Amiga 3000
Technical Reference Information
A quick preface to this guide. Even though own and run an Amiga 2000, this document impressed me so much with it's completeness for the machine that I wanted to make it readily available for everyone. The only changes I made to this doucment were to spruce it up a bit and tweak it to fit into my site. My hat goes off to Calum Tsang. I would like to see a document like this for my A2000. Hint. Hint.
Commodore Amiga 3000 Hardware Technical Notes Revision 2
written and compiled by Calum Tsang - July 1998
--------------------------------------------------------
Introduction - Overview of the A3000
Jumpers / NVRAM - Settings and References
Memory - Memory Expansion
Boards - Expansion Boards
Floppies - Floppy Drives
SCSI - Hard Drives / SCSI Interface
Deinterlacer - Display Enhancer
Monitors - Video Signals / Display Devices
Problems - Common Questions and Answers
Credits - Contributors
Neat Stuff - History and Trivia
-------------------------------------------------------
The latest revision should be available at
http://www.ecf.utoronto.ca/~tsangc
Introduction
This document was written with the contributions of many UseNet
Amiga users who sent in ideas, comments and tips regarding the hardware of
the Amiga 3000 computer. If you have any changes or additions, please
email them to me here. These technical notes are intended
for both desktop and tower models of the A3000, but where no differences
are noted, you should assume the same for both setups.
System Overview
The Amiga 3000 was designed as the third generation high
performance Amiga system by Commodore around 1988-89. Unveiled in 1990
with much fanfare, (even a BYTE Magazine cover article) the A3000
incorporates a high performance Motorola 68030 CPU at 16 or 25 MHz, and
MC68881/16 or 882/25 floating point coprocessor into a full 32 bit system
architecture with 32 bit memory access. In comparison to Intel systems,
the A3000's 68030 is about on par with a 80386.
The A3000 also debuted several new innovations, including the ECS
chipset with programmable resolutions, the ECS 8375 Agnus for 2MB of CHIP
memory, an integrated SCSI controller, onboard sockets for 16MB of FAST RAM
and Zorro III slots. Furthermore, its Display Enhancer, a flicker fixing
system which scandoubles and deinterlaces 15 Khz signals allowed for steady
output at VGA frequencies. All this was encased in a small, workstation
like desktop case.
Later, the A4000 models were produced, but they share a great deal
of similarity to the A3000 series-their system architecture is based on
the A3000 design.
Five main models of the A3000 were produced:
Amiga 3000/16 - 68030/16 CPU and 68881/16 FPU
Amiga 3000/25 - 68030/25 CPU and 68882/25 FPU
Amiga 3000UX - 68030/25 CPU and 68882/25 FPU
-Amiga 3000/25 with 1.4 Softkick ROM and AMIX,
CBM's SVR UNIX port, sometimes with A3070 tape drive,
and A2410 TMS34010 hires graphics board.
Amiga 3000T - 68030/25 CPU and 68882/25 FPU
-Tower configuration with more slots.
Amiga 3000T40 - 68040/25 CPU and integral FPU
-Tower configuration, but with A3640 CPU board, some
missing 68030 motherboard CPUs.
The Amiga 3000T, a floor standing tower configuration, basically
used the same technology as the A3000 desktop. Major differences include
vastly improved expansion, such three externally accessible half height 5
inch drive bays, and four PC AT slots. The A3000T40, which interestingly
has a different case colouring than the beige of the A3000 line to match
the A4000 line, was the first system to use the A3640 040/25 CPU module,
which was not shipped in the A3000 desktop because of heat considerations.
TOP
Jumpers
The A3000 motherboard has many jumpers which configure the system.
Excepted from a UseNet post:
313311 313311 313311 313311
Jumper Pins -01 -02 -03 -04 Function
_________________________________________________________________
J100 4 2-3 2-3 1-2 1-2 Quadrature Clock Phasing
J101 3 2-3 2-3 2-3 2-3 FPU Clock Source
J102 3 2-3 2-3 2-3 2-3 System Clook Source
J103 4 3-4 3-4 3-4 3-4 FPU CS/BERR
J104 3 1-2 1-2 1-2 1-2 CPU Clook Source
J151 3 2-3 2-3 1-2 1-2 ROM Timing
J180 3 2-3 2-3 2-3 2-3 ROM Timing
J181 3 2-3 2-3 2-3 2-3 A2000 ROM Comp. Jmpr.
J200 3 1-2 2-3 1-2 2-3 A2000 ROM Comp. Jmpr.
J350 3 1-2 1-2 1-2 1-2 Tick Clock Source
J351 3 2-3 2-3 2-3 2-3 Disable DF1: (1-2 enable)
J352 3 2-3 2-3 2-3 2-3 Light Pen Source
J481 3 2-3 2-3 2-3 2-3 VDE Scan Doubler only jmpr.
J482 3 1-2 1-2 1-2 1-2 VDE PLL Loop Adjust.
J483 3 - - - - VDE Factory test points.
J800 3 1-2 1-2 1-2 1-2 WD33C93 Speed
J851 3 1-2 1-2 2-3 2-3 RAM Controller speed jmpr.
J852 5 4-5 4-5 4-5 4-5 -012A Ramsey only (see notes)
J853 3 2-3 2-3 2-3 2-3 -012A Ramsey only (see notes)
*Notes:*
J150, J151: ROM Timing
The Rom timing circuit provides four different speed settings to
match the output enable and access timing of the system ROMs.
To set the jumpers, determine the output enable time and access times
for the ROMs you wish to use. The ROM must have lower value than for
the setting you select.
System standard ROMs have T(oe)=110ns, and T(acc)=250ns.
CLK J151 J150 T(oe)min T(acc)min
16 MHz 2-3 2-3 157ns 250ns
16 2-3 1-2 220 312
16 1-2 2-3 282 375
16 1-2 1-2 345 437
25 MHz 2-3 2-3 90ns 160ns
25 2-3 1-2 130 200
25 1-2 2-3 170 240
25 1-2 1-2 210 280
J180, J181: ROM Compatibility jumpers
J180 J181
A2000/A500 ROMs 1-2 1-2
A3000 ROMs 2-3 2-3
J851-J853 RAM Controller compatibility settings
J852 J853
-012 Ramsey w/256Kx4 RAMs 4-5 2-3
Later Ramseys w/256Kx4RAMs 2-3 1-2
Later Ramseys w/1Mx4 RAMs 1-2 1-2
See also, ROM Timing Issues
NVRAM
The A3000 also has a NVRAM configuration which is powered by the
same battery which the clock is. It supports the setup of the following:
SCSI Controller ID: This places the onboard SCSI controller
at a specific ID location, 7 by default.
You can change this to something else,
to get a device at 7, but be careful
of conflicting the SCSI controller and the
device addresses.
Long SCSI Timeout: This slows the boot process for SCSI
drives, for those units which take longer
to spin up and be ready.
Synchronous SCSI: This enables Synchronous SCSI mode,
which can speed access on some drives.
This is fully operational on Kickstart 3.1.
