ATARI STE TwiSTEr

[HigashiJun]

Ok, here is some news on the socket issue.

I got a socket from exxos but that one was also too high to let the TwiSTEr fit under the keyboard (in fact, it was the same model I had in my STE).

I then bought 2 sockets from Frank Lukas and they have arrived today.

I had to de-solder them first as they were on a chunk of motherboard, straighten the pins up and clean them.

Sockets.JPG (389.37 KiB) Viewed 1599 times

As you can see in the following picture, the original FOXCONN socket (on the right) is a bit taller than than the one from Frank Lukas (on the left):

Comparison.JPG (160.6 KiB) Viewed 1599 times

but that small difference of height matters.

I don't feel like soldering it on the motherboard today, so I guess I will do it on Monday.

BTW, I think the Thunderstorm team has already a solution for that kind of STEs with higher sockets.

In case you are interested in one of their TwiSTErs, I advise to tell them if you have a FOXCONN socket in your machine.

This will save you from de-soldering your PLCC socket...

[HigashiJun]

The lower socket "transplant" went smoothly and here is the result:

Newsocket.JPG (476.84 KiB) Viewed 1566 times

and with the TwiSTEr fitted:

TwiSTEr.JPG (433.77 KiB) Viewed 1566 times

The keyboard is now laying perfectly straight and even:

STE.JPG (359.21 KiB) Viewed 1566 times

[frank.lukas]

... glad I can help ...

[HigashiJun]

... glad I can help ...

Thanks again, Frank !

[HigashiJun]

Had time to test my freshly transplanted socket and the now fitting under the keyboard TwiSTEr, only to realise that IT DOESN'T WORK (I get a white screen)

Argh...





I thought it was a TwiSTEr related issue, so tried to boot with 3 different 68000 CPUs and all of them didn't help to solve the problem.

I then tried to "revive" the springiness of the pins in the freshly soldered socket but it was also a no go.

Ok, I probably f...d up something when soldering the socket thought I, so I checked all the connections with my multimeter but everything was OK.

So I finally de soldered the socket and checked all the traces and vias on the motherboard, and none of them has been damaged.

I really don't know if I should fit the other lower socket I got from Frank Lukas or solder the same one originally fitted in the STE...

It now reminds me of an article from exxos called "Sockets are evil"...

[Badwolf]

I really don't know if I should fit the other lower socket I got from Frank Lukas or solder the same one originally fitted in the STE...

Oh, man. What a bummer!

Where's the clearance problem with the old socket? Is it the new 68 Socket or the board itself? If the latter, can the socket be removed and the 68k directly soldered (assuming it's an SMT socket)?

BW

[HigashiJun]

Oh, man. What a bummer!

Where's the clearance problem with the old socket? Is it the new 68 Socket or the board itself? If the latter, can the socket be removed and the 68k directly soldered (assuming it's an SMT socket)?

BW

Yeah, quite a shock.

The original socket in the STE was a bit too tall and the TwiSTEr was sitting too high to let the keyboard rest evenly.

The problem here is the socket in the STE.

If I fit the original socket back, then I will have to ask the Thunderteam if they could send me a TwiSTEr with a lower Winslow adapter than the one fitted currently.

I am also tempted to fit the other socket received from Frank Lukas (which is the same I have fitted previously), but I guess the problem will be the same.

I could also get another type of Atari funky PLCC socket and check it, as for now I have spotted 3 different PLCCs in the ST series.

[mikro]

I can imagine your dilemma.

However keep in my mind, it's just a socket, so the nature of your problem must be very simple. If you still haven't desoldered the newly placed one, I'd definitely triple check everything. There must be a short circuit or missing connection somewhere. In the worst case, the PCB has trouble sitting in the socket but then again, you should be able to detect it via simple multimeter check.

[HigashiJun]

@mikro

Everything was thoroughly checked before I have de-soldered the new socket, as I am not so keen on de-soldering and soldering again...

I had a similar problem in a previous STE, and when I soldered back the original socket, everything was back to normal.

I am not loosing hope, but neatly de-soldering PLCCS is time consuming, and time is something I really lack at the moment.

[exxos]

Have you tried the 68000 CPU directly in the socket ?