Author Topic: GURU Boot issue when power cycling (Read 5146 times)

VirtualTed · « **on:** February 17, 2016, 05:08:58 PM »

Hey guys,

I’ve been reading the boards for about a week now and I think it’s time for me to ask for a little help.

I’ve got an Amiga 600 (PAL, 1.5 JUNE BUG REV.) which likes to intermittently go to a black screen with a red-text software GURU ERROR about 20% of the time when I cycle my power supply. The sequence looks like this…
•   Power cycle
•   Power light comes on
•   Screen flashes
•   Guru Error (8000 0004, 8000 0003, 8000 000B, etc.) The range of errors is pretty broad, but the first two come up most often.

However, when I CTRL-A-A then I never get an error. In this case, the power light comes on, screen flashes, hard drive light comes on, then I get the classic insert disk screen.

I have tried using original Kickstart 2.05 and a Kickstart 3.1 with the same results. I am also running these tests with nothing plugged into the motherboard. The MB has been completely removed, and all I have plugged in is the video (composite) out and the power supply. When testing the soft-reboot, I obviously have the keyboard plugged in. So, just to be clear, no hard drive, disk drive, expansion, etc.

I’ve checked the front and back of the board and I see no corrosion with a magnifying glass. The capacitors all look good to me. I’ve also done a variety of tests with at least 4 different memory checkers to thoroughly test the chip ram. No errors were found. None of the chips seem hot to me although a few are somewhat warm. I’ve re-seated the Kickstart chip about a half-dozen times with no noticeable difference. Honestly, the board looks brand new compared to some of the others I've seen pictured.

The rate of failure on cycling the power can vary. For a while it was closer to 50%. Every time I power cycle, I wait 3-4 seconds – I’m not flipping it on/off quickly.

Finally, the keyboard Caps-Lock does not blink more than once whether it boots normally or errors. So, it doesn't seem to be telling me anything.

I would appreciate ANY advice I can get as I have spent many late-night hours reading through the forums and trying to diagnose this. I really want to get my Amiga to 100%!

THanks.

mechy · « **Reply #1 on:** February 17, 2016, 05:46:21 PM »

Quote from: VirtualTed;804167

Hey guys,

I’ve been reading the boards for about a week now and I think it’s time for me to ask for a little help.

I’ve got an Amiga 600 (PAL, 1.5 JUNE BUG REV.) which likes to intermittently go to a black screen with a red-text software GURU ERROR about 20% of the time when I cycle my power supply. The sequence looks like this…
• Power cycle
• Power light comes on
• Screen flashes
• Guru Error (8000 0004, 8000 0003, 8000 000B, etc.) The range of errors is pretty broad, but the first two come up most often.

However, when I CTRL-A-A then I never get an error. In this case, the power light comes on, screen flashes, hard drive light comes on, then I get the classic insert disk screen.

I have tried using original Kickstart 2.05 and a Kickstart 3.1 with the same results. I am also running these tests with nothing plugged into the motherboard. The MB has been completely removed, and all I have plugged in is the video (composite) out and the power supply. When testing the soft-reboot, I obviously have the keyboard plugged in. So, just to be clear, no hard drive, disk drive, expansion, etc.

I’ve checked the front and back of the board and I see no corrosion with a magnifying glass. The capacitors all look good to me. I’ve also done a variety of tests with at least 4 different memory checkers to thoroughly test the chip ram. No errors were found. None of the chips seem hot to me although a few are somewhat warm. I’ve re-seated the Kickstart chip about a half-dozen times with no noticeable difference. Honestly, the board looks brand new compared to some of the others I've seen pictured.

The rate of failure on cycling the power can vary. For a while it was closer to 50%. Every time I power cycle, I wait 3-4 seconds – I’m not flipping it on/off quickly.

Finally, the keyboard Caps-Lock does not blink more than once whether it boots normally or errors. So, it doesn't seem to be telling me anything.

I would appreciate ANY advice I can get as I have spent many late-night hours reading through the forums and trying to diagnose this. I really want to get my Amiga to 100%!

THanks.

Has this board been recapped? if not i suspect it may need it. barring that it could be ram,psu or possibly add-ons, do you have a chip ram expansion?

I have had mine act up with a bad keyboard ribbon connection.

VirtualTed · « **Reply #2 on:** February 17, 2016, 06:05:14 PM »

Hey Mechy,

No chipram installed, not even the keyboard for my on/off testing which results in the guru error. The board has not been re-capped - visibly they look great but I understand that this doesn't rule out a problem with the capacitors. I was thinking of chasing that as a problem, but I'd be really disappointed if it came back and had the same issue. So, I'm trying to rule everything else out first.

Oldsmobile_Mike · « **Reply #3 on:** February 17, 2016, 06:40:10 PM »

+1 for possible flaky PSU. You have another one to test with? I'm sure Mechy would be glad to sell you one, if not.

(PS - his are great!)

VirtualTed · « **Reply #4 on:** February 17, 2016, 08:55:13 PM »

Hmm. I didn't really consider that it could be a PSU problem. It SEEMS to be working well enough. I don't have another to test with, but I might pop it open and see if there are any obvious issues.

paul1981 · « **Reply #5 on:** February 18, 2016, 02:00:13 AM »

Quote from: VirtualTed;804176

Hmm. I didn't really consider that it could be a PSU problem. It SEEMS to be working well enough. I don't have another to test with, but I might pop it open and see if there are any obvious issues.

