A1200 mobo which only likes Blizzard 1260

[Xanxi]

Hi there.

Working on my A1200 in blue case this afternoon.
This one is made to be used with AGA and Indi MK3, Freeway USB, Amiblaster CP and a 68060 card.

Currently it is setup with a Blizzard 1260 and MMU libs, IDE SSD with SFS partitions (same base or clone than a SSD working perfectly on another A1200 with Blizzard 1260, and three others with Vampire 1200v2, PiStorm 32lite, Warp1260, so it is a reliable OS3.1 installation). It is working fine, apart from the IDE transfer being significantly slower than the other A1200 with Blizzard 1260 (1,6 MB/s versus 2,5 MB/s, with same partitions, same MaxTransfer, same buffers, same type of SSD and IDE adapter, etc).

However, the computer won't see the harddrive with any other accelerator than Blizzard 1260, including Apollo 1260, TF1260 and now Trinity 1260. I still need to try a Blizzard 1260 PPC but i am afraid this one could blow a tantalum cap in my face as it hasn't seen an electron in 15 years or more.

I can still boot from floppy disks and see that those accelerators are recognized fine with Sysinfo, WhichAmiga and Amigatestkit.

The system is MMULib based.

With anything else than Blizzard 1260, it boots straight to the kickstart screen without delay, with no IDE LED access, and then scsi.device is not found by Sysinfo. No harddrive in early statrup.

Mobo is serviced, recapped with timing fix.

Any idea what could be the issue with this one?

 

[Boing-ball]

Okay. So what are the Mobo Revisions?
Have had plenty of issues with 1D4 and 2B revisions, even with the E/C 123 & 125 removal for timing fixes.
Always had more luck with a Rev 1D or 1D1 or even the V1.5 Re-Amiga.

 

[Xanxi]

Yeah forgot to say that's a 1D4.

As is my reference other A1200 with B1260.

 

[Boing-ball]

Yeah forgot to say that's a 1D4.

As is my reference other A1200 with B1260.

No worries.

My only advice is check voltages on the board, make sure none of the replaced caps have come loose, or you have any corrosion.
Apart from that, maybe change the board to a 1D or 1D1 or a Re-Amiga.
Had a lot of issues with 1D4 with 060 BPPC cards (Black screen), yet on a 1D1 no issues whatsoever so ever.

 

[Xanxi]

Ok will check all this. However it has been serviced by Hese so is probably good as new.

I was planning to burn replacement ROM with ehide.scsi instead of scsi.device to bypass the issue and use the IDE from the TF1260 but as i have received the Trinity after all i wanted to install it to maximise the audio capability with the AHI driver of this card and combine it with the Amiblaster MHI + my MIDI portable device.

 

[Buzzfuzz]

Ok will check all this. However it has been serviced by Hese so is probably good as new.

I was planning to burn replacement ROM with ehide.scsi instead of scsi.device to bypass the issue and use the IDE from the TF1260 but as i have received the Trinity after all i wanted to install it to maximise the audio capability with the AHI driver of this card and combine it with the Amiblaster MHI + my MIDI portable device.

It's better to this with 3.2, that way you are also capable of of using large drives and large starting partitions.
My setups are 128GB SD cards and every partition is around 15 to 20GB, even starting partition Workbench 3.2.
I have a TF1230 btw

 

[Xanxi]

Well i don't know. I have no problem using big harddrives with 3.1 in all my other setup with many type of accelerators.
Not sure this is related here. More likely a hardware issue to me.

 

[Boing-ball]

Well i don't know. I have no problem using big harddrives with 3.1 in all my other setup with many type of accelerators.
Not sure this is related here. More likely a hardware issue to me.

It could be something as simple as a Gayle Chip revision? I never found out why the 1D4 and 2B boards I had were stubborn.

 

[tbtorro]

....
However, the computer won't see the harddrive with any other accelerator than Blizzard 1260, including Apollo 1260, TF1260 and now Trinity 1260.

Not a bad combo at all though with B1260 the most robust and mature of 060 kits for A1200 of all.. Silly question but any chance to leave as it is? For many it's a dream 1260 combo.

I still need to try a Blizzard 1260 PPC but i am afraid this one could blow a tantalum cap in my face as it hasn't seen an electron in 15 years or more.

That's a good one However as long as the tantals are not mounted reverse or have a visible crack or for other reasons shorting (easy to check quickly with a MM), it's quite a low chance to happen.

Without in-depth signal checking I would place my bets on timing issues due to mobo rev differences. Worth checking also if there is excessive noise on IDE related lines namely _IDE_CS, _IDE_IRQ, _IOWR._IORD and _WAIT

 

[Xanxi]

You're right, Blizzard 1260 is an excellent card and i have been more than happy with it for almost 25 years.
There is still one in my historical A1200.
This specific 1200 will be fine with my spare as well, but i was just trying to introduce a litte exotism with other flavors of accelerators, and this computer being themed around music, the integrated AHI of the Trinity would be great. I can still use it elsewhere.

Yes i am afraid of tantals because i got the GVP Spectrum 28/24 card blowing one twice, and the last time litteraly in my face.
Even more, i have an A600 which has been recapped with tantals too before that. Now i fear it could blow my house one day.
BPPC are full of them even though i never heard of someone reporting an explosion, but i'm out of luck with my hardware these days (have already blowned up an A4000 PSU, and a Dreamcast PSU with a lot of smoke).

 

[Buzzfuzz]

Well i don't know. I have no problem using big harddrives with 3.1 in all my other setup with many type of accelerators.
Not sure this is related here. More likely a hardware issue to me.

Could be, but I also have a few 1D4's and they work great with either Blizzard 1230 or TF1230.
Maybe run an extended test ?