smashtv

Yes. I'm still working on the burner for the 'f88, but I have all the parts collected and a ZIF socket ready to add to my JDM dedicated PC. ;) The IIC boards would probably already be on the shelf now if I had not submitted -two- layouts for proto with bonehead errors in them, I have to say TK and Mike have an amazing amount of patience! My attention to detail apparently slipped as my schedule ramped up recently. :-\ I'm working to get caught up with orders now, as soon as I get closer to goal on that I'll gear up for the gerber file conversion madness that comes with a new PCB run. :) Best Smash

I had been using phppointofsale (phpPOS) as a front end, it's able to warn me about stock levels, allows for easy manipulation of counts for re-stock, etc. It's a full-blown cash register with inventory, so I made one customer record in it for cash/paypal sales and ran inventory on the fly with a barcode gun for a while. Even with the bins barcoded etc. it proved to be way too much of a time waster when packing orders to scan everything.....and the day I realized I could pack 10 orders or 8 orders in the same amount of time depending on whether I scanned them or not the barcode method ended. ;) I think most IPN handler scripts have the db manipulation built into the handler script.......Basically when a transaction is complete paypal can be set to hit an address to your IPN handler script, and feeds it all the data about the transaction. The handler must give a "this transaction is ok" type response back to PayPal before the transaction shows up in your account.The good thing is there is -almost- an easy button for this, there are a few code examples out there for ASP to do exactly this, and I think one for PHP.....I'll dig up all of this stuff if you are interested in writing this handler. I'm not coder, but not afraid to tweek php or perl stuff to get to goal, so adding db calls to any script is a bit over my head. ;) Absolutely! I removed the phpPOS front end script a few months ago, but the db is still there. I'll dump it to a tab-delimited or csv so you can have a look. First I'll install the latest phpPOS and point it at the db, since I want to use it when it's time to add inventory I should probably make sure they did not add any fields to the db.....to be sure the structure you are looking at is exactly what I'll be using forever. :) hehe that's what actually sent me on the quest for automatic inventory a long time ago..... :) I did not realize then that I would need it more for me than for my customers! I'll get all of the pieces to the puzzle mentioned above together and present them to you, so you can get a reasonable estimate of time/effort/price before you commit to this, and we'll go from there. As I work against this backlog of orders, I really miss the old days when I was able to ship everything within 48 hours.....Auto inventory would be a huge step in this direction, or at the very least keep my eyes from popping open in the middle of the night, wondering if I remembered to order a reel of ribbon cable. :) Best Smash

Yes bad......Which SID chip/regulator are you using? If it's the 12v one you are out of luck with that wall wart, if the 9v one set the wall wart to 12v and you should be fine. Back to the kit mill with me! ;) Best Smash

My problem right now is that my inventory is not automated, and there does not seem to be an easy way to do this without parsing PayPal IPN. I realize I can go with a full blown shopping cart like osCommerce, but I really would rather keep my shop a simple one-page order form style. All of the store packages are really bloated and seem to -almost- do everything, when what I really need is something that will simply change inventory totals in a db by reading and responding to the PayPal IPN. I won't put the customer through entering their address twice (amazing that -most- of the shopping cart packages can't even pass the user info to paypal correctly) or make them click through 5 screens between done and checkout.... I really would like to stay away from the asp stuff for this, It's a real pain to try to implement frontpage extensions on my host (would cost me lots of work on my other scripts/cgis due to the permissions reset alone, and slow the delivery of my pages a bit). As far as I can tell, the ideal setup would be a php or perl IPN handler that subtracts stock as needed from an SQL db.....And does ONLY that. I don't want customer address/email/info hanging out on my server. If anyone else has been through this before and knows a better way please let me know! I'm not anti-MS for this, but I don't need one asp/access combo sitting in the middle of all of my other php/sql pairings.... ;) So the short answer is yes, I am very interested in this, and I would be happy to pay or trade to have it done. Best Smash

Sometimes they will act this way if you are using an AC power pack and a metal/non-isolated jack to connect it. More info about your power supply please! :) Best Smash

Heya Minim! It needs a 100pF cap instead of 10pF, while my list showed 100pf, the link to the Mouser part was for a 10pF. For the caps this one should work, and this crystal for the osc. I have updated my parts list to better reflect current availibility/RoHS compliance. Best Smash

Hi DavidI have seen this when I strung up 20 or so feet of random cables and adapters to a palm to kick serial to a laser head on stage....Seems related to the way palm completely floats the ground in their designs (specifically in the cradle). Just enough serial errors to make an occasional glitch, but only when the power was a bit noisy to begin with (You on the same mains circuit with any bad actors?) Whoop almost forgot, what palm software are you using, did you go from cradle to LTC, etc.? There is quite a bit of interest in the Palm/MIDIbox thing.... ;) Take a picture of this music machine thing man! We wanna see it! :) Best Smash

Familiar with that process and it's not too durable, you will want to cover it with another layer of polycarbonate sheet as it scratches easily. Seems a bit costly too in relation to mylar/scotchprint as used for coin op arcade game control panel overlays. The matte finish on these also does not show scratches or wear without real abuse. Trade show floor graphics are made the same way, Check out link-removed and click on "economy floor decal" for pricing info (and there are better prices out there). A local sign company might offer the same, if they do "scotchprint" process they can make what you need. This is the same stuff that audio gear manufacturers use for those panel overlays. /Edit TK: I removed the link due to a request for the company (10 years after this posting has been created)! Best Smash

No worries, the notch is only there to tell you which way to insert the chip, and in this case the resistor networks you are using are not polarized anyway, so flip the resistor networks also and force two wrongs to make a right. :) Best Smash

