STE - 4 Bombs on Start Up

[matt.lacey]

So as per my topic in the noobs section, I hooked up my STE for the first time in about 18months - 2 years, following an international move, and all I get is 4 bombs on the screen. It almost looks as though I get two and then another two, but hitting reset or powering off/on after that seem to give 4 immediately.

I've reseated the RAM (4x1BM) and tried all combinations of 2MB to no effect. Nothing has been re-capped, but the PSU is outputing a smidge over 5V on that line and just over 12 on the 12. I checked that the 68k is getting 5V and it is, but haven't probed further yet.

Two questions come to mind though given that I'm currently missing an oscilloscope (leant mine to a friend ahead of aforementioned move and forgot about it).

1. Is it worth re-capping the PSU before doing anything else - is there any chance that would fix it?
2. Is it worth buying a diagnostic cart, or is that unlikely to help when the machine is failing in the very early stages of initialisation

[PhilC]

4 bombs on an STe Will indicate a floppy not present fault.

In answer to should you recap your PSU then most definitely yes.?that way you will know that regardless of everything else the power supply won’t put out damaging voltages to the rest of the STe.

[rubber_jonnie]

What @PhilC said :)

[matt.lacey]

OK, that's good to know, was worried it'd be something more serious! Surpsied they're setup to not boot if the floppy is out of commission, at least when there's a hard drive available.

[atari030]

In the olden days floppy failure would have been rare, I guess. And they were pretty much essential. If you get stuck I should be able to bodge up a PC drive for you, Matt. I also have a diag cart if you want to run it up.

[matt.lacey]

I've got a floppy emulator around somewhere - never had any use for it so it just got left in a static bag in a box a couple of years ago. Will see if I can dig it out, if that doesn't work I might take you up on that offer!

[matt.lacey]

4 bombs on an STe Will indicate a floppy not present fault.

Does it only ever mean that on the STE? I dug out my Hxc but that's giving me the exact same result, though I guess it could be the cable that's the problem if it's definitely the drive.

[derkom]

Does it only ever mean that on the STE? I dug out my Hxc but that's giving me the exact same result, though I guess it could be the cable that's the problem if it's definitely the drive.

It's not specifically an STE thing, but a TOS version thing. However, the HxC is a perfectly acceptable substitute for a floppy drive, so if you're seeing the same beahviour with a properly installed and functioning HxC, then your problem is something else.

Also, the missing floppy drive problem won't cause the "2+2" bomb output that you describe, so that also points to something else.

[matt.lacey]

Guess it's time to purchase a diagnostic cart then? Will re-cap the PSU first for the sake of sanity, and double check the HxC in another machine.

In the olden days floppy failure would have been rare, I guess. And they were pretty much essential. If you get stuck I should be able to bodge up a PC drive for you, Matt. I also have a diag cart if you want to run it up.

Would have loved to take you up on that mate, but unfortunately I've moved back to the UK! Somewhere between Melbroune and here is where the STE stopped working.

[PhilC]

I’ve never tried a HxC floppy emulator but do make sure it is configured to work with an STe, re correct drive Id and pull-up settings.