MNT ZZ9000 woes

[akira70]

Dear Fellow Amigans,

Today is a sad day - did my recently delivered MNT ZZ9000 just die on me ?

After a three-month wait, I finally installed the highly anticipated RTG card in my A4000D. It ran smoothly for about three weeks. However, some resolutions like 1920×1080p and 1280×720p showed a strange instability on my LG 34WK95U-W WUHD monitor - a vertical tearing line down the middle - whereas 1280×1024 worked perfectly.

Still, everything was mostly fine until I decided to install the v1.1 Firebird daughterboard, which had been sitting around for a few weeks (and now I wish I hadn’t touched it). I carefully inserted the ZZ9000 into the video slot on the Firebird - using an anti-static wristband and mat - and powered on the Amiga.

Then… nothing. Just a black screen (well, a brief flash of yellow first), and then it hangs - no boot, no error, no signs of life.

I reverted to the original daughterboard, suspecting the Firebird might be faulty (it’s not- I tested it with other cards). Unfortunately, the same issue persists.

So now I’m wondering:

What went wrong ?
Could the Firebird have damaged the ZZ9000 ?
Has anyone else experienced similar issues with their ZZ9000 ?

Any insights or advice would be truly appreciated.

Cheers,
Alexander

Edit: Thought I'd give you a update.

In the end, the firmware file was simply corrupted. After reformatting the MicroSD card (in FAT32! – it was previously formatted as FAT) and uploading the firmware again, the card worked as usual

Really glad that was all it was, and that I didn’t have to go through the process of sending it back et all ....

Anyway, thanks again folks for your insights and support, as usual !

 

[Boing-ball]

Where did you buy the ZZ card from? 3 weeks in and it is still under a warranty. I would contact the seller and see about a replacement.

 

[akira70]

Hi there Jon,

Really appreciate you always being there to lend a hand and jump in when needed !

I bought the card directly from MNT and have already e-mailed their support, so let's see how they respond ...

Cheers,
Alexander

 

[HomeLate]

It could be a Buster issue. Is Buster socketed and still firmly seated? Perhaps it got a bit 'wonky' when you switched daughterboards. If it's socketed, these are old sockets and it sides of the sockets begin to warp over time, causing bad pin connection on the Buster chip.

With the ZZ9000 removed, does the yellow screen persists via the native Amiga output? Do you have any other Zorro cards, do these still work?

 

[Boing-ball]

Hi there Jon,

Really appreciate you always being there to lend a hand and jump in when needed !

I bought the card directly from MNT and have already e-mailed their support, so let's see how they respond ...

Cheers,
Alexander

No worries.

From what you describe of it, this maybe a RAM issue on the MNT card. If it worked at lower resolutions and at higher you got tearing.

Hope you get it fixed.

 

[akira70]

It could be a Buster issue. Is Buster socketed and still firmly seated? Perhaps it got a bit 'wonky' when you switched daughterboards. If it's socketed, these are old sockets and it sides of the sockets begin to warp over time, causing bad pin connection on the Buster chip.

With the ZZ9000 removed, does the yellow screen persists via the native Amiga output? Do you have any other Zorro cards, do these still work?

Thanks for the tip ! The yellow screen doesn't appear when using the native Amiga output (and my Amiga boots up properly), so I am assuming the Buster is OK. But will check anyway whether it still is properly seated in its socket ....

 

[akira70]

Thought I'd give you a update.

In the end, the firmware file was simply corrupted. After reformatting the MicroSD card (in FAT32! – it was previously formatted as FAT) and uploading the firmware again, the card worked as usual

Really glad that was all it was, and that I didn’t have to go through the process of sending it back et all ....

Anyway, thanks again folks for your insights and support, as usual !