TerribleFire 328/330 Support (CD32)

[terriblefire]

I havent updated the 330 firmware for 2-3 years. Its likely the cards are already up to date.

[alenppc]

Hi,

I have a question, where can I get the latest firmware for mt TF330 R3 card? I assume these cards get flashed by the builder with various firmware versions. The latest GitHub firmware I can find does not resolve the issue > tf330_2019_02_28_alpha.zip

I have two cards, the most recently bought lets me boot CD32 Games when the card is disabled (Jumper removed). The older Rev 3 will not. I get the CD32 intro screen and music but the CD never gets accessed. The only way to have the CD boot is to have the card enabled. This of course, can cause compatibility issues.

The disable function does not work on the 330, this is well documented. There have been attempts to fix it but they have not worked properly either (basically there was a test firmware in which it "does" work but as you've noticed, it disables the CD-Rom, so it's useless. You probably should not use this firmware on a daily basis.)

[Drewlio77]

Thanks for your reply.

I figured as much since both cards behave oddly. One interesting thing to mention, my newest TF330 works in disabled mode depending on how long the CD32 has been on. I can boot CD32 games, play Audio CD's etc. But after 5 minutes the system locks up, after a everything has cooled off for am hour or so. I need to to perform a Hard Reset to get the system back. After that, the time before it locks up decreases to less than 30 seconds. When more time has passed (powered on), it seldom reaches the CD32 Animation. It seems to be heat related though the chips including CPU don't seem to get too hot after 5 minutes on the TF330. Placing a fan on top of the CD32's case eventually increases its running time. To rule out my CD32, right after the freeze I removed the TF330 and power the CD32 back on, it runs fine for hours, pretty much ruling out my CD32. With the TF330 enabled, everything runs fine, as you have mentioned. This is odd behavior indeed.

It's too bad the disable feature doesn't work properly, this is the only thing keeping this card from shining, Still, I am happy with it. It runs stable and with the addition of the ESP8266 module it is truly a great experience.

[alenppc]

Yes, this is the bug. Even if disabled, the card comes back to life after a while. Both CPUs will attempt to run at the same time and get extremely hot, so DO NOT remove the disable jumper.

[Drewlio77]

Nice to know. Thanks.

[Pondrew]

I've enjoyed my cd32 with tf330 very much BUT it recently stopped booting to workbench after being unused for a while. During this time the cd32 console itself was swapped out and replaced with a different but seemingly fully working unit.

Now the tf330 wont boot to workbench no matter how many attempts to reseat the Accelerator. Even changed psu to an uprated one.

Now I did notice at one point the jumper to disable appeared at an angle but slight adjustment of the pin to straighten and reseat the jumper I hoped it'd be OK. But the behaviour I get is very much like the jumper is removed ie booting to the normal cd32 screen when no disc inserted with tf330 disabled. What can I do to troubleshoot and I pray resolve this?

[supaduper]

Clean the jumper pins just make sure they are making good contact, also clean the CD32 expansion connector with some alcohol as it can oxidize badly if it has not been used in many years and it is common fault.

If still no joy and you are in the UK then you can send the Tf330 to me to test or repair

[Pondrew]

Thanks supaduper, send me a private message ta with your details

[supaduper]

Thanks supaduper, send me a private message ta with your details

Details sent buddy

[despare1]

Hey Guys...I have a TF 328 that the Audio is not working at all. Video looks great, yet Audio is dead. I hear a buzzing when I touch the RCA leads, yet no game output. I have troubleshot the system, works fine when using the CD..Composite out, however after using a few diff connections and games..Still zero Game Audio thru the TF Board. This card has been used a total of 4 times and about 2 hours play time. I did clean the Connections on the board and the CD32 ..

Thoughts?