The latest member of the family

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stephen_usher
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Re: The latest member of the family

Post by stephen_usher »

That's good news.
Intro retro computers since before they were retro...
ZX81->Spectrum->Memotech MTX->Sinclair QL->520STM->BBC Micro->TT030->PCs & Sun Workstations.
Added code to the MiNT kernel (still there the last time I checked) + put together MiNTOS.
Collection now with added Macs, Amigas, Suns and Acorns.
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rubber_jonnie
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Re: The latest member of the family

Post by rubber_jonnie »

stephen_usher wrote: 09 Feb 2025 18:39 That's good news.
Indeed it is.

I was a little worried about U36, as I pulled a couple of traces when desoldering it. Not sure how but they seemed particularly fragile, almost as though they were already damaged. I probably could have used my hot air to ease it out after the desoldering gun, but I am always worried about popcorning with these boards, and since I have a new hot air gun I'm still getting used to so I wanted to be careful.

They were pins 46 and 47 on Gary to pins 2 and 5 on U36, so actually pretty easy to repair and only one of them is relevant for the internal FDD, the other being for the external FDD.

The weird stuff that is going on does seem to point at Gary going off the rails, but we'll hopefully find out tomorrow.
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
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stephen_usher
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Re: The latest member of the family

Post by stephen_usher »

I'm guessing that it's the sockets. With the number of videos I've seen of A500s playing up and Gary being suspect it's always been the socket.
Intro retro computers since before they were retro...
ZX81->Spectrum->Memotech MTX->Sinclair QL->520STM->BBC Micro->TT030->PCs & Sun Workstations.
Added code to the MiNT kernel (still there the last time I checked) + put together MiNTOS.
Collection now with added Macs, Amigas, Suns and Acorns.
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rubber_jonnie
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Re: The latest member of the family

Post by rubber_jonnie »

stephen_usher wrote: 09 Feb 2025 19:13 I'm guessing that it's the sockets. With the number of videos I've seen of A500s playing up and Gary being suspect it's always been the socket.
Good job I have new sockets on order too then. I guess new sockets is probably a mandatory fix for A500s.

They are double wipe, but something looks a bit odd about the metal, kind of grey and dull. At least the Fat Agnus socket is already done.
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
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rubber_jonnie
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Re: The latest member of the family

Post by rubber_jonnie »

Hmm, interesting.

I decided another thing I could do while I waiting was to run an audio test to see how Paula was doing.

The test crashes every time.
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
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stephen_usher
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Posts: 7376
Joined: 13 Nov 2017 19:19
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Re: The latest member of the family

Post by stephen_usher »

The address decoding is probably right up the creek.
Intro retro computers since before they were retro...
ZX81->Spectrum->Memotech MTX->Sinclair QL->520STM->BBC Micro->TT030->PCs & Sun Workstations.
Added code to the MiNT kernel (still there the last time I checked) + put together MiNTOS.
Collection now with added Macs, Amigas, Suns and Acorns.
User avatar
rubber_jonnie
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Posts: 14890
Joined: 17 Aug 2017 19:40
Location: Essex

Re: The latest member of the family

Post by rubber_jonnie »

stephen_usher wrote: 09 Feb 2025 21:14 The address decoding is probably right up the creek.
Very possibly, it starts and then crashes badly.
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
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rubber_jonnie
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Posts: 14890
Joined: 17 Aug 2017 19:40
Location: Essex

Re: The latest member of the family

Post by rubber_jonnie »

Not sure if I said, but I also swapped out the CPU and that made no difference.
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
User avatar
stephen_usher
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Posts: 7376
Joined: 13 Nov 2017 19:19
Location: Oxford, UK.

Re: The latest member of the family

Post by stephen_usher »

More likely a poor connection on Gary on one of the address lines so Gary isn't seeing the correct address and hence not decoding addresses correctly.
Intro retro computers since before they were retro...
ZX81->Spectrum->Memotech MTX->Sinclair QL->520STM->BBC Micro->TT030->PCs & Sun Workstations.
Added code to the MiNT kernel (still there the last time I checked) + put together MiNTOS.
Collection now with added Macs, Amigas, Suns and Acorns.
User avatar
rubber_jonnie
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 14890
Joined: 17 Aug 2017 19:40
Location: Essex

Re: The latest member of the family

Post by rubber_jonnie »

stephen_usher wrote: 10 Feb 2025 10:43 More likely a poor connection on Gary on one of the address lines so Gary isn't seeing the correct address and hence not decoding addresses correctly.
Very likely.

I'm sitting eagerly awaiting my sockets and other spares!
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...

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