ATARI STE TwiSTEr

[HigashiJun]

Just received the ThunderStorm team's TwiSTEr and installed it in my STE.

Twister1.JPG

Twister2.JPG

I'm only doing some tests now but everything works great so far.

This stuff is really nifty and worth it.

(Don't know what's going on with the first picture... Whatever I do, it's always stuck in the same position :? ).

[Icky]

(Don't know what's going on with the first picture... Whatever I do, it's always stuck in the same position :? ).

I sorted it for you @HigashiJun

[HigashiJun]

@Icky

Many thanks Icky !

Looks really better now.

:D

[Steve]

@HigashiJun just wondering, did you do all the little tweaks / fixes they recommend doing to the motherboard for this booster?

[HigashiJun]

@HigashiJun just wondering, did you do all the little tweaks / fixes they recommend doing to the motherboard for this booster?

As you can see on the last picture, I just performed the blitter patch for the moment.

I had no time to check further and only ran the TwiSTEr in 8 Mhz mode and a little bit in 16 Mhz mode.

Some extra tweaks might be necessary later, who knows...

[HigashiJun]

Juts discovered that the TwiSTEr may not perfectly lay under the keyboard if the CPU is fitted in a FOXCONN socket.

I have to investigate more on this and maybe inform the Thunderstorm team...

@czietz , maybe you have more information ?

[czietz]

No, sorry. Do you mean the socket on the motherboard or on the TwiSTEr? I’ve seen several successfully closed STEs with installed TwiSTEr; but I have no idea regarding the brands of the sockets.

PS: I cannot follow every forum thread and might therefore miss questions. So, if you require assistance, do not hesitate to contact the Thunderstorm team via the email address you used for the purchase.

[HigashiJun]

No, sorry. Do you mean the socket on the motherboard or on the TwiSTEr? I’ve seen several successfully closed STEs with installed TwiSTEr; but I have no idea regarding the brands of the sockets.

PS: I cannot follow every forum thread and might therefore miss questions. So, if you require assistance, do not hesitate to contact the Thunderstorm team via the email address you used for the purchase.

Thanks for your reply, czietz !

Your team's TwiSTEr is not the culprit.

The socket I'm talking about is the PLCC68 socket on the motherboard:

Twister.JPG

If you look at the TwiSTEr's plastic spacer on the right, you can see that there is no contact with the motherboard, because the PLCC socket is taller than the one you designed the TwiSTER on.

I have to add a nut in order to make the spacer reach the motherboard.

With that kind of socket (FOXCONN branded), the keyboard is not resting on the plastic prong protruding from the case, but on the PLCC socket of the TwiSTEr.

I am in contact with Matthias, but I guess he is still on vacation. I think it's a worth mentioning issue for potential buyers.

I am trying to source a lower socket to get this issue fixed.

[Steve]

Looks to me that there is quite a bit of space between the twister and the socket, are you sure it cannot be pushed down more? There is no CPU inside that socket anymore right? Just a blank?

Either that or perhaps the legs can be trimmed down.

[HigashiJun]

Cannot push it down anymore...

The gap between the socket and the TwiSTEr is normal for a Winslow socket.

There is also no more CPU in the socket, as both CPUs are on the TwiSTEr now.