TF536 Problems with Amiga and WHDLoad

[PaulJ_2.0]

I have received this board back this morning and installed it and ever since F/A 18 interceptor has been running with no issues at all in my Rev 8a.
This leaves me with two viable scenarios, either the buyers Rev8a is flaky or it could be the firmware. This is one that I had used the keeper firmware that runs really nice and cool, but I remember that @alenppc has issues with it.

@alenppc Do you remember if the problems you had are consistent with the buyers experience?
If so I may have to make a decision on whether or not to continue using this firmware or revert back, but no other people have mentioned any issues with their boards, so I dont know if it's worth worrying about to have the odd incompatible return. I could always offer them a free replacement/firmware upgrade.

[alenppc]

I have received this board back this morning and installed it and ever since F/A 18 interceptor has been running with no issues at all in my Rev 8a.
This leaves me with two viable scenarios, either the buyers Rev8a is flaky or it could be the firmware. This is one that I had used the keeper firmware that runs really nice and cool, but I remember that @alenppc has issues with it.

@alenppc Do you remember if the problems you had are consistent with the buyers experience?
If so I may have to make a decision on whether or not to continue using this firmware or revert back, but no other people have mentioned any issues with their boards, so I dont know if it's worth worrying about to have the odd incompatible return. I could always offer them a free replacement/firmware upgrade.

Offering support for A500 accelerators is a bloody nightmare, which is why I was so hesitant to start building these at all... My experiences with the TF530 were pretty awful in that regard, that I never really built the 534, and only reluctantly offered to build the 536s.

I have never flashed any of my boards with the keeper firmware since they seem to have issues on certain machines. But the issues wouldn't be what you are describing, the card would just freeze.

This kind of issue I have only had with CPUs that couldn't cope with the 50 mhz clock.

Also, different motherboard revisions also behave differently, it seems that the rev5 is the most stable/tolerant (will boot at 40, 43, 45 and 50 mhz) while the rev 6/8 are a bit more picky (only boots at 50).

If you are using a 1.5 mb slow-fast ram expansion, you should limit it to 1 mb, this can also cause WHDLoad to crash... That's what I can think of for now.

[PaulJ_2.0]

Well thanks for all that and yes I agree that the 500 is a pain, this is why I test in a rev5 rev6 and rev8a before selling.
The buyer has a rev8 so I am trying to replicate his problems, which I just cant seem to do.

Looks like it may well be one of those things

[alenppc]

Well thanks for all that and yes I agree that the 500 is a pain, this is why I test in a rev5 rev6 and rev8a before selling.
The buyer has a rev8 so I am trying to replicate his problems, which I just cant seem to do.

Looks like it may well be one of those things

It also helps to know if all games crash or only specific ones. I have someone with a CD32 that can't run any games at all, yet the card works perfectly on my 3 consoles. I sent him a different card and he's still got the same issues, so there is clearly something wrong with his CD32.

A defective CIA can cause some strange issues also... might be worth checking out.

[PaulJ_2.0]

Yes I should really find out which games were a problem.
I find that Colonization and F/A-18 Interceptor are the ones that will fall over fast for me if there is a problem and both of those seem faultless.
I will message him and find out.

Thanks again.

[duncan.gibb]

Howdy, sorry i haven't posted sooner, my health is a concern.

I would like to offer Paul a full and frank apology, There is a socket on there, it looks more slim fit than i remember, but it is there. The fitting of the CPU against it, is so close that i couldn't see it, unless i used a magnifier. it's just very snug. Paul has been very professional, and tried to help at every turn, was always polite, and i can't fault him at all. So, for that I am really sorry mate. my bad.

I had seen something similar with a Furia, that had an 020 25mhz part, clocked to 33mhz. I was getting errors saying i had corrupt files. It said the A500 ROM that's in the kickstart folder in Devs, was missing, yet it was there, and when i took the CF card out, and put it in another Amiga, there wasn't a grumble. I could run Frontier for hours, then quit it, try something, and it would crash. it was "just" on the edge of stable.

Again, I'm sorry. I'm 50, have diabetes, and eyesight like Mr.Magoo (it's a Scottish thing)

To replicate, i just put WB Classic on a 8GB CF card (PFS3), and just loaded WHDLoad games on the drive, and ran them from there, nothing fancy.

[PhilC]

@duncan.gibb thanks for sharing and for the public apology.

Hopefully it'll all get sorted in the end.

[PaulJ_2.0]

@duncan.gibb No worries pal, it's fine.
I hope your next card works fine for you.