My AmigaOne X5000 twins - I need some help and advice.

I have been blessed with the good fortune to purchase an AmigaOne X5000 5020. I am a long term Amiga user way back to the A1000.

This was a special treat for me. The latest and greatest Amiga to hopefully last through some of my semi-retired years. Liking the X5020 so much that I decided I would like to own a spare unit. As luck would have it Laurent at Amedia-Computer France said the only unit that he could get was a 5040! I accepted the quote and then Frank and Laurent built my second AmigaOne computer, an X5000 5040!

FedEx shipping did not go smoothly the second time like it had the first. The package was stalled at Customs US for about a month due to some sort of complication and the package arrived in poor condition.

After unboxing the 5040 I set it up right next to my 5020 so that I could just transfer the power, HDMI, mouse, and keyboard cables to test it out. Much to my disappointment the monitor always shows "No Signal" when connected to either the HDMI or the DVI port when I start the X5040 up. The fans spin, the motherboard LEDs look normal (they match my 5020), the optical drive goes through it's initialization routine, the hard drive LED stays on constant, and it takes a 10 second hold "force" to power off the motherboard.

Again, this is a Brand New High End computer that costs a fair amount of money. So far I have explained the situation the best I know how and sent a video of what the machine does on a boot attempt. How far do I go troubleshooting something that I bought as "new and working", and what should I try next? I am not receiving very much support. The HDMI cable really is plugged it in, I promise. I've tried 2 HDMI cables, a DVI cable, and 2 different monitors.

Again, Brand new 5040, no boot- no video on screen. Does anyone have any ideas for me?

Many thanks in advance.

When my 5020 shipped I received it and had a similar issue. It turned out that the video card just did not work. I tried it out on my PC and also had a blank screen without signal. It was a 550 RX.

I didn't see that you swapped your video card from your 5020 to 5040. Could it really be that the same thing happened to you?

First, I would contact Amedia for support. They built it, and presumably they did some QA before shipping it.

I built my own X5000 with a motherboard shipped from Amigakit. I had sourced a Radeon HD 7860 and connected via HDMI but it wouldn't boot past the splash screen. I took a 5450 from a SAM and it booted. Somehow, I eventually got the 7860 working, initially thru DVI and finally HDMI.

Would you be able to try a different card, maybe the one from your 5020 as you know it works?

@Magic

If it's been thrown abuot a generally abused in transit it could be that the video card has become partially unseated. Best bet is to open the case, have a look inside and make sure nothing has come loose.

Mine was shipped from the UK and i believe in the box was a note or maybe they send a email to make sure everything is seated including ram and all the connectors. This is basic trouble shooting and after that you can go balistic. As mentioned before the Graphics card might be a culprit. Hope you find the issue real quick, good luck and congrats on the 5040

Thank you everyone ---> My X5000 5040 Runs!

I got the 5040 working! As was suggested here, I wanted to test the 5040s graphics card. I wasn’t willing to risk using any parts from my working 5020 HD5450 machine. Having a few rescued PC’s here, as was suggested above ^^^ I selected an older Windows 10 machine with a Radeon 2600XT. Next I installed the Radeon RX550 4 gig graphic card from the 5040 in to it. Now trying to boot the Windows 10 computer resulted in “no signal” on the monitor using the RX550 that came from the AmigaOne 5040.

Next I installed the PC’s Radeon 2600XT in to the Amiga 5040 – having removed the RX550. The result is that the AmigaOne 5040 booted up for the first time! It is running at this moment using the Radeon 2600XT.

Conclusion is that the Radeon RX550 that came installed in the 5040 did not survive the trip to USA from France. The shipping box was a mess when it arrived.

I am sure that the system builders carefully chose the RX550 for this machine for a specific reason. Does anybody have input on that choice for a graphics card now that I need to replace it? Thank you again to everyone here.

@Magic

Good to hear you got it working!

I would still try and contact Amedia. They may be able to send you a replacement. I don't suppose there was any kind of insurance on the delivery you can claim back?

