EIII Locks-Up

[who]

Hi,

My EIII has developed a new malady:  It locks-up after a few minutes and becomes unresponsive.  It does not display weird characters, or any other odd behavior.  It simply just locks-up.

The first thing I plan to do is check the power supply, but are there other things I should check too?

Thanks!

[Wolfram]

Disconnect you HD from SCSI and boot from floppy.
It could be a problem of the HD.

[ghunter]

The EIII won't boot without a hard drive connected to the SCSI chain.

Are you booting from the floppy or HD?  The display should let you know which one as it starts up.

[Wolfram]

I had this problem too.
Since I replace the HD by a SCSI2SD drive it is't happened anymore.

[who]

I recently installed a FuzinMonster, but the EIII worked fine for weeks.  It only started crapping the bed recently.

[who]

Well, I finally got the System UND error.  I think the large ribbon cable to the front panel or the one to the SCSI card is to blame.  (See thread referenced below.  I forgot I had problems with the SCSI ribbon cable.)  I re-seated both and have the EII powered-up on my bench.  Hasn't crashed yet...fingers crossed!

Thread for reference:  http://eiiiforum.com/index.php?topic=1211.0

[who]

I forgot to say thank to those that responded!  Beyond the help, it is great to see others hanging out here.

[who]

I think the ribbon cable between the bottom and the top of the unit is causing the problem.  I don't look forward to replacing that thing!

[who]

As Doc C mentions in this thread, http://eiiiforum.com/index.php?topic=1211.0, I think the ribbon cable was getting pinched.  I pulled all of the excess cable towards the back of the machine and the problem has gone away.  (I also made sure the cable was threaded through the board chassis which it was.)

I have encountered this problem before, and in my opinion, misplacement of that damn cable is the easiest mistake a repair novice such as myself can make in regards to the EIII.  I wish E-mu had come up with a hinged top and a better solution than the ribbon cable.  Maybe there is a modern alternative?