Hello,
I've lately set to building the "perfect" IIgs for my needs. One component of this is an SCSI HDD with GS/OS System 6.0.1 installed. Install went fine, but the OS locks up constantly. It will usually make the startup beep sound right before it locks, then I either can't do anything at all or I can just swirl the mouse pointer around a non-responsive screen (but no button clicks register). Whenever this happens and I press the reboot key sequence, I can briefly see some garbled numbers on the blue text screen just before the machine restarts. This may be a clue to the problem?
Oddly enough everything else I throw at the computer seems to work just peachy: 8-bit games, 16-bit games, productivity software, long-term data transfers with ADTPro, etc. Only "basic, normal" use of System 6.0.1, such as getting files and folders set up for future use, or just having the computer sit there doing nothing but displaying the desktop, wants to encourage the machine to lock up.
I'm wondering if there's a crash logger, test/debug program, or some similar method I can use to try and get to the root of this. I've tried alternating hardware: two different ROM01 motherboards, two different SCSI units with different HDDs, etc. I am going to use this computer mostly for games, but a stable OS would be nice too, for when I want to do other things.
Help appreciated, thanks.
Hi,
The problem you describe is that something is crashing to the monitor during boot.
Have you tried shift-booting? Hold down the shift key when the system is booting will bypass loading and CDA's & NDA's. If the system boots, it means something loading on top of GSOS during boot is crashing.
If shift booting doesn't help, can you answer some initial questions which may help us identify where the problem is:
1. What SCSI card do you have? Which slot is it installed in and is the slot set to "Your Card"?
2. What hard disk have you got attached? (not that it *should* matter) Is it setup with an ID that is different from your SCSI card (SCSI cards are usually ID 7)?
3. How many partitions did you setup on the HDD? Which file system types (Prodos/HFS)?
4. It sounds like GSOS starts to load? Do you see any icons appearing at the bottom of the screen prior to it crashing?
5. Did you install the SCSI drivers for GSOS?
6. What other cards do you have installed in the IIgs (if any) and in what slots? What RAM card do you have installed? How much RAM? Maybe try removing all other cards except the SCSI and RAM cards.
7. Are you able to boot Prodos off of a floppy disk and access the hard drive? To do this type "PREFIX,Sx" where "x" is the slot you installed the SCSI card in. Then try typing "CAT". Are the contents of the hard disk shown?
The above are all pretty much setup type "concerns", but you may experience boot failures like you describe if your power supply is struggling too. Removing all non-essential cards might help here.
Please try the above and let us know your answers/results.
Cheers,
Mike
Thanks for the reply.
Under normal circumstances it boots fine, most of the time. Other times it locks during the "Welcome to the IIgs" loading bar. At times when I do actually get to the desktop, I usually have between 5 to 10 minutes to try and get something done before it locks up. Holding Shift at start did not increase my chances of getting a successful boot.
I have many games installed on the HD, on different partitions than the boot partition, and they run fine without lockups or other problems. Only GS/OS itself wants to be a pain in the neck.
I do have the SCSI HD drivers installed.
I do have my SCSI HD set to ID 7. The high-speed SCSI card switches are set to ID 7 also.
My HD has 8 partitions. All are ProDOS. All are 32MB.
RAM card is an 8MB DarkRAM.
the only thing that i see going wrong with that config is that the scsi card is on slot five witch is the 5.25 drive virtual card slot, but since you have one on slot six and then the 3.5 superdrive card on one, you look good to me, but I could always be wrong.
I concur with Polymorph69.
The way you have tried to diagnose this gives the clue that the problem is the power supply.
Looks like it can't handle all of those cards hooked up at the same time so you have an unstable GS/OS system.
That other suggestion seems to be the correct course of action - try the computer with only the necessary amount of cards plugged in.
I'm assuming you've removed all the cards except for the SCSI to troubleshoot this? (including the Zip?)
OK, so it's only GS/OS. You've booted in "safe mode"?
Your SCSI HD should have an ID anything *other* than 7. Try setting the SCSI ID of your HDD to a value 0 thru 6. ID's on a SCSI chain must be unique!
This *might* be the cause of your problems, but I'm surprised it finds your HDD at all with how finicky SCSI setups can be.
Try changing your HDD SCSI ID and report back success/failure.
One other question I have for you regarding the Zip GSX. Have you tried overclocking it by installing a faster oscillator?
Instabilities like the one you describe can also be the result of a flakey accelerator. If it is your accelerator, you may need to install a slower oscillator to get the stability back.
I have had to do this with both Zip GSX's and Transwarp GS's.
GS/OS is particularly good at finding instabilities like this due to the extensive use of interrupts and background processes, which is why you may find games work OK but not GS/OS...
Thanks for the replies, guys.
I plan on upgrading the PSU later this month. Perhaps I'll just hold off using the computer until then, to ensure no possibility of components being damaged due to straining of the current (original Apple) PSU.
I've tried switching SCSI ID, did not change things.
As for the accelerator, I did not perform any modifications to it. But the previous owner had done several. I'll contact you directly by PM, Polymorph69, so we can discuss it in more detail.