Any time you add a resistor to a pot it changes the response curve or taper....Depending on the values involved this could mean that your pot acts more log than linear........In the real world this translates to a fader where 1cm of movement in the middle might range 10 values, but 1cm at the bottom or top of the throw may only range 5 values.....That's why its not so good advice, accuracy and feel are lost. You can't fly it without looking at the display if the taper is very far from linear. Best Smash

Ground anything "not-connected" and see if anything changes Best Smash

I would say one CORE and one I2C if you can pull it off. :) Are you considering writing the DMX input as a MIOS app? It's quite possible if the reading of every x frame to stack up those 24 values is done.....But I don't know how cranking the serial in speed up will complicate things with MIOS.....(can you tell I'm not a coder? put me on an AVR and I can fake it though) ;) Best Smash

Ok considering pin 20 has the PIC ever been installed in the socket in the wrong direction? Best Smash

If your using AC to power the core the only way to possibly get -5vdc readings is to swap your meter leads. If DC in your ground/+5vdc are swapped, or you are connected to a -5vdc supply. There is no possible wrong placement of parts in the core's power section that will generate a negative voltage from a positive DC supply voltage or an AC supply voltage.....You would have to substitute a 7905 (or other negative regulator) for the 7805 to make that even remotely possible. Best Smash

Sorry Juancho, This stuff is DIY (Do It Yourself) only....Commercial use prohibited, All Rights Reserved, etc. Nobody here will build this for you....but the MIDIbox will do what you need and you are welcome to come learn and build your own. Best SmashTV For the record, I have removed Jauncho's original post.....We don't troll for paid builders here.

No worries, you did fine....Don't worry no matter what the frustration level I won't give up on it and I expect you not to either.... :)Now that we are on the same page let's take some very small steps one at a time with troubleshooting...... Lets get some colors in the mix! Pin 1=5.06 MCLR 11=5.06 Vdd 20=1.64 RD1 32=5.06 Vdd 26=1.88 TX 25=0.08 RX octocoupler pin 8 5.06 Vdd Midi out 5.06 M- J1 vd 5.06 Input voltage (Vd) Lets start with pin 20, There are several things that could cause this, but since you have power to pins 11 and 32 we can eliminate most of those causes (Missing/open/through hole plate on R6,R9,R10)....Let's focus on R9, is it the correct value (10K)? Is there anything plugged into J8/J9? If so disconnect it and see if the reading on pin20 changes, if nothing plugged in look carefully for any solder bridges around pin 20 (like where that trace goes between pins 18 & 19), also look for solder bridges on J8/J9. Let me know what you find and we'll move on from there. :) Best Smash

hehe your not the only one....Consider this chump stumped.... ??? By any chance.....did you have any MIDI cables plugged in (or any other core connections besides power in)? I ask because its possible to backfeed power and ground from the MIDI OUT connection via R8..... If no other connections I'll build up a set here exactly like yours and get the answer we seek. :) Best Smash

I guess my photoshop o-scope was off calibration that day. ;D Best Smash

Your test values won't speak much to us if we don't know whether it was done with PIC or without....Again please set both chips off to the side until your voltages are correct!It's a waste of my time to try to help when you are not listening. :-\ These readings point to one fault with the chips in, and another if they are out......so I'll quit guessing here and wait for you to finish explaining what's in front of you. Best Smash

Cool! 9vac, 200ma or more is the statistically proven best choice for feeding the Core power section. No worries man! I don't mean to sound grumpy with my replies, just trying to spur self-teaching without burning up components.... :) Best Smash

Hey *! Made this little page long ago, seems quite relevant now though.... http://www.avishowtech.com/mbhp/ps/ I would wikify it but it uses javascript for the wave display. :-\ Best Smash

Changing an AC voltage is what these are supposed to do......Did you forget some info about how you reached this conclusion instead of suspecting the supply? Are you sure the power supply functions correctly under a load? cool, but understand that some places here will have AC, some DC if fed from an AC source. The operation of the power supply section of the core is well documented here in the forum, search is your friend.... Without a clear explanation of what you have done, there is no way we can chase this failure mode....Is the regulator in place? are your electrolytic caps and bridge installed correctly? Specific explanations breed specific help. http://www.ucapps.de/mbhp/mbhp_core.pdf same as it ever was.....same as it ever was..... ;) Best Smash

Every power supply has a "ramp up" time, some are quite noisy during this start up. When you cycle the power x times to get it going, are you switching the mains transformer on and off with this switch, or just the input voltage to the MIDIbox from the secondary side? Give it a try with leaving the mains transformer powered but cycling the low voltage between it and the Core, if the symptoms change look towards the power supply as the issue (you can probably add an electrolytic cap to stop this), if it acts the same look elsewhere.... Also know that a ground loop/path fed by the center pin of J12 MIDI OUT can cause same symptoms in certain setups, you might disconnect your MIDI cables and see if the failure mode changes. (this is all relative to your MIDI interface on the PC, most simple joystick port MIDI cables will tie the PC's noisy ground rail to the Core ground at this connection, not good!) Let's see if we can find the cause rather than patching the symptom (cycle reset) ;) Best Smash

Same power supply? Not without complete specific info....I can make this -guess- though: If supply is the same one that gave you a good reading, then gave you a bad reading after moving the stuff, you have probably shaken loose a bad solder joint or a connection that was almost shorted and the shuffle did the deed..... There is also the possibility that your regulator is now bad (as a symptom of another problem) and only able to kick out a few volts (unlikely).... Are your electrolytic caps in the right way? Just to eliminate another unknown variable: same meter? Check your soldering, even if it looks fine check it again and reflow anythign suspect. Best Smash

I'm pretty sure it's just a checkbox option to turn off post editing, then only moderators could do it.....But with some upcoming "meta" threads that need editing, That's not the best option.... Best Smash