@GrumpyOldMan

If that's so your HDD has a very low priority. The standard is HDD 0. Floppy 5. And CD 10. Infact I have mine set to 5. Forget why.

But, it is good you aare getting somewhere now.

When it gets to the point of AmigaDOS booting, after the Kickstart has loaded, have you tried going into the early startup menu to see what drives are bootable?

Usually when I see the disk screen is when the a1ide_conf type variables are stuffed up. And somehow assigned incorrectly to drive type. At times I've been certain they matched the hardware layout but it still didn't work. So I have all mine set to auto now. It has been the bain of many IDE problems. Easily messing up a friends A1.

You could try in UBoot:
setenv a1ide_conf

This will erase it and set OS4 drive scan to auto. If that helps.

EDIT:

BTW yes you are both correct about drive types. You can check in the Documentation drawer of AmigaOS4. IDE section. Quoted here:

- a1ide_conf

Compose 4 chars (prim master, prim slave, sec master, sec slave) using :

0 : nothing
1 : harddisk
2 : dvd/cdrom reader or burner

Default : if you don't set this envvar, a1ide will scan the IDE buses and
try to determine the configuration by itself.

Last edited by Hypex on 15-Jan-2013 at 02:25 PM.

@NutsAboutAmiga
I checked this from intuitionbase, it should be ok. And since I can boot from the OS4.0 CD the hardware seems to be working properly. Still, even now when I changed the boot priority of the HDD from -127 to -10, the OS4.1 Update 1 CD still stops booting after loading the Kickstart files from the CD.

@all
I must say I am baffled. How come the Kickstart files are loaded from Update1 CD without probs but when it comes to launching the OS4.1 installer the loading stops and system no longer sees the disk? Why does the OS4.0 CD work without problems while the two separate Update1 CDs (one burned in Windows, one in AmigaOS3.1) both fail?

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@GrumpyOldMan

Sorry I haven't paid much attention to your problem. When the splash screen comes up booting, the user-startup & startup-sequence files get loaded. If the CD boots all the way, use that, rename both of those files on your HD & copy those 2 off your boot CD & try again. If that works, one of those files is corrupt.

I believe the CD has a boot priority of +10 & the HD should be at 0 for normal use.

By the way, a1ide_maxbus is ignored, use ide_maxbus=1 or 2.

Sorry if I have this wrong, its late, & this cat is bugging me because she knows I'm about to leave her...

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@sundown
So basicly the downloaded Update 1 ISO (or parts of it) could be corrupted? That would make sense, yes. It would explain why the OS4.0 CD works and the burned update1 CD won't. I need to check the contents of the burned CD, or even download the ISO again.

@all
I'll double-check the UBoot variables (a1ide_conf, ide_maxbus) and also check from Early StartpUp Menu when I get back home. Might even slip the old hard drive back into uA1 again to see whether it works in this 'primary IDE only' setup.

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@all
A small update - still cannot boot from OS4.1 Update1 CD. In Early startup menu the CD0 is marked 'bootable' so it should be ok. UBoot variables checked, should be ok.

During weekend I put the old hard disk back into uA1 and with this 'primary IDE only' setup it boots the old OS4.1 installation ok. There are still strange crashes (mainly when trying to start or end programs). Copying files also freezes the whole machine. Any ideas how to fix these?

I might try adding the new HDD into the system (replace the slave DVD drive with it) and try to copy the current OS4.1 install into it. But this is not possible until I can copy files without problems.

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@GrumpyOldMan

You might try downgrading to PIO, regardless of whether you had issue with DMA vs PIO before. At least until you get passed crisis stage.

#6

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@GrumpyOldMan

One other issue I had with the micro & 4.1, hanging on the os4 splash screen.

1. 2 of the 4 usb ports had to be off to boot, front or back.
2. A possible problem/fix for #1 is to comment out lsi53c8xx.device.kmod in the SYS:Kickstart/kicklayout text file.

If #2 works, you can activate all 4 usb ports.

OS4.0 never had this problem.

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@number6
I think the drives (HDD and CDROM) are already operating in 'best PIO' mode (a1ide_xfer=0000), should I then lower the PIO setting?

@all
Regarding the failure of booting from OS4.1 Update 1 CDROM - is it possible to connect the CDROM as primary IDE master and the HDD as secondary IDE master? Could this solve the problem?

