Posts by ljmarent

Yes, my normal boot card is partitioned, with CF0 as boot, CFX as backup to CF0, CF1 for applications, CF2 for data and is plugged into the ACA500plus boot CF slot. I also have in this snap shot a FAT formatted CF card in the CF AUX slot of the ACA500plus, though I repeated this boot with that card removed and got the same result of the machine not booting the network installer.

Hopefully I understand,

Power on, press F7, press F5, press Enter, hold both mouse buttons

Examine boot priorities:

We need a new emoji

{nods head in agreement, but lacks a concrete idea of what is really wanted}

screenshot of "flash config"

Okay...I'm guessing you mean this:

As I searched here:

http://wiki.icomp.de/wiki/ACA500plus

For the term 'Flash Config' and got no matches.

So, I've sent you my best guess at what a flash config might be in the context of an ACA500plus.

screenshot of "main profile"

Okay...I'm guessing again, perhaps you mean this:

As I searched here:

http://wiki.icomp.de/wiki/ACA500plus

For the term 'Main Profile' and got no matches.

Once again, I'm sending you my best guess within the context of an ACA500plus.

Extras:

Since I'm doing a lot of guessing in this response, I'm sending some extra stuff that could be what you want to see.

Ohh..
Interesting find...

If I power on..

The ACA500plus menu launches

I press F7 then ESC

then hit enter

My computer fails to boot and I get that LoadModule failed return code 10

If I shut the power off...

Then power back on

The ACA500plus menu launches

then hit enter as I so often do

My computer boots as normal

The failure to boot OS3.2 in my case only requires having entered the F7 Installer menu

not selecting any feature, just entering that menu... changes something... and the computer can no longer boot to WorkBench

I do have KS3.2 flashed into the ACA500+, as that is how I boot at power on.

No physical KIckStart ROM is installed

Okay,

I downloaded the Network Update ADF from here:
http://wiki.icomp.de/w/images/f/f5/UPD500P_netinstall.zip

Popped it onto my DOS formatted CF, powered on, selected Flash Update from the menu, placed my CF card in AUX port when prompted

Update completed without error:

Rebooted, F7, F5, Enter

The ACA500plus starts unpacking some files

And then lands me back here, same as before.

So, once it finishes unpacking those files, it just starts booting my OS install

Here we go:

The rest of the partitions:
- OS3.2 backup boot partition no boot, priority 0

- APPS partition no boot, priority 0
- DATA partition no boot, priority 0

I’d love to help figure out what is happening so it doesn’t affect others or me again for that matter, after I’ve forgotten about this wrinkle.

So, this boot priority stuff, where do I find it ? Is this just the priority numbers in the partition table ? Or do you have something else in mind ? Happy to go screen capture,

If anyone else runs into this...

Head on over to the 'store' side of the website, log in as you...

Look at your past purchases

There should be a link where you can download your AmiTCP install software.

Once I had the software, it installed fine, I did add the SYS:Workbench to my path, after spotting that this was useful a couple threads over.

"Mount iComp" worked straight away

And then I popped in AmiSSL and iBrowse

And they just worked, no tinkering needed...

The only problem I had with this new toy is the bit that's meant to be clever and supply AmiTCP auto-magically ... yeah it's not so clever with OS3.2
Oh and not knowing that I needed to look in my account history to get access to the install files... that was non-intuitive...

But, a couple more hours of staring at the problem, cursing it, maybe some worse stuff... and I finally figured it out.

My Miggy's on the information super highway, blowing smoke, four-ways a flash'n, traffic backed up for miles and smile on my face

I'm running OS3.2 and I can't seem to get the ACA500+ network installer to ... install

I'm not running a fancy OS config, pretty well stock startup-sequence.

I saw another persons startup-sequence a few messages back, exact same.

Proof of Life:

Boots, run, plays games... Does what Amiga's do...

I received my X-Surf 500 in the mail, popped it onto the ACA500+

Flipped the power on, pressed F7, then F5

Hit enter, and it starts unpacking what I can only assume are the drivers I need

Great!

And then I get dropped off here

I don't know where here is, but it's a lot like a computer with a NIC and no drivers

Per the other message, where the guy showed his whole Startup-Sequence:

---

; $VER: Startup-Sequence_HardDrive 47.14 (7.3.2021)

; Startup-Sequence for hard drive systems

Version exec.library version 47 >NIL:

If Warn

LoadModule L:System-Startup ROMUPDATE

EndIf

SetPatch >NIL:

---

Mines exactly the same...

Jens said "Next steps: Check file L:System-Startup for anything unusual, check if the assign for L: is pointing to the right place."

I just:

---
; $VER: Startup-Sequence_HardDrive 47.14 (7.3.2021)

; Startup-Sequence for hard drive systems

Version exec.library version 47 >NIL:

;If Warn

;LoadModule L:System-Startup ROMUPDATE

;EndIf

SetPatch >NIL:

---

As I have no idea what that "if" and "LoadModule" does, I thought... let's skip it.