The RX 500 Polaris cards are the most powerful GFX cards you can get for the X5000, so I would recommend trying to get a replacement, either the RX550 or the RX560. The latest version of Enhancer allows video players such as Emotion to access the GPU hardware, so you can play 1080p video smoothly. The downside is that you lose the ability to soft-boot the machine, and there's no Linux or MorphOS drivers so you won't be able to use alternate OSes (although I think Skateman may have a complicated workaround for this?).

Failing that, I would go for a Southern Islands card (7xxx HD). I believe they will eventually get access to GPU hardware, plus they can be soft booted and will run Linux (although not MorphOS). I used to have a Radeon 7850 HD which was a good card.

Cannot remember if I tested out the RX 550 that somehow broke during shipping for me. My tests went as far as trying it in a PC and determining that it was broken because it didn't show a screen. Furthermore, the fact that the GPU red light came on the motherboard of my 12 year old PC motherboard.

Do not think I never even tried basic checks to see if any of the live rails were shorted to ground. For whatever reason, those 550 RX seem to be delicate. I ended up upgrading to a 560 RX anyway. I still have the RX 550. Probably will get around to doing some basic checks at some point. Possibly a a bad capacitor, or busted mosfet.

Regardless, pleased you got it sorted out.

I have been working with Amedia via email and they are being helpful. I'm sure that we will find a solution now. It is a big relief that the rest of the machine is ok so far. I have already paid for the Enhanced 3D drivers and been able to download them. It looks like I'll stay with the rx5xx that they recommended.

Thank you again!

Update, it didn't last long :(

Having found out that the Biostar Radeon RX550 that shipped with my X5000 5040 was in fact bad, I found a vendor online with another RX550, also a Biostar, so I ordered it - at my cost. It arrived and it is an an exact match to the original. I installed the new RX550 in to the 5040 after running it for 24 hours in a Windows 10 PC first.

The 5040 booted up first time without any errors! I opened a few small programs and left it running on the AmigaOS 4.1FE U2 desktop. When I came back in hour or so to see how it was running the X5000 had turned itself off. I pushed the power button to turn it back on and it booted right up again to the AmigaOS 4.1 desktop.

I opened up the Screen blanker modules and selected the Boing ball one to test. The very second that I selected "test full screen" a software error/crash message came up briefly and the X5000 turned itself off again.

The X5000 5040 doesn't start at all now. The standard 2 LEDs on the motherboard are lit one red / one green. When I push the power button now the fans don't spin up, the optical drive doesn't initialize, nothing. I unplugged it, pushed the power button 5 times to discharge it, then left it sit unplugged for 12 hours and again nothing, won't power up at all.

I have a lot invested in these two AmigaOne X5000s. The first machine the 5020 is a pleasure to use and it always starts - every time without issue. This second 5040 machine is a nightmare - how can I ever trust this machine if I do get it running again?

Surely a there must be some sort of warranty that the machine should work as intended for some period of time. The help from Amedia-computer France is slow and spotty at best. Their suggestions aren't solving the problems with this machine. What do I do now? I could probably work with my credit card company to reverse the charges back to Amedia-computer but not if I wait too much longer.

@Magic

Sounds like faulty hardware to me. If it were just a software issue, then a 12 hour discharge should have solved it.

Did you disconnect it from the mains completely during this time? If not, try that. I have a weird issue with my Radeon R7 240, where I sometimes need to disconnect power to the machine entirely for a minute, before the screen will start up again.

Those LEDs that are on my give a clue as to what's happening, but you'll need to find someone who knows what those indicators mean.

I hope you can get it fixed. My X5000/40 hasn't had any of the trouble that yours has, so this is definitely not normal.

Hans

@all

I have one more idea to try.

On amazon I located a VisionTek HD5450-2gb. It is similar to the AFox HD5450-2gb in my perfectly working 5020 machine on the desk next to it. I ordered the new graphics card and unplugged the machine from the mains tonight.

