I have a Kinetic RPC. It's not been turned on for two or three months but
today I needed to use it. I turned it on and the monitor complained about
not being able to display the video. It was making all the usual noises,
bleeps, hard drive etc but there was no display. I tried a few things,
turning off and restarting, restarting with Shift held down and so on. I
tried "* configure monitor auto", without of course being able to see what
I was doing, to no avail.

I then did a CTRL-Break and it came up normally, I did a few things
including downloading the latest !NetSurf. I did the Boot and System
merges because it wouldn't run, I guessed it needed those because the
existing copy was very old.

The middle mouse wouldn't bring up the shutdown menu so I performed a
CTRL-Break to restart and ensure the later boot and system components had
been seen and I got a blank screen again as before.

Nothing seems to get the display back this time, anybody got any clues?

--
Stuart Winsor

Tools With A Mission
sending tools across the world
http://www.twam.co.uk/

In Nachricht <5af5e322f3Spambin@argonet.co.uk>
Stuart <Spambin@argonet.co.uk> haben Sie geschrieben:

> I have a Kinetic RPC. It's not been turned on for two or three months but
> today I needed to use it. I turned it on and the monitor complained about
> not being able to display the video. It was making all the usual noises,
> bleeps, hard drive etc but there was no display. I tried a few things,
> turning off and restarting, restarting with Shift held down and so on. I
> tried "* configure monitor auto", without of course being able to see what
> I was doing, to no avail.

> I then did a CTRL-Break and it came up normally, I did a few things
> including downloading the latest !NetSurf. I did the Boot and System
> merges because it wouldn't run, I guessed it needed those because the
> existing copy was very old.

> The middle mouse wouldn't bring up the shutdown menu so I performed a
> CTRL-Break to restart and ensure the later boot and system components had
> been seen and I got a blank screen again as before.

> Nothing seems to get the display back this time, anybody got any clues?

> --
> Stuart Winsor

> Tools With A Mission
> sending tools across the world
> http://www.twam.co.uk/

Hallo Stuart,

it seems that the CMOS-Battery is empty, possible broken. You may
switch on your Risc PC for some 20-30 minutes, so it can be loaded.
The CMOS-settings are probably all lost, so you have to reset the CMOS
(Shift-Power-On) and configure some settings by hand (e.g. configure
monitortype auto / configure wimpmode auto / configure mode auto /
etc.). Those configure-commands could be typed in a Taskwindow or on
the CLI (Pressing F12).

If the Risc PC is booting you have to configure your computer by
double-clicking !Boot and have look at very option for what you want
to have.
Afterward, if your machine is fully configured to your wishes, it is
recommended to save the CMOS-settings. As far as I remember, you could
press the menu-button of the mouse and drag the CMOS-file to a folder
of your choice. This could depend on your Risc OS-version.

To prevent a total decharge of the CMOS-battery you should start your
Risc PC e.g. once a week for some minutes.
It would be also good to look after the battery on the mainboard,
sometimes a leaking battery damages the PCB, so it's a good advice to
renew it.
There are good sites in the net, relating to this topic, just search
for "risc pc cmos battery" or similar.

Greetings,
Jürgen

In article <127103f65a.JF@freak67>,
<freakorsofreakmail@ger.ge> wrote:

> To prevent a total decharge of the CMOS-battery you should start your
> Risc PC e.g. once a week for some minutes.
> It would be also good to look after the battery on the mainboard,
> sometimes a leaking battery damages the PCB, so it's a good advice to
> renew it.
> There are good sites in the net, relating to this topic, just search
> for "risc pc cmos battery" or similar.

Thank you for your advice, most snipped for clarity.

Later last night it did power up normally.

The time is showing correctly and the CMOS battery was removed from the
board ages ago, being replaced by an off board AAA Ni-Mh in a separate
battery holder, so I don't think that is the problem.

I ran !DiscKnight and left it on overnight doing a verify on the HDD. Both
indicate the drive is good.

This morning it was still running and I did a couple of power-off and
re-starts and it behaved normally but then started misbehaving again. I
did notice that after a short time the shift lock and number lock LEDs on
the keyboard flashed briefly but the monitor still complaining about not
being able to display the resolution the computer was throwing at it.

