www.riscos.com Technical Support: RISC OS 3 User Guide

RISC OS 3.7 User Guide

5 - Troubleshooting

Sometimes things go wrong and you need to be able to get out of a mess or restart your computer. Check in the Welcome Guide first for any hints and key combinations to press. Generally, you should always shut the computer down first (see the section Shutting the computer down) but sometimes you can't do this.

If things go wrong - reset options

Here are some problems you might encounter, and some possible solutions:

• Keyboard and mouse have no effect:
  Use the system monitor to quit the current task, or try the reset methods described below. See also Quitting tasks using the system monitor.
• Hourglass won't disappear:
  Use the system monitor to quit the current task.
• Can't choose Shutdown or quit tasks using system monitor:
  Try these methods in order:
  1. Press Ctrl-Break
  2. Press the Reset button
  3. Switch off and on again.
  With any of these you will lose all unsaved data.
• Floppy LED flashes many times on start-up:
  There is a hardware problem. Contact your service provider or supplier for advice. Normally associated with a red screen display.
• Unexpected error messages during start-up or failure to start correctly:
  For example, starts up at command line. Press Shift-Break and check that !Boot hasn't been moved or renamed. Also check the start-up files in !Boot (you can restore them using the !ResetBoot application in the Diversions directory). See also the section Inside the Desktop boot file When you've cured any problems shut down and restart the computer.
• No picture on monitor: If you can't use !Boot to check or set monitor type: Switch on holding down either 0 or 3 on the numeric keypad, or the R or Delete key. Once you have a usable desktop, use !Boot to choose the correct Monitor type.
  Power-on-R preserves Econet station number, country code, number of floppy and hard discs and expansion card information. Power-on-Delete only preserves Econet station number. If there is a configuration protection connector inside the computer and it's set to the 'protected' position, these resets have no effect. See your Welcome Guide for more information.
  In exceptional circumstances !Boot will not be able to turn off the configured monitor setting. In this case, with the computer switched off, press and hold down the Delete and Shift keys, then switch the computer on. You can release these keys once the RISC OS 3 initialising message appears on the screen.
• CMOS RAM settings have become corrupted:
  Switch on either holding down the R or Delete key (see previous). Use !Boot to reconfigure your CMOS settings then press Ctrl-Reset.
  Suggestion: As corrupt CMOS RAM settings can cause a variety of faults, if you have any strange problems on your computer, resetting CMOS RAM can be a useful first step.

If you have a CD-ROM drive fitted, the CD icon on the icon bar may disappear after a Delete-Power-On. To restore it, double-click on !Boot on your hard disc, open the Discs window and configure CD-ROM drives to 1.

Resetting CMOS RAM from the command line