ST536 in a Mega ST4

[HomeLate]

@exxos I ordered new ST536 PCB's last week and some related parts. Thanks for your suggestions on how to prepare the pads for soldering the Xilinx. This was the hardest part in my previous build.

I ordered a smaller tip (I use a JBC with replaceable tips) as well. I had no issues in the past soldering SMD packages but the Xilinx on the ST536 was the first.

I ordered the 10ns part as listed in your BOM list. I will report back once the cards have been built.

I'm going to build a second one and order new parts next week. I'll order a smaller tip too to solder the PLD.

I suggest putting solder on the PLD pads first with flux, make sure they all plated with solder. Then use solder wick (with flux) and get the solder off again, make sure all the pads of flat before soldering the PLD. If you plate the pads with solder first, it will be a lot easier to solder and be more reliable.

Does the speed of the PLD matter? I have a 5ns CLPD left, or else I order a 10ns one (which are cheaper).

I never tried 5ns. I think they were really expensive. It's possible using a different speed grade could cause problems. But I would image it would cause SDRAM issues if anything. But it's not an experiment I have ever done. So I suggest you keep to the proper BOM parts.

[exxos]

Good luck!

[HomeLate]

I made a new one yesterday and programmed the Xilinx and rom today (dualtos ST536 rom and emutos 1.3). I soldered the Xilinx with a smaller tip.

It now runs without issues, no lock-ups so far. I ran a demo and GB6 a few times and it didn't crash like the first one I built.

(never mind the Amiga logo on the CF-IDE adapter board)

20240409_170437.jpg (510.42 KiB) Viewed 5638 times

[exxos]

It now runs without issues, no lock-ups so far. I ran a demo and GB6 a few times and it didn't crash like the first one I built.