Hi

I've tried to install OS 4.0 both on a 4000/CSPPC and a 1200/BPPC and, on both systems (attempting multiple times), I run into the same problems. The problem is basically that throughout the install when files are being copied I get either random checksum or badblock errors. If I manage to get to the end of the install (by pressing 'Cancel' or whatever) it will fail to install the few items that are put onto the drive once the 'main' install reaches 100%....leading to a non-bootable system. If I then boot from a regular 3.1 floppy the partition I installed 4.0 on comes up as NDOS.

I get the same errors whether I use a 1GB FFS or 1GB SFS partition to install the OS into (the CF card is a 133x Transcend 16GB btw). The 1200 is using an IDEFix-Express adapter and the 4000 is just using 2 devices on the internal IDE (CD-ROM - slave and CF - master). The card has no partitions other than either the 1GB FFS or 1GB SFS partition to remove partitioning issues from the equation.

So..can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong? I have used this card without any problem in OS 3.9 installing the OS on an FFS and SFS partition but thought I'd give 4.0 a go but things just aren't working. I went back to 3.9 (with the same card) and things are fine so I'm assuming something in the 4.0 installation process doesn't like the card.

Any help greatly appreciated as, for the time it takes to install 4.0, it'll take me a month of Sundays to attempt every combination I can think of!

Thanks

DM

Last edited by dangermouse on 10-Dec-2009 at 12:27 AM.

@dangermouse

Well all I can tell you is that it should work. I run OS4 on my CS PPC scsi using a compact flash card. ACARD SCSI to IDE, then IDE to CF adapter.

Best option is to start with a totally blank card (format it on windows first if you have to) to totally wipe any old RDB.

Start OS4 classic install using the boot floppy and OS4 CD.

Go into Media Toolbox and load an OS4 template. Save and reboot.

Start back up using OS4 CDROM and start installation, format partition, you should be good to go.

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@HammerD

Thanks Hammer

I tried the 'format it in Windows' trick as, when it starts to get bad blocks etc, restarting the install straight away will cause the errors to appear before I even start the install proper within the 4.0 WB environment. I found formatting it in Windows, as you say, got rid of the RDB so I could start the install again without constant error messages.

Maybe it's an IDE issue as I see you're using the CS SCSI for the HDD and not onboard IDE. On both my 4000 and 1200 I'm using master/slave IDE. I wonder if the MaxTransfer values need to be lowered to some dismal level that pretty much negate the benefit of using a CF but, again, the same setup works on 3.9...but the 3.9 install seems fairly lightweight compared to a 4.0 install.

Am I right in saying that 4.0 can be installed to an SFS partition or does it have to be FFS? The book says to place 4.0 in an FFS partition but I thought I'd read somewhere people doing it with SFS. Also, do you change the MaxTransfer and Mask values from their defaults or leave as is? Again, I'm following the manual and the only thing it suggests changing for FFS and SFS is the Buffers value (2048 and 512).

I guess OS4 and I are destined to not get along. Between the dead CSPPC from a few weeks ago to incompatibility issues of some sort I guess it's someones way of telling me to stick with 3.9 and use my 4.1 A1 for any 4.x work.

Last edited by dangermouse on 10-Dec-2009 at 05:48 AM.
Last edited by dangermouse on 10-Dec-2009 at 05:45 AM.

@dangermouse

Well I know it can be frustrating sometimes working on Classics but I have three working A4000/Cyberstorm PPC systems and I can tell you it can and does work. :)

You should be able to be using SFS completely and not bother with FFS. I believe when you go to the Project menu in MediaToolbox you can choose to load a SFS template (I believe it's a file on the disk - it's not in the actual menu). As a test leave the partitions as it recommends, don't change anything. The template should set up everything properly and add the SFS to the RDB for you. I'm away from my Amiga's traveling the next few days but i can verify that for you on the weekend.

