Does anyone know the input requirements of the MicroA1 board?

I bought a MicroA1 board two months ago and have had no end of problems actually getting the thing boot up (evetything powers up, but there is no video or audible post errors).

After buying the board, I did some serious digging around for into (there is some serious lack of information on this board out there as I'm sure most of you have noticed), and purchased a Travla Mini-ITX 120W case, which unfortunately, I later found out had been "known" to have some problems with the MicroA1.

In any case, there are many options for AC adapters and DC to DC converter boards with regards to power on these types of cases, however, it would help if new MicroA1 owners were provided some form of documentation on jumpers, acceptable components and power requirements. I have since gotten the jumper info from some diagrams posted on the net, however, still no power or component requirements.

I'm hoping somebody out there can shed some light on this board's power requirements so that I can actually get something out of this $1,700CDN money pit.

Help!

Emmanuel Latour

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@elatour

Here, a comment from Eyetech about the µA1 power requrements.

In that thread there is also discussion around the subject.

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Many thanks for this pointer.

From what I gather from the info in that thread, all I can conclude is that although this board may be Mini-ITX form factor, it does not comply with many and/or most Mini-ITX power options and thus should only be installed in Micro-ATX cases with a hit or miss on the PSU, but with better success than most Mini-ITX PSUs. However, I still don't have clear power requirments are of this board.

At this point, I think this board is just gonna go to the garbage. I've spent too much time and money trying to get this working in a Mini-ITX case (i.e. board, case plus slim DVD-ROM, 2.5" HDD and necessary adapters) to spend yet more money and role the dice on an ATX case and PSU, not to mention yet more adapters and components, which at the end of the day may or may not work. For all I know the CPU board may already be fried.

Thanks anyway.

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@elatour

Is there anyone with a uA1 near you that would swap the motherboard out for a test. any amiga meets happening,

I ended up pluging in the 430W PSU I have been informed by the manufacturer (of the psu) it can scale from 150W to 430W and I've had no problems with it. Wattage is very important for stability.

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Aldur
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Many thanks for your input on your experience with your MicroA1 board.

Forget stability. I was getting power to everything else (e.g. fans, devices, leds, keyboard, etc.) , but not getting any video or any audible post errors with either the 120W P4 MiniITX PSU or the ATX PSU I had. This was without anything else attached to the PSU other than the motherboard to which were connected only a keyboard, mouse and video. I had also tried different monitors.

After talking to another owner of a MicroA1 about some of the symptoms I had been encountering since I first tried this board, he suggested I try an actual ATX PSU from another system, but this did not change anything. At this point, it looked like the CPU daughter card was fried, but as it turned out, I managed to get my dealer to test it out on his ATX PSU and it appears that the board is fine after all.

So basically, like I said before, it appears to be a hit or miss on what PSUs work with these boards. MiniITX PSUs almost appear to have less of a chance of working than ATX PSUs, which is kind of odd seeing as this is a MiniITX board!?!?

I would like to know what exactly the power requirements of this board are, because it is clear now that they are very specific. I'm starting to suspect it's got more to do with the number of amps that are fed to the different power connectors (e.g. 5v, 12v, etc.) because the voltage and wattage seems to be standard and adequate in the tests that I have run. However, having said this, I'm hardly an expert with power issues, so this is merely a guess on my part.

At this point, it would be really nice if I could only find a power solution that I could use in the MiniITX case I purchased, even if I have to replace the external AC adapter and DC2DC converter board, so I can at least use the case, 2.5" HDD and slim DVD-ROM I already purchased for this system.

Thanks again.

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@elatour

Bumping this old thread

Quote:

At this point, it would be really nice if I could only find a power solution that I could use in the MiniITX case I purchased, even if I have to replace the external AC adapter and DC2DC converter board, so I can at least use the case, 2.5" HDD and slim DVD-ROM I already purchased for this system.

Did you find a solution?

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@tomazkid

I have one of the stable Micros.
Power supply:
ENP 2220D 200 Watt.

Beware old threads where people were "experimenting" with the PSUs. We are seeing a wide range of #s and opinions based on the sure fire "works for me" method.
(we're discussing -this- again too)

#6

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@elatour

I also have have a stable µA1-C. I use the Antec Aria case with its built-in PSU.
Seems many of Antec's PSU's works great with µA1 in general.

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[SOLD] µA1-C - 750GX 800MHz - 512MB - Antec Aria case

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@tomazkid

Well, after a few months with no success and a few frustrated e-mails to Adam from ACK Software Controls, he ended up sending me a DC2DC converter board "known to work" with MicroA1s. The boards he had obtained for sale through the only Canadian Amiga at the time, Livewire Systems in Ottawa, were numbered 1 through 25 I believe, so I don't know where this experience came from on this, but this board did not work either. My mobo's serial number was either 7 or 10, I can't remember.

In the end, I quite by accident managed to find a very uncoventional method of getting my system to at least boot up once I finally managed to get myself a MAI manual for the board from my dealer and also got some of diagrams from Intuitionbase. I quite by accident noticed that whenever I would set the jumper to reset the BIOS through the motherboard, power up, then power down, set the jumper back to it's original prosition, I was able to power up and install and boot up the OS. I could even power down the system and power up no problem, but once the power brick was either unplugged from the power source or to the system itself, then I would have to go through the steps above to be able to boot up the OS successfully again, meaning that I would have to reset any of the UBoot settings I had. I actually ended up gerry rigging a lead from the jumper to a switch that I installed on the case for the odd time I would need to do this, so that I would not need to reopen the case.