Multiple LUNs Mode: This enables multiple LUN's, which allows
for multiple drives at each address.
These options can be toggled using various freeware programs
available on the Aminet file archive on the Internet. SCSIPrefs
(Aminet:hard/drivr/SCSIPrefs.lha) is one of them, but there are many
others. Some things to note: It's a better idea to get a Prefs program
that is simple, basic and doesn't use any OS extensions like MUI, as if
you accidentally set something wrong and your system doesn't boot, it'll
be easier to load your basic Prefs program than something which requires
all of MUI. Why do I write this? A friend did this and had to install a
base MUI setup, taking many extra hours.
TOP
Memory
There are three main types of memory for the A3000, CHIP, FAST and
FAST external memory. Of them, the A3000 supports 2MB of CHIP and up to 16
MB of FAST on the motherboard. External FAST memory usually resides on a
Zorro expansion card or a FAST slot accelerator.
For CHIP RAM, every A3000 desktop ships with 1MB soldered on the
motherboard. There are 8 sockets for another 1MB. Many A3000
configurations shipped with 1MB of FAST memory installed, which were
intended to be moved to these CHIP sockets later on.
Fast RAM on the A3000 desktop is added via 32 sockets for ZIP
package DRAM. These chips are pretty hard to find, and most of the time,
other A3000 owners sell them into the used market. One suggested source
was from companies that sell ZIP RAM for Sinclair QL accelerators (A
British PC), such as from Qbranch: PO Box 7, Portslade East Sussex,
BN41 2ND, England ([email protected]). This was suggested by
Simon Goodwin, who lives in the UK. Other sources of ZIP RAM include
desoldering them from old A2620/30 accelerators and the Commodore CDTV,
both of which use the lower density 256Kx4 chips. Of course, you'd have
to scavenge four CDTV's to get a usable bank of 4MB, assuming you didn't
burn out any chips from the desoldering process. Two variations of
these ZIPs exist: Page Mode and Static Column. SC ZIPs have the advantage
of being 10% faster, but Page Mode ZIPs are more compatible with the A3640
040 CPU board with 2.04 ROMs (as opposed to 3.1 ROMs which use SC fine),
and also fit into the A2386 Bridgeboard and run faster in that. Page
Modes are also slightly cheaper.
In general, you must fill out the entire bank with chips, and the
lower the speed the better. The given speeds are minimum guidelines
specified by Commodore. Anything past 70 ns is needlessly fast though.
Chip RAM for Amiga 3000 Desktop
Via the U267-U274 DIP package sockets...
Density Name Package Speed Pcs/Bnk Banks/Total
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
256Kbit x 4 44256 20 pin DIP 120ns 8 1/1MByte
These can be either Static Column or Page Mode access type DRAMs.
It does not matter which type, there is no speed degredation. These are
very common chips, and you can find them on older VGA boards for PCs.
They're also the same kind used on the A2091 RAM and SCSI board. Chip RAM
autoconfigures without jumpers.
Fast RAM for Amiga 3000
Via the U850D-U857D DIP package Bank 0 Sockets...
256Kbit x 4 20 pin DIP 80ns 8 1/1MByte
1Mbit x 4 20 pin DIP 80ns 8 1/4MBytes
Via the U850-U881 ZIP package Bank 0-3 Sockets...
256Kbit x 4 20 pin ZIP 80ns 8 4/4MBytes
1Mbit x 4 20 pin ZIP 80ns 8 4/16MBytes
These should all either be Static Column or Page Mode.
As noted above, some A3000's shipped with 1MByte of FAST memory in
DIP package, waiting to be transplanted into the sockets for CHIP RAM, once
more FAST RAM was installed. Those FAST memory sockets are the U850D-U857D
20 pin DIP places, Bank 0. This bank is electrically mapped to Bank 0
U850-U857, 20 pin ZIP sockets. As a result, one can make a three megabyte
A3000 configuration by putting 256Kbit x 4 chips into the FAST RAM DIP
sockets without buying ZIPs. Or a six meg setup, using 1MBit x 4 chips.
The DIP FAST sockets cannot be used with the ZIP sockets all together, as
the two Bank 0 areas are basically pinned to each other (as noted by the
same component numbers, one set with a D for DIP). One could have 4MBytes
of DIPs for FAST, then another 12MBytes of FAST in ZIPs placed into Banks
1-3, but not 4MBytes in the DIP area and 16MBytes in all four ZIP banks.
256Kbit and 1Mbit banks cannot be mixed. One cannot have 4MBytes of
1Mbit chips, and then 1MByte via another bank of 256Kbit chips. Of
course, one can't mix individual chips either! All four banks are either
low or high density banks.
Jumper J852 selects the size of the RAM, and 1-2 designates 1Mbit
sizing. 2-3, further from the arrowhead, denotes 256Kbit.
Tower A3000
For the A3000T, CHIP RAM is in ZIP package, but they're 256Kbit x 4.
The FAST RAM is in similar configuration at the same locations.
SIMM Adapters
A number of sources for ZIP to SIMM converter boards have popped up
and are often discussed on Usenet and elsewhere, on web pages. These
little boards have machine legs which fit into the ZIP sockets and give 72
pin SIMM sockets for adding memory. Be aware that most, if not all, SIMM
RAM is Page Mode.
FAST External Memory
As mentioned above, FAST External Memory resides on Zorro expansion
cards, or FAST slot expansion cards. 16 bit RAM boards made for the
A2000 in general will work fine in an Amiga 3000 system, but as the main
68030 CPU is 32 bit, anything stored in this 16 bit segment will be slowly
accessed, compared to the 32bit motherboard memory.
32 bit RAM boards will most likely utilize the Zorro III bus. An
example would be the DKB3128, which has four SIMM sockets, and also the
PP&S ProRAM 3000, which is no longer made.
TOP
Introduction
The Amiga 3000 desktop can hold a total of four Zorro II or III 100 pin
expansion cards. Two are inline with PC AT type slots, for use with a
Bridgecard, and another is inline with a video slot, similar to the A2000's
video slot. The Zorro slots are similar to the Amiga 2000's, but with the
Zorro III mode, which certain boards can automatically detect and utilize.
The PC AT slots are powered, for use with nonintelligent cards like fan
cards and TBC cards for video work, but cannot be accessed electronically
from the Amiga without the use of a Bridgecard or similar device. Having the
slots overlap is troublesome, as you have to juggle boards and carefully
select boards for your machine. Heat and ventilation concerns should also be
considered, as the cards go in sideways onto a daughterboard which then fits in
vertically onto the A3000 motherboard.
In general, any board that you can use with the A2000, should work
fine with the A3000. Obviously, certain attributes of the A3000 will
affect the board's performance. For instance, the physical mounting of the
cards in the case may be troublesome for hard cards which usually mount
vertically. Or the video slot, which has a slightly different bracket. As
a result of this, the VideoToaster 2000 board does not fit without sawing
the frame for Input 1. Heat will be a big concern.
