.

Jens

Do you want support or just complain? If it's the latter, you're in the wrong spot.

Jens

I have no idea how such a damage could result in chip ram read errors. Are you sure that you didn't change more things on the setup?

Technically, the blue and purple versions are identical: Same design files, same assembly, same test procedure. The test procedure includes testing with the exact cable that the unit is shipped with. As you may have noticed, they come assembled in the box, and that's the exact way that they have been tested here. We actually take pictures of each and every unit as it passes QC, and the cable is never separated from the unit after it got it's warranty ID sticker. So the most likely thing you'Re looking for is a cut in the cable that may have happened between the floppy drive and the shield.

Jens

Naturally, I don't look at each and every mask that is being shipped, but yes, that's the rare 1.0µm thing. And yes, masks E72N, G54B and J82M will have a higher success rate when overclocking.

Quote from root42

Yes, stronger PSU would also be something I would have considered.

"strong" is not what you're looking for - it must be "better regulated". The whole trick is to regulate what actually arrives in the computer, rather than regulating what's at the output of the PSU. Those Elektroware/A-Power/Centurion/Keelog things all use some PSU chassis, even add a display of sorts in some models, only to fail on voltage drop on the cable. This is just *so* wrong, and people don't get why their computers are unstable.

Those "aftermarket" or "modern" PSUs are failing to meet all three of the three key specifications that Commodore has put out.

I have been tempted to start lawsuits against those companies a number of times, but held back in order not to stir up the mood too much. It's enough for me that customers of the CA-PSU are reporting success on all fronts. Our PSU FAQ has all the technical details.

Jens

The number after "FN" says less than the mask set. The fastest are E72N and G54B (both 0.8µm mask sets) and then come the 1.0µm mask sets, which were all calcelled in favour of the 0.8µm sets. As a result, C71T is a very rare mask set, actually missing from my collection.

I believe the current ACA500plus all have J82M, which has actually replaced the E72N mask set, so it's unlikely that you can get anything faster. I don't have the actual mask set technology/die shrink info about J82M, but it's likely to be 0.8µm. I therefore would suggest to try a better power supply before soldering a new CPU and putting the card in danger.

If your card has a CPU mask that I didn't list here, I'm happy to look it up.

Jens

Quote from root42

I can probably have it checked, a friend of mine is certified to test mains equipment.

No need to test from the primary side. It's enough to measure voltage at no/low-load and at full rated load, then ripple. You'll find the error with a cheap multimeter.

Quote from root42

I was under the impression that c64psu was simply putting Meanwell PSUs in a case,

Right, and that's exactly what you should not do. The PSU regulates 5V for it's output. It does not know about the long cable, it does not know about the connector (which also has a resistance) and it does not know about the input filter. These three components cause losses, which add up to several tenths of a volt, possibly resulting in 3.3V regulators having not enough margin. These may go into oscillation as a result, causing severe damage to the hardware they drive.

Quote from root42

However I heard about a new DC-DC PSU based on USB-C.

I heard about that, too, and offered them to put their product through the same paces that I've been doing with my own and other second-source PSUs. So far, they have chickened out on the offer. As a result, I still claim that the CA-PSU is the only PSU on the market that fulfills all specs that have been put out by Commodore. Price-wise, you're even better off with the CA-PSU, as you get the mains unit in the same package. It's a bit more powerful than the USB-C unit. And the biggest difference: It's covered by a German product liability insurance. Oh, and we have it in stock

Jens

Quote from root42

PSU is a modern replacement by c64psu.com

BTW, c64psu.com does not offer "modern" - they offer tinkering, sold with false advertising. Their offerings "for Amiga" are plain and simple not Amiga PSUs. They only happen to work in some cases, but have been the cause for many of the support cases in this forum. Please read our PSU FAQ - my personal recommendation is to send back the unit for a full refund due to false advertising. Their units violate three out of three key specifications that Commodore has put out for Amiga PSUs. All linked from the FAQ page.

Jens

Transcend and Sandisk are both very expensive and reputable brands, hence, they have been target for counterfeit products since day one. It may be that the Transcend card is a fake card, some cheap Chinese controller inside, merely identifying as Transcend. Or it's just very old - 512MB is a good size for an Amiga, but truly outdated. I wouldn't say that it's a huge loss if you need to replace it with a new one

Hint: Don't buy CF cards on eBay, as you are practically guaranteed to get fakes there. Instead, go to your local electronics store(-chain) and buy your flash media there. The buyers of those big chains can't afford to go with shady Chinese sources, as their reputation would suffer a lot if one of their cards is identified as a fake card.

Jens

Yes, that setting is correct. Again, this may be related to a timeout that the IDE/CF card driver is running into, so it's worth trying out a different CF card brand or just a different config (with/without an AUX card inserted).

Just out of interest: What's the PSU and monitor solution you're using there? Is this the CRT I have seen in one of your eMail pictures?

Jens

Might be a problem specific to your CF card, but it may also be a setting in your global setup: If you are allowig more than 14MHz, the card will go to top speed for the duration of unpacking the Kickstart, and only then go to the selected speed. This is why a "speed limit" can be set, and should be set unless you know for sure that the card is stable at any higher speed than 14MHz.

Jens

Quote from bruce

I have bought a AGA Mk2 Indevision card for my CD32.

That must have been a second-hand purchase. Did the seller say anything about the configuration status of the unit? It may be configured to output VGA only. The general recommendation for both the MK2 and MK3 model is to switch off the digital output in order to improve the VGA picture quality. This may be what the previous owner has done.

There is a rescue disk for the MK2 versions, but you'll need a floppy emulator or turn the adf contents into a bootable CD:

Indivision AGA MK2cr- game screens all shifted to the left ?

Jens

D1 is a diode, MBRS130. Same orientation as D2, as indicated by the silkscreen print. This is a protective component only: The card will work without it. Only if you plug it in the wrong way, these diodes become active and run so much current through the "resistors of shame" that these resistors will burn up, protecting the way more expensive Xilinx chip.

Jens

The two slots are completely independent of each other, they don't share a single signal. Both slots defective is very unlikely. A cheap, unbranded CF card being defective is a lot more likely. The only place I've seen this kind of card has been eBay, and flash media being "defective" if you cross a certain amount of data that you write to it is a common sign of a fake-size card.

I'd buy from a local store, even if you pay a little more.

Jens

I would have suggested a cable tie, but there's not enough room next to the keyboard connector.

I don't have a spare part number and a price for these yet, as this is the first case like this since introduction of Indivision AGA MK3. Please send me an eMail, I'll do some calculations next week. Lights are "almost off" here, employees have already left for the long weekend. If there's something else on your iComp-wishlist, it might be worth adding, as shipping will most likely be more expensive than the part itself.

Jens

A fresh install of WB of course. Again, Indivision sits at a place where it can't influence the (non-)presence of the mouse pointer. This is NOT an Indivision support case.

Jens

Pins look perfect. If a normal/known-good CF card (as in: works in boot slot) doesn't work in AUX, then Q1 (FET: IRLML5203) is the main suspect. If so, I'd recommend to only use CF cards, but not that SD card adapter in the slot, as it may draw too much power.

Jens