X1000 SATA issues (me again)

[AmigaNG]

so been enjoying my x1000 again recently, but I did get the odd crash or what seemed corruted files, anywho, thought it was about time I open up the old girl give it a good clean to see if it fixed the issue, it did'nt, it made it WORST

So at first I got no boot sceen...nothing, rechecked every connection, nothing.

saw three led lights, so thought, might of move or hit the CMOS battery, (even though I did'nt remove it for the clean) anywho, nothing, then replace the CMOS battery, now I get a boot screen

But then it takes me to command line, and complains about lack of memory, "Failed to load amigaboot.of: Insufficient memory"

so played about with SATA connections, if I put HDD to SATA2 and CD Drive to SATA1, I get a little futher, up to the OS boot menu, but on slection, I then get a bunch of error message say this or that is missing to the point it just locks up. then second boot up, Im back to "Failed to load amigaboot.of: Insufficient memory".

Tried the remove RAM on one side trick, do you think I need a new SATA cable and HARDIVE? I was thinking about getting a SSD for the machine, start with a fresh install, do you think that would fix it?

Why does a simple clean where I bearly touch the dam things can brick the system, never had a computer where moving a SATA cable seem so sentive, and so many of the Troubleshooting tips seem to be about SATA. did Varisys cheap out?

Thanks if anyone can help. I tell you I getting closer and closer to selling my X1000, seems every couple of months of fairly light use I get another new problem, I dont have much free time, and starting to find my fixs on Pi + Amikit XE for quick Amiga time.

cheers

[Raziel]

Don't sell it yet...the x1000 is a very picky piece of hardware, but a beautiful power horse if running.

1)
every AmigaNG hardware, x1000 included, is draining it's CMOS batteries (for whatever reason) which can lead to all sorts of (truly) random errors.
Get yourself a bunch of replacement batteries, especially if you plan to keep on using your system sporadically, with lots of off-time in between, that kills the battery.
(After @lylehaze pointed me to BR2032 batteries, instead of CR2032, I never had a problem with random errors again. The BR2032 doesn't lose their voltage as fast, iirc)

2)
"Failed to load amigaboot.of: Insufficient memory"
is an error that comes from the SATA chain and means that it can't access/read/load the boot.of file.
It's most surely a flaky connection between the HDD and your board (cable, but it could also be either the connection to the HDD *or* the board).

You have three options (one you already tried)
a - replace the hdd (you tried and the initial error was gone, so, a good start)
I think the errors afterwards may be triggered by something else, which you have to tackle later.
b - replace the cable (get a good one, one that features clip locks on both ends, it's sufficient to have a loose connection to trigger the memory insufficient error)
c - switch to one of the other SATA connectors on the board.

Dont give up yet on the beast...

[AmigaNG]

Thanks for the encouragement, I think I just got fed up again about another day I have to spend troubleshooting rather than playing around with os4.

I’m surprised br would be better than cr as they hold more charge…
https://pickvacuumcleaner.com/cr2032-br ... endations/

Still I might buy some just to test that out, plus might buy these sata cable
https://www.amazon.co.uk/CORSAIR-Premiu ... 87D8T&th=1

And air can to really blow out any tiny dust that might be there, if that all fails, I think I will hang on to the machine until there a uk show I can go to or even maybe drive down to Amiga kit and get them to have a look at it as long it doesn’t cost to much I will likely get it repaired if it can be.

[Raziel]

*If* i remember correctly BR's have a lower discharge rate together with a better voltage handling (if they discharge, they won't drop down as much as CR's).
Of course, this is only what I experienced on my system, your mileage may vary.

The cables should be perfect.

Also, if you have another HDD lying around you can always put your boot CD in and start installing the system again...and update after update, see where it starts to fail.

Have fun, your hardware wants love and needs work, but once you can give that you'll get a beautiful system to play with

[AmigaNG]

So it’s new year day had nothing planned, so thought it’s about time I take a deep dive look into x1000, removed everything, gave it a really good clean, replace sata cables, replace battery, crossed fingered, and hay it boots no issue yet!

A good start to the new year!