Other problems arise with the 32 bit nature of the A3000, with
all of it's onboard devices. The A2091 A2000 SCSI controller is a good
example: In an A2000, it is accessed by the name "scsi.device". This is
also the device name used by the A3000's onboard WD33C93 SCSI controller.
When you slot a A2091 into a A3000, the device name magically turns into
"2nd_scsi.device". RAM boards, the 16 bit kind for the A2000, are put into
the memory pool of the A3000, but will run a lot slower compared to the
system's normal 32 bit FAST RAM. There are a few boards that absolutely
will not work in an A3000.
There are a few technical differences which may cause incompatibilities
between A2000 and A3000, but they shouldn't pose too many problems. They are
noted in the Third Edition of the Amiga Hardware Reference Manual.
There is one more slot on the Amiga 3000, and that is the FAST
slot, or CPU Direct slot. This allows for high performance expansion for a
new CPU, such as an accelerator board. This is similar to the Amiga 4000's
FAST slot.
This is listing of expansion boards and other devices which can fit
in an Amiga 3000. Also included are the compatibilities of each product,
and possible fixes, from Usenet posters. We (myself and the posters)
cannot be held responsible for inaccurate information here.
Product Name: A2058 / 16 bit 8MByte Memory Card
Manufacturer: Commodore
Mode: Zorro II
Comments: Runs fine, 16 bit access is obviously slower.
User: Calum Tsang ([email protected])
Product: A2060, Arcnet board
Manufacturer: CBM
Mode: Zorro II
Comments: needs fixed a2060.device, available from Aminet.
User: Ralf R. Radermacher ([email protected])
Product Name: A2065 / Ethernet Board
Manufacturer: Commodore
Mode: Zorro II
Comments: Works.
User: Mike Cheng ([email protected])
Product Name: A2088 / XT Hardware Emulator
Manufacturer: Commodore
Mode: Zorro II
Comments: Works. Turn 030 caching off.
User: Calum Tsang ([email protected])
Product: A2232 / 7 Port Multi Serial Board
Manufacturer: CBM
Mode: Zorro II
Comments: No probs here.
User: Ralf R. Radermacher ([email protected])
Product Name: A2286 / AT Hardware Emulator
Manufacturer: Commodore
Mode: Zorro II
Comments: Works. Turn 030 caching off. Has a sandwich board
that fits on the main card, taking up a slot.
User: Calum Tsang ([email protected])
Product Name: A2300 / Internal NTSC Genlock
Manufacturer: Commodore
Mode: Video Slot
Comments: Works, except deinterlacer output has glitches from NTSC sync.
You may need a steady sync source for powering up.
User: Calum Tsang ([email protected])
Product Name: A2410 / Hires Graphics Board TMS34010 TIGA
Manufacturer: Commodore
Mode: Zorro II
Comments: Works fine, slow in moving data to board. Use EGSA2410.
User: Calum Tsang ([email protected])
Comments: Registered CyberGraphX contains an A2410 driver, which is
faster than EGS, but still slow.
User: Jvrg Raftopoulos ([email protected])
Product Name: A3640 / 68040 Processor Card
Manufacturer: Commodore
Mode: FAST Slot
Comments: Runs hot, has many chip revision problems.
User: Calum Tsang ([email protected])
Product Name: A4091 / SCSI2 Controller
Manufacturer: Commodore / DKB
Mode: Zorro III
Comments: Works with Buster11, but not with a 3640.
User: Simon N Goodwin ([email protected])
Product Name: AmigaNet 1.1 / 10Base2 and AUI Ethernet Board
Manufacturer: Hydra Systems
Mode: Zorro II
Comments: Works fine, no problems.
User: Calum Tsang ([email protected])
Product Name: Ariadne / Ethernet Board
Manufacturer: MacroSystems
Mode: Zorro II
Comments: Working fine in A3000T
User: Daniel Tartavel ([email protected])
Comments: Working fine in A3000/25 desktop, with Rev 6, 7, 11 Buster.
User: Jvrg Raftopoulos ([email protected])
Product Name: Cybervision 64/3D / RTG Graphics Board
Manufacturer: Phase 5 Digital Products
Mode: Zorro II/III
Comments: If original 68030 is used, Cybergraphics Driver
works only in Zorro II mode; with a rework on
the daughterboard and the tool "Enforcer" installed.
Picasso96 driver works in both (Zorro II/III) fine!
User: Mario Brammen ([email protected])
Product: Cyberstorm 040/060 Mk I / 040/060 Accelerator Board
Manufacturer: Phase 5 Digital Products
Mode: FAST Slot
Comments: Too tall to fit in A3000 desktop FAST slot.
User: Simon Goodwin ([email protected])
Product: Cyberstorm 060/50 Mk II / 060 50 MHz Accelerator Board
Manufacturer: Phase 5 Digital Products
Mode: FAST Slot
Comments: No probs, optional SCSI plug-i module (CyberSCSI)
needs wire bridge from U301 to pin 87 (?) of FAST slot
CyberSCSI is a bad mechanical fit in 3000T and won't
fit at all in an A3000 desktop
User: Ralf R. Radermacher ([email protected])
User: Simon Goodwin ([email protected])
User: Tristan Fletcher ([email protected])
Product Name: Delfina Classic / DSP 16 bit Audio Card
Manufacturer: Petsoff Limited Partnership
Mode: Zorro II
Comments: Works fine, except required adjustment of slot,
and adjustments to card from manufacturer.
Board believes it has crashed occassionally.
User: Johnny C. Kitchens ([email protected])
Product Name: Emplant Deluxe / Emulation Board
Manufacturer: Utilities Unlimited
Mode: Zorro II
Comments: Works fine, with e586 Module as well.
User: Greg Brown ([email protected])
Product Name: FastLane Z3 / SCSI2 Controller and RAM board
Manufacturer: Phase 5 Digital Products
Mode: Zorro III
Comments: requires rev 11 buster which doesn't work in A3000/16, 9.03
User: Johnny C. Kitchen ([email protected])
Product Name: GoldenGate 2+ / PC Expansion Adapter
Manufacturer: Software Results
Mode: Zorro II / PC AT
Comments: Running fine with PC serial UART and modem cards
http://www.infinet.com/~erd/GG2/
User: Robert Davis ([email protected])
Product Name: GVP G-Force 040/40
Manufacturer: GVP
Mode: FAST Slot
Comments: No problems in 3000T
User: Tristan Fletcher ([email protected])
Product Name: ioExtender / Dual Serial and Parallel Port Board
Manufacturer: GVP
Mode: Zorro II
Comments: Works fine, no problems. (non ROM version)
User: Calum Tsang ([email protected])
Product Name: AmigaNet 1.1 / 10Base2 and AUI Ethernet Board
ISDN-Master II / internal passive ISDN TA and Telephone
Manufacturer: BSC
Mode: Zorro II
Comments: Working fine in A3000/25 Desktop with Rev 6,7,11 Busters.
User: Jvrg Raftopoulos ([email protected])
Product Name: Live 2000! / Framegrabber/Video Digitizer
Manufacturer: ASquared Development
Mode: Zorro II
Comments: Requires PAL upgrade for Zorro III timing, and Kick 1.3.
