Blizzard 1230 = 'read error on block blah blah blah'

I tested my new 1230 today and the miggy booted up but when I click to load anything, I get read errors.

Tried 3 different sticks of RAM, same issue.

Fairly standard A1200 with a CF<->IDE adapter.

Works fine without the accel and works fine with a 25MHz '020 + 4MB accel.

I'm thinking it's a power problem. The 1200 came with a power supply allegedly from an A500, but I think someone swapped the innards of a 1200 PSU with those of an A500, because the PSU is very light.

The read errors manifest at around 10-20 seconds after powering on. If I boot with no startup sequence, I can run one or two commands before the errors begin.

Am I thinking along the right lines?

Sounds defiitely like a distinct lack of power. I would suggest you find an actual old-style heavy A500 power brick and see if tha cures the problem.

Thanks chap.

How I wish I hadn't left that old Goliath power supply at my old flat when I moved out :Doh:

The WEIGHT have nothing to do with the capacity of the power brick!

You need more than the meagre less-than-3A the original A1200 brick can supply.

Most A500 bricks with 4.3/4.5A on the +5V line will be enough to feed your Amiga. Check on the bottom of the PSU the power ratings.

[EDIT]Also, check the +5V voltage level on the floppy drive power connector. It must be in the 4.85 to 5.25V range and steady.

I hear what you're saying, rkauer, but the easy way to tell an A500 from an A1200 PSU is the weight. The A500 is an old-style wire-wrapped-around-a-core transformer, where the A1200 PSU is a switched-mode supply (like ATX PSU's are). The A500 PSU provided more capacity than the A1200.

I used to power an A1200 + Blizzard 1230/FPU 16MB + 3.5" HD + Surf Squirrel + external floppy from a standard A500 PSU.

**EDIT** I know I'm not saying anything you don't already know, but for the purposes of others reading the thread ;)

Again, I have here more than 8 bricks. The beefier units are not the heaviers, in fact the good ones are very light. Old A500 units with step transformers normally only output 3A on the +5V line.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HonestFlames

Thanks chap.

How I wish I hadn't left that old Goliath power supply at my old flat when I moved out :Doh:

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Now that was a bit of a silly thing to do lol

You could try to lower the maxtransfer value in HDToolbox to 00x1fe00. I had this problem, when I was using an accelerator card.

Well cut the connector off at the psu and solder the wires to an atx psu and wire a switch to green and ground and you can switch it on/off.

Have you tried it without any "stick" ram?
Only the Turbocard.
The same problem?
There are many sort of rams having problems with the Turbocars