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Conference hydra::amiga_v1

Title:	AMIGA NOTES
Notice:	Join us in the NEW conference - HYDRA::AMIGA_V2
Moderator:	HYDRA::MOORE

Created:	Sat Apr 26 1986
Last Modified:	Wed Feb 05 1992
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	5378
Total number of notes:	38326

906.0. "Spots left while in Interlace mode???" by WINERY::COLLUM () Mon Nov 16 1987 15:19

    I've noticed what I believe to be a memory problem on my Amiga.
    I recently added a Starboard II (2M) from Abel. Since I've installed
    the board, I've noticed 'marks' begin left on the screen when in
    interlace mode. While running something like Draw Plus, as the
    Horizontal trace hits random parts of the screen, a small horizontal
    line, about 1/16" is left.  This also occurs on any game using the
    interlace mode.  At first I thought that my monitor was going bad,
    or the Amiga itself, but after removing the memory board it seemed
    to stop.  I don't feel this isolated it to the Starboard though.
    Has anyone seen this before, or has any idea what the problem might
    be?
    
    				Jim

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
906.1	PAL noise?	LRGFMT::COLLUM		`Tue Dec 01 1987 21:59`	12
	Just got off the phone with Microbotics. Their opinion is that I've got bus noise, probably caused by an improperly grounded PAL chip. They say this is a problem with some of the early AMIGA 1000s. Their solution is to try my Starboard on a couple of othere Amigas and see if it persists. If not, then I should think of replacing the chip. Anyone out there shed light on this problem? Know of a source of the PAL chip? Cost? Thanks, Jim
906.2	Try grounding the Starboard case to the Amiga	TLE::RMEYERS	Randy Meyers	`Wed Dec 02 1987 01:22`	26
	Re: .0, .1 Another less drastic thing you might want to try: Take a piece of wire and touch one end to the Starboard II box and the other to the metal edge of the joystick connector (not the pins, the metal socket around the pins). A few weeks ago I sold my Starboard II to Dave Brannon (Hi, Dave!). I had never had any trouble with the Starboard, but the first time we plugged the Starboard into his 1000, the Amiga wouldn't even boot. Also, the Starboard started emitting all sorts of RF that drove the TV in the room crazy. The problem was eventually traced to poor grounding. Believe it or not, the metal screws that attach the Starboard to the Amiga are supposed to ground the metal case to Amiga chassis (there is a note in the Starboard installation instructions that says you must install the screws for proper operation). Well, the screws only contact the Starboard case at the point they go through it in the back. The table that Dave had his systems set up on had a slotted, not solid surface. The table surface kept the metal case from contacting the screws, and caused all the noise. Anyway, grounding the case to the Amiga solved the problem. (I think Dave's fix was to put a solid surface under the Amiga and Starboard so that the screws contacted the case).
906.3		ELWOOD::PETERS		`Wed Dec 02 1987 14:38`	8
	If you don't want to replace the PAL I have instructions on how to ground the PAL. You need open up the guts of the AMIGA. If you want to replace the PAL it's a common $5 part. Then you have to find a way to blast ( burn / program / .. ) the part. Steve Peters
906.4		BAGELS::BRANNON	Dave Brannon	`Wed Dec 02 1987 20:55`	21
	re:.2 Hi Randy... I now have a large board under both the Amiga and the Starboard, that way they both move together when i move the Amiga, also it gives an extra couple inches to place the keyboard on. Proper grounding is critical, while we were trying to install it, we encountered one time that it was throwing out some RF, worked fine for a while, and then just hung - no guru, nothing. My setup is kind of a worse case environment, the 1000 is hooked thru a VCR to a TV located 6 inches behind the 1000. I still get some RF, but not enough to make me want to get rid of a 2Meg ram disk :-) Lattice C complies are actually tolerable now. -dave re: PALs i have a mail order flyer at home somewhere that mentions where you can order the famous PALs that various 3rd party folks claim you need. I think the price was $20-$25 for the kit. I remember posting that info to this notesfile a while back because they were also selling a harddisk kit.