Currently, I have left it powered but without display to see what happens.

--
Stuart Winsor

Tools With A Mission
sending tools across the world
http://www.twam.co.uk/

On 20/10/2023 12:00, Stuart wrote:
> In article <127103f65a.JF@freak67>,
> <freakorsofreakmail@ger.ge> wrote:
>
>> To prevent a total decharge of the CMOS-battery you should start your
>> Risc PC e.g. once a week for some minutes.
>> It would be also good to look after the battery on the mainboard,
>> sometimes a leaking battery damages the PCB, so it's a good advice to
>> renew it.
>> There are good sites in the net, relating to this topic, just search
>> for "risc pc cmos battery" or similar.
>
> Thank you for your advice, most snipped for clarity.
>
> Later last night it did power up normally.
>
> The time is showing correctly and the CMOS battery was removed from the
> board ages ago, being replaced by an off board AAA Ni-Mh in a separate
> battery holder, so I don't think that is the problem.
>
> I ran !DiscKnight and left it on overnight doing a verify on the HDD. Both
> indicate the drive is good.
>
> This morning it was still running and I did a couple of power-off and
> re-starts and it behaved normally but then started misbehaving again. I
> did notice that after a short time the shift lock and number lock LEDs on
> the keyboard flashed briefly but the monitor still complaining about not
> being able to display the resolution the computer was throwing at it.
>
> Currently, I have left it powered but without display to see what happens.
>

If you are using a cable independent of the monitor, I would try a new
one. They can become flakey with age.

Have you tested the battery voltage? Suprising how quickly they can drain.

If and when it happens again, after allowing time for what would be a
normal boot, press F12 and try vdu 7 or CTRL-G (I think) to check for a
beeb. That might help narrow things down.

Mike.
--

In message <5af6458d3dSpambin@argonet.co.uk>
Stuart <Spambin@argonet.co.uk> wrote:

> In article <127103f65a.JF@freak67>,
> <freakorsofreakmail@ger.ge> wrote:

>> To prevent a total decharge of the CMOS-battery you should start your
>> Risc PC e.g. once a week for some minutes.
>> It would be also good to look after the battery on the mainboard,
>> sometimes a leaking battery damages the PCB, so it's a good advice to
>> renew it.
>> There are good sites in the net, relating to this topic, just search
>> for "risc pc cmos battery" or similar.

> Thank you for your advice, most snipped for clarity.

> Later last night it did power up normally.

> The time is showing correctly and the CMOS battery was removed from the
> board ages ago, being replaced by an off board AAA Ni-Mh in a separate
> battery holder, so I don't think that is the problem.

> I ran !DiscKnight and left it on overnight doing a verify on the HDD. Both
> indicate the drive is good.

> This morning it was still running and I did a couple of power-off and
> re-starts and it behaved normally but then started misbehaving again. I
> did notice that after a short time the shift lock and number lock LEDs on
> the keyboard flashed briefly but the monitor still complaining about not
> being able to display the resolution the computer was throwing at it.

> Currently, I have left it powered but without display to see what happens.

I would suggest setting Avalanche up on the RPC, run at startup. Then you
can use a VNC client to show what the RPC is trying to display on the
monitor, if anything.

--
Alan Adams

In message <1c9ebef65a.Alan@alan.adamshome.org.uk>
Alan Adams <alan@adamshome.org.uk> wrote:

