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Documentation about the Vampire hardware

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Mike H

Posts 7
30 Mar 2018 03:41


Hey gang! I'm really excited to be here. I've just acquired a Vampire 600V2 from someone on Amibay. Its a kipper2k board, produced in January 2017 (the original owner even said this board was in the batch of "black edition" boards but he was never brave enough to install an x13 core on it).
   
Now, I know the board WAS working because the guy I bought it from took photos and sent videos before shipping of it working. I received it, installed it in my A600, and after a short time (usually randomly between 3 seconds and 3 minutes), the system locks-up :(
   
A soft reset won't fix the problem either, the OS (Coffin r49) will immediately lock-up as soon as it starts. I have to hard reboot the Amiga, then I get to use it for a minute or two before another freeze.
   
  Honestly I think its a problem with my A600. I suspect the caps are bad, I purchased this machine used and they appear to be original. Could that be my problem or am I way off base? The power supply I'm using is the new(er) A500 "light" switching PSU. The seller flashed GOLD2.8 on it for me before shipping, and I'm running coffin on a 32GB SD card with an SD2IDE adapter. Other than that the Amiga is stock (no memory expansions or any other 3rd-party addons).
   
Any help would be appreciated, thanks guys!
-Mike


Wayne Smith

Posts 39
30 Mar 2018 08:42


I have exactly the same issue, same black board, same startup then freezing and now I have added the extra caps and still it freezes. I am looking at adding extra caps and see if that works


Nixus Minimax

Posts 416
30 Mar 2018 10:18


Connection issues v600 / 68000. Sand down socket, use screws to keep it firmly in place, blabla. Of course, recapping and solid PSU are prerequisites.


Wayne Smith

Posts 39
30 Mar 2018 10:38


My v600v2 has been screwed down - I previously updated the core and it did the same then Gunnar gave me a safe core (MONTHS Ago) and that worked, now with the 2.7 and 2.8 it nearly seems that the card is "overheating" - it will run for a bit (2 minutes) then have a nervous breakdown



Leigh Russ

Posts 151
30 Mar 2018 12:12


I had exactly the same issues when going up to Gold2, which was solved by sanding down the socket to give a better fit.

Then after removing the board again to add the extra required capacitors for Gold2.7 x11 core, I again found the same issue. Freezing, crashing, restarting. Refitting it a couple of times helped, but was still never right. Then I totally changed the socket to another better quality one and now it is perfectly stable.

You can see my issues and findings here....

CLICK HERE 


Leigh Russ

Posts 151
30 Mar 2018 12:15


Wayne Smith wrote:

My v600v2 has been screwed down - I previously updated the core and it did the same then Gunnar gave me a safe core (MONTHS Ago) and that worked, now with the 2.7 and 2.8 it nearly seems that the card is "overheating" - it will run for a bit (2 minutes) then have a nervous breakdown
 

You can test for overheating simply by running the system with the top of the case off.

After replacing my socket to sort the connection issues, I found it would hand after 2-3 hours with the case closed, but perfectly fine for over 8 hours with the case off. I ended up getting some 25mm x 25mm x 10mm heatsinks and fitting one to the FPGA, and then I created a fan mount to blow air over and under the card. This can be found here....

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2829586


Wayne Smith

Posts 39
30 Mar 2018 12:34


Thank Leigh - Great set up on the fan mount!! My 600 is open all the time at the moment. i will see what I can do to get a fan mount - would have been nice to have a stable vamp - but life, lemons and lemonade kinda thing



Leigh Russ

Posts 151
30 Mar 2018 12:52


You can probably guarantee it is the connection at fault. The sockets weren't designed to work that way up which doesn't help.

If the socket is not already sanded, or the edge is not level with the top of the pins then sand it down some more till it is. This is even mentioned in the Apollo Team Wiki FAQs. That alone helped improve stability drastically


Mike H

Posts 7
01 Apr 2018 05:04


Thanks for all the suggestions, guys. I've arranged to have my A600 recapped. When I get it back I'll try sanding and making sure I've got a good connection!

posts 9