[Fixed] - Sam440EP does no more boot ...

Hi All,

I encounter a problem with my Sam440EP.
I have the blue LED that is on when the motherboard is under electricity alimentation and when I try to turn my Amiga On, the blue LED turn off like it should ... but nothing appear on screen ... I can open/close my CD/DVD drive ... but nothing else.

I have made tests with mys sam440flex ... to be sure ...

I tried all these :
Sam440EP alone with its power ALIM.
Sam440EP with the Sam440flex power ALIM.
Sam440EP with the Sam440flex 512Mb memory module
Sam440EP with the Sam440flex HD/DVD.
Sam440EP with the Sam440flex Radeon 9250 PCI.
All these gives the same result.
Black screen... Nothing.

I also tried these to check the Sam440EP components :
Sam440EP 512Mb memory module on Sam440Flex.
Sam440EP Power ALIM on Sam440Flex.
Sam440EP DVD/HD on Sam440Flex.
On all these tests all work perfectly.

Do someone have any clue ?

Thank you..

Kindest Regards,
Fr?d?ric Cordier

@freddix

Did you put the OS4 cd in the drive?

@freddix

Not sure why you are starting up your SAMep? Mine is still in an antistatic bag...

But in anycase since it is functioning correctly I'd say you're just overlooking an obvious thing...

Is you monitor plugged into the right hole on and SAMep and does your monitor work?

Are your HD and DVDRW plugged in to the right SATA ports and are they plugged in properly and do they work?

Is the HD got OS4 installed on it?

I'm thinking it's just a monitor thing... I'm not sure why people go crazy reseating and reinstalling and re-anything else for that matter when you can't see a picture...

relax, pretend you are setting it for the first time, be sure of what you're doing, take your time... there can't be too many things wrong with it...

take it easy

@All: You did not read carefully what I said ...

In fact, I firstly bought a Sam440OEP on October/November 2008 when it was out with Amiga OS 4.1 ...

Now that new Sam440Flex are out, I've bought one ( a 800Mhz one)...

I decided to make a friend use my old Sam440EP (instead of simply leaving it off ...) ...
I removed the HD and used it for my Sam440Flex and I've put on the Sam440EP configuration a new HD.
I tried Amiga OS 4.1 CD, it booted correctly, detected the new HD ... All was OK.
I did not installed AmigaOS 4.1 to let my friend have the pleasure to install it itself.

I gave him my full Sam440EP configuration..

he tried it at his home few days later and the amiga do no more start !!!

What I mean is that, when you turn on the computer, you should see the Acube bios setup page with informations on USB devices, HD / DVD and after this, it launch UBOOT and start your installed OS (Amiga OS 4.1 in my case).
Now, when you turn on the Amiga ... Nothing appear on screen !!! The MOTHERBOARD simply NOT INITIALIZE !!!

I'm computer technician so I know what I say and I'm enough skilled to determine a hardware failure ...
So I know the motherboard is faulty.
(it's the reason for all tests described upper)

It's not a monitor problem, the configuration was tested on 4 LCD monitor and 1 of them is the monitor on which I used the Sam440EP before acquiring the Sam440Flex...

Here is all.

@freddix

Pls calm down, people only try to be helpful, even if they arent at all...

As youre a computer technician you should know that such sort of problems is very hard to judge and/or cure from the distance.

First of all, we need some more information about what exactly happened to your SAM board at the time you stored it in your bin and at the time you transported it to your friend. Maybe it was smashed to the ground accidentally?

Second, did you check the BIOS battery? Does it provide nominal voltage or is it drowned to <2.8V in the meantime? If you have some spare battery, replace it and try again. Sometimes a faulty BIOS battery may cause such a board behaviour (for the A1 machines, at least).

I dont know the SAM very good, but there should be a jumper that must be shortened in order to clear the BIOS NVRAM. If the battery change doesnt help, short it and try again.

Just my 2 cents of help...

Regards

@freddix
Quote:
What does the serial port output say?

@ssolie
I don't know how to check the Serial output.
Are there some physical component to ADD ? any Software ?

@freddix


It is possible that the reset button doesn't work correctly, or make contact continually, of being this way when start up the Sam anything it would not be seen in the screen of the monitor, however the hard disk and the DVD would have activity.

Greetings,
Lisardo

@Fernecho
You're right, it's a good idea.
I'll check removing the Power switch button and reset one, and doing the power switch manually with cables and make contact myself during 1s and releasing contact to see if it gives better results.
It's a good direction to explore :)


Fernecho, you were right, I didn't noticed this but the power button has its spring that does not work correctly .. Resulting in being pressed even if it's not ... It caused the Sam440EP to not boot...
Problem fixed :)

Thank you all.

Kindest Regards,
Fred

@freddix

It is a good news, I am very happy
that your Sam440ep works again.
Good luck, greetings.
Lisardo

@freddix

I removed the connection to the motherboard for my reset button once when my SAMep failed to boot... I noticed the lights on the ethernet ports stayed on when I powered the system on and that's all that happened... I was hoping like crazy something was cross circuiting or similair so started thinking what could be causing this...

funny enough I am not a technician or made a post asking for help :p

I might be an extreme optimist but I find it very unlikely that something major can happen to a perfectly working board simply because you transplant it or whatever... even at that moment it feels like the ground is giving way under your feet

I still maintain, take it easy