jdutcher

hey, yeah, people have posted about the bg micro LCDs quite a bit. Â you can even find a link on one of the ucapps pages. Â i use them myself and they work great. Â just so you know, you're gonna have to build the negative voltage mod: http://www.midibox.org/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=troubleshooting;action=display;num=1099022402 it's really quick and easy though.

from what i understand, you want only ONE encoder and ONE button? Â if that is what you want, it won't work. Â you'd need at least one select button also. Â the menu button ONLY serves to go to the previous (higher) tier of the menu. EDIT: on second thought, you might be able to get your setup working if you altered the code a bit, adding an "exit" item to each level of the menu. however, if this is beyond your capabilities, you're gonna need more than one button.

i use mouser #502-112A for audio. Â they're more expensive than some of the others, but i like them. Â it's a starting point for you anyway. Â look around on that page if you want something cheaper. Â don't use the one you were looking at (#568-NYS215/2). Â as moebius said, there's no room for board mount jacks on smashtv's pcbs. Â instead, use either the "L" or "M" models from that page: http://www.mouser.com/catalog/620/724.pdf i use mouser #568-NYS325 for midi. Â they're the cheapest, but they work just fine. and for your ribbon cables, look for the rectangular connectors that look like the ones on the ends of the ide cables that you have...like the ones on page 848: http://www.mouser.com/catalog/620/848.pdf

hi, any idea if the pic18f452 can be used as a substitute for the pic16f877 in this project?

hi everybody. i found some old ibm formatted 5.25" floppy disks in my friend's basement. they look to be in pretty good condition. my question is this: is it possible to reformat these to work with my c64s? i've been trying, but i keep on getting a "no sync character" error from my 1541 drive. i know this could be a possible indication of a hardware malfunction, but i tried it on two drives with the same result. don't have any actual c64 software to fully test the drives, but they seem to be working alright (recognized by c64 dos, disk spins, lights work, etc.) if it is in fact a hardware problem, any suggestions on how to fix it? thanks james

don't know if this helps you or not: http://www.fairchildsemi.com/ds/BC/BC547.pdf http://www.datasheetarchive.com/download.php?pi=230053 if it does work, it looks like you might need to put it in backwards (pins are reversed)

http://www.midibox.org/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=troubleshooting;action=display;num=1099022402 i think yours probably fall into this category. please spare yourself a MAJOR headache and do the negative voltage fix. it worked for me

hi, i see that a lot of the c64s selling on ebay are from england, meaning that they run on 220V@50hz. Â does this mean that the sid chip from one of those machines would not work in the usa (120V@60hz)? Â in other words, are all sid chips the same (letting the machine itself figure out how to use it) or are there special sid chips for each power/freq rating? bottom line: if i buy a sid chip from england, will it work in my USA box? thanks

??? :owhere did you get 10 sids? :o ???

ok, so i figured out what was wrong: my lcd had a mini header on it and the socket i was using on my lcd cable was too big, so the contacts barely touched. Â i shaved the end of it down so it fits better and now the lcd is working no problem. Â i'm so excited!!! Â thanks for all of the help. now i just need to figure out how to use this thing... ;)

;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ok, i have NO idea what's going on. i just spent a while browsing the forum, downloading music, etc. waiting for a response to my post (not that i expected one tonight :)). then, for no real reason, i flicked on my sid box just to read the gibberish again and think of an explanation and.....BAM.....it works. the lcd is outputting exactly what it is supposed to. i guess theres a loose wire somewhere or something? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? well, hmmm, i guess i'm all set. i'll let everyone know if it starts acting up again. for now, i'm gonna sit down and start playing!!!! thanks for everything, james

ok, so the parts for the voltage converter arrived today and my display works now!!!! Â however, it's giving me some gibberish! Â >:( >:( >:( here's what the readout looks like: first 2 seconds: (row of blocks) next 1 second: (centered) [glow=green,2,300]MIOS!W1/7!!!!!!! )C)!3115!U/Kmose[/glow] after that, it goes to this and stays there (until buttons are pressed): (just off-center to the right) [glow=green,2,300]!!1 Â C !1 Â 1---(blinking cursor)[/glow][glow=green,2,300]Iouesoam!Qauci!![/glow] when i move the encoder, the number in front of the "C" above increases or decreases accordingly. Â when i hit a button, the screen displays a bunch of weird stuff, but i can see "OSC", "WAV", etc. here and there (I can post pics if needed). when i hit the menu button, it goes back to the "!! Â C!...." screen. what is wrong?! Â the wiring is ok, i think. Â the fact that some of the characters are where/what they should be is very strange! Â please help! Â i'm almost there! p.s. the regulator is still getting pretty hot, even with a massive heat sink

just look on ebay for the c64s with the updated cases (just slightly off-white, sleeker body). these generally have the newer chips in them. as for if the chips will work or not, just ask the seller (if sound works, chip works). it's not difficult and not very risky. even if the c64 itself doesn't work, what are the chances that the sound chip will be broken? also, you can find info online about the various production runs of the c64s. this will give you date and serial number ranges which correspond to the different chips.

so i tried out the -5v thing on my breadboard and i saw blocks across the screen! Â i'm really hoping this will solve the problem. Â just finished placing a mouser order for the parts i need to build the -5v mod that smash posted. Â as for the backlight issue: i'm using the original c64 power source. Â surely this is providing enough to power the whole thing, including a 40x2 lcd backlight, right? Â the regulator does heat up, but i don't think it's a problem. Â if i were to decrease the brightness of the contrast, that would probably do the trick, right? p.s. just read doc's post again and it mentioned that it's only a problem if the backlight "flashes". mine stays lit, so i think i'm in the clear.

what brand/model lcd are you using? i'm having the same problem as you, but i think mine is related to the negative voltage thing mentioned in smash's post.