Another possible option is to install OS4 onto a normal IDE hard drive. After it's installed and working put the CF card as the slave device, try to format it and test it by copying files to it. If it works OK, you could then use MediaToolbox to add an RDB to it, add the 68K SFS file system to RDB, reboot, format the CF, copy over your OS4 install from the IDE hard drive....

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@HammerD

OK..I'll give it a go using a 40GB IDE HDD I've got lying around later.

The only reason I was not using the defaults is that I wanted to setup a dual-boot 4.0/3.9 system but I'm beginning to think that, if I can get it working with CF, I might just use 2 CF cards instead as they're removable without taking the lid off on my 4000.

Thanks for the tips Hammer!

Well using a standard IDE HDD I get a lot further but there is another problem that occurs right at the end after it reaches 100%

The text reads:

"No language preferences selected, you should do that after booting your system. Copying default preferences...
Error copying standard preferences files"

The only button available is Cancel which just aborts the installation.

Have tried the installation twice now and both time it fails on this step. I definitely select 'English' as the language so I don't quite know why it thinks I selected nothing.

I turned the machine off for > 10 secs and attempted to boot from the HDD to see if it would actually load anyway. The screen colours changed (blue then purple from memory) then I got some AmigaDOS messages:

:c-68k/version: Unknown command
:c-68k/version: Unknown command
:Installation-Support/BuildScreenModePrefs: Unknown command

and that's as far as it gets. The output from those commands is from the internal video. During install I was using the CVPPC video but, since rebooting, there is no output from the CSPPC. I chose the 1600x1200@76Hz option during installation so that may/may not be viewable on my DELL 2405FPW flat panel but it's not coming up as 'out of range' or anything..just no signal.

Last edited by dangermouse on 10-Dec-2009 at 08:29 AM.

@dangermouse

Well, at least I'm not the only one having problems installing on a classic.

Hope it all goes well for you mate.

Cheers

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@Gebrochen

Thanks Geb :) I must say..unless I'm just having shocking luck successfully installing OS4.0 classic seems more like a fluke than 'working as intended'.

Carrying on from my last post I reinstalled yet again but selected AGA instead of the CVPPC but got exactly the same results so I'm 100% certain 4.0 is failing to boot.

Interestingly though, just before I rebooted the machine at the end of the failed installation I thought I'd go and take a look at the Startup-Sequence it had created as part of the install. Upon attempting to open the file I got exactly the same error messages that I see when trying to boot 4.0 after a failed install.

@dangermouse

You have set the maprom option to OFF and ram to 70ns in the Cyberstorm PPC early startup menu? (Hold down ESC while turning on the Amiga). Just checking :)

The installation process has to finish fully because it copies those final settings at the very end so if it's not finishing that is why you are running into trouble. As to why it is not finishing ...I don't know. I installed OS 4.0 classic last week and it finished all the way. I will try again this weekend.

Not sure what else to suggest at this point - but if you have any other hardware in the machine (such as a kickflash or Deneb), remove it and try to reinstall.

I've had trouble with the Deneb in one of my A4000's. I have to disable the flashrom of the Deneb (by holding down left mouse button while turning on the Amiga) otherwise I get the power led flashing 3 times.

In my other machine the Deneb works fine. Go figure.

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@HammerD

Yes, the MapROM is disabled and RAM set to 70ns.

The 4000 is a reasonably bare machine really hardware wise - only things installed are the CSPPC, CVPPC and Indivision AGA. The Zorro slots are all unpopulated.

iv had allsorts of problems installing OS4.0 with CF cards. iv found sometimes even with 70ns ram setting and maprom off it still fail to install right and the end.

on my system found the problem to be the file system. switch to PFS now i have no problems whatsoever.

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@delshay

Never heard of PFS so I'd better do some research On that note though I might try it with FFS on the regular HDD. I'm not having CF issues as I've taken that out as per a suggestion above and am just using a regular IDE 3.5" HDD.

