@coonsgm
If the ST RAM and floppy tests do not show anything, here are two more test programs to try next. Both are attached, and both should be run from the desktop in medium or high resolution.
IDETEST.PRG - tests the IDE hard drive. It writes a large file and lots of small files to the drive, reads them all back and checks every byte. Pick the drive and the number of passes, and it deletes all its test files at the end. The default 5 passes took about 25 minutes on my machine.
BUSTEST.PRG - tests copying data back and forth between ST RAM and TT-RAM, in lots of different ways and patterns, to see if anything gets corrupted on the way across. It runs until you press Esc, so leave it running for at least half an hour.
Both show "ok" when everything is fine, or "FAILED" with a list of the errors at the end. If you get any errors, or either one locks up, just post a photo of the screen. Think of them as a pair of very fussy proofreaders for your ST536.
REV 3 - REV 5 - The beginning (ST536)
Re: REV 3 - REV 5 - The beginning (ST536)
I've set the program flags and have tried both Gembench and Frontbench with and without TT RAM.
Both paths are unstable (seemingly random crashes at various points).
I've tried running both from the IDE drive and from an Ultrasatan external drive.
I'll try from floppy next.
Both paths are unstable (seemingly random crashes at various points).
I've tried running both from the IDE drive and from an Ultrasatan external drive.
I'll try from floppy next.
Re: REV 3 - REV 5 - The beginning (ST536)
@coonsgm A new test kit with 2 more programs for testing. Going to have to head to sleep soon, but those programs should keep you busy for a while anyway 
Re: REV 3 - REV 5 - The beginning (ST536)
@coonsgm also did you redownload gb6 to make sure there isn't a corrupted file?
Also a quick test in to turn the blitter off in GB6 and see if that makes any odds. It's weird you can pass memory tests but can't run GB6 stable.
Also a quick test in to turn the blitter off in GB6 and see if that makes any odds. It's weird you can pass memory tests but can't run GB6 stable.
Re: REV 3 - REV 5 - The beginning (ST536)
Yes I downloaded gb6. I'm running this on a 520ST short case....so no blitter. It is weird. The crashes / reboots have been intermittent. Running with TT ram guarantees it, but I've also had crashes running with ST RAM as well. Booting Ultima IV from Floppy ran perfectly. Next to check Gembench from floppy TT Ram on (ran fully TT ram off from floppy)exxos wrote: Mon Nov 09, 2026 10:45 pm @coonsgm also did you redownload gb6 to make sure there isn't a corrupted file?
Also a quick test in to turn the blitter off in GB6 and see if that makes any odds. It's weird you can pass memory tests but can't run GB6 stable.
Re: REV 3 - REV 5 - The beginning (ST536)
@coonsgm might be worth trying in your mega just to rule out PSU issues.worth checking the voltage as well. The board needs to see at least 5.00v.
Re: REV 3 - REV 5 - The beginning (ST536)
5V at the ST536 board? Or 5V at the PSU input?
I tried the Mega which is running the older version of the ST536 wonderfully. Same issues.
I tried the Mega which is running the older version of the ST536 wonderfully. Same issues.
Re: REV 3 - REV 5 - The beginning (ST536)
Yes.
Please run the 4 test programs in the zip, it may give some clues. Id assume theres still a bad solder somewhere on the PLD at this point.I tried the Mega which is running the older version of the ST536 wonderfully. Same issues.
Re: REV 3 - REV 5 - The beginning (ST536)
Voltage is 5V at the card.
There were only two programs in the kit. Bustest.prg and IDEtest.prg.
I ran them both. First from the Ultrasatan and second from the IDE.
From the ultrasatan:
Running from IDE both crash and cause a reboot.
There were only two programs in the kit. Bustest.prg and IDEtest.prg.
I ran them both. First from the Ultrasatan and second from the IDE.
From the ultrasatan:
- IMG_5302 (1).jpeg (298.8 KiB) Viewed 6 times
- IMG_5305.jpeg (328.33 KiB) Viewed 6 times
Re: REV 3 - REV 5 - The beginning (ST536)
@coonsgm
The kit with all four programs is in this post: viewtopic.php?t=3992&start=1140#p147978
It's ST536_KIT.zip, which has IDETEST, BUSTEST, TTDIAG and ROMSOAK plus a readme. Looks like you grabbed the older zip with only two in it. Also, the first screenshot is YAARTTT rather than BUSTEST, so BUSTEST may not have actually run.
The IDETEST result is useful though. Four full passes with zero errors means the data going to and from the drive is fine, so nothing is being corrupted. It just goes down partway through pass 5.
IDETEST tests whichever drive you pick at the start, not the drive it was run from. By default it picks the IDE partition with the most free space, so even if you ran it from the UltraSatan it was most likely testing the IDE drive. Can you confirm which drive you ran it from, and which drive letter it was testing? The first screen lists all the drives with IDE or ACSI next to each one, so a photo of that screen would answer it. And when it crashes, do you get bombs, or does it reset straight away?
If you can, run TTDIAG and ROMSOAK from floppy first so the hard drive is out of the picture, then BUSTEST. TTDIAG only takes a few minutes, and ROMSOAK can be left running for an hour or so. Both save a report as a .TXT file on the disk, so please post those as well.
When you post results, please put a line above each screenshot or report saying which program it is, which drive it was run from (floppy, IDE or UltraSatan), which drive it was testing if it's IDETEST, and whether TT-RAM was on or off. With this many tests going on it's easy to mix them up otherwise.
The kit with all four programs is in this post: viewtopic.php?t=3992&start=1140#p147978
It's ST536_KIT.zip, which has IDETEST, BUSTEST, TTDIAG and ROMSOAK plus a readme. Looks like you grabbed the older zip with only two in it. Also, the first screenshot is YAARTTT rather than BUSTEST, so BUSTEST may not have actually run.
The IDETEST result is useful though. Four full passes with zero errors means the data going to and from the drive is fine, so nothing is being corrupted. It just goes down partway through pass 5.
IDETEST tests whichever drive you pick at the start, not the drive it was run from. By default it picks the IDE partition with the most free space, so even if you ran it from the UltraSatan it was most likely testing the IDE drive. Can you confirm which drive you ran it from, and which drive letter it was testing? The first screen lists all the drives with IDE or ACSI next to each one, so a photo of that screen would answer it. And when it crashes, do you get bombs, or does it reset straight away?
If you can, run TTDIAG and ROMSOAK from floppy first so the hard drive is out of the picture, then BUSTEST. TTDIAG only takes a few minutes, and ROMSOAK can be left running for an hour or so. Both save a report as a .TXT file on the disk, so please post those as well.
When you post results, please put a line above each screenshot or report saying which program it is, which drive it was run from (floppy, IDE or UltraSatan), which drive it was testing if it's IDETEST, and whether TT-RAM was on or off. With this many tests going on it's easy to mix them up otherwise.