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Offline RSwipe CATopic starter

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ACA1221 Fitted Now no boot from CF HDD
« on: December 08, 2016, 01:11:02 AM »
Hi all.

I have an A1200 that I recently fitted a CF HDD to, that has many games and programs including WHDLoad.  Here's a link to the actual one I bought ....

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/272429590324?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT


Anyway, it works great and I can see the drive partitions on the CF Card loaded with games and demos etc. Now, when I try to play any of the games or demos the system refuses to load any, saying that I have insufficient memory or words to that effect. My 1200 does not have a memory expansion fitted. So I bought an ACA1221 from Individual Computers, link here...

http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1251

I fitted the accelerator, and it is operational as far as I can tell. But, now when I switch on the computer it doesn't boot from the CF HDD any more. It just sits there with a black screen. If I switch it on with a Workbench disc inserted it will boot from the floppy no problem. If I remove the Accelerator it will boot from the Workbench file on the CF HDD once again.

What am I missing here guys, all I want to do is play some games lol!
 
Did I do the wrong thing buying the Accelerator? It has onboard memory so I assumed that would fix my issues with the programs on the CF HDD and give me a little performance boost at the same time.

Any input would be very much appreciated.
 

Offline Rob

Re: ACA1221 Fitted Now no boot from CF HDD
« Reply #1 on: December 08, 2016, 01:30:13 AM »
I can't think of anything obvious.  Does the CF card appear in the early start menu or when you boot Workbench from the floppy?
 

Offline RSwipe CATopic starter

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Re: ACA1221 Fitted Now no boot from CF HDD
« Reply #2 on: December 08, 2016, 01:54:12 AM »
Quote from: Rob;817439
I can't think of anything obvious.  Does the CF card appear in the early start menu or when you boot Workbench from the floppy?


I'm not sure what you mean by 'early start menu', sorry im a bit of a noob.

 The Amiga had an 80mb traditional mechanical hard drive in it. It worked fine. I replaced it with the CF HDD that has Workbench 3.0 already on it. Without the ACA1221 fitted in the trap expansion port the Amiga will boot directly off of the CF HDD into WB3.0 and work perfectly. I do not need a WB floppy unless I fit the accelerator, the only way I can get to the 'desktop' if the accelerator is fitted is by using a floppy to boot from. If I don't insert a WB floppy when the accelerator is fitted, the Amiga won't boot, it just shows a black screen. I have waited to see if anything happens but nothing does.
 

Offline Oldsmobile_Mike

Re: ACA1221 Fitted Now no boot from CF HDD
« Reply #3 on: December 08, 2016, 02:51:46 AM »
Hold down both mouse buttons on startup to access the early startup menu.

AFAIK it's pretty strongly recommended if you have an ACA that you should have minimum Kickstart+Workbench 3.1.

Possibly a timing issue on the motherboard?
Amiga 500: 2MB Chip|16MB Fast|30MHz 68030+68882|3.9|Indivision ECS|GVP A500HD+|Mechware card reader + 8GB CF|Cocolino|SCSI DVD-RAM
Amiga 2000: 2MB Chip|136MB Fast|50MHz 68060|3.9|Indivision ECS + GVP Spectrum|Mechware card reader + 8GB CF|AD516|X-Surf 100|RapidRoad|Cocolino|SCSI CD-RW
 Amiga videos and other misc. stuff at https://www.youtube.com/CompTechMike/videos
 

Offline apsturk

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Re: ACA1221 Fitted Now no boot from CF HDD
« Reply #4 on: December 08, 2016, 04:26:49 PM »
You may have a problem that is very ease to fix. Read the ACA Tune document. In your startup sequence (used for map rom) you may need to put -p to pause the computer so it sees everything before it goes to the HHD. I had this problem and when I put -p it worked again.
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Offline paul1981

Re: ACA1221 Fitted Now no boot from CF HDD
« Reply #5 on: December 09, 2016, 10:41:30 AM »
Have you tried resetting the Amiga with  'Left Amiga + Right Amiga + Ctrl' ? This might possibly make your CF card appear...who knows? Worth a try anyway.
After a reset (or power on), if you hold down both mouse buttons it takes you to the Amiga Early Startup Control menu.