> In message <5af6458d3dSpambin@argonet.co.uk>
> Stuart <Spambin@argonet.co.uk> wrote:
>
> > In article <127103f65a.JF@freak67>,
> > <freakorsofreakmail@ger.ge> wrote:
>
> > > To prevent a total decharge of the CMOS-battery you should start your
> > > Risc PC e.g. once a week for some minutes. It would be also good to
> > > look after the battery on the mainboard, sometimes a leaking battery
> > > damages the PCB, so it's a good advice to renew it. There are good
> > > sites in the net, relating to this topic, just search for "risc pc cmos
> > > battery" or similar.
>
> > Thank you for your advice, most snipped for clarity.
>
> > Later last night it did power up normally.
>
> > The time is showing correctly and the CMOS battery was removed from the
> > board ages ago, being replaced by an off board AAA Ni-Mh in a separate
> > battery holder, so I don't think that is the problem.
>
> > I ran !DiscKnight and left it on overnight doing a verify on the HDD.
> > Both indicate the drive is good.
>
> > This morning it was still running and I did a couple of power-off and
> > re-starts and it behaved normally but then started misbehaving again. I
> > did notice that after a short time the shift lock and number lock LEDs on
> > the keyboard flashed briefly but the monitor still complaining about not
> > being able to display the resolution the computer was throwing at it.
>
> > Currently, I have left it powered but without display to see what
> > happens.
>
> I would suggest setting Avalanche up on the RPC, run at startup. Then you
> can use a VNC client to show what the RPC is trying to display on the
> monitor, if anything.

No, Avalanche is the client. This case needs the server on the RPC.

David

In article <0ea6c6f65a.DaveMeUK@BeagleBoard-xM>,
David Higton <dave@davehigton.me.uk> wrote:
> No, Avalanche is the client. This case needs the server on the RPC.

I have snipped everything else for brevity.

Yesterday evening I removed and reseated the memory chips and processor
card and so far all seems to be good, it's been on and off a few times,
but I have left it powered ready for the next time I need it.

Thank you everyone for taking the time to answer my query.

--
Stuart Winsor

Tools With A Mission
sending tools across the world
http://www.twam.co.uk/

In article <5af6fca2adSpambin@argonet.co.uk>,
Stuart <Spambin@argonet.co.uk> wrote:
> In article <0ea6c6f65a.DaveMeUK@BeagleBoard-xM>,
> David Higton <dave@davehigton.me.uk> wrote:
> > No, Avalanche is the client. This case needs the server on the RPC.

> I have snipped everything else for brevity.

> Yesterday evening I removed and reseated the memory chips and processor
> card and so far all seems to be good, it's been on and off a few times,
> but I have left it powered ready for the next time I need it.

I try to service my RiscPC once a year but that's not happened in a while
since I got my various RiscOS on Pi machines. I only usualy fire it up
now for Sibelius.

I have a couple of excellent articles, one by Dave Holden and one by
Barry Thompson, on spring cleaning and maintaning RPCs. I think they came
from RiscWorld magazine which was distributd on CDs. An invaluable
resource.

--
Chris

In article <5af7012114mec@npost.uk>,
Chris Newman <mec@npost.uk> wrote:
> I try to service my RiscPC once a year but that's not happened in a while
> since I got my various RiscOS on Pi machines. I only usualy fire it up
> now for Sibelius.

My main use is similar, Rhapsody3/4. For some reason I can't get sound out
my ARMX6 or Pi and I prefer Rhapsody 3 for inputting music anyway.

My recent use was for initialiaing and loading up a new hard drive. I am
selling one of my Risc PCs and to save trying to disinfect the existing
drive I am installing a new (re-certified) 80G drive. My Kinetic RPC,
which is the one in question, has an ARCin interface which allows me to
easily add another HD.

--
Stuart Winsor

Tools With A Mission
sending tools across the world
http://www.twam.co.uk/

In message <5af740e399Spambin@argonet.co.uk>
Stuart <Spambin@argonet.co.uk> wrote:

> In article <5af7012114mec@npost.uk>,
> Chris Newman <mec@npost.uk> wrote:
>> I try to service my RiscPC once a year but that's not happened in a while
>> since I got my various RiscOS on Pi machines. I only usualy fire it up
>> now for Sibelius.

> My main use is similar, Rhapsody3/4. For some reason I can't get sound out
> my ARMX6 or Pi and I prefer Rhapsody 3 for inputting music anyway.

How are you trying to get sound out?

R-Comp provided with the ARMX6 two obey files one to turn on HDMI sound
and the other to turn it off

The Pi if you want to use the analogue port, then it requires some changes
to the Config/txt file to turn on analogue sound.

[snip]

--
Chris Hughes