It's 24 years old this year. The caps have to be your first diagnostic test. There's a very good chance it will fix your problem. Amigakit can re-cap your board if you can't find anyone else willing.

VirtualTed · « **Reply #6 on:** February 18, 2016, 04:28:22 AM »

Well, I guess I will have to roll the dice and hope that this fixes the problem. At $85 it's a pretty expensive gamble (I'd love to spend that on some other Amiga stuff).

Anyway, I appreciate the advice and I'll update this thread on what the results are of the recap.

(And if anyone else has any other suggestions, I'll be keeping an eye on this thread in the meantime.)

Thanks guys.

-VT

VirtualTed · « **Reply #7 on:** March 16, 2016, 04:28:06 AM »

Well, I spent a bit of cash on getting the board recapped. No improvement in the results I'm getting. The A600 still intermittently starts with a GURU 8000 0003, 8000 0004, or something close to it (but mostly those two).

Soft-kicking it never results in an error. Keyboard and RAM expansion are not plugged in - it's just the board.

Any other thoughts? I will be receiving an A1200 soon and I'll check it with that PSU, but something tells me that won't be the issue.

-T

gertsy · « **Reply #8 on:** March 16, 2016, 07:53:42 PM »

Quote from: VirtualTed;805940

Well, I spent a bit of cash on getting the board recapped. No improvement in the results I'm getting. The A600 still intermittently starts with a GURU 8000 0003, 8000 0004, or something close to it (but mostly those two).

Soft-kicking it never results in an error. Keyboard and RAM expansion are not plugged in - it's just the board.

Any other thoughts? I will be receiving an A1200 soon and I'll check it with that PSU, but something tells me that won't be the issue.

-T

Too bad. But at least you can rule that out. When you say power cycling you are talking about turning the switch off on the actual power supply yeah? Not at the wall socket?

VirtualTed · « **Reply #9 on:** March 17, 2016, 02:47:02 AM »

Quote from: gertsy;805953

Too bad. But at least you can rule that out. When you say power cycling you are talking about turning the switch off on the actual power supply yeah? Not at the wall socket?

Correct, I'm flipping the switch on the PSU, not the wall. Doesn't seem to make a difference either way though.

arnljot · « **Reply #10 on:** March 17, 2016, 09:42:19 PM »

Quote from: VirtualTed;804167

Guru Error (8000 0004, 8000 0003, 8000 000B, etc.) The range of errors is pretty

80000003 Illegal address access
80000004 Illegal instruction
8000000B Line F emulation error

From what I understand, you've booted this A600 with only motherboard, screen and PSU.

Given that, and still those Gurus I'd suspect Caps(you've swapped those) or custom ROMs with some misbehaving patches in.

I'm sure a bad PSU could also cause problems. But the last guru listed is a FPU related bug:

Quote

8000000B:
when a program tries to execute a FPU instruction on a processor without a FPU, or there is a problem with the 68040/060 library.

paul1981 · « **Reply #11 on:** March 18, 2016, 02:06:22 AM »

Could it be a cracked choke or something where the power connector comes in? Just wondering as you say it works correctly from warm reset everytime.

Good luck with the PSU once it comes. Ideally that should have been the first thing to try.
Sorry the caps didn't fix your machine. I have an A600 in need too now.

VirtualTed · « **Reply #12 on:** March 18, 2016, 02:48:05 AM »

Thanks guys, very helpful and thoughtful posts and I do appreciate it.

I seem to have much better luck if I wait longer to switch the power on/off. If I wait about 5 seconds, it seems to have the fail rate I mentioned in the first post. If I wait a full 30 seconds, it seems to boot properly.

I would think that 5 seconds is enough time to clear memory and "start over", but maybe not? I haven't switched it on/off enough to make a decisive claim that this fixes the problem, but I have yet to see it fail if I wait 30 seconds to turn it back on and I think I've done it about 15-20 times now.

How long do you guys wait between power-cycling your Amigas?

-Ted

QuikSanz · « **Reply #13 on:** March 18, 2016, 02:54:05 AM »

It could be clearing a fault in the power supply as well, Maybe a cold solder joint.

kolla · « **Reply #14 on:** March 18, 2016, 08:47:01 AM »

In general, I don't power cycle, I use ctrl-a-a (for up to 30 sec), or use a hardreset program.

Author Topic: GURU Boot issue when power cycling (Read 5146 times)

VirtualTed

GURU Boot issue when power cycling

mechy

Re: GURU Boot issue when power cycling

VirtualTed

Re: GURU Boot issue when power cycling

Oldsmobile_Mike

Re: GURU Boot issue when power cycling

VirtualTed

Re: GURU Boot issue when power cycling

paul1981

Re: GURU Boot issue when power cycling

VirtualTed

Re: GURU Boot issue when power cycling

VirtualTed

Re: GURU Boot issue when power cycling

gertsy

Re: GURU Boot issue when power cycling

VirtualTed

Re: GURU Boot issue when power cycling

arnljot

Re: GURU Boot issue when power cycling

paul1981

Re: GURU Boot issue when power cycling

VirtualTed

Re: GURU Boot issue when power cycling

QuikSanz

Re: GURU Boot issue when power cycling

kolla

Re: GURU Boot issue when power cycling