If you select Boot Options, your CF hard drive partition(s) should appear on the list and is likely called DH0 (and DH1) along with DF0 (the floppy device). Try resetting with that key combination a few times if it still doesn't boot.
If you have 3.0 ROMS, there was an issue whereby the Amiga wouldn't wait long enough with hard drives than spun-up slow, and in that case you get sent to the purple tick screen because the Amiga wasn't aware of the hard drive and asks for a boot floppy (or PCMCIA). In this case a soft reset (as I mentioned) will make the drive appear (as it's spun-up by now).
Cutting pin 1 of the IDE cable was the fix in this case (or just reset once after each power on), but I wouldn't have thought this applies to a CF hard drive being as though it should be ready immediately. 3.1 ROMS wait longer for the hard drive to spin up (could be your black screen), so that was another fix. Another fix was to install a drive that spins up faster.
In your case, you're seeing a black screen. If you wait a minute, does it boot? More likely is that it's something in the Startup-Sequence that is causing the problem. Try going to the Amiga Early Startup Control and selecting 'Boot With No Startup-Sequence'. This should land you at an AmigaDOS prompt.
« Last Edit: December 09, 2016, 10:44:38 AM by paul1981 »
 

Offline RSwipe CATopic starter

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Re: ACA1221 Fitted Now no boot from CF HDD
« Reply #6 on: December 09, 2016, 06:44:08 PM »
Ok Guys, just got back from working away. Thanks very much for all your help so far.

I read all of your comments, and can now get the machine to boot from the CF HDD even when the ACA1221 is fitted. Once at the desktop I see all my drives and files. Games/files run perfectly. It is still not right though, as I cannot get it to work 'automatically'. I will try to explain. Please see the images they may help you understand what I don't LOL.

http://www.dropshots.com/RSwipeCA/date/2016-12-09

If I switch on the Amiga whilst holding both mouse keys I can go to the boot options screen (please see the image). If I select DH0 it will boot to the desktop. If I reset I have to go back and reselect it again, I am guessing it doesn't remember the previous setting. Also, sometimes by holding the mouse buttons on startup it will got to a different screen ( the picture with 'Max-Mem Sequence' options listed). Out of those options if I select 'Reboot' it will boot straight into desktop and everything is perfect.

If I select 'Boot with no startup sequence' I get the Amiga DOS prompt screen as shown. It doesn't go to the 'Tick' screen.

Also, there was mention of adding  a '-p' to slow the system down in order for it to have time to boot from the right drive. How/where to I go to add that '-p'?

I will admit I'm a bit lost here, I assumed adding the accelerator would have no effect on the booting of the system. If I have to hold the mouse buttons down each time I boot in order to select 'Reboot' from the Max-Mem box to get to desktop, then so be it. But I am guessing that shouldn't have to be the case.

I hope this, plus the images makes sense to you guys.

Thanks again.
« Last Edit: December 09, 2016, 07:10:18 PM by RSwipe CA »
 

Offline Oldsmobile_Mike

Re: ACA1221 Fitted Now no boot from CF HDD
« Reply #7 on: December 09, 2016, 09:50:45 PM »
WTF is "Maxmem-Sequence"?  Something to activate extra memory on the card?  Or is it like a reduced Startup-Sequence with only bare-minimum software loaded?  Like, just enough to get you functional for playing games?  Never seen that before, but the latter would be my guess.

My bet is you have a bunch of junk in your Startup-Sequence or WBStartup folder that's causing issues.  You could take the "nuke it from orbit" approach and just do a fresh install of the operating system + core utilities.  If it were me, that's what I'd do.  Or you can try to troubleshoot your S-S.  ;)
Amiga 500: 2MB Chip|16MB Fast|30MHz 68030+68882|3.9|Indivision ECS|GVP A500HD+|Mechware card reader + 8GB CF|Cocolino|SCSI DVD-RAM
Amiga 2000: 2MB Chip|136MB Fast|50MHz 68060|3.9|Indivision ECS + GVP Spectrum|Mechware card reader + 8GB CF|AD516|X-Surf 100|RapidRoad|Cocolino|SCSI CD-RW
 Amiga videos and other misc. stuff at https://www.youtube.com/CompTechMike/videos
 

Offline amiga1260

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Re: ACA1221 Fitted Now no boot from CF HDD
« Reply #8 on: December 10, 2016, 04:39:27 AM »
Did you set the Maxtransfer value to 00x1fe00 in HDToolbox for every partition?

When setting the maxtransfer value doesn't help, then you need to do timing fix on the A1200 motherboard.
 

