Digging out an old StrongARM RiscPC

Hello, I’ve been away from Risc OS for about ten years.

Just sorting through old computer stuff and trying to get my old StrongARM RiscPC up and running. But I’ve managed to forget everything I ever knew. Help!

The problem: It turns on (with VGA output through the motherboard not the ATI Rage card) but after showing a couple primary colours goes to white cursor blinking on black background. Nothing happens from here.

The set-up: Forgive me for not remembering much about this. It has the ATI Rage 128 card (ViewFinder?), it has a video in card and an editing suit on it (?), it has what I suppose is an original SCSII harddisk and another flash card pretending to be a harddisc. Its a two deck affair.

I can take it apart and give a proper account of the set-up, but it seemed sensible to find out if there was a common mistake I’m making before doing that.

Thanks for your help and patience in advance!

Ed

P.S. Impressed RiscOS can come pre-installed on a £399 1.2GHz laptop now!

Hold down Delete whilst powering it on. Keep it held down. Hopefully you’ll get to the Desktop or to the supervisor (*) prompt (if the latter, type desktop at the * prompt).

But these old Acorns suffer from leaky batteries and the acid eats away at the components and motherboard tracks. Open the case and check the battery for leakage. If it’s leaking, cut it out. If it has leaked you’ll first want to wash the motherboard and then assess the damage. The Star Dot forums are the place to head for reviving old Acorns and this section specifically for RPCs.

But these old Acorns suffer from leaky batteries and the acid eats away at the components and motherboard tracks.

Sometimes the damage isn’t visible even after cleaning, I think because it’s a multilayer PCB. If that’s not the case and it does startup, when replacing the battery don’t install the replacement in the original position. If you attach leads to the old mounting holes, you can locate the battery in the space at the front, nicely and safely enclosed in plastic so any future leakage can’t do any damage.

Incidentally delete-power-on doesn’t work with USB keyboards, only original ones plugged into the keyboard socket.

@ Ed

First thing I would do, if you did not turn on your RiscPC for years, is to open it and check the cmos battery for leakage, this is the main source of damages for the RiscPCs and leaks if the machine is not used for 3/4 years.

If the battery has leaked (you may see corrosion around the battery and also the PCB) the first thing to do is to remove the battery to avoid any more corrosion to your system and you should neutralise the acid on the PCB ASAP. If you do not know what to do please contact either CJE or RComp or a tech person that can help in these situations.

By the way you describe the issue it seems that POST process on your RiscPC is not completing correctly, so, if the battery is ok then start it up with NO Podule cards fitted in and when you start it up make sure only keyboard and mouse are plugged in and the monitor is connected to the original on-board port.

Also make sure NO CD-ROM disc is inserted on the CD-ROM unit, sometimes power suppliers in bad state lock the Post if a CD-ROM is inserted because there is not enough power to continue the POST and spin-up the CD-ROM (this is so also because RISC OS uses ARM at full power until it enters the Desktop)

When you press the ON button make sure to also press the Delete and hold it down as suggested by dgr.

If the above doesn’t solve your problem then yes you need to contact someone with the right tools to test your RiscPC.

Good luck!