PCPro3 blank screen after many years of non use
Vanny
old SA RISC PC.
Since i last had in running i have moved from OS3.7 to OS 4.39SELECT,
from 42mb memory to around 258mb, and replaced the hard drive with a
3gb hd. I have formatted the HD with the tools that came with os 4.39
and happily have internet connection (netwurf) and numerous other
programs running happily.
As a result of the formatted HD i have had to reinstall the !PCPro
utility. I have opted for the most upto date version available (3.06)
and have patched the !PCConfig for use with OS 4.x, i have also
created a DOS partition/folder and copied in a boot disc.
Previously i think i have used !PC 2.6x or there abouts so the
interface is a little different and i might have simply forgotten to
do something. When i run PCPro i get a black screen, nothing more.
Sometimes on load i get a warning message allong the lines of 'PCPro
could not reset the card' and then it exits.
I have tried putting the old memory back in (no change) and i have
tried another, older 4x86 acorn card to which PCPro told me it could
not run.
Does anyone have any ideas as to the cause of the problem? Is there
anything i can do to resolve the issue? I do have a 710 main card, but
i can't see that helping.
Are there any sort of diagnostic programs to test connection and
functionality of the co-processor?
ajw...@yahoo.co.uk
> I have today plugged the 6x86 PC comprocessor CPU board back into my
> old SA RISC PC.
>
> Since i last had in running i have moved from OS3.7 to OS 4.39SELECT,
done!
> from 42mb memory to around 258mb, and replaced the hard drive with a
This may be (part of) the problem, though you say you've replaced the
old
memory. Not so much a matter of volume but of timing tolerances - you
will
probably get the best results with a SIMM which most closely matches
the RPC specifications. Or check whether the C32 modification has
been
done.
> 3gb hd. I have formatted the HD with the tools that came with os 4.39
> and happily have internet connection (netwurf) and numerous other
> programs running happily.
>
> As a result of the formatted HD i have had to reinstall the !PCPro
> utility. I have opted for the most upto date version available (3.06)
Good idea!
> and have patched the !PCConfig for use with OS 4.x, i have also
Can't think of any other requirements, though it's a while since I set
mine up.
> created a DOS partition/folder and copied in a boot disc.
Did you try booting from this partition or from a floppy? Not sure
that
simply copying across will create the same effect as "sys.com c:" or
"format /s c:" once running DOS.
>
> Previously i think i have used !PC 2.6x or there abouts so the
> interface is a little different and i might have simply forgotten to
> do something. When i run PCPro i get a black screen, nothing more.
> Sometimes on load i get a warning message allong the lines of 'PCPro
> could not reset the card' and then it exits.
Have you read the manual's guidance on setting config for timing,
caches,
etc? If you can get it into life with the most "bomb-proof" (usually
slowest) settings, you can then adjust for performance and see where
the critical point falls.
>
> I have tried putting the old memory back in (no change) and i have
> tried another, older 4x86 acorn card to which PCPro told me it could
> not run.
PCPro should run all x86 co-pros - perhaps the cache config was not
right for an older card.
>
> Does anyone have any ideas as to the cause of the problem? Is there
> anything i can do to resolve the issue? I do have a 710 main card, but
> i can't see that helping.
If it is a timing problem, using the ARM710 and one SIMM, with least
other "load" - i.e. a modest screen resolution, no podules, might do
the trick (at least enough to tell you whether the x86 is alive).
As above, check whether C32 (near the processor socket) has been
removed - further details in the Aleph1 website notes or search
comp.sys.acorn.hardware
>
> Are there any sort of diagnostic programs to test connection and
> functionality of the co-processor?
Not that I am aware of.
PCPro allows you to view the current config (while running) - if you
capture that and email me a copy, I could compare it to mine.
hth,
Andrew
Vanny
Andrew, armed with your guidance and advance i seem to have the thing
working as follows;
First test, load !pc with pc card removed, new error - no pc card
inserted - shows that !pc is finding something in the co processor
slot!
C32 has been removed, i think by CJE Micro's way back when.
Installed original (facotry supplied) 8mb ram into slot 0, along with
ARM710a, and 5x86 card back in
resulted in same issue, blank screen followed by 'PC card did no
reset'
Reinstalled Aleph 1 software, found 'PC SLEEP' had not been installed,
so that explains a few things.
From here i now had the 'BIOS' loading, but with an error 'ERROR at
address 00xxxxxxx: wrote xxxx read xxxy
repeated this 3 times with different addresses and read write issues.
Foruth time resulted in system crash of the co pro (blue dots on three
lines and nothing more)
Anyways, much playing later (multi reinstals, booting from floppy,
changing memory and primary processors) and i received a new error
message. 'ERROR ROM Failed checksum = xxxx (check cache settings in !
PCConfig)
Good good, telling me much much more.
I am now at a point where i am able to load !PC with almost all
regular settings (memory on full, scsi, high screen res) but i have
had to turn off EXTERNAL CACHE. If i change this to auto the whole
thing starts playing up again! A little annoying, i doubt i'll notice
much difference, but it is working again, i have even managed to boot
from floppy and access the HD.
Thanks for your help, and do you have any thoughts on what the
external cache setting issue is?
Andrew Wickham
Vanny <vanny...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>Well, that was fun!
>
>Andrew, armed with your guidance and advance i seem to have the thing
>working as follows;
>
>First test, load !pc with pc card removed, new error - no pc card
>inserted - shows that !pc is finding something in the co processor
>slot!
>
>C32 has been removed, i think by CJE Micro's way back when.
