From wmaalouli at comcast.net Sat Jan 20 21:07:39 2007 From: wmaalouli at comcast.net (Walid Maalouli) Date: Sat, 20 Jan 2007 15:07:39 -0600 Subject: [P112] P112 boot issue Message-ID: <200701201507.39259.wmaalouli@comcast.net> Hello. I just finished building a P112 board from kit and everything seems to work fine except that I'm getting the error message "unrecognizable disk format" right after the initial power up text. The message repeats for about 10 times then the debugger comes up. This is happening whether I have a 3.5" HD drive connected or not. I have tried a couple of different known to be working drives with similar results. Each time the drive comes alive and the LED starts blinking but the boot disk does not load. I also tried the debugging suggestion in the manual but all it does is hang the system with the floppy drive whirring. I have double checked all the solder joints and everything seems OK. I anyone on this list can point me in the right direction I would greatly appreciate it. Walid -- The universe is but an illusion of our imperfect senses and reality is stranger than we can fathom. From terrygski at cfl.rr.com Sat Jan 20 22:02:45 2007 From: terrygski at cfl.rr.com (Terry Gulczynski) Date: Sat, 20 Jan 2007 17:02:45 -0500 Subject: [P112] P112 boot issue In-Reply-To: <200701201507.39259.wmaalouli@comcast.net> Message-ID: <000301c73cde$b7b00180$6401a8c0@terry1> Walid, I added some comments interspersed with your post... > -----Original Message----- > From: p112-bounces at lists.feedle.net [mailto:p112-bounces at lists.feedle.net] > On Behalf Of Walid Maalouli > Sent: Saturday, January 20, 2007 4:08 PM > To: p112 at lists.feedle.net > Subject: [P112] P112 boot issue > > Hello. > > I just finished building a P112 board from kit and everything seems to > work > fine except that I'm getting the error message "unrecognizable disk > format" > right after the initial power up text. The message repeats for about 10 > times > then the debugger comes up. This is happening whether I have a 3.5" HD > drive > connected or not. The error message x10 and drop back to the debugger is exactly what would normally happen if there were no drive attached or no disk in the drive, so this part is 'normal operation'. > I have tried a couple of different known to be working > drives with similar results. Each time the drive comes alive and the LED > starts blinking but the boot disk does not load. I also tried the > debugging > suggestion in the manual but all it does is hang the system with the > floppy > drive whirring. > I have double checked all the solder joints and everything seems OK. > > I anyone on this list can point me in the right direction I would greatly > appreciate it. Have you tried a different boot disk? You can download the disk image from David's website and use RAWRITE to create another boot disk. (RAWRITE is included on the CDROM David supplied.) The LED "starts blinking"? The disk drive activity LED should not be blinking - I would expect it to remain lighted constantly. Have you tried a different drive cable? Regards, Terry Gulczynski From wmaalouli at comcast.net Mon Jan 22 02:15:44 2007 From: wmaalouli at comcast.net (Walid Maalouli) Date: Sun, 21 Jan 2007 20:15:44 -0600 Subject: [P112] P112 boot issue Message-ID: <200701212015.45131.wmaalouli@comcast.net> Thanks for the suggestions Terry. I did download a new disk image but that did not solve the problem. Then I found an old Alps Electric 3.5" drive in my spare parts box, so I tried it. Now the error messages changed to Error reading boot track Unrecognized disk format repeated a few times. Interestingly enough, a couple of times I still ended up with an A> prompt and I was able to partially list the disk directory. Most of the time however, I ended up in the debugger. The error code in the DE registers points to a seek error and abnormal termination, so I'm thinking it's a drive issue. All the drives I have tested (an Epson, a Panasonic, and this Alps) are good working drives, but I read that only TEAC drives were tested with the P112. I'm interested in finding out what brands of 3.5" (as well as 5 1/4") drives people on this list use. Otherwise, I'm all out of ideas... Nonetheless, I found a bundle of 5 TEAC drives for 99 cents (!) on ebay, and I purchased them. We'll find out soon enough :) My main goal for the P112 board is to incorporate it into the expansion box of a TI 99/4A computer system using