I could not get the old revision PALs on a Live running.
A3000 revision PALs have "A3000" silkscreened on them.
User: Calum Tsang ([email protected])
Product: Maestro (non-Pro version) / Sound Card
Manufacturer: MacroSystem Germany
Mode: Zorro II
Comments: Input-only version of the later Maestro Pro.
User: Ralf R. Radermacher ([email protected])
Product: Mandala/Interactor / Virtual World Performance System
Manufacturer: Vivid Group / Very Vivid
Mode: Zorro II
Comments: Mandala uses a set of boards, including the Live! 2000
A2232 or ASDG DualSerial, as well as external devices.
The only one that poses a real problem is the Live!
which requires correct PAL revisions.
User: Calum Tsang ([email protected])
Product: Merlin II / RTG Graphics Board
Manufacturer: XPert (defunct), ongoing S/W support by ProDev (Germany)
Mode: Zorro III
Comments: No probs but runs extremely hot, slightly oversized
and shouldn't be mounted in the bottom slot
of a 3000 desktop (risk of short-circuit from
solder side to chassis)
User: Ralf R. Radermacher ([email protected])
Product Name: MultifaceCard 3
Manufacturer: BSC
Mode: Zorro II
Comments: Works up to 115,200 baud but not MIDI 31,250.
GVP IO can go faster and has less interrupt
overhead, but MFC3 has far more supporting
software for the parallel port.
User: Simon N Goodwin ([email protected])
Product: Oktagon 2008, SCSI controller
Manufacturer: BSC
Mode: Zorro II
Comments: No probs.
User: Ralf R. Radermacher ([email protected])
Product Name: Personal TBC / Time Base Corrector
Manufacturer: Digital Processing Systems
Mode: XT
Comments: Works, but if you are overloading your bus, the TBC
may not work properly. Try removing cards to test for
too much draw on the power supply.
User: Calum Tsang ([email protected])
Product: Piccolo / RTG EGS Graphics Board
Manufacturer: Ingenieurbuero Helfrich (defunct)
Mode: Zorro III
Comments: No probs.
User: Ralf R. Radermacher ([email protected])
Product Name: Picasso II / RTG Graphics Board
Manufacturer: VillageTronic
Mode: Zorro II
Comments: Works fine.
User: Greg Brown ([email protected])
Product Name: ProRam 3000
Manufacturer: Progresive Peripherals & Software
Mode: Zorro III
Comments: Works fine with Buster 7, but not with Buster 11.
User: Ezequiel Partida ([email protected])
Product Name: Retina Z2 / RTG Graphics Board
Manufacturer: MacroSystem Germany
Mode: Zorro II
Comments: Works fine, but very slow. No CGX support.
User: Mario Brammen ([email protected])
Product Name: Retina Z3 / RTG Graphics Board
Manufacturer: MacroSystem Germany
Mode: Zorro III
Comments: Works fine, in 3000T.
User: Brian King ([email protected])
Comments: Works fine in A3000/25 desktop, with Rev 6, 7, 11 busters.
User: Jvrg Raftopoulos ([email protected])
Product Name: Spectrum Z3 / RTG Graphics Board
Manufacturer: GVP
Mode: Zorro II/III
Comments: No problems with older buster.
User: Mike Cheng ([email protected])
Product Name: SupraRAM 2000 / 16 bit 8MB Memory Expansion Board
Manufacturer: Supra Corporation
Mode: Zorro II
Comments: Works fine, access to 16 bit RAM is obviously slower.
User: Calum Tsang ([email protected])
Product Name: SupraSCSI-WordSync / Zorro II SCSI Adapter
Manufacturer: Supra Corporation
Mode: Zorro II
Comments: Works slow, but works with Mustek scanner.
User: Mario Brammen ([email protected])
Product Name: Toccata16 / 48 KHz 16 bit Audio Card
Manufacturer: MacroSystem Germany
Mode: Zorro II
Comments: Runs fine.
User: Calum Tsang ([email protected])
Product Name: VideoToaster 2000 / Switcher/SEG/CG/Paintbox
Manufacturer: NewTek Incorporated
Mode: Video Slot
Comments: Requires cutting of chassis to fit, v1.0 software does not
work with SuperDenise chip. v2.0 fixes this.
User: Calum Tsang ([email protected])
Product Name: VideoToaster 4000 / Switcher/SEG/CG/Paintbox
Manufacturer: NewTek Incorporated
Mode: Video Slot
Comments: Has flippable connector bracket for easy installation.
Also works in A2000/4000. NewTek recommends case to be on.
User: Calum Tsang ([email protected])
Product: VLAB / Framegrab video digitizer
Manufacturer: Macrosystem Germany
Mode: Zorro II
Comments: No probs.
User: Ralf R. Radermacher ([email protected])
Product Name: VLAB Motion / Motion JPEG Nonlinear Editing Card
Manufacturer: MacroSystem Germany
Mode: Zorro II
Comments: Runs hot, 1.3 version board has least troubles.
User: Calum Tsang ([email protected])
Product Name: Warp Engine 3028 / 040 28 Mhz Accelerator
Manufacturer: MacroSystem Development US
Mode: FAST Slot
Comments: Works fine. Physically mount carefully.
User: Calum Tsang ([email protected])
Product Name: Warp Engine 3040 / 040 40 Mhz Accelerator
Manufacturer: MacroSystem Development US
Mode: FAST Slot
Comments: Works fine in A3000/16.
User: Johnny C. Kitchen ([email protected])
Mail more working board experiences to me!
Product Name:
Manufacturer:
Mode:
Comments:
User:
TOP
Floppies
The A3000 has two mounting locations for internal floppy drives.
These are custom designed for the Chinon FB354 and FB/FZ357A, which the
front panel LED and eject button are specific. The slimline models of the
high density drives may require some tinkering to fit properly. Factory
configured, the first internal drive is the one to the left. Of course,
this can vary. An unused bay, or one occupied by an hard disk, should be
covered with the custom moulded textured front cover part.
See also, Case-Eject Buttons and Cover Panels
The two models from Commodore are the A3010, the Chinon FB354,
880KByte double density, and the A3015, the Chinon FB/FZ357A, 1.76MByte
high density. Note this is not the FZ357, without the A designation. The
FZ357A was designed specifically for Commodore and is out of production,
the FZ357 is actually still in active production and is found in many PC
clones. It is not compatible with the slow spin rate required by the Amiga
custom chipset.
There has been much talk about modifying PC high density industry
standard drives to work by dividing the motor control output with a flip flop
or something similar. No definitive plans have showed up. The easiest way
is to acquire a third party model or a used A2015/3015/4015.
All drives should be jumpered as DS0, Drive 0. This is contrary
to PC convention, where all drives are DS1. DF0:, the first Amiga floppy,
is set as DS0, on a connector without the flip in the cable. The second
floppy, DF1: should be on the connector with a flip in the cable, but still
set as DS0. Power is supplied from the mini 4 pin floppy power connector,
and the drive is secured to the drive tray with a set of screws.