In any case, the system has never been very stable. Unexplained hardware lockups sometimes, I suspect because of possible overheating and other times due to some other possible hardware issues. Bottom line is that I could not use the system for more than about an hour without encountering a hardware lock, sometimes during use, sometime while idle, and even sometimes after just a few minutes of use. Memory tests were good on the original 256MB that shipped with the mobo and the 512MB that I eventually replaced it with, so this did not seem to the be the problem. The lockups happenned while running Debian, albeit very slowly seeing as iut has to run without DMA enabled, but not as often, mainly, I suspect because I was not using the wireless card, which I hold somewhat suspect to my problems.

After spending some $2000 CND on the system and it's peripherals, I did not have the heart to sink anymore money into into it, like a new case, PSU, etc. just to find out that it was my mobo that was defective after all.

With the constant lockups, I stopped coding and using the system and put the system in a coner in my basement where it's gathered dust since Update 3 was applied to it.

I can't possibly sell of even donate such an unstable system to anyone.

Thus ends my sad story about my missadventures with my MicroA1 and AOS4.

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@elatour

You could proably shift it on ebay, just as long as you tell everyone your problems, they're would be enough ejiots like me thinking that you just need the right PSU and you'll be OK.

Dunno if it would go for a lot mind...

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@Samwel

I've got a antec Aria case with a µA1-C, sometimes it won't boot unless I pull the power cable at the back and put it back in again....

I'm assuming that something wrong with the power supply. Or rather it's something wrong with the stupid motherboard, the way it was designed etc etc.

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Rage quited 29th May 2011

@elatour

That wasn't exactly the answear I was hoping for

Also it seems that you have tried everything possible too.

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@tomazkid

Well, I've tried quite a few things, but still could try many more, but like I said, at the time, there was no mobo manual, no power or PSU specs, and it looked like it was hit or miss with the types of PSUs and cases that would work with the system, and I had already sunk a ton of money and wasted WAY too much time intrying to get this to work at all, to try another Mini-ITX case and PSU combination (many of the DC2DC converters are custom for the case in question so it's not as simple as simply swaping DC2DC converter boards and changing the power brick). I had also bought a Mini-ITX slim CD/DVD-ROM and a 2.5" HDD and was pissed that I mght be forced to buy and try either a different Mini-ITX case and PSU or buy and try an ATX case with different PSU's before I found one that would work OR NOT, having in the end wasted at the very least the original HW I had purchassed or possibly even more money with no guarantee of success in the end if the mobo was indeed defective.

In any case, like I've said before, thanks to the EyeTech I now have an expensive boat anchor.

Last edited by elatour on 18-Mar-2007 at 12:27 AM.

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@Stephen_Robinson

Something must for sure be wrong with your setup. My Aria has never refused to boot, as
long as my config has been correct.

Although a bit stupid power handling. If I loose power the Aria boots up when the power
gets back on without pressing the power on/off button.

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[SOLD] µA1-C - 750GX 800MHz - 512MB - Antec Aria case

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@Samwel

Quote:

Although a bit stupid power handling. If I loose power the Aria boots up when the power gets back on without pressing the power on/off button.

same here, but I think thats a feature of the board itself.
Can't say I like it.

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@elatour

Quote:

My mobo's serial number was either 7 or 10, I can't remember.

My micro is from the same batch, #15.

Quote:

I was able to power up and install and boot up the OS. I could even power down the system and power up no problem, but once the power brick was either unplugged from the power source or to the system itself, then I would have to go through the steps above to be able to boot up the OS successfully again

The uboot settings are maintained by the cell battery when power is off. Sounds like your cell battery is weak/dead. It should measure at least 3V. Anything less then 2.95V will give the problem you described.

Quote:

In any case, the system has never been very stable. Unexplained hardware lockups sometimes

This problem I also had, I ended up lowering vcore to 1.34V (2 steps) to gain stability. You can try lowering or upping vcore 1 step to see if it helps. Some ppl needed to up vcore others, like me, had to lower vcore to gain stability. I would start by lowering vcore first. If you up vcore, go no higher the 1 step (1.49V). I shouldn't take very long to see if stability is worst or better after a change.

Our boards are from the same batch.

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@elatour

I baught mine from Livewire Systems and have never had a problem, except when the battery was dead or to weak to function properly. It you leave it unpowered for to long ( actually not that long considering other mobo's) the battery will drain. Check /replace the battery. Always keep spares around in case you forget.

PSU's of the DC2DC type from what I remember, only Morex worked well with the micro. The others had DIRTY power that interfered with the mobo. The µA1-C is very finicky about clean power. Morex worked perfectly for me. Morex 3677B Case / PSU is what I had, I also had an additional PSU (Morex) that I used before I got the case.

You should be able to replace the PSU in your case with a Morex, that way not all is lost.

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@Samwel

When you say something wrong with mysetup, how can I fix it? I've not touched the jumpers on the CPU board.

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Rage quited 29th May 2011

@wolfe

Yep, Morex for me also! With designation Venus 668. Nice case I must say. The only mods I made to it was the removal of all those ventilators at the rear. Never had any (major) issue with it.

OldFart

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@Stephen_Robinson

Like sundown explains. Some people seems to have problems with their vcore setting.
Lowering (or upping) the vcore one step from 1.44V might help making your system
more stable.

I live in Sweden and we have very seldom really hot or humid making computers behave.
That can be a reason for my µA1 working ok with default vcore setting.

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[SOLD] µA1-C - 750GX 800MHz - 512MB - Antec Aria case

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