Reboot, computer boots OS3.2 without that line, so it can't be all that critical...

Reboot again, I go back and try to network install F7, F5, Enter, and now I get this error

And I thought.. well... what would Jens say about this error ?
So I commented out the lines that use MakeLink, they didn't look all that important either

---

;If EXISTS ENVARC:

;MakeLink RAM:ENV to ENVARC: FORCE

;Else

MakeDir RAM:ENV

;Endif

MakeDir RAM:T RAM:Clipboards

---

Reboot, computer still boots OS3.2, I think I lost some environment variables because my video mode changed, but that's fine.

and I spotted another MakeLink near the end and commented it out too

---

;MakeLink RAM:Disk.info TO ENVARC:Sys/def_RAM.info SOFT

---

Reboot, computer still boots OS3.2, same as before

Reboot again, I go back and try to network install F7, F5, Enter, and now I get this error

And right here is where I give up on self help...

While the inclusion of the "Tour of AmigaDOS Errors" is an amazing added bonus feature of the X-Surf 500 product, I'm kinda hoping there is a skip button..
I'd love to get busy messing up my home network, frankly figuring out the Amiga's IP address was supposed to be the hard part

Thank you,

Can't we just Interac e-transfer via email ?

I mean that's what we do between us Amiga users here..

Yes, iComp staff would have to open an email to deposit the money in the bank, but then there are no disputes that automatically claw the funds back..

Defeating automatic clawback is going to get harder and harder going forward as consumer protection ramps up.

Just swapped the specified 74AHCT245's for 74LS245 and 74ALS245 as shown in A2000 Rev6 Schematic...
Buddha card now sees my CF cards...

I'll send Floppie209 a note about my findings..

And if you see any other Floppie209 A2000 users trying to use Buddha, this thread might be helpful

Thank you much,

Les

Well, I managed to get the exact same 74LS245 and 74ALS245 chips listed in the A2000 Rev6 Schematic, so I'll start my changing out to those and give it a try

And Happy New Year !

Thank you for that tip, and yes it's perfectly fair to require the shield to be in in place, just dreadfully marginal

I don't want to turn the iComp support forum into the Floppie209 A2000 motherboard support forum, so I won't bring it up again until I've tried my Buddha in a second of these boards to rule out my mistakes and an original' A2000 rev 6.2 to rule out Floppie209's

I'll head over to my local chip monger and get an assortment of older, slower, 74xx245's to try dispersing the switching noise, as all of my 74LS245's in the buffer section (U600 - U605) are actually 74AHCT245's and, 74F245 in U103 & U105, based on the supplied BOM. Fortunately every chip is socketed, making it easier to play mix & match.

"The SN74AHCT245 is a low drive CMOS device that can be used for a multitude of bus interface type applications where output ringing is a concern. The low drive and slow edge rates will minimize overshoot and undershoot on the outputs. The input switching levels have been lowered to accommodate TTL inputs of 0.8 V VIL and 2 V VIH."

But of course I don't know what Zorro II devices were tested in the Foppie209 A2000 remake.
I do see in his test setup, an iComp Buddha in slot 1, looks like it has an IDE cable and an IDE drive.
I'll see if I can find a small 3.5" IDE drive, as seen in the muddy photo.

I've got plenty of homework to do

- Buddha in my Checkmate works with included DOM AND all of my CF cards.

- Buddha in my A2000 works with included DOM, but none of my CF cards.

- A2091 in my A2000, in the same Zorro II slot 1, works and also passes RAM tests with the 512K FastRAM installed.

I'm at a bit of a loss to understand what is going on...

I've swapped the Buster chip, flipped all the 74LS245 buffer chips looking for a bad one.

probed _UDS \ _LDS signals from the CPU to U605 when they become _BUDS \ _BLDS and then on to the Zorro II slot.

Tried KS 2.04, 3.1.4, 3.2

It's always the same in my A2000, the Buddha can see the CF cards and can read their config information, but doesn't see the drives as partitioned and formatted. Oh and it does actually write partition information when you select write to drive... It just doesn't see it on reboot... but if I take the CF over to my Checkmate system, I can see that it has written the partition information...

My friend is building the same A2000 motherboard, he'll finish his in a few days, and we can compare notes..

I'm not in a hurry... It's just a puzzle...

Yup ACA500+ built and boots from all my SwissBit CF cards

So I'll skip that then

Extra info..
I was able to write files to the supplied DOM, so reading \ writing are now both ticked,

though I take your meaning that reading and writing to the card in general, was already demonstrated.

I DVM probed the CF adapter, it is indeed receiving 5V through the power connector

I've read the PSU FAQ twice, (we agree on many things, except maybe the take-aways)

I adjust my supply rails slightly hot, like 5.02V and scope my rails looking for signs of overshoot or undershoot, because that would be fertile ground for SCR latch-up.

