exxos's Atari, Amiga & retro forum

Did you get a kit? Wondering if you got the xilinx already programmed. I have one built from ordering PCB myself, and parts from DigiKey. So I have a ST Link 2 but I am having problem programming it with that (seem to have blown the 3,3V regulator on it). Also have the small 'blue pill' version soldered up.

Seems that I connect my eBay ST Link 2 wrong somehow.

DoG wrote: 13 Sep 2020 14:05 Did you get a kit? Wondering if you got the xilinx already programmed. I have one built from ordering PCB myself, and parts from DigiKey. So I have a ST Link 2 but I am having problem programming it with that (seem to have blown the 3,3V regulator on it). Also have the small 'blue pill' version soldered up.

Seems that I connect my eBay ST Link 2 wrong somehow.

I opted to have the xliinx ready programmed and installed, but the rest as a kit, so once I complete the build,which should be later today, I should be ready to go. It wasn't that much more expensive so definitely worth it.

rubber_jonnie wrote: 13 Sep 2020 14:23I opted to have the xliinx ready programmed and installed, but the rest as a kit, so once I complete the build,which should be later today, I should be ready to go. It wasn't that much more expensive so definitely worth it.

Smart. I didn't go that route for some reason. I bought some new 3,3V regulators and I will see if I can fix the ST Link programmer and try again.

DoG wrote: 13 Sep 2020 15:50

rubber_jonnie wrote: 13 Sep 2020 14:23I opted to have the xliinx ready programmed and installed, but the rest as a kit, so once I complete the build,which should be later today, I should be ready to go. It wasn't that much more expensive so definitely worth it.

Smart. I didn't go that route for some reason. I bought some new 3,3V regulators and I will see if I can fix the ST Link programmer and try again.

Mine isn't working :(

Just finished the build (Stupid tiny components!!) and I get a power surge warning on plugging in to my PC. Need to shove it under the microscope, see what I can see.

rubber_jonnie wrote: 13 Sep 2020 16:08 Mine isn't working :(

Just finished the build (Stupid tiny components!!) and I get a power surge warning on plugging in to my PC. Need to shove it under the microscope, see what I can see.

lol. Further then me at least :lol:

Here is my stuff;

@DoG
Ooops, fitted U2 the wrong way around and killed it :( I say again, stupid tiny components!n

Apparently you can bridge the top and bottom set of pads and do without, it's a diode array, but I've re-worked a couple of times now and am worried about lifting the pads.

I'll wait for the spares to arrive and try again. At least it wasn't £100, or I'd be crying now! And spares were 49p each, just had to buy 10!

In other weirdness, the 12v section of my Amstrad ALT-386 just started working again, and I can boot from HDD once more, so wondering what the hell is happening there.

Dry joint somewhere?

stephen_usher wrote: 13 Sep 2020 19:26 Dry joint somewhere?

Yep, very likely, I need to get my microscope on it, but happy it seems like it is nothing electronic.

Aside from replacing the caps I didn't touch much else, apart from one small board I had to remove to re-cap. If it's anywhere it's likely there, and although I don't have a schematic, it appears to be part of the 12v supply.

Over the years I have tinkered with programming in C, and as a side effect of getting my Amstrad ALT-386SX running, I found some .C files from back in the day. Since they were all very simple files that didn't do much more than average numbers, print Hello World and some other minor efforts, I wondered if I could compile them in PureC and have them run, unedited.

The answer was a yes, so it's nice to see that some playground code I wrote, probably 20 years ago and originally compiled under DOS using DJGPP, was portable enough to run unmodified on my Mega STE :)

If I'm honest, I had no idea they were even there!

All I need to do with the Amstrad is to permanently fix the PSU and we'll be good to go. Shame it isn't just 5v and 12v, or I'd be buying a new Meanwell, but somewhere along the line, it was decided it needed -24v for something, so unless somebody here can design me a PSU that'll do 5v, 12v, -12v and -24v, I need to get the original stable again. And yes, it's been recapped!!

@rubber_jonnie

Is it a switching psu I would check the windings on the transformer the enameling may getting old if its not in bad a shape then its good but sometimes you can seal them with epoxy to stave off a short. And diodes to go open or turn to resistore

Tom