5 Aug
2008
5 Aug
'08
10:13 a.m.
please could you get in touch? I've a disk I need to read, and I've
just discovered that my Master no longer feels like working :(
ObCCTalk: symptoms are just the message "Acorn MOS, Acorn ADFS" and
then a flashing cursor upon switch-on. The drive does click as if it's
being selected, and the light comes on, but there are never any
head-movement sounds, and nothing further happens onscreen.
Thanks,
Ed.
5 Aug
5 Aug
11:46 a.m.
listmailgoeshere at gmail.com wrote:
please could you get in touch? I've a disk I need
to read, and I've
just discovered that my Master no longer feels like working :(
I've got one!
It's a Master 128, with a Viglen dual 5.25" floppy drive and a hard drive
interface. I can hook up a 3.5" floppy if need be.
ObCCTalk: symptoms are just the message "Acorn
MOS, Acorn ADFS" and
then a flashing cursor upon switch-on. The drive does click as if it's
being selected, and the light comes on, but there are never any
head-movement sounds, and nothing further happens onscreen.
Either your CMOS battery is flat, or it's set to load ADFS and autoboot.
And this website explains how to fix it:
http://lionels.orpheusweb.co.uk/CompNyb/TechStuff/8-Bit/Master128/128BatCon…
The gory details are somewhere in the Master Welcome Guide as well, IIRC.
--
Phil.
classiccmp at philpem.me.uk
http://www.philpem.me.uk/
12:40 p.m.
New subject: If there's anyone in West Yorkshire with a working BBC Master and
please could you get in touch? I've a disk I need to read, and I've
just discovered that my Master no longer feels like working :(
How long since you last used it?
ObCCTalk: symptoms are just the message "Acorn MOS, Acorn ADFS" and
then a flashing cursor upon switch-on. The drive does click as if it's
Do I take it from this that you don't get the BASIC message?
Being a Master, it's quite likrly the internal battery is flat and the
configuration RAM is corrupted. There's a key combination to reset this
(I forget it, it's in the mnual, though). Try that, and then configure
the options you want. If that cures it, replace the batteries...
If not, try reseating all the socketed ICs.
-tony
3:36 p.m.
New subject: If there's anyone in West Yorkshire with a working BBC Master and
On Tue, Aug 5, 2008 at 8:40 PM, Tony Duell <ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk> wrote:
Not totally sure, but around a year.
Indeed you don't. However, by pressing Ctrl-F BREAK, you can get a *
prompt, and then typing BASIC and hitting Return will drop you into
BASIC.
The only testing I did after that was a simple 10 PRINT "HELLO", 20
GOTO 10, RUN. It worked.
please could you get in touch? I've a disk I need to read, and I've
just discovered that my Master no longer feels like working :(
How long since you last used it? ObCCTalk:
symptoms are just the message "Acorn MOS, Acorn ADFS" and
then a flashing cursor upon switch-on. The drive does click as if it's
Do I
take it from this that you don't get the BASIC message? Being a Master, it's quite likrly the internal
battery is flat and the
configuration RAM is corrupted. There's a key combination to reset this
(I forget it, it's in the mnual, though). Try that, and then configure
the options you want. If that cures it, replace the batteries...
From the reading up I was doing earlier this evening,
it's switching
on whilst holding down R.
Ed.
6 Aug
6 Aug
11:58 a.m.
New subject: If there's anyone in West Yorkshire with a working BBC Master
On Tue, Aug 5, 2008 at 8:40 PM, Tony Duell <ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk> wrote:
Not totally sure, but around a year.
Plemty of time for the battery to go flat :-)
please could you get in touch? I've a disk I need to read, and I've
just discovered that my Master no longer feels like working :(
How long since you last used it? ObCCTalk:
symptoms are just the message "Acorn MOS, Acorn ADFS" and
then a flashing cursor upon switch-on. The drive does click as if it's
Do I
take it from this that you don't get the BASIC message? Being a Master, it's quite likrly the
internal battery is flat and the
configuration RAM is corrupted. There's a key combination to reset this
(I forget it, it's in the mnual, though). Try that, and then configure
the options you want. If that cures it, replace the batteries...
From the reading up I was doing earlier this
evening, it's switching
on whilst holding down R. 
2:02 p.m.
New subject: If there's anyone in West Yorkshire with a working BBC Master
Tony Duell wrote:
That sounds right. Assumeing all this works, it's
very liekly the battery
has gone flat. AFAIK it's 3 AA-size primary cells (non-rechargeable) in
series. Officieally you were supposed to replace the whole assembly with
the Acorn spare, but I have no idea why (other than Acorn could then sell
you a spare). I just repalce the cells and have had no problems.
I have done exactly that, just replace the three AA cells. I took
some photos, too. The battery pack:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/anachrocomputer/2671356074
and the location of it in the machine:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/anachrocomputer/2670534379
Really early Masters had a lithium battery right up next to
the keyboard and speaker, but these tended to catch fire!
Most machines were changed to use the three AA cell pack.
--
John Honniball
coredump at gifford.co.uk
3:02 p.m.
New subject: If there's anyone in West Yorkshire with a working BBC Master
John Honniball wrote:
I have done exactly that, just replace the three AA
cells. I took
some photos, too. The battery pack:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/anachrocomputer/2671356074
I've seen a few like that. Far more common (IME) are the type with three AA's
in shrink-wrap. Both types have a diode fitted to stop charging of the
non-rechargeable cells, which is why I suspect Acorn really didn't want people
rustling up their own units.
cheers
Jules
5 Aug
5 Aug
2:01 p.m.
listmailgoeshere at gmail.com wrote:
please could you get in touch? I've a disk I need
to read, and I've
just discovered that my Master no longer feels like working :(
I have two working BBC Masters, but I'm in north Bristol.
ObCCTalk: symptoms are just the message "Acorn
MOS, Acorn ADFS" and
then a flashing cursor upon switch-on. The drive does click as if it's
being selected, and the light comes on, but there are never any
head-movement sounds, and nothing further happens onscreen.
As others have said, this could be a dead battery in the
machine. Well worth trying to fix! Some hints that worked
for me:
http://www.sprow.co.uk/bbc/doctor.htm
--
John Honniball
coredump at gifford.co.uk
5982
days inactive
5983
days old
7 comments
5 participants
participants (5)
-
ard＠p850ug1.demon.co.uk -
classiccmp＠philpem.me.uk -
coredump＠gifford.co.uk -
jules.richardson99＠gmail.com -
listmailgoeshere＠gmail.com