Falcon030 Worked - Today No Video - How to Troubleshoot?

[bb4093]

[Resolved See Solution in thread Below]
Hi - My first Falcon030. I first purchased the Exxos 3in1 Monitor Adapter and tested out the unit before I ever opened it up. The Falcon worked great! I have since added/replaced the RTC/NCRAM, added FPU 68882, new PSU, and most recently upgrade the RAM from 4MB to 14MB. I put it all back together two days prior and started my testing. Everything was working great. Today when I go to work with it I get no video. I get a message on my Dell VGA monitor that sporadically flashes stating "Cannot Display This Video Mode". I removed and reseated the 40Mhz Oscillator on the 3in1 Monitor Adapter and made sure the little switch is in VGA mode. This made no change. I tried a second DELL VGA monitor. No help so I switched back to my original Dell monitor that worked with the Falcon fine two days ago. I *think* the FALCON is booting. The internal speaker beeps when I press the spacebar to (I assume) abort the memory self-check at startup... I see the Floppy diskette read at the expected time (I do not have a hardrive or IDE SD drive as of yet so booting from floppy is it for now). What things can I troubleshoot to determine if the Falcon is putting out the correct signals on the monitor port? OR Troubleshoot the 3in1 Monitor Adaptor? Other things to try? Thanks!

[stephen_usher]

Have you tried the RF output to a TV?

[bb4093]

Have you tried the RF output to a TV?

No but I will try that next... I totally forgot about RF. Thanks

[bb4093]

Have you tried the RF output to a TV?

Keep in mind that I never tired the RF previously (back 2 days ago when the VGA was working fine). So I tried the RF signal just now. The Flacon is clearly putting out a signal just nothing that makes sense... I physically disconnected the 3in1 Monitor Adapter from the Falcon before testing the RF signal. Here's how I describe it:

When I turn on the Falcon the default 'snow' (no signal) on the TV clearly changes from 'snow' (no signal) to something else.... but nothing that can be recognized... rather just black and white rolling chaos which changes a bit when I press and hold the Falcon reset button before going back to black and white rolling chaos. So I think we can say the Falcon is putting out a signal but the signal is junk. So I am likely having a new an issue with the Falcon video logic... new since two days ago. BTW - I reverted from my newly installed 14MB RAM card to the original 4MB card and the nature of the video issue did not change... so I think I can rule out a RAM as the cause?

Any tips on how to troubleshoot the video logic? I'm no good when it comes to reading a schematic

[mikro]

Much better test than RF is to disconnect the 3in1 adapter and test VGA / RGB / mono output separately. Of course, you need an adapter for every type (some offer at least a VGA/RGB switch, though).

Seems like your Falcon is booting so most likely your NVRAM is just messed up: try to boot http://files.dhs.nu/files_util/f030free.zip from floppy. This clears NVRAM completely from floppy disk's boot sector.

[HomeLate]

It beeps and has floppy access... Make sure the NVRAM/RTC is still properly seated in the socket. Mine popped out every time I moved my Falcon because the legs of the NVRAM were to short. This caused my Falcon not to boot and no image was displayed, but I had no beep and no floppy activity either.

I doubt this would be the cause of the issue but it wouldn't hurt checking it anyway.

[coonsgm]

Isn't there a self booting disk image that you can use to reset your nvram? I couldn't find the thread, but I know I've seen it here on the forum.

[mikro]

Isn't there a self booting disk image that you can use to reset your nvram? I couldn't find the thread, but I know I've seen it here on the forum.

Dude I literally posted it two posts earlier.

[coonsgm]

Man, I really need to learn how to read

[bb4093]

Much better test than RF is to disconnect the 3in1 adapter and test VGA / RGB / mono output separately. Of course, you need an adapter for every type (some offer at least a VGA/RGB switch, though).

Seems like your Falcon is booting so most likely your NVRAM is just messed up: try to boot http://files.dhs.nu/files_util/f030free.zip from floppy. This clears NVRAM completely from floppy disk's boot sector.

THANKS mikro! This was it !!! Fixed my video output on my Falcon030 !! This is SO much better than recapping the PCB like so many others were recommending (on Facebook). Reading the README in the f030free.zip you must have another Falcon or ST available to do the following: "Take one formatted diskette, put it in drive a:\ and run F030FREE.PRG. It will create executable boot sector. Program in boot sector will simply reset the NV Memory in your F030 when powered on."

So I took this to my trusty 1040STE with a scratch diskette. When I ran F030FREE.PRG it was totally 'silent' (nothing on the screen to indicate what it was doing) however, you can see that is does a short write to the floppy drive. I took that diskette to the Falcon030, booted from it. I think I waited 30 seconds or so after I could tell that it booted from the diskette then I think I had to hit the Falcon reset button then magically... my video was working again!! So everyone with a Falcon030 needs to create a diskette with this little .PRG and label the diskette 'Falcon030 Emergency NVRAM Reset Boot Disk' so you have it when you need it. I'm not sure what you do if you are set to boot from HD ?? Does the Falcon always try to boot from A: even when you are set to boot from C: ??