To set the machine for two internal drives, remember to jumper the
motherboard accordingly:
See also, Jumpers
TOP
SCSI Interface
The A3000 benefits from a DMA SCSI adapter, based around the
Western Digital WDC33C93 Narrow SCSI1 chip. It can accomodate a variety of
peripherals and storage, including SCSI flatbed scanners, CDRoms, and hard
disks. An A3000's hard disk is usually interfaced through the SCSI port.
While there are two physical ports, a 50 pin header connector internally,
and a DB25 Macintosh Plus style port externally, it is the same bus
electrically.
The A3000 should be interfaced in the following manner:
------ | ------ ------
T--|extdev|--...-+-| SCSI |-...--|intdev|---T
------ | ------ ------
Devices are placed in daisychain fashion, with cables going both
externally and internally. However somewhere on this chain, the SCSI
adapter is present.
See also, Warren Block's SCSI Examples guide available around the
Internet and often posted to Usenet newsgroups. One place to get it is:
http://www.nationalamiga.com/t-SCSIExamples.html
ID Numbers
It is generally recommended to put removable drives like CDRom and
Syquests with a higher ID number. The adapter itself is Unit 7. This is
adjustable using various NVRAM settings.
See also, See also, Jumpers for how to set
NVRAM options.
Cabling
Cabling should follow SCSI specifications. In general, most
cables, as long as the drive follows the right specification, should work.
For external devices, you'll want to get a DB25 male connector on the Amiga
system end, for internal, 50 pin header.
Termination
As with any SCSI bus, both ends of the chain must be
terminated. Depending on the configuration, and owner, the A3000
motherboard may or may not be terminated. If it is, and you want external
devices, you should remove motherboard termination. If not, leave it on.
The end of the internal drive chain should be terminated. The internal
terminators are at RP802, RP803, and RP804.
If you have removed motherboard termination, make sure the last
external device is terminated. This could be inside your drive
enclosure, or on the end of a passthrough connector. Usually the Amiga
supplies power for termination. Remember to check your documentation for
determining which device needs to supply termpower.
See also, SCSI-Termination Power
Some users suggest using active termination both internally and
externally. Many SCSI issues are fixed with the Rev -08 SCSI chip, as
well as the AMD compatible replacements. These can be sourced in the UK
from Tim Corringham, RamJam, UK phone 0118 946 5940, at �26.50. Depending
on your system and your devices, replacement of the 33C93 can solve or
create problems. It really depends on your specific configuration.
Types of SCSI
Differential SCSI - Will not work with A3000. Requires Narrow to
Differential adapter. May as well buy new drive.
Often used in Sun and IBM RS/6000 workstations.
Wide SCSI - Will work with A3000, but requires adapter
plug that is relatively pricey and hard to
find.
SCSI2 - Will work with A3000. SCSI2 is a superset of
commands of SCSI1.
Fast SCSI2 - Will work, but not at full speed.
SCSI3 - Should work with A3000.
UltraSCSI - Brand name for SCSI3, should work.
FireWire DV1394 - Will not work. Completely different standard,
it's not SCSI at all. Apple Macintosh users
often confuse FireWire with SCSI3. Used
in the Sony DCR-VX1000 6mm Digital cameras
for transfer of motion video and sound.
USB - Will not work. Another different standard,
not SCSI at all. Often confused with 1394,
which is confused with SCSI. Universal
Serial Bus, new Intel/Windows hardware spec.
TOP
Credits
The following people sent in all kinds of information, ideas, and
comments for this package of technical notes. Thanks to everyone for
contributing! If you have some more experiences and information to add,
please email me.
Calum Tsang ([email protected])
Warren Block ([email protected])
Mario Brammen ([email protected])
Greg Brown ([email protected])
Mike Cheng ([email protected])
Robert Davis ([email protected])
Robert Dick ([email protected])
Simon N Goodwin ([email protected])
Brian King ([email protected])
Johnny C. Kitchen ([email protected])
Ezequiel Partida ([email protected])
Ralf R. Radermacher ([email protected])
Jvrg Raftopoulos ([email protected])
Daniel Tartavel ([email protected])
TOP
Did You Know
...early A3000's shipped with a 1.4 ROM? It's the ROM that loads up
the Kickstart image from devs:kickstart and reboots into that
image. If you startup into the ROM selection menu, and click
on the top left corner (like a close button) you'll be booted
into a 1.4 Startup-Sequence! Check out the version numbers
and the odd gadgets.
...the A3000T was originally called the A3500? These were 3000T
prototypes in CBM PC60III Tower cases. They have green power
buttons, and two hard disk LEDs. I actually saw one at
Commodore Canada, and there's another in the Dave Haynie
video "Deathbed Vigil" in the walkthrough of CBM Engineering.
Many have sent in other reports from the Benelux countries to
out in Germany. There are a few of these.
...there was a system called the A3000 Plus? This prototype
had the AGA chipset, with a provision for a DSP onboard.
Unfortunately, the project was killed by CBM management.
A few were liquidated a few years ago, but it is unknown
how well they worked.
...Sun Microsystems originally considered the A3000UX as a low
end UNIX box to sell with their high end SPARCstations? The
deal fell through with Commodore management.
...the Amber chip in the deinterlacer circuitry is named after
the designer's daughter?
TOP
Deinterlacer
See also, Deinterlacer-Tuning
The Amiga traditionally operates in a native NTSC or PAL mode video
system. All of its normal output runs at 15 KHz, 50 or 60 Hz refresh. In
high resolution modes such as NTSC:HiresInterlaced, the output is
interlaced, which means more information is presented by quickly swapping
"fields" of video data on the monitor. This generates a horrible flicker,
which some Amiga users have grown accustomed to, but others find
disturbing.
While many solutions were presented by the early Amiga community,
such as wearing sunglasses and putting dark glare shields on their
monitors, Commodore came up with an ingenious device, named the Display
Enhancer, or FlickerFixer. (Actually, another company, MicroWay, made a
similar product, trademarked FlickerFixer, but....) This is implemented
into every Amiga 3000 system, and can be also purchased separately for
A2000/4000 systems in the A2320 board.
The Display Enhancer is a scandoubler / deinterlacer system. It
takes the 15 Khz output, and converts it into 31 Khz signals suitable for
flicker free video. If it's noninterlaced, it doubles the signal, removing
visible scanlines. If it's interlaced, it deinterlaces it, removing
flicker. If it's not 15 Khz, it just passes the signal through. The
entire system can be defeated by a toggle switch on the back.
While the system works remarkably well, there are a few problems.
For one, it will only affect NTSC: (or PAL:) signals. And some video modes
like NTSC:SuperHiresInterlaced don't quite work properly due to hardware
constraints. But all in all, it means A3000 owners can get VGA quality
displays without running their systems in odd screen modes.
Technical Information
As far as I know, the Amber deinterlacer circuitry samples in the
15KHz signal from the motherboard, and converts it to 31 KHz. There is a
fast dual port video memory segment in the system that accomplishes the
simultaneous sampling and output.
