A4000 with a3640 and 040-060 adapter - doesn't boot - black screen

[dday_one]

I could use some help... I have an a4000 in good working order. The motherboard was recently recapped and is in excellent condition.

The machine is equipped with an a3640 processor board - version 3.0 but it has been upgraded to v3.2 by Bebek, including the 2-wait-state removal thingy.

I acquired an 040-060 adapter here and try to use that on the a3640. With an LC060 installed, the first CPU I tried, all I get is a black screen. If I repeatedly press the caps-lock key, the LED stops going on after 6 or 7 presses. Apparently this is a sign that the motherboard is not registering the CPU card or the CPU is not passing POST. I got that knowledge from here: http://wordpress.hertell.nu/?page_id=218

What I did to debug this:
- At first I thought is was a faulty 040-060 adapter, so I checked all pins and solderings and all seems fine. I also discussed it with the guy who original sold it to the seller here via eBay.
- I then thought, after some discussions with forum members, it might be because I was trying to use an LC060 CPU and not an EC060 CPU - so I got myself a working (or at least according to the ebay seller - another than the 040-060 adapter seller) 68EC060 CPU. Unfortunately this gave the same result.
- I also got myself a Romy and created a 3.9 kickstart with a fixed exec lib. Again - no change but a black screen. This kick works fine, and shows the insert-disk image when I boot with the 040 installed without any disks.
- I checked the 5v power rail of the PSU and it reads fine. I will chance the caps in the PSU but currently I do not think that's causing it...
- I even got another 040-060 adapter --> again no boot and a black screen...

5v rail:


Kickstart 3.9:


Any ideas what I could do to debug this issue?

Thanks!

 

[tbtorro]

I think it's very likely that the 060 adapter(s) is not made very well (loose) or the CPU in it or the contact between the adapter the CPU socket, these adapters are badly designed (IMHO) and notoriously unreliable in terms of contacts.

 

[dday_one]

That might very well be it...

Just thought I'd keep the thread updated...

I changed all caps in my PSU as I noticed a 4.5 - 5.05v ripple on the powerline on my scope. However, the a4000 still does not boot with the 060 and adapter. It still boots fine with the 040. So, new caps in the PSU did not change the behaviour.

I think that one of these 3 is the cause:
1) either the adapter is not making proper contact through to the 040 socket and that is preventing the CPU to initialize
2) the power regulators on the a3640 are somehow not up to the task - however, the 040 uses more juice and is working fine
3) maybe I got 3 damaged 060 CPU's

So, I'm sticking to my 040 CPU for now...

 

[cpiace64]

remove chipram for test, if green screen, the 68060 work

burn kick with logica from amigaforever, is a kick for diagnostic

 

[stachu100]

I think it's very likely that the 060 adapter(s) is not made very well (loose) or the CPU in it or the contact between the adapter the CPU socket, these adapters are badly designed (IMHO) and notoriously unreliable in terms of contacts.

If they are assembled with real 040 and 060 sockets (not with single precision pins or precision pins strips) - no problems whatsoever.

 

[gseb]

I saw a case like this on another forum.
The CPU was not good inserted in the socket even the owner though it was... He had to push firmly down the cpu till the end of the socket.
Maybe a good close picture of the sandwich could be useful....

 

[dday_one]

remove chipram for test, if green screen, the 68060 work

Thanks for this suggestion as well. I tried, but the screen stays black (in essence, no change in behaviour). It took a bit of work as the Cybervision64/3d and Scandoubler are a bit difficult to remove... and they first needed to go out to get to the chipmem and then back in to test because I do not have a RGB capable monitor anymore (and then back out again to reseat the chipmem and back in again)...

If they are assembled with real 040 and 060 sockets (not with single precision pins or precision pins strips) - no problems whatsoever.

Unfortunately, these are not... they are made with pin strips and the other I have with single precision pins... see pictures below...

I saw a case like this on another forum.
The CPU was not good inserted in the socket even the owner though it was... He had to push firmly down the cpu till the end of the socket.
Maybe a good close picture of the sandwich could be useful....

Thanks for the help... I _think_ it is well inserted, at least it doesn't go any further. I took a picture from both sides.




Thanks all... but I think the Amiga has more perseverance than me... and it is not like the 060 in an a3640 will give me any real speed benefits...

It's time to break the bank and get a real 060 accelerator... (but I have to do that when my wife is not looking)

 

[tbtorro]

There you go, as I thought, the usual bad job with the pin strips to save $10-15 not using real CPU sockets.. These are not designed to take/plug into CPU pins/sockets, so there could be a contact problem anywhere on the 3 x 206 pins (sans the NC pins). Perhaps contact the seller and sort it out?

Getting one of these adapters in a working state is still way cheaper than the cheapest 060 card though. Kind of the poor man's 060 accelerator..