Compact: blank screen after disk insert

[TurfMasta]

I'm using a homemade VGA cable on my Compact and I have some 3.5 disks I imaged.  I know the adapter works as I get the "insert disk" screen if there isnt a disk in.  But after I put in any game or system disk, the screen goes black.  Disk will stay inside and has the two green indicators, but no activity on the screen.

Ideas?

[papa_november]

What disks have you tried? If you hit the Interrupt button, do you get a crash message (normal at this stage of the boot process)?

[TurfMasta]

I have tried a few different HumanOS boot disks, Viewpoint and a couple of other BU games.  If I hit interrupt it does pop up a message, but I have no idea what it says.

[eidis]

 Does this happen when you try to boot from the second drive aswell ? It could be a bad connection between the signal wires and motherboard connectors. Try unplugging the floppy cable from motherboard and drives and reconnecting it. Hope this will help.

[TurfMasta]

When I put it in slot 1, it will spit it out and give me the slot 0 message.  I'll check the connections next and take a pic of the interrupt message if you think that will help.

Thanks guys

[papa_november]

What program/method are you using to write disks?

[TurfMasta]

This method:

http://nfggames.com/forum2/index.php?topic=3917.msg27229#msg27229

This is the only I have used that will not cause the system to eject the disks.

[TurfMasta]

Reinserted the floppy cables and even swapped the drives (yep, changed jumpers) and it still has the problem.  I guess I can see about putting a scsi drive on it and use eidis' hard drive image.  Any other hardware things I should think about, on IC level?

[eidis]

 Your challenge is discussed in the following posts. Hope that this will help.

http://nfggames.com/forum2/index.php?topic=3386.0
http://nfggames.com/forum2/index.php?topic=3810.0

[TurfMasta]

Thanks, but I am using a 3 mode drive.  Normally wouldnt the disk just eject if it wasnt formatted/imaged properly?

[Taka]

Hi,

Is "INTERNAL FDD NO." switch in the back of Compact set to "2 3"?

If it is not "0 1", Compact cannot be started.

http://a-draw.com/1/src/a-draw1_1480.jpg

[TurfMasta]

Hi,

Is "INTERNAL FDD NO." switch in the back of Compact set to "2 3"?

If it is not "0 1", Compact cannot be started.

http://a-draw.com/1/src/a-draw1_1480.jpg

Yeah I have it set to 0 1.  I also tried restoring the hard drive image and it too wouldnt boot the system.  I'm starting to think its busted..

[eidis]

Have you tried clearing SRAM and removing any additional hardware ?

[TurfMasta]

The only way I'm familiar with to clear the SRAM is to boot into the system first.  I am going to disassemble it today and find the battery for the sram and unplug.

EDIT: Found a battery below the volume pot.  Its reading about 0.9V

[eidis]

My ACE-HD battery reads 2.61 V. I have once successfully replaced a similar battery with CR2032.  The default X68000 battery is 3.6V (I think) and CR2032 is 3V. The socket can be scavenged from old and broken PC motherboards and the mounting pin positions are almost identical to those of battery so it's an easy mod.

http://matthieu.benoit.free.fr/images/CR2032_socket.jpg
http://www.diskhouse.net/computer_parts/projector/RF%20Laser%20Pointer/img/CR2032.jpg

Best of luck and keep us posted.

Eidis

[TurfMasta]

Still nothing.  Removed the battery and let it sit for over 12 hours.  Swapped the battery with a new one, formatted and imaged a HumanOS disk and symptoms continue.  Disk stays in system with green lights on floppy, black screen.



Here's a photo of what happens if I hit interrupt after i put a disk in.  The address changes between:
00FF6444
         6424
         643E
         6426
         6462
         6428

[eidis]

I once had similar symptoms and there were two causes for it.

First case was because the riser (that thingy where expansion cards are plugged in) did not have a firm contact with the motherboard. I reseated it and the computer started to boot.

The second one was bad floppy cable. The system accepted disks fine but would not boot and the screen was allways black. I took an old PC floppy cable, carefully removed the connectors from X68000 cable and crimped a new cable. You can buy an IDC crimping tool on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/IDC-IDS-Ribbon-Cable-Crimper-Crimping-Crimp-Tool-/130398748141?cmd=ViewItem&pt=BI_Electrical_Equipment_Tools&hash=item1e5c5efded

Alternatively you can try gently twisting and bending the floppy cable while your system is powered on and the floppy disk is inserted. If it is a bad connection, at some point it should start reading the disk. In my case it refused to boot even from HDD when there was no proper contact with the floppy drives.

Best of luck and keep us posted.

Eidis

[TurfMasta]

The compact doesn't have the regular IDC cables.  I have reseated just about everything I could and I am starting to give up.  For now at least.  I just got in a ACE HD that I am going to work on next.  Mainly since I already have several legit games and I am really ready to play on a real x68k.  I'll start a new thread with some questions I have on my ACE.  After I get the ACE working, I am going to see about getting a HD ready on it and transfer it over to my Compact.

Thanks guys for all the help.

[eidis]

Don't give up yet. There is still one thing you can try. Try replacing the large capacitors on the motherboard. I mean those in the range from 220uf - 2200uf. If you're up to the challenge, replace all of them. Sometimes it does wonders.

Eidis