ZIP GSX - Required Control Panel Settings?

[CC Rider]

I do not have one of these cards at the moment but was wondering if there are any required settings in the Control Panel in order for the card to work. For example, if the accelerator is in Slot 3 would I have to select "Your Card" in the Control Panel? I do not see anything about this in the ZIP GSX instruction manual.

[Antoine Vignau]

No, you do not have anything to change in the control panel.
av

[CC Rider]

On Tuesday, December 23, 2014 12:55:43 PM UTC-9, Antoine Vignau wrote:
> No, you do not have anything to change in the control panel.
> av

I didn't think so. I sold one in a recent auction to a buyer with a ROM 03 IIGS. He is not able to get the ZIP GSX working in slot 3. Blank screen. The red LED on the accelerator is lit, indicating power. I had him pull everything else but no success. I just sent him a replacement oscillator in hopes that will resolve the problem.

Any suggestions?

[Steven Hirsch]

On 12/23/2014 05:31 PM, CC Rider wrote:

> I sold one in a recent auction to a buyer with a ROM 03 IIGS. He is not
> able to get the ZIP GSX working in slot 3. Blank screen. The red LED on
> the accelerator is lit, indicating power. I had him pull everything else
> but no success. I just sent him a replacement oscillator in hopes that
> will resolve the problem.
>
> Any suggestions?

Maybe a marginal power supply? Also, worth asking him to take a very close
look where the cable plugs into the CPU socket - it's just too easy to be
slightly misaligned and bend a pin under the plug.

[gid...@sasktel.net]

The same old trouble shooting routine. What does he have for a memory card? My ZipGS would not work with the 8 Meg Sirius but works ok with 4 meg and 1.5 meg. Which was more than likely due to power consumptioin.

Try booting into Prodos 8 instead of GSOS and do a speed test before doing anything else. GSOS uses interrupts that can freeze the display screen. A ZipGX working under Prodos 8 would indicate that all pins are aligned correctly and the processor is working properly. Although, the power light should indicate that as well.

Pull all other cards except memory to rule out conflicts.
When booting into GSOS, hold down the shift key so desk acc's and extensions in the System setup directory do not boot up.

[CC Rider]

My first thought was the power supply. He has no alternate system or spare unit.

He seemed confident that the pins were all aligned correctly.

I had him pull his memory card and SCSI card. Same result.

I will suggest the SHIFT key on GSOS startup. He tried several different GSOS bootup disks.

Would a bad crystal cause the black screen?

[CC Rider]

Incidentally, the card worked fine in my ROM 01 system. No issues. It's possible the crystal went bad in transit. Not the first time that's happened.

Are there any Control Panel settings that might cause an issue? A web search yielded very little.

[Sean Fahey]

Spread the pins slightly. The CPU socket is only good for a few insertions/extractions before contact is sub-optimal. This is especially a problem if the Zip has a 'Bill Shuff' style replacement cable. If it's the original cable, be very careful with the pins as they are extremely fragile.

Make sure the switches are set to the correct cache size. If the memory is set wrong, the Zip won't function.

[Christopher G. Mason]

On 12/24/2014 11:54 AM, Sean Fahey wrote:
> Spread the pins slightly. The CPU socket is only good for a few insertions/extractions before contact is sub-optimal. This is especially a problem if the Zip has a 'Bill Shuff' style replacement cable. If it's the original cable, be very careful with the pins as they are extremely fragile.
>
> Make sure the switches are set to the correct cache size. If the memory is set wrong, the Zip won't function.
>

Yeah, the Shuff cable is great.... until the socket gets all bent out.
That would explain why my TWGS is so wonky even running at the stock
7Mhz. Bad crystals will cause a no boot or garbage filled video. In an
extreme case I had a bad crystal short the power supply (it would chirp
like a bird when installed).

[CC Rider]

Thanks for the tips. I will have him check all the pins. I also suggested he get a low-profile 40-pin ZIF socket to help with better contact.

[gid...@sasktel.net]

> Would a bad crystal cause the black screen?

It would not have gone bad unless he touched it without grounding himself, causing an ESD discharge.

An overclocked crystal will also cause a blank screen on some IIGS's but not others.

Use an eraser to clean the contacts on the ZipGX card that goes into the slot. This will clean off any oxidation on the contacts. And with the power off and unplugged, use a small screwdriver to lightly bend all the contacts in the slot slightly inward towards the center of the slot to make a better contact.

Also make sure the connector with the small pins that goes into the cpu socket is pushed ALL the way down and flush. If one side is lifted slightly, this puts the pins on an angle and may not make a connection. This happened to me once. Gave me a scare, thought I fried my ZipGS card.

The only setting in the Control Panel is the slow/fast speed. Set it to slow causes the ZipGX to run at the 1 Mhz speed and may work.

As the OP suggested, check all the dip swithces on the card that all are set correctly and none got out of alignment and are sitting half way.

Other than that, he may have to send it back to you for further testing. He may have caused an ESD that may have harmed a component.

If it works on your computer, then most like his power supply was the issue.