lockups have resumed on my A1 when doing net work :-(

Jusr recently, I've been experiencing some rather worrying lock ups on my A1XE while doing (I have at least been able to determine) network transfer type stuff.

First managed to ascertain that AmiUpdate (I think the latest version) locked up while downloading the latest index. I also noticed that this has also happened when YAM (I forget which, but PPC native) is d/l'ing emails.
Just now, I have managed to get ping to do it, while checking the link is up !

I'm using an MSI wireless router - which seems ok - I can at least connect my netbook to it (hence this 'ere missive).

I have the latest OS4 update (OS4.1 U2), but this has been happening for a bit now - on Update 1.

Ideas ? Any suggestions or requests for further info would be most helpful !

Ta !

Bit more info: Interestingly, the operations I was attempting to use that caused OS4.1.1/2 to lock, work fine on OS4.1 (no update - spare partition, glad I kept it !)

(Its still using new kernel modules, as USBCtrl complains when 4.1 boots - besides, I have to choose 4.1 from the early startup menu !)

@agafaster
The A1-XE will lockup with ethernet and IDE activity if you don't have the hardware workaround applied to your board. Use of a PCI IDE controller (e.g. sii0680) is highly recommended.

@ssolie

Yep, this is the infamous DMA bug. Fortunately, my AmigaOne is fixed

@K-L

Interesting idea - I dont think it is a fixed board, but how come it works fine in OS4.1 on the exact same operations ?

would a PCI ethernet card be worth getting as an alternative ? Sii cards seem somewhat thin on the ground - certainly on the high street !

@agafaster

If you don't have a fixed A1 the only options to workaround the DMA problems when using built-in ethernet and built-in IDE at the same time are:

a) Set built-in IDE to PIO mode.
Drawbacks: Its much slower than UDMA and will hog the CPU.

b) Don't use built-in IDE at all but a dedicated PCI card with a silicon image controller.

c) Don't use built-in ethernet, but use a dedicated PCI card with either the same 3COM chip as built-in (IIRC its a 905, but I could be wrong), a Realtek 8029 (10Mbit), 8139 (100Mbit) or 8169 (1000Mbit) card. Note though that the Realtek 8139 and 8169 drivers might stall after some time on OS4.1 Update 1 and 2 (working fine with plain OS4.1). I'm working on the problem already and I'm confident its not the drivers fault but some other component.. but this is still to be evaluated and my Amigatime is unfortunately fairly limited at the moment. Still, I'm pretty certain the issue will be solved in the next OS update.

d) Get the DMA fix (and USB fix while you are at it) applied to your A1. This should of course only be done by a person who knows exactly what he's doing.


So it's up to you to choose one of the above options.


You are saying that it's working fine in a plain OS4.1.. well, to be honest, I don't have any idea why this should work other than by pure coincidence.. maybe on OS4.1 you did set IDE to PIO mode?

@Cyborg

Hmmm. The options indicate that I should probably go for the Ethernet card (should be easier to source than even the Sii card - they seem a bit difficult to locate: besides I'd like to save that for when I can afford to go SATA).

Is anyone out there still doing DMA fixes for A1s ? UK/Midlands for preference !

I don't need to worry about USB - I got front ports in a 3.5" bay, that came with a USB card, so no trubbs there !

I don't recall altering the settings between upgrades - there could've been issues that I attributed to something else - they usually look like input.device failing, but everything else (like the cpu monitor docky) still working away.

-edit-
out of interest, what is the DMA fix ?

nope , tried amending all the IDE ports to Best PIO, but the same effect.
And OS4.1.0 still connects to t'internet fine - I'm entering this 'ere missive on OWB !

@All,

I've bitten the bullet - located a card in Maplins that had the SiI680 chipset on an ATA133/Raid board.

Its done the trick, and then some - Chr!st on bike thats quick !

Set it up to the full whack in UBoot prefs: UDMA6 on both channels.

One ever so slight niggle though - where do I set the Uboot to NOT scan the internal channel ?

-edit- to be helpful, I should point it out: its the ATA/133 RAID Controller in the white box with Red/Black trim on it, if you go to the store,
otherwise online its this one: http://maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=32106

@agafaster

To stop UBoot from scanning the internal channel:

1. Enter UBoot
2. select Integrated Peripherals
3. Internal IDE Controller: Disabled
4. save and reboot

Additionaly you could set a1ide_maxbus to 0 to stop OS4 from scanning the internal channel.

@ZeroG

Doh ! should've noticed that really - thanks for the reminder.

Job Done !

Congratulations :)

@agafaster

Please amend the thread title to include "SOLVED" or similar.

thanks

@tonyw

Err ... i did, I put Resolved ! I guess I'm used to resolving issues in m'day job...


Next question - how do I get my drives to be recognised as hda/b instead of hde/f etc for Linux...

@agafaster

Quote:
Add ide=reverse to your Linux boot command line in a1boot.conf.

@TSK

magic, knew it was something like that...

@agafaster

ar5ebi5cuits.
It seems I have the unwelcome return of the whole machine locking up when I do anything more complicated* than PING my service provider, or my router.

*This includes YAM, AmiUpdate, OWB.
It quite likely will happen for IBrowse, aWeb, Simplemail, you name it.

any ideas ?

glum jim.

Can anyone help ?

briefly, its OS4.1.2 on a non-DMA-fixed A1XE G3, with IDE and USB functions moved on to PCI cards.

its fine when I ping, but not other operations, as stated above.

@agafaster

No idea really,but could there be a problem with the ethernet in your machine? Is it possible to get pci netcards that work to see if there are any changes???

@Antique

not sure that should be the case, as it worked under OS4.0.

I'll try that, and if the old NIC from the old PC fits, try that too.