I like all my rails independently regulated.

But...I'm not a stickler on things like PSU box specifications for specs., like ripple...

For me, PSUs are a component of a system and I like to see them perform in that system, not in the shipping crate.

Rest assured, I've scoped the supply rails and they display nothing especially scary, except for the -12V rail, which is actually -13V SPOOKY

In its final resting place, this board will get its full and proper shielding and two insulation layers.
At the moment, It's on my stainless steel bench, sitting on ESD foam blocks, running sea trials.

Used it to un-brick my ACA1234 yesterday...
I was hoping to prove out the Zorro II operation before populating all the really expensive connectors

Buddha was meant to be my first Zorro II test during bring-up, because such a simple modern board, what could go wrong

For today:
- I'll be probing the UDS\LDS path to see if something is amiss in my work

- I'm not entirely clear on the whole RDB thing...
I'm guessing if I use the ACA500+ with KS3.1 ROM and let it install OS3.1
that CF card will have a 3.1 RDB and then I walk it over to the Buddha and see if it can read the partitions.

Was tinkering in the lab today and noticed my ACA1234 was still bricked from the last round of testing...
And noticed the new release V3 CPLD code and 1.4 update for the ACA500+
Happened to have my new A2000 board in my hands... so decided to use it to do a remote un-brick...
Went smooth...I won't post the pics...would be heart stopping...
A2000 motherboard sitting on anti-static foam block on a pizza box, perched over my Checkmate with cables dangling and a picoATX PSU bodged into the A2000... Just not a pretty sight...but my ACA1234 is working great now and apparently my A2K parallel port is working too

The new features in the ACA500+ menu, really nice..

And I've not gone back and run all of the software I was having trouble with...
But I did run a few of the games that stood out in my mind, and I have to say huge improvement...
"Agony" now running 'perfectly' to my eyes..

I'm guessing your new memory controller has solved many of the issues I was seeing before.
I've been running for hours without a crash...just playing tunes while I solder away, so far all seems quite stable...

At first glance, much improved...

Buddha can read my IDE device configs, but is not reading\writing partitions or data

Notes:

This is a brand new Amiga 2000 using Floppie209 motherboard Gerbers
Buddha 20 year anniversary card is the first Zorro II card installed in this board.

Buddha bought from iComp one month ago in anticipation of this build

Board setup: 68000 CPU, ACE2b, KS 3.2 ROM

Procedure \ Observations:

I installed the Buddha card into the Zorro II slot nearest the CPU

Powered-on the computer and it booted from the provided DOM, all good

Powered-off
Removed DOM

Opened the Buddha slot 1 jumper

Checked the Buddha slot 0 jumper was open

Plugged in my SwissBit C-500 2GB CF card in adapter with power (partitioned and formatted on my ACA500+, using OS 3.2)

Powered-on the computer, no boot

Plugged in my external Gotek

Powered-on and booted OS3.2 HD Install ADF from my external Gotek

Changed HDToolBox tool type to buddhascsi.device

Launched HDToolBox and it scans and finds the CF card's info

Checked the partitions, they are not being seen and I'm offered to partition the drive in two.
I figure...okay...maybe it doesn't see the partitions written by another Amiga (I'm still new)
I agree to the suggestion to partition the drive in two, write to disk, exit, reboot

I boot from the Gotek again expecting to see the two partitions ready to be formatted, but nothing

I relaunch HDToolBox, it scans, sees the CF card info, but the partition table is blank again and it's offering me the same option.
I walk the CF card back to the ACA500+ computer and the original partitions and data are still in tact, like the Buddha wrote nothing to the disk.

I tried a Lexar card, same, it can not seem to read/write partitions

I tried a 2.5" 80GB PATA drive, same

I reinstalled the DOM and its jumper

Powered-on and booted from the DOM

Chose to 'install' to the 256MB Lexar CF

It does so, until it detects that the files are not being copied

Tried this with the 2GB SwissBit, it stalls when formatting Work partition

I'm at a complete loss to understand what all this should be telling me.

The fact that I can boot using the Buddha and the provided DOM 'suggests' to me that 'reading' works, and the Buster and buffer chips are working

yet, it can not read and boot from a CF card, one that does so on the ACA500+

Has anything like this been seen before ?

Am I missing some basic information about how this card is supposed to function ?

Like maybe it hates FFS partitions, or only works after some special driver is installed ?

I know one of the first things I'm going to get asked is "Have you tested this card in a known good Amiga that is supposed to have Zorro slots"
And, that is a perfectly fair question...though I don't have such a machine, I'm prepared to go on a long drive to get access to one.
I'm not pointing at the card and saying "bad card", I'm hoping this is more a user error, before I go digging too much deeper