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@all

Posting this from my brand new AmigaOne 500

As for the original subject of this thread - uA1 is still having problems - I still cannot boot from OS4 Update1 CD and when booting from the old HD the machine is very unstable. I still have intention to fix the machine but I have run out of ideas

Any additional help and debugging ideas would be very much appreciated

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@GrumpyOldMan

Post your results from nvgetvar here. Maybe it will offer a clue.

Assuming IDE here since we're talking Micro:

DVD/CD should always be a master on its own channel for best performance.
If you have 1 H/D you make it master on other channel. If you have 2 H/D you make one master and one slave on the other channel...or you use cable select for both.
As I understand it, it depends on the drive whether master/slave or cable select works for you in a 2 H/D system with a DVD/CD on the other channel.

Anyone else know different? Please post and correct me.

#6

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@number6

Regarding Cable Select, the original docs warned to never use it, always select Master and Slave by jumper. I never found any motivation to challenge that advice.

Regarding having both drives as master on their own cable, that might require an adapter to plug a "big" IDE cable into a "little" IDE connection, as the micro has one of each.

The adapters are not expensive, neither are they keyed.



Lyle

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@number6
I'll dig up the nvgetvar information in the evening.

Originally the HDD was master in primary IDE and DVD/CD drive was master in the secondary IDE using a adapter. The drives were connected to the middle connector of the IDE cable:

uA1 IDE0======long cable======HDD==shot cable==free connector
uA1 IDE1======long cable======DVD/CD==short cable==free connector

This did not work, and now I am using a primary IDE only configuration

uA1 IDE0======long cable======HDD(master)==short cable==DVD/CD(slave)

I have not used cable select (CS) in either device.

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@GrumpyOldMan

I think the Master is supposed to be at the end of the cable and the Slave in the middle. When there is just a Master device, then I don't think that matters. However, check the hard drive settings. Sometimes there are different settings for Master without Slave and Master with Slave. There is a label on the hard drive that makes the jumper settings clear (ish - sometimes needs a brain restart).

Roy Leith

@GrumpyOldMan

For high speed electronics it's never a good idea to have a "stub" at the end of a cable, so any single drive should go at the end. If you use cable select the device at the end is set up as master.

@royleith

You managed to get the reasoning completely wrong there. Electriclly it matters more when there's only a single drive than when there are two. So for two disks, doesn't really matter, for single disk, always at the end.

Last edited by olegil on 31-Jan-2013 at 11:57 AM.

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@GrumpyOldMan

You could have CDROM as first unit. But best as said to seperate CD/HDD after you sort out IDE bus issues. As an example I have two CD drives on one bus, a DVD/CDRW with DVDRW. And on my other bus two HDD drives.

It is also correct to put master on end of cable as I understand it also. The longer part of the cable should be going to the motherboard IDE port. The shorter section with two sockets going to the drives.

Another thing that will affect before you have it all put back in its original place. Rememeber on the "old" Amigas how HDToolbox liked to write the last unit into the RDB? Well OS4 is the same. Once you have a CD booting OS4 setup, even if you have to disable all but CD0, then run Media Toolbox. It will detect a new last unit and write it onto the RDB. This the sort of thing that will remove a HDD and volumes from AmigaDOS. If set incorrectly it will ignore the drive!

This came to mind. Hope you enjoy the new addition to the family. And it can soon compliment the µA1.

@lylehaze

Quote:

Regarding Cable Select, the original docs warned to never use it, always select Master and Slave by jumper. I never found any motivation to challenge that advice.

My system was assembled by amiga professionals and they used cable select, regardless of what the docs said. 9 years...no issues.

@GrumpyOldMan

I'm sure you're getting this, nevertheless in review...
Hypex, Olegil, and I are all telling you the same thing. With only 1 HD you should put that at the end of the cable.

Quote:

uA1 IDE0======long cable======HDD==shot cable==free connector uA1 IDE1======long cable======DVD/CD==short cable==free connector This did not work, and now I am using a primary IDE only configuration uA1 IDE0======long cable======HDD(master)==short cable==DVD/CD(slave)

I read both of these as the end of the cable being unused. (short cable after HD)
Both of these setups you list sound completely wrong. ^

#6

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@number6
Hmmm...I connected the drives based on information found from the "Unofficial uA1 Handbook" (by Jonathan Haddock, IntuitionBase) which advices to use the middle connector of each cable when using both IDEs. But then I also noticed that I have wrong connection when using the "primary IDE only" configuration (the master should be at the end of the cable, not in the middle).

