Closed Elbox Mediator PCI 4000Di Mk II 5V

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timmie

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Getting totally frustrated with my A4000 and the Mediator PCI 4000Di MkIII not being stable, constant crashes in 3D games, I want to try with an older Mediator model. Either to solve or rule out this component.

So if anybody has an Elbox Mediator PCI 4000Di MkII 5V (unmodded) internal mediator daughter board + logic board for a decent price I may be interested.
 
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By 3D games do you mean PPC card and WarpGL? Can you give a list of all your hardware you use with Mediator? I also have Mk3 and have certain issues, just want to compare.
 
My Setup:
- A4000 desktop, recapped
- 3.1.4 ROMs
- ATX Chucky (R) adapted PSU
- 2MB Chip, 16 MB Fast RAM
- Cyberstorm PPC with 128 MB
- Mediator PCI 4000 Di MkIII
- Voodoo 3 3000
- Realtek 10Mbit ethernet card
- Soundblaster 128
- BigRamPlus 256
- Highway USB
- AOS 3.1.4.1 + BestWB 1.3
- Mediator MM CD 2.6
- Latest WarpUp & Warp3D
- Latest iComp Picasso96
- AHI (I think 4.1.8 ) that came with BestWB 1.3
- Currently no MMUlib installed and also the Highway USB has not been configured yet (No Poseidon running)

PCI card order:
0: Mediator Logic board
1: Nothing
2: Soundblaster
3: Ethernet
4. Voodoo

PPC/3D Games/Tools I have issues with:
- GearsPPC mostly runs fine, but I have seen it crash from time to time, mostly when A4000 has been running for a while
- Wipeout: crashes after a couple of seconds to a few minutes (everytime)
- Quake 1 and/or 2, haven't tried this on my 3.1.4 setup, but I had already similar issues when trying with AOS 3.9 a year or two ago

- Additional issue: Wipeout has crackling audio with AHI, no matter what (working) AHI device I pick (SB128: stereo, hifi, ++, SB128_1:,...), but the type of crackling can vary with the type of AHI device. AmigaAMP with WarpUP engine works fine with AHI using soundblaster, no sound issues whatsoever. But my AHI knowledge is limited. I don't know which device should be best for Wipeout, and what I should configure it in terms of samplerate, channels, etc.

I also tried many other combinations in the past, e.g. a Sonnet PCI card, a different A4000 mainboard. Only the voodoo inserted All had the same issues.

So I think it's either:
- Heat: but that seems odd, since the case is still open and there's a fan sucking the air over the PCI cards.
- PPC, but this seems weird too, as I had very similar issues with the Sonnet.
- Voodoo: I doubt this, I tried with 3 different Voodoo cards, all have same issues.
- Power: I doubt it, since I have confidence in Chucky :) However I can still try with the original power supply (If I haven't tried that already in the past, can't remember)
- Mediator. The MkIII is infamous for having issues. I have mine returned once already, since it simply disappeared from auto config after a reboot. So This is why I would like to compare with a MkII mediator.
 
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I don't currently have my A4000 (it's being recapped) and the last time I tried it was: A4000+3660+Mediator3+Killer M1+Voodoo/Radeon. It was rock stable with just Radeon and was periodically hanging with Voodoo, which I was suspected was the source of the problem because of the heating. After I mounted active cooler on Voodoo it was a bit more stable, but still hanging. Now I am waiting for recap to be finished, also have Cyberstorm MK2 and will be retesting the whole thing again soon. Will report here.
 
So, did more extensive testing.


Ruled out CSPPC RAM, tried the 4 RAM sticks pair wise in bank 0 only, same freezing behaviour.
Tried my 2 other Voodoo 3 cards. While the time it took to crash varied, they all freezed.
I ran GPMark_WOS around 10 times, in an RTG 640x480 full screen screenmode. This freezed once and crashed once to desktop with a guru (which is a 68k error, correct?). Most of the time this ran fine. Had it run for 5 or 6 time consecutively without crashing.


Then I thought, why not let me use the original PSU (which still smells a bit of smoke from the previous owner, therefor I replaced it with an ATX modded PSU), and then I was shocked...


All 3D stuff all of a sudden seemed to work much better. I played Wipeout, all 6 circuits, then let Gears PPC run for at least 15 minutes. Repeated these things and only encountered one freeze+reboot.


I went back to Chucky's PSU, while, for some strange reason, running fine for quite some time, more than it did before the PSU swaps, Wipeout still freezed in the end, when in my 4th race.


Then back to original PSU, and after 15 mins Wipeout, no freezes.


So, sorry Chucky, it seems your modded ATX PSU is the culprit... :(
I assume 3D and PPC together just draw too much power for it?


Guess I should go look for a refurbished (recapped and silent fan fitted) original A4000 PSU instead of an ATX modded one... I may create a wanted thread for that.


Something else I noticed is that the 15 MB from the Voodoo exposed as FastRAM is gone after running 3D stuff and coming back to Workbench. Is that normal?
 
In general PPC and 3D are using too much power for single ATX 5V line.
With ATX PSU you need extra 5V power lines to prevent voltage drop.
Also very little ATX PSU are capable to provide good 5V voltage (only some units from good brands like Chieftec or Seasonic), as ATX are targeted to provide stable 3.3V and 12V mostly. So with PPC and 3D option would be 3.3V used directly from PSU to 060,PPC without 5V-3.3V regulators.
Good alternative is using old AT PSU (good brands are Chieftec, Seasonic, Delta). But old AT PSU require recap and voltage level testing too. Don't try to use old PSU without recap with your Amiga.


Wysłane z mojego ASUS_Z00AD przy użyciu Tapatalka
 
Thanks ori1a, This confirms other info I got as well. Now I need to find someone local that can mod my setup :)
 
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I'll would swap you my 4000Di MK II for your 4000Di MKIII if you are interested :LOL: but looks like its just your PSU
 
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Yeah, I'll first try some other power options, if also that doesn't solve anything, I may consider the swap.
 
OK, since I'm still not convinced power is the cause of my issues, I would like to make sure the mediator I have is not the cause either. So still looking for this non 3V edition of the Mediator 4000Di.
 
Thanks for the offer. But as I hope you understand, I'd rather first test with an older Mediator and depending on the outcome choose which one to keep.
 
No problem I understand but if you change you mind my swap offer still stands
 
- Additional issue: Wipeout has crackling audio with AHI, no matter what (working) AHI device I pick (SB128: stereo, hifi, ++, SB128_1:,...), but the type of crackling can vary with the type of AHI device. AmigaAMP with WarpUP engine works fine with AHI using soundblaster, no sound issues whatsoever. But my AHI knowledge is limited. I don't know which device should be best for Wipeout, and what I should configure it in terms of samplerate, channels, etc.

For correct sound in VipeOut set AHI UNIT 0 to Paula Stereo++ 22050 and 1 chanel audio, or Paula 8bit DMA
 
So, now I basically tried with alternatives for all components apart from the mediator. Last step was swapping out the CSPPC for an A3640 and put in a Apocalypse card. Still I get crashes after about 15 minutes of PPC Warp3D gameplay (guru 8100 00FF). And I also tried with a 3rd PSU.

So a Mk2 5V Mediator to test with my CSPPC is basically my final option to test and see whether it's just Karma that's left as the cause for the instability.
 
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This can be closed. I gave up on mediators. I have another go with Prometheus when I finally collect my AA3000+.
 
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