A1-XE halts during boot after loading kickstart files

@jabirulo

I will make photos about the card so that maybe will help to identify without booting in any config.

Okay, so on sunday I took out my hdd from my mA1 and the formerly used other one to attach to the A1XE.
The result? Still no boot, still no SLB found. I'm kinda disappointed, I really thought it can be set up for use. Dunno what else should I try...?

@Reynolds

if you are 100% your HD has a slb2 installed in RDB.
then you must have a read error, or it's not looking for the hd.

@LiveForIt

one of my hdds I gave a go is the one I use in my mA1, and if I'm right, all NG AmigaOS creates SLB during install. The other I've tried was my former hdd in the same mA1 I used till it had the lightning hit.
So if this config can be completely built, it is really crystal clear magic. :( Don't know where to continue, albeit I'd like to use that config.
Just one thing came to my mind, if a1ide_conf should have to be set different? But I used the same ports again, as did with the blank HDD...

@Reynolds

Quote:

No, nothing is automatic, you must partition, and prep the disk in media toolbox, during install process, or after you have booted on install cd, you can’t simply copy slb2 to l:, you most use mediatool box to install it into RDB, old A1-XE uboot cannot read FFS/SFS, slb2 (second level boot loader) is the module that does that (it provides the ability to read from a filesystem, and load the AmigaOS kernel modules). I believe there is button called edit RDB in media toolbox, there you find install slb button.

Quote:

Other NG systems like AROS, MorphOS, is completely different operating systems. They are similar but different, don’t assume anything.

Installing different OS on the same HD can mess up your boot, Linux uses different partition table, AmigaOS can’t boot on MBR, don’t partition the HD in windows.

Only from the install cd can you do this correctly.

I agree with LiveForIt. But I think this is at the point of rounding circles. Going back to the videos it doesn't complete the CD booting. And AFAIR only OS4 will look in those IDE variables for settings apart from the core UBoot ones disabling or swapping buses.

Therefore, based on the footage, I think you have a hardware issue you need to resolve. The CD clearly doesn't complete booting and it can boot off it unlike the HDD. You need to boot the CD to check the HDD but the CD doesn't complete booting. There are chickens and eggs rolling around here.

Could be VGA. Could be RAM. Hard to say without a serial link up. Do you have spare parts? VGA does show so technically still works even without showing a full screen mode. So if you have other RAM to test, such as the 256MB you had, be good to try and eliminate that. The Kickstart loads but AmigaDOS doesn't appear which indicates some hardware fault.

@Reynolds
Quote:

To add to what LiveForIt says (About needs to install SLB manually), the NG machines with OS4 which use SLB are: SAM boards and old AmigaOnes from Eyetech (like your one).

But machines like Pegasos2, x1000, x5000, a1222 - they all use "amigaboot" loader when you install OS4 on them.

And with SLB you need always manually add it via mediatollbox, etc (as LiveForIt says), and this is harder in compare with machines using Amigaboot, where you just need most of time to create boot FFS partition and put amigaboot loader to it via usually coping (like it done with x1000 and pegasos2). And those machines which use amigaboot loader indeed do have automatic copy code of amigaboot loader if you install from scratch (through also not very well catch the situations with the non_ffs partition).

But when it about SLB : only manual usage of mediatoolbox with installing loader directly to the fist blocks of HDD.

@Hypex

Yes, I still have the 256mb ram module.
I can test on one of the forthcoming days, really hope that at the end of the day I'll get a working config. Although not sure if 256 MB will be sufficient for daily use... Well, we will see.

It is not easy issue. It can be HW. I agree with Hypex, that we rounding in circles.

I strongly recomend connect your AmigaOne with serial cable to another computer with terminal program. And set in U-Boot menu:
os4_cmdline "debuglevel=7 serial"

You see more informations in debuglog.

Or if you not have this possibility, like last test you could try:

- remove all not needed hw and leave only graphics card and CD/DVD driver in primary IDE / Master
- set U-boot to defaults
- set in U-Boot menu:
set first boot source IDE CD
disable both serial ports, parallel port, both USBs - if you are debugging, leave first serial enabled
- set in U-Boot cmdline:
setenv a1ide_conf 2000
setenv a1ide_xfer 0000
saveenv
also in U-Booot make post tests:
post memtest
post idetest


try boot with this. If it not works, try CD in secondary IDE / Master
and set a1ide_conf to 0020

if it still not work, you have bad CD media / bad CD-DVD device / bad cabling / bad IDE controller / or whatever which need diagnostics, i.e. at least serial debug...

@sailor & All,

Thanks all your help. I will have some time to check all these during the XMas period, so will dig myself into it completely. I'd say the CD is definitely good, bought an original copy a few weeks ago, tried and installed with no issue onto my mA1.
The rest I will check in the forthcoming days.

@Reynolds

In this day and age, even for OS4, 256MB really isn't enough and is scraping at the bits. But for the purposes of testing it is fine. After testing if it works or not in the current state you can then proceed again to bigger RAM.