I think I'll go back to using both IDEs and will attach both devices as masters at the end connector of the cables. I am also getting new IDE cables during weekend to eliminate possible problem in those.

No progress yesterday evening as I spend whole night tinkering with the AmigaOne 500 - it was too hard to resist the new "toy"

But don't worry, I'll concentrate on uA1 during weekend, I promise

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@olegil

Quote:

You managed to get the reasoning completely wrong there. Electriclly it matters more when there's only a single drive than when there are two. So for two disks, doesn't really matter, for single disk, always at the end.

Hah, you'll never get anywhere, accusing me of reasoning!

The advice has always been to put the Master at the end of the cable. My assumption is that the Master setting terminates the cable as a transmission line. The Slave would not terminate the line in order that the signal reaches the Master.

If this is the case, having a stub after the transmission line termination should not be very significant. The termination should absorb most of the energy and there would not be much to carry on to the end of the cable and get reflected back. That small reflected signal would be absorbed by the Master termination. This suggests that either socket could be used.

Putting the Master at the end of the cable is always the best policy.

Roy Leith

@all

There's some good news, and there's some bad...good ones first. I can now boot uA1 from CD! I put the HDD as primary master and connected DVD/CD drive to secondary IDE with 'cable select' jumper on. Both drives are now at the end of the (old) cables (could not get the new cables during weekend). I changed the 'boot1' variable to 'cdrom' in UBoot and the machine now boots to Workbench. Strangely enough the initial screenmode is "PAL" which results in some rather psychedelic 8-colour WB (I wonder why that screenmode is picked at all? ).

There's still something fishy in the system. The old hard drive allows me to launch programs but gets stuck every time I close the apps. Might be something to do with writing to the disk, as some programs like DOpus and Shell can close without problem. Copying big files (like a 300MB video clip) into RAM works without problems, copying the same file to another partition in the hard disk results in a total freeze of the system.

So I took the old hard drive of and replaced it with a brand new Western Digital Caviar Blue 160 GB drive. Again booting from CD I prepped the drive with MediaToolBox. But when I try to format the disk in WorkBench the OS reports drive has some errors and then the whole thing freezes again.

Any ideas what could cause this? Is the IDE somehow broken? I should have a sii0680 card somewhere in the house (leftover from the now defunct A1-XE) and was wondering if I could use that with the uA1? Another thing I might try is physically switch the HDD into secondary and DVD/CD into primary IDE and see if that helps. Do you see any problems with these things?

Here are the UBoot variables:

4.Boot:> nvgetvar
bootcmd=menu; run menuboot_cmd
bootdelay=0
baudrate=115200
preboot=
stdout=vga
stdin=ps2kbd
ide_doreset=on
ide_cd_timeout=30
menucmd=menu
bootmethod=boota
ethact=3Com 3c920c#0
ethaddr=00:09:D2:28:01:46
video_activate=agp
pci_irqa=9
pci_irqa_select=level
pci_irqb=10
pci_irqb_select=level
pci_irqc=11
pci_irqc_select=level
pci_irqd=7
pci_irqd_select=level
agp_enable=on
agp_sideband=off
agp_speed=2x
limit_memory=512
use_memory_limit=yes
vga_fg_color=5
vga_bg_color=3
serial1_address=3f8
serial2_address=2f8
parallel_mode=0
parallel_address=378
usb0_enable=off
usb1_enable=off
usb_use_header=0
ide_swap=0
boot1=ide
boot2=cdrom
boot3=
boot_config=Default
boota_timeout=5
boot_method=boota
menuboot_delay=3
os4_commandline=debuglevel=0
bootargs=root=/dev/ram rw ramdisk=4096
a1ide_xfer=0000
ide_maxbus=2
video_num=1
menuboot_cmd=
a1ide_conf=1020

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@GrumpyOldMan

Gå to Amiga Treff 2013, 16 February in Norway and I fix it for you, or find out what the problem is.

You can book a room at Fagerborg hotel
http://www.booking.com/hotel/no/fagerborg.no.html?aid=311099;label=hotel-23515-no-9iXaxDkXI1LJHdPQDgWeUQS22209741793:pl:ta:p1:p2:ac:ap1t1:neg;ws=&gclid=CNitk5C1nLUCFYJ2cAodPR8AAQ

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