TOP
Monitors
The A3000 series can output a variety of video signals. Like every
other Amiga, it has a 15 Khz RGB Analog port, suitable for attaching an RGB
monitor like the Commodore 1084 series. This port can also be used for a
video encoder like the Commodore A520 modulator for composite and RF
signals, and for genlocks, like the SuperGen. It's also usable for video
system hacks like the DCTV paintbox. 15 Khz monitors, while cheap, are
really a pain because of the interlace flicker. One port the A3000 doesn't
have, is the mono composite out found on the A500/2000, or the colour
composite jack on the A600/1200.
The A3000 also has a special Amber deinterlacer circuit, which can
output clean 31.5 Khz RGB Analog video too. This is similar to VGA, and
you can attach a PC VGA monitor to this port with no trouble. This port
scandoubles or deinterlaces the 15 khz signal in hardware, unlike the AGA
DoubleNTSC mode. This means no speed degredation, and no extra DMA bandwidth.
It also has no effect on NTSC: applications, such as the VideoToaster, but
means you can run the Switcher or CG flickerfree.
VGA type devices can also be added to the A3000 deinterlacer
output, including VGA/Composite adapters and LCD projection panels.
Most A3000 owners should pick up a multiscanning PC SVGA monitor.
You'll want it to be compatible with 50 Hz refresh (VGA level is 60 Hz) for
PAL compatibility, and also higher resolutions, if you purchase a graphics
card in the future. Some will suggest a full 15 Khz multiscan monitor like
the Commodore 1950 and 1960, but the added expense and trouble (both are
known to have reliability problems) aren't worth the benefit of having a 15
Khz fallback. The deinterlacer already upscans any NTSC signal anyways.
Finally, the A3000, with its ECS chipset, can generate VGA level
signals in a method similar to the AGA systems. Modes such as
Productivity: raise the Amiga sync rates, while using up DMA bandwidth and
slowing the machine down. It's probably not a good idea to use these
modes, but they can be generated. The signal will come out of the 31 Khz
deinterlacer port, but the deinterlacer will just pass it through
untouched. The signal also comes out the DB23 video port simultaneously.
TOP
Termination Power
Some A3000's were shipped from Commodore with the termination power
diode soldered on backwards. To complicate the matter, the diode
silkscreen may also be done incorrectly. As a result, you may experience
troubles with terminating the bus properly.
One way to check for termination power is to use a voltmeter or
DMM to read the voltage off of pin 25 on the external SCSI port using the
shield for ground. There should be 5V there.
TOP
Overclocking the Amiga 3000
Many Amiga users, in the continuing urge to accelerate their
systems have tried increasing the CPU clock frequency, known as overclocking,
to increase the processing power of the machine.
Most of the schemes involve soldering new oscillators or using
alternate clock sources on the motherboard to retime the CPU at a new
speed. While any overclocking hack is dangerous and prone to failure,
prematurely burning out the chip, modifying an A3000 is particularily
bad: the 030 is surface mounted. Unless you work at some electrical
engineering firm, and can replace such a part, your machine is toast
if you burn out your processor.
All A3000 owners are recommend to save up their pennies and buy a
proper accelerator that fits onto the 200 pin FAST slot.
TOP
Problems with the VideoToaster in the A3000
There are a few little snags with using NewTek's popular
VideoToaster boards in the A3000's. NewTek doesn't really recommend
the Toaster 2000 board for desktop A3000's.
Putting a Toaster in an A3000 can alter the colours of the display,
and NewTek has a patch for this to correct the problem. Screens often turn
purplish as a result.
Toaster 2000
Video Slot-Physical Fit
Including the fit of Input 1 BNC on this card, users should be
aware that Toaster 1.0 software didn't work with the SuperDenise ECS chip.
Version 2.0 corrects this problem.
Toaster 4000
The Toaster 4000 card is configurable to both ECS (A2000/3000) and
AGA (A4000). This involves switching numerous jumpers, documented in the
manual. The fit problem of the connector block is solved with a flip
around board.
Toaster Flyer
The Flyer should be used with an external drive enclosure. NewTek
sells an Octopus cable that routes all the cabling externally for this
purpose.
Both boards are a tight fit, and one should be concerned with heat,
insulation, and power. Third party adapters exist for moving the boards
out with an extension cable into a second case.
Another idea might be to move cards like TBC's and extra hard disks
into an inexpensive PC clone case with a used 286 motherboard powering them,
allowing for greater airflow and less heat generation in the desktop A3000 case.
VideoToaster 2000 users may consider upgrading to the Toaster 4000
card, which adapts to the A3000/4000 case with an ingenious flip around connector
block. While the expense is great, it also allows for the Toaster Flyer
nonlinear editing option, and it is recommended by NewTek for the A3000.
TOP
Mounting Boards in the Video Slot
While the A3000 video slot is electrically similar to the A2000
slot, the chassis hole for the rear bracket is significantly smaller. It's
actually the same size as a typical PC/Zorro slot hole. As a result, the
larger, flat A2000 videoslot boards will not line up with the sideways
screwhole.
Commodore shipped many A3000's with slot adapters, a little metal
frame which you could screw the card into, then secure the card and adapter
into the chassis. This works perfectly with some boards such as the A2300
Genlock, but does not work at all with the VideoToaster 2000, for instance.
This little adapter also works in the A4000.
The Toaster 2000 production board is another common misfit for the
A3000. To accomodate all four BNC inputs, plus program and preview
outputs, Input 1, also primary sync, is set at the very top of the flat
backplane. With the smaller A3000 cutout, many users have found they need
to hacksaw a segment of the chassis. When doing so, be careful of leaving
metal shavings/dust in the system. A thorough vacuuming should do the
trick. Also, the Toaster DRAM/framestore daughterboard and it's metal
binding is a tight fit with the top of the A3000 desktop case. Be careful
of not accidentally shorting connections on the metal top. As usual, heat
and ventilation should be considered.
The A3000T has the same problem-they need to be hacksawed as well,
although space and heat are less of a problem.
See also, VideoToaster Incompatibilities
TOP
Genlocks and the A3000
Genlocks in general work the same as other Amiga systems. However,
two problems may arise.
Sync
Some genlocks will require sync into the video input to let the
A3000 startup. Just feed in a blackburst source or lock the system to
some house sync.
Deinterlacer
Some genlocks may cause distortions with the Deinterlacer
circuitry. While usually the Deinterlacer runs apart from the genlock,
this glitch has popped up before. It's normal.
See also, VideoToaster Incompatibilities
TOP
Calibrating the Deinterlacer
The Deinterlacer circuitry samples in the A3000's native NTSC or
PAL output and scandoubles or deinterlaces it, outputting the new signal at
a flicker free VGA level. In a way, it works very similarily to a Time
Base Corrector, commonly found in professional video studios.