>
>Installed original (facotry supplied) 8mb ram into slot 0, along with
>ARM710a, and 5x86 card back in
> resulted in same issue, blank screen followed by 'PC card did no
>reset'
The manual confirms this is a hardware error message.
>Reinstalled Aleph 1 software, found 'PC SLEEP' had not been installed,
>so
that explains a few things.
>
>From here i now had the 'BIOS' loading, but with an error 'ERROR at
>address 00xxxxxxx: wrote xxxx read xxxy
>repeated this 3 times with different addresses and read write issues.
>Foruth time resulted in system crash of the co pro (blue dots on three
>lines and nothing more) >
>Anyways, much playing later (multi reinstals,
booting from floppy,
>changing memory and primary processors) and i received
a new error
>message. 'ERROR ROM Failed checksum = xxxx (check cache
settings in ! >PCConfig)
>
>Good good, telling me much much more.
>
>I am now at a point where i am able to load !PC with almost all
>regular settings (memory on full, scsi, high screen res) but i have
>had to turn off EXTERNAL CACHE. If i change this to auto the whole
>thing starts playing up again! A little annoying, i doubt i'll notice
>much difference, but it is working again, i have even managed to boot
>from floppy and access the HD.
>
>
>Thanks for your help, and do you have any thoughts on what the
>external cache setting issue is?
>
The manual says of the "ERROR ROM" message:
ROM failed checksum
(check your cache settings in !PCConfig?)
This error is almost always reported because you have told !PC
that you have a 512K cache on your card when you only have 128K.
You should quit !PC, load !PCConfig, go to the Advanced settings,
and change the cache setting to 128K
HTH,
Andrew
Chris Evans
Vanny <URL:mailto:vanny...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Well, that was fun!
>
> Andrew, armed with your guidance and advance i seem to have the thing
> working as follows;
>
> First test, load !pc with pc card removed, new error - no pc card
> inserted - shows that !pc is finding something in the co processor
> slot!
>
> C32 has been removed, i think by CJE Micro's way back when.
>
> Installed original (facotry supplied) 8mb ram into slot 0, along with
> ARM710a, and 5x86 card back in
> resulted in same issue, blank screen followed by 'PC card did no
> reset'
>
> Reinstalled Aleph 1 software, found 'PC SLEEP' had not been installed,
> so that explains a few things.
All PC Sleep does is put the 5X85 processor into a low power mode when not
in use.
If it hasn't been there for a long time then the CPU may well be cooked,
making it unreliable:-(
> From here i now had the 'BIOS' loading, but with an error 'ERROR at
> address 00xxxxxxx: wrote xxxx read xxxy
> repeated this 3 times with different addresses and read write issues.
> Foruth time resulted in system crash of the co pro (blue dots on three
> lines and nothing more)
>
> Anyways, much playing later (multi reinstals, booting from floppy,
> changing memory and primary processors) and i received a new error
> message. 'ERROR ROM Failed checksum = xxxx (check cache settings in !
> PCConfig)
>
> Good good, telling me much much more.
>
> I am now at a point where i am able to load !PC with almost all
> regular settings (memory on full, scsi, high screen res) but i have
> had to turn off EXTERNAL CACHE. If i change this to auto the whole
> thing starts playing up again! A little annoying, i doubt i'll notice
> much difference, but it is working again, i have even managed to boot
> from floppy and access the HD.
The original CJE 5x86 instructions have:
Notes
Level 1 settings for !PCx86
Some latter versions of the !PCconfig do not have a menu option for Cache settings, in these cases ensure that within the PC application that the file called 'Config' e.g. '!PCx86.Config' has the line at or near the bottom saying
L1Cache 2
CJE 5x86 133MHz with 512K Cache
No extra settings are required for using the larger cache. However you can set the level2 cache size explicitly (errors will occur if the size setting is incorrect). For PC Cards with 512K Cache, add in the Advanced section of !PC.config or !PCx86.config the following line:-
L2Size 512
(You should ensure that there is a carriage return at the end of the Line)
>
> Thanks for your help, and do you have any thoughts on what the
> external cache setting issue is?
If the card is dodgy we do have some new ones left!
http://www.cjemicros.co.uk/micros/individual/newprodpages/prodinfo.php?prodcode=CJE-133+PRO3+NL
Chris Evans
--
CJE Micro's / 4D 'RISC OS Specialists'
Telephone: 01903 523222 Fax: 01903 523679
ch...@cjemicros.co.uk http://www.cjemicros.co.uk/
78 Brighton Road, Worthing, West Sussex, BN11 2EN
The most beautiful thing anyone can wear, is a smile!
Andrew Wickham
Chris Evans <ch...@cjemicros.co.uk> wrote:
>
>The original CJE 5x86 instructions have:
>
>Notes
>
>Level 1 settings for !PCx86
>Some latter versions of the !PCconfig do not have a menu option for Cache settings, in these cases ensure that within the PC application that the file called 'Config' e.g. '!PCx86.Config' has the line at or near the bottom saying
>
>L1Cache 2
>
>CJE 5x86 133MHz with 512K Cache
>No extra settings are required for using the larger cache. However you can set the level2 cache size explicitly (errors will occur if the size setting is incorrect). For PC Cards with 512K Cache, add in the Advanced section of !PC.config or !PCx86.config the following line:-
>
>L2Size 512
>
>(You should ensure that there is a carriage return at the end of the Line)
>
and note that under PCPro 3.06 and later OS versions (such as the OP's 4.39)
the config files live in !Boot.Choices.Users.Single.PC.v306 and there may be
several. Replace "Single" with the username if you use one.
Or use the advanced setting facility in !PCConfig itself.
Rgds,
Andrew