I'll update in a few days when the new 5450 arrives. As is is now the machine makes no response at all to pushing the power button.

When I push the power button on the 5020 the motherboard LEDs light up in a row when it starts.

Hi,

I don't think the Boing Bag animation works in anyone's machine.

Whilst the 5040 has been acting up, did you try testing your replacement rx 550 in the Windows machine again?

@rjd324

Yes it is running fine in the Windows 10 machine right now.

Could it be that the chosen power supply is too small for the 5040m SSD, DVD, and the RX550? The Windows 10 PC has a 750 watt.

@Magic

Quote:
My X5000/020 is powered by a 400W PSU (Be quiet! Pure Power 10), and the machine has a 500GB SSD, a DVD drive, a Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX560 card (the 45W version), and a PCI sound card. Never had power issues; knock on wood.

@Magic

Can you run both X5000s at once? If so, you could connect a serial cable between them and perhaps see (on the /020) what is wrong with the /040.

The X5000 only needs a sniff of electricity. Your graphics card will consume more than the rest of the machine.

Three things to test:

1. Open the machine in a place where you can really get inside it - plenty of light, on the kitchen bench or somewhere.
Remove the screw holding the gfx card and remove the card. With a plastic eraser, run over the PCI-e connector (both sides) lightly. Don't touch the connector with your fingers, but clean off the eraser dust with a small, dry paintbrush.
With the brush, clean the inside of the motherboard connector.
Replace the card and check that the card is not pulled crooked when you tighten the screw. You can bend the bracket slightly to make the screw fit properly.
Repeat for any other PCI-e cards.

2. Check the 3V CR2032 coin cell. Sometimes suppliers leave a small piece of plastic insulator in the socket to prevent the cell from discharging in storage. If you have a voltmeter, check the voltage from the exposed side to chassis - it should be 3.0 to 3.3 V. Less than 3.0 V and it must be replaced (but the X5000 will run with no coin battery in place).

3. Reseat the SATA cable(s). They are notorious for developing bad contact after a time. Make sure that the cable is straight and not pulling the connector to one side - you can bend the cable to make it sit straight.

I don't get it. Why are these machines more susceptible to loose connections than "normal" pcs?

With a PC, you can just "slap" a graphics card into the slot. You can half-assed plug a sata cable in and there are no issues.

@tonyw
Thank you

Brilliant adding that support in. I'll get connected to the serial port and take a look.

@Magic

Don't forget it has to be a so-called "null-modem" cable, not a regular serial cable.

See more about the serial debugging features here:

https://wiki.amigaos.net/wiki/Advanced_Serial_Debugging_Guide

Best regards,

Niels

@All

I have done some more testing on my 5040 system since my last post here. The last time my 5040 ran was on 7-24 when I selected a screen blanker module (Boing Ball) to test. Immediately the system crashed with a software error and hasn't started since.

The normal 2 LEDs are lit on the motherboard but that is all the system does now. No serial port data at all and I know my set-up works fine. The fans won't spin-up and the optical drive no longer initializes. There is no response to pressing the power button whatsoever. I did try swapping the power supply with a brand new Corsair RM750 that made no difference.

I had to order the correct null-modem cable to connect the serial port on my CF-31 Toughbook to the X5000s. The startup data is available on my terminal screen every time the working 5020 boots up.

Here is where the 5040 system sits now --> I have methodically checked and triple checked everything but the motherboard and SD boot card. I have the equipment to make a new SD boot card but Amedia-Computer is not responding with any help or support. I have no way to get the data to program a new SD boot card and Amedia will not send it.

Who in their right mind would ship out a high priced niche PC without a spare SD boot card? This thing is a $2500.00 door stop as it is.

What do I do now? Clearly this purchase was a huge mistake. I am close to opening a case with my bank to reverse the charges. The machine arrived not working and I have spent more that a few hours testing everything and a fair amount of money on graphics cards for testing as well.