One issue that arises is calibrating the timing of this device. If
the deinterlacer is ill-tuned, you'll see flickering specks on your
display. It's very simple to adjust the unit, just use a potspanner, which
is a plastic screwdriver with a small plastic or metal tip, and insert it
into the hole on the rear of the A3000. This hole is between the DB15HD
and deinterlacer toggle switch. Twist the trimpot left or right to correct
the display. When the pot clicks, you know you've turned too much.
There were calibration images from Commodore on the A3000
distribution, with a special one for PLL, but as long as it looks okay for
normal output, you're fine.
One mode that always looks weird is SuperHires, 1280x480. This is
normal: the deinterlacer doesn't have the capability for such a detailed
mode, and has to skip every other line.
TOP
ROM Issues
Every Amiga depends heavily on the Kickstart ROM chips on the
motherboard. The A3000 is no exception.
Types of ROMs
1.4 SuperKickstart/Softkick ROM
-Often referred to as softboot ROMs, these were originally
shipped with early model A3000's. They automatically
find a bootable drive named WB_2.x:, and looks for a
file called kickstart in the devs: directory of the system boot
partition.
This is a specially encoded KickStart file.
You can put all sorts of ROM images for the 1.4 chip
to boot, including WB2.03, WB2.04, and also, WB3.1.
Once it finds the file, it reallocates memory with the MMU,
and effectivly turns 512K of FAST RAM into a ROM.
This is good because it's fast and easily upgradable.
However, it will not work with 040 or 060 CPUs, as the MMU
utilization is different.
2.04 2.04 Kickstart Hard ROM
-These shipped with many machines. They don't use 512K
of FAST RAM, but instead, have 2.04 burned in them.
These will support 2.04, 2.05 and 2.1 software, plus
040 CPUs. They do cause some incompatibilities with
the A3640 accelerator, with Page Mode RAM.
3.1 3.1 Kickstart Hard ROM
-Distributed by VillageTronic and other licensees, or
copied by others, the 40.68 ROM is the latest revision.
It supports RTG, 040 and 060 CPUs. The 40.70 ROM,
is not as widely distributed. Some have had troubles
with tape drives and this revision.
See also, A3640-Issues
Incompatible ROMs
The 3.0 ROM from A1200 and A4000 systems can't be used: Instead of
the 33C93 based driver code, the 3.0 build for A1200/4000 has code for IDE
devices instead through the Gayle chip.
ROMs from A500 and A2000 systems can't be used either, they're a
single chip (at least for most models of these systems) and again, do not
contain code for A3000 specific fetaures.
Extra ROM Silkscreens and Reversed Silkscreens
There are extra silkscreen positions for a second pair of ROM
chips on the A3000 motherboard. They are for different types of ROM,
apparently left in for developers.
The silkscreened printing on the motherboard may indicate ROM0 and
ROM1 incorrectly. Reversing them won't damage them.
ROM Speeds/Timing
Some A3000 owners have noted that new 3.1 ROM chips can't be run at
25 Mhz. Set the ROM speed at 16 Mhz with jumpers J150 and J151.
Other Issues
Some A3000 users have found that new 3.1 ROM chips cause SCSI
instabilities by draining power from termination power.
TOP
A3640 Issues
The A3640 is Commodore's Motorola 68040 board. Clocked at 25MHz,
it was never sold in any production A3000 desktop, but in A4000's and a
special version, the A3000T40. This is because it's too hot. It is not
as good as other accelerators, which have onboard RAM for faster local
access, fit physically better, and have built in FastSCSI connectors.
This may be useful for nonlinear editing systems. The A3640 also does not
support burst mode access.
Generally speaking, only revisions 3.1 and 3.2 of the A3640 will
work, requiring Kickstart 2.04 or 3.1 in ROM. If it's 2.04, the first chip
of the FAST RAM bank must be Page Mode. If it's OS3.1, Static Column is
recognized and utilized properly.
The DMAC and RAMSEY versions should be at least -02 and -04. This
is largely due to heat tolerances.
TOP
Eject Buttons and Cover Panels
The eject button is specific to the A3000 and the Chinon drive.
Using an A2010/FB354 mechanism from an A2000, or the A500 internal drive,
one should find an extra A3000 button, remove the old one, and attach the
new one. That is the only difference between the A3010 and A2010. The
wide, flat eject button makes the system look real cool.
The other custom part is the cover panel. It has a corrogated
texture on the front, and snaps onto the front with a pair of fingers on
the sides, latching into the slot of the disk drive. The A3000 case has
mouldings for two floppies. You should keep it on, so dust doesn't get
sucked in and to keep the airflow running in the intended fashion.
Both parts were available from Commodore branches until the breakup
of the company in 1994. Service depots may still have these for sale, but
the easiest way to get one is to ask a user group.
TOP
LED Indicator Panel
The LED indicator panel, which has the green Power and the yellow
Hard Disk activity lights, often gets broken. This is usually because the
case was put on improperly or banged around during transport.
Often, it's the component board that gets cracked or cold solder
joints opening. For the latter, just dab on lots of solder. For the
former, use a voltmeter and trace out the connections, and use a simple
jumper wire to reconnect up the LED.
The LED panel connects to the front, left of the A3000 motherboard
with a 3 pin connector.
If your panel is unfixable, consider DriveLight 1.2, a useful
Workbench utility that monitors the activity of any device, including the
SCSI controller, and flickers a little indicator on screen. It's available
on Aminet. (Aminet:/disk/misc/drivel12.lzh)
TOP
U202/203: Chips That Overheat
Many A3000 owners complain of strange graphics and disk errors,
like windows and gadgets being trashed. Sometimes dots and horizontal
lines will appear. This is likely due to the U202 and U203 components,
a pair of Programmable Array Logic chips (format: 16L8-10) which tend to
overheat. This is likely because they are in a part of the
case where circulation is nearly nonexistent, especially when you have lots
of hot disks and cards. These chips control various CHIP RAM DMA access
issues.
The Commodore part references are 390526-02, 390527-02-if a
dealership has them, just swap them out and it should be fixed. AmiTrix
Development may have some of these components available, as may the new
subsidiaries of Amiga Technologies. If you know someone knowledgeable,
these PAL chips could be copied with an appropriate logic reader/burner.
The protection bit has not been set.
Also, they can also be copied into GALs, which used less
power and are cheaper and faster. GAL16V8's have been tested and checked
by Simon Goodwin ([email protected]) of Silicon Studio. Simon notes
you'll need a fast GAL and a programmer that can convert between both
formats.
Another source may be Amiga Technologies directly, which is now
selling legacy Amiga parts through their web page.
TOP
INT2-Issues
A4000's and some A3000T models have a line called _INT2 on the
FAST slot. On the A3000, this slot is CN606, and the line is on pin 82.
However, this pin was not connected in desktop A3000's, making PPC and
other accelerators which use this line incompatible with the A3000. Most
accelerators which have onboard SCSI, will require a patch.
One example of how to get around this problem, is to wire a jumper
patch using a lead clip, like the one supplied with WarpEngine 30xx series
accelerators. This attaches to pin 21 of U350, a CIA interface chip.
Basically, you need to wire a jumper from pin 82 on the FAST slot
to pin 21 of U350.