Offline paul1981

Re: ACA1221 Fitted Now no boot from CF HDD
« Reply #9 on: December 10, 2016, 10:54:38 AM »
@RSwipe CA

Can you get it to boot to the Workbench again (desktop) please. Then hold down the right mouse button to access the top left menu (Workbench) then select 'Execute Command'. In this box that appears type:

multiview s:startup-sequence
(if the above doesn't work, type 'sys:utilities/multiview s:startup-sequence' instead)

Then press return. This should display the first screen of this file. Can you take a photo of it for us? Then we'll be able to see what needs to be changed to add or amend the ACATune command. Might as well scroll down a bit too so I can check the rest of the file (you might need to take two or three photos depending on its length).
« Last Edit: December 10, 2016, 11:01:11 AM by paul1981 »
 

Offline RSwipe CATopic starter

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Re: ACA1221 Fitted Now no boot from CF HDD
« Reply #10 on: December 10, 2016, 07:24:11 PM »
Quote from: paul1981;817542
@RSwipe CA

Can you get it to boot to the Workbench again (desktop) please. Then hold down the right mouse button to access the top left menu (Workbench) then select 'Execute Command'. In this box that appears type:

multiview s:startup-sequence
(if the above doesn't work, type 'sys:utilities/multiview s:startup-sequence' instead)

Then press return. This should display the first screen of this file. Can you take a photo of it for us? Then we'll be able to see what needs to be changed to add or amend the ACATune command. Might as well scroll down a bit too so I can check the rest of the file (you might need to take two or three photos depending on its length).


Ok here you go, the images are in reverse order for some reason.....

http://www.dropshots.com/RSwipeCA/date/2016-12-10

Thanks for your help so far.
 

Offline RSwipe CATopic starter

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Re: ACA1221 Fitted Now no boot from CF HDD
« Reply #11 on: December 10, 2016, 07:27:57 PM »
Quote from: amiga1260;817538
Did you set the Maxtransfer value to 00x1fe00 in HDToolbox for every partition?

When setting the maxtransfer value doesn't help, then you need to do timing fix on the A1200 motherboard.


I didn't set any maxtransfer values, it is set up as it came.

I'm out of my depth here lol.
 

Offline Oldsmobile_Mike

Re: ACA1221 Fitted Now no boot from CF HDD
« Reply #12 on: December 10, 2016, 08:25:05 PM »
Post pictures of all your settings in HDtoolbox.
Amiga 500: 2MB Chip|16MB Fast|30MHz 68030+68882|3.9|Indivision ECS|GVP A500HD+|Mechware card reader + 8GB CF|Cocolino|SCSI DVD-RAM
Amiga 2000: 2MB Chip|136MB Fast|50MHz 68060|3.9|Indivision ECS + GVP Spectrum|Mechware card reader + 8GB CF|AD516|X-Surf 100|RapidRoad|Cocolino|SCSI CD-RW
 Amiga videos and other misc. stuff at https://www.youtube.com/CompTechMike/videos
 

Offline paul1981

Re: ACA1221 Fitted Now no boot from CF HDD
« Reply #13 on: December 11, 2016, 06:28:53 PM »
@RSwipe CA

Do you have the ACA1221 or the 1221ec?

I think you have the 1221ec being as though you have Kickstart 3.0 and your Workbench shows 8MB of Fast RAM. If you had the ACA1221, then according to its wiki page, the card would only present 1MB of Fast RAM by default.

Can you confirm you have the 1221ec ?

As for that '-P' feature, this was a delay that could be added at startup with the ACATune tool, but it seems the ACA1221 and 1221ec doesn't use ACATune anymore, maybe none of the new cards do, I don't know. Seems it was replaced with ACA1221 tools, for the licensing options etc for your card.

As for your particular problem, let me ask you this... when the machine is powered off at the switch and you then turn it on (whilst holding down both mouse buttons), do your DH0-DH3 drives appear on the list? If so, are you saying it will only boot when you select DH0 but then afterwards it can be reset with A-A-CTRL and it boots fine every time?

The LoadModule command I see at the top of your startup-sequence will  cause a single reboot for the FIRST time it boots only (unless you power  off and on again). What this does is replace the rom based scsi.device  with a more up to date one from disk (which will handle larger drives  and partitions than 4GB). There's a small chance this could be an issue  (there are different versions and the right one should be used).

Let  me ask you, did you have your own 3.1 Workbench disk set? That card you  bought says it comes with an OEM 3.0 Workbench set. I was confused  because your startup-sequence says 'LITE 3.1' which I'm guessing means  you have Workbench 3.1 installed?
« Last Edit: December 11, 2016, 06:40:57 PM by paul1981 »