the integrated 5 1/4" drives. In essence this will turn the venerable TI into a dual OS system. An 80 col terminal program will provide the display interface. Walid > Hello. > > I just finished building a P112 board from kit and everything seems to > work > fine except that I'm getting the error message "unrecognizable disk > format" > right after the initial power up text. The message repeats for about 10 > times > then the debugger comes up. This is happening whether I have a 3.5" HD > drive > connected or not. The error message x10 and drop back to the debugger is exactly what would normally happen if there were no drive attached or no disk in the drive, so this part is 'normal operation'. > I have tried a couple of different known to be working > drives with similar results. Each time the drive comes alive and the LED > starts blinking but the boot disk does not load. I also tried the > debugging > suggestion in the manual but all it does is hang the system with the > floppy > drive whirring. > I have double checked all the solder joints and everything seems OK. > > I anyone on this list can point me in the right direction I would greatly > appreciate it. Have you tried a different boot disk? ?You can download the disk image from David's website and use RAWRITE to create another boot disk. ?(RAWRITE is included on the CDROM David supplied.) The LED "starts blinking"? ?The disk drive activity LED should not be blinking - I would expect it to remain lighted constantly. Have you tried a different drive cable? Regards, Terry Gulczynski -- The universe is but an illusion of our imperfect senses and reality is stranger than we can fathom. From terrygski at cfl.rr.com Wed Jan 24 11:44:15 2007 From: terrygski at cfl.rr.com (Terry Gulczynski) Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2007 06:44:15 -0500 Subject: [P112] P112 boot issue In-Reply-To: <200701212015.45131.wmaalouli@comcast.net> Message-ID: <004601c73fac$f9892cf0$6401a8c0@terry1> > -----Original Message----- > From: p112-bounces at lists.feedle.net [mailto:p112-bounces at lists.feedle.net] > On Behalf Of Walid Maalouli > Sent: Sunday, January 21, 2007 9:16 PM > To: p112 at lists.feedle.net > Subject: Re: [P112] P112 boot issue > > Thanks for the suggestions Terry. I did download a new disk image but that > did > not solve the problem. Then I found an old Alps Electric 3.5" drive in my > spare parts box, so I tried it. Now the error messages changed to > > Error reading boot track > Unrecognized disk format > > repeated a few times. Interestingly enough, a couple of times I still > ended up > with an A> prompt and I was able to partially list the disk directory. > Most > of the time however, I ended up in the debugger. The error code in the DE > registers points to a seek error and abnormal termination, so I'm thinking > it's a drive issue. All the drives I have tested (an Epson, a Panasonic, > and > this Alps) are good working drives, but I read that only TEAC drives were > tested with the P112. I'm interested in finding out what brands of 3.5" > (as > well as 5 1/4") drives people on this list use. Otherwise, I'm all out of > ideas... > > Nonetheless, I found a bundle of 5 TEAC drives for 99 cents (!) on ebay, > and I > purchased them. We'll find out soon enough :) > > My main goal for the P112 board is to incorporate it into the expansion > box of > a TI 99/4A computer system using the integrated 5 1/4" drives. In essence > this will turn the venerable TI into a dual OS system. An 80 col terminal > program will provide the display interface. > > Walid Good Morning, Walid, I didn't concern myself with the drives because you were certain they were good, but your recent post suggests otherwise. I'm using Mitsubishi drives and have had zero problems. What are you using for a power supply? An inadequate power supply could also be causing your trouble. Regards, Terry From wmaalouli at comcast.net Tue Jan 30 04:30:45 2007 From: wmaalouli at comcast.net (Walid Maalouli) Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2007 22:30:45 -0600 Subject: [P112] Boot Issues solved Message-ID: <200701292230.45457.wmaalouli@comcast.net> Terry, it turned out the power supply I was using (an old ATX switching) was bad. I was able to get the drives to work problem with a different PS. Thank you for the all the help! Walid -- The universe is but an illusion of our imperfect senses and reality is stranger than we can fathom.