TOP
Heat-General Concerns
The A3000 has a small profile case, which means heat is a big
concern. Because of the configurability of the machine, every set up and
its environment will be different. Here are some tips:
-Keep the casing on, as the airflow around the case is designed
to run around in a specific pattern.
-Keep an adequate envelope of open space around your machine,
including at very least six inches behind the chassis. If you
can, leave a foot. Don't forget the front and back.
-Put extra fans inside: DesTech's Mini Slot Fan is highly
recommended: Found in many clone part stores, this small $5-10
fan fits on a card bracket and draws air from inside and blows
out. Place above hot cards. It's green.
Put extra cards and ventilate the area above 040/060 FAST
slot cards as well! Hacksawing the drive chassis tray is
one way to accomodate large heat sinks and fans.
Don't use temperature controlled low noise fans.
Some other suggestions from Internet users include:
-Don't place a monitor onto the case.
-Prop the machine up securely on thin pieces of wood below
the case.
-Don't place the machine on a towel, no matter what your mother
says. Furniture can be replaced, Amiga 3000's can't!
-Use a powerline filter or better yet, a UPS.
TOP
Leaking Batteries
There is a battery on the Amiga 3000's motherboard which keeps the
clock up and running, plus keeps the parameter RAM set. This RAM maintains
things like the SCSI controller ID, Synchronous bits, Timeout modes etc.
Many of these batteries have started to disintegrate, not only on
Amiga 3000's, but on A2000's, A501's and A4000's. No system is free from
these issues: Quickly check if your battery, often blue or red in a little
barrel shape on the left side of the A3000 motherboard, is leaking! If it
is, you'll see little flecks of white acid crystallizing. Many users even
reported that the battery had already started leaking onto the motherboard,
corroding the copper traces. My own personal A4000 already had the
battery leaking.
What to do? Immediately cut off, if not replace, the battery. NOW.
Do it. Many saw it, put it off, and later had their motherboard torn apart
and destroyed by acid because they didn't fix it fast enough.
To remove the battery, snip off the legs (in three points). This
is recommended if you can't replace it immediately. Be careful about
damaging chips around it. You may wish to snip the rear pin and rock the
other two back and forth until it snaps easily. This may even be a better
idea if you plan to replace it immediately-at least you won't get bits of
acid all over your board.
To replace, it's highly recommended you desolder the battery.
First, cut the battery off with a pair of snips. Then, unscrew the
motherboard. Yes, this is a pain in the ass. There are tens of screws and
hex pins. Once you've removed it, desolder the remaining legs of the old
battery. Use a low power 15W iron with a very small pencil tip. You may
not need desoldering equipment, just heating the old solder up may let the
old bit come out easily. If this doesn't work, get desolder braid or a
sucker.
Once all three old pins are out, put a new battery in place.
Replacement components are easily found at PC stores, electronics shops,
and some surplus stores. You'll want a NiCad 3.6V 60 mAH component,
although nearly any 3.6V NiCad battery will work. Ask especially for the
three legged model. The two legged kind are electrically the same, but a
pain to put in. Do not use Lithium batteries, these do not recharge and
could cause an explosion!
A good idea is to bring the old one in and ask for a
direct replacement. Of course, make sure you package it before you
leave-use an old baby food jar or something. Battery acid is a bad thing.
Other suggestions, include using cordless phone batteries
and the like. Use at your own risk.
If you used desoldering equipment, the clean holes should present
no problem. If you're cheap and you didn't, then try this idea-put the
battery in place, then heat up the old solder on the bottom side of the
motherboard. Apply a little pressure to the battery. Physics should suck
the leg into place with solder around it. Repeat with each leg.
Start up your machine, and let it run for an hour or so to charge
up the new component, then shut down. Power up to check if the date and
time are retained.
As for disposing the old battery, package correctly, and return to
your appropriate government recycling center, or even your local
electronics store like Radio Shack for proper disposal. It may be illegal
in some places to put them in household garbage. Feel free to curse at the
sucker before you toss it.
TOP
About the Author
I will not be held responsible for any damage you incur on your own
machine. This information is presented as is. Please contact me with
suggestions, comments, and more information. This is crucial to keep the
Hardware Guide updated. Certain areas require a lot more information,
especially regarding SCSI and the Amiga 3000T specific issues.
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
http://www.io.org/~tsangc
http://www.ecf.utoronto.ca/~tsangc
However, I cannot help everyone on their Amiga problems. I'm
relatively busy as of late, so I can't guarantee I can respond to
everyone. I also sold my A3000 too, as I bought an A4000/040 for $200.
The A3000 represents the pinnacle of Amiga design and engineering
for me, and to many other Amiga owners out there. If you had to pick one
machine that was done right, a lot of people will say the A3000.
This package of Technical Notes was inspired by Warren Block's
excellent A4000 Hardware Guide. (Aminet:hard/misc/a4khard.lha) It's in a
similar style, but also in the fashion of the A2090 Technical Notes
package I started in 1992. Thanks to Warren for helping and getting me
started. Give this guy a job, Gateway!
Thanks to Olivier Broschart (A2000/030, 3000T/040), David D'Amico
(A2500/030), Jim May (A2000/040), Steve Vetzal (formerly Commodore Canada
and Wonder Computers), and Thom Mills (Randomize Imaging). Ross and Jane
Agosta (A3000/4000), Glen Miller, Lanny Affleck (A3000) and Ryan Visima.
Special thanks to Nadine Kerrigan, Stanis Yu, Sai Saiedfar, Brian Lima,
Tara Weinstein, Renata Kopach and Mark Armer.
TOP
A3640-Issues
-Help with the A3640 68040 CPU Board.
Battery-Leak
-Check if your battery is leaking!
Case-Eject Buttons and Cover Panels
-Help with those pieces of custom plastic up front.
Case-LED Panel
-Is your Power or Hard Disk light broken?
Deinterlacer-Tuning
-Do you see weird flecks of flickering image "dirt"?
Heat-General Concerns
-General Do's and Don'ts about airflow and heat considerations.
Heat-U202 Graphics/Disk Problems
-Overheating of PAL chips U202/203 can cause on screen garbage.
INT2-Issues
-Required modification for PPC and SCSI FAST slot cards.
Rom-Issues
-Help with ROM timing, speeds, and revisions.
SCSI-Termination Power
-Troubles with termination may cause SCSI problems.
Video Slot-Genlocks
-System not powering up with a Genlock, or a weird display?
Video Slot-Physical Fit
-Squeezing in boards?
VideoToaster Incompatibilities
-The A3000 can cause headaches for VideoToaster owners.
Look at these useful Toaster tips.
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Index A3640-Issues Battery-Leak Case-Eject Buttons and Cover Panels Case-LED Panel Deinterlacer-Tuning Heat-General Concerns Heat-U202 Graphics/Disk Problems Overclocking the A3000 Rom-Issues SCSI-Termination Power Video Slot-Genlocks Video Slot-Physical Fit VideoToaster IncompatibilitiesTOP
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