smash, thanks so much for the info. the links are extremely helpful! i'm going to try the -5V fix soon. i really think that's my problem. i'll let everyone know how it goes. thanks! james

no one has any ideas? is it safe to say that it's just the lcd at this point? if so, should i try a different brand or something? or should i order a new one of the same model and assume my current one is busted? my wiring is 100% correct according to the lcd data sheet. is there anything i can do to make sure the pinout is correct? please, i'm begging for help on this. i think i'm almost there!

yeah, see, that's what i thought. i mean, regardless if i change the mios to work with my screen size, etc., i should see SOMETHING, right? i have checked my wiring a number of times... the original question still stands, though: has anyone gotten this particular model to work with their midibox? i know i'm not the only one on this board who has purchased one. i mean, thorsten put the bg micro link on one of the pages.

just plug in the c64s that they come in and try a game

no, not yet because i'm assuming that that's not the problem, right? i mean, either way i should be getting SOMETHING on the screen, right?

hi, i'm using a tianma TM402CDAU6 2x40 lcd from b.g. micro. it uses a ks0066 controller, but that shouldn't be a problem. i can't seem to get anything to show up on the display from my sid synth, though. the backlight works fine and the contrast pot has a *slight* effect on the pixels. just wondering if anyone else has been able to successfully incorporate this lcd model into their midibox. thanks james

ok, so a few updates... i was actually able to use the sid box in my show last night and it was a hit! after using it for a whole day and then last night, i now have a more informed description of its functionality (or lack there of). so here goes: 1. the regulator does get hot after a while, but it seems pretty stable. i chalked that up to normal functioning and threw a heatsink on it...problem solved (i hope... :-/). 2. when i first turn on the box and the sound kicks in, the actual sid sound is very quiet and there's a fairly prominent humming sound. usually, when i fiddle around with the buttons and the knob for a few moments, the sid sound jumps to its normal level and (i think) the hum goes away. i'd estimate that the "normal" volume i've just mentioned is aboout 5 times louder than the initial volume. i don't think this is a wiring issue, because it's clearly altered by the control surface. is this normal? 3. the box no longer resets itself after a few mintues as long as i leave it alone. in other words, i concluded that it only is susceptible to resetting when i really go crazy with the buttons and the encoder (i.e. esentially holding a lot of buttons down at once, etc.). 4. it's really important that i confirm that the 40x2 displays from b.g. micro are compatible. i read on the boards a few months ago that other people were using them (and actually, i think thorsten posted a link on one of the midibox pages). i really think i'm in the final stretch here. if i could just resolve the screen issue, i think i'd have a fully functioning sid synth. if anybody has any insight into what the problem may be or if anybody can tell me if the above obeservations are "normal" or not, please let me know. i know i seem a bit frantic and overwhelming on the boards right now and i apologize for that, but i've spent a LOT of time with this thing and i really want to get it working. thanks! james

thanks for the support, smash. Â so i sent the sid 6581 with cs app to the box and i can now change sounds, etc. Â i think it still might be getting a little too hot even without the lcd though. Â also, there's a pretty heavy background hum (maybe a grounding issue?) and it reset a couple of times on my for no reason (i mean, i could literally hear it "pop" off and then "pop" back on and start playing the default sound). Â this concerns me. Â as for the display, i'm using the 40x2 from bg micro. Â as far as i know, other people have used this one with no problems. Â one thing i'm thinking: i'm actually using part of the circuit board from the original c64 for my power circuit. Â i mean, i literally cut a small square from around where the power input jack and switch are on the c64 and wired directly from there to the cap, diode, and, ultimately, the core/sid circuit. Â i've checked continuity, etc. and i think it checks out, but i'm wondering if this is fishy? Â the thing that makes absolutely no sense to me is this: whatever the problem is, why am i hearing anything at all? Â if it's working well enough to function (seemingly) normally except for the lcd, that probably limits the possible trouble spots significantly, right? i've got a show tonight, so i'll have to make due with an lcd-less box. Â i would really really love to get this thing working 100% though, cause it's annoying to have to push random buttons and turn the knob blindly to change the sounds. thanks james p.s. after fiddling with it for a bit, i think the ground hum that i was hearing was maybe just because the volume out of the sid was low. when i blindly adjusted the volume to pump a little louder, the ground hum was much less noticeable.

personally, i'd like to see 10mm spacing. if that really throws off the organization though, don't do it. also, smash, i'm using the black crimp sockets for the ribbon cables and it can be a bit tricky with the current layout. for a quick example off of the top of my head, i actually had to shave off a few millimeters to fit the core interface cable next to the sid chip. james

:-[ uhhh......ahem ::).....this is quite embarassing. Â :-[ i actually hadn't loaded the sid app. Â didn't realize that that was part of the process. Â i though mios 1.7 would take care of it. Â anyway, i loaded the "main" app from the sid zip file and i can get sound now!!! Â this thing is amazing. Â i'm also getting full in and out midi response. Â the only thing that remains to be fixed is the lcd problem. Â the regulator gets burning hot when the lcd is connected and is just hot (not too hot to touch) when the lcd is disconnected. Â i'll go ahead and give smash's advice a try and check the lcd connections. Â thanks for everyone's help. oh yeah, which sid app should i load? Â i'm running a single 6581 sid with minimal control surface...lcd, one encoder, a few buttons... Â i've got the "main" app on there. Â actually, i guess what i'm asking is this: Â would someone please give me the exact list of things i need to load for my setup? Â is the "main" sid app sufficient? Â when i hit buttons and turn the knob (can't see anything without the lcd) nothing really changes. thanks so much james :-[ UPDATE: the lcd wiring is 100% correct. is the only remaining possibility that the lcd itself is messed up somehow?