@dangermouse

Well weird....try FFS on normal IDE disk see what happens. Best to still use the template and start from an IDE disk that is totally blanked with no prior RDB etc.

I have had problems with old hard drives that have been used in the past in Amigas. Clean blank disk is your best bet I think.

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@HammerD

Tried FFS...same error at the end as per the SFS install and that was using the default OS 4.0 template

I don't get what's going on here. I would have thought this 4000 setup would be about the least you could possibly get away with for a 4.0 install. Not like it's chockablock full of weird and wonderful addons.

@dangermouse

It should work...I'm stumped. I've installed OS4.0 classic many times and with your pretty much standard config it should work. Try on scsi maybe?

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@HammerD

Well I went back to trying my CF card and SFS but this time I using the settings from KillerGorillaz guide (http://wiki.abime.net/amiga:killergorilla_sfs_winuae_realhdd).

This time I could get through the 'progress bar' of the install without any badblock errors which I haven't done before.

But..and I found this interesting but I've no idea why but it hints that 'something' is a bit weird...just as it was telling me I had not chosen a default language I got a checksum error again and the installer failed in the same place that it fails using a regular IDE HDD.

I would try SCSI but I don't have a SCSI HDD or a SCSI->IDE converter

@dangermouse

Can you post a screenshot of the error and exactly where it occurs? Also maybe one of your MediaToolbox partition setup, etc.

thnx

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@HammerD

Mmm...beginning to think this is a problem with my CD-ROM or, more likely, using a CD-ROM on the same bus as the CF card.

On a different tangent I installed WB3.1 from floppy (went fine) then went to install IDE-Fix to get 3.9 on (don't have an Emergency Disk as yet). Could not for the life of me get IDEFix on...the system just locked up during the install process or reported checksum errors on the CF. Tried every combination of Master/Slave for the CF card and LG DVD-DW with no success. Swapped out the LG for an older Sony DVD-RW and still no success. Pulled the CD-ROM out altogether and the system is running as sweet as a nut and has been for a few hours now loading games, programs etc without error.

So I'm going to give up on OS 4.0 (got 4.1 on the A1 anyway) and leave the CD-ROM out of the box. I can install WB, CyberGraphX, Miami etc with WinUAE and the rest I can do via ethernet so I don't really need a CD-ROM anymore.

Shame...I'd really like to have a 'complete' system but it looks like it isn't going to happen. I'm fairly sure I used the Sony DVD-RW a few years back in a 4000 without any trouble but now it's just giving me trouble. Only difference I can think of is switching to a 16GB CF as opposed to a regular IDE HDD I used to use.

So...to sum up..I'm almost 100% certain this is a problem caused by using my CF->IDE adapter on the same bus as a CD-ROM. Take the CD-ROM off the IDE cable and everything is smooth...put it on a random problems occur. Only thing I have noticed is that the HDD access LED is normally stuck in the 'lit' position when problems start to occur so I guess the bus has become corrupted somehow.

But all of that doesn't explain why the OS 4.0 install fails even with a regular IDE HDD ! Oh my head hurts but at least I've got a usable 3.9 4000 now (minus the CD-ROM).

Last edited by dangermouse on 13-Dec-2009 at 02:10 AM.

Felt like trying something else so I just picked up a Plextor PX-20TSi SCSI CD-ROM and attempted the install again onto a 4GB CF card.

Exactly the same problem - 'Error copying standard preferences files'.

So, I can confidently say that it has nothing to do with having an IDE CF card and IDE CD-ROM...SCSI CD-ROM fails as well.

I dare say Delshay is most likely on the money with the filesystem 'fix' although I'm just installing 4.0 for ####s and giggles and it's turning out to be more trouble than it's worth..back to 3.9 on the classic and 4.1 on the A1 for me.

Thanks for the help everyone.

try this do just one partition say 500Mb then try to install.

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