Pyotr

Right, I've removed the SIDs and done some more testing by following the instructions in the base PCB construction guide. - I get about 5.23V between 5V and ground at J3. - At J25, I get about 12.4V which seems a little high. - Measuring across C12, I get about 5V, not 9 as expected. At V1, I get 16V from the left and right pins, and 12V from middle and right pin - so I guess that at least checks out, though it looks a little battered from the extreme heat from the first power on, which still remains a mystery. - Both the 9V and 12V pins of J1_SID1 and J2_SID1 failed. I get 0V from both and ofcourse 0V from pin 28 of the SID socket relative to ground. What you said about heat sinks doesn't compute... I soldered the right components at V1, V2 and V3 and they aren't in backwards or anything. So I'm not sure what you mean. What specifically should I test for? Pins 1 and 2 of J71, J72 and J73 have all been connected by jumpers, and B1, C1, C2, C3, C4, C11 and C12 have all been soldered and C1 and C2 face the right way. The PSU itself is from my own C64, which works perfectly so I think that can safely be ruled out.

So I went for the MB-6582 rather than the modular approach. The base PCB is now done, so I thought I'd run it through some tests. On first powerup, V3 got very very hot. I was getting 5V at J4, but 9V only read about 8.73V and the 12V pin gave me 0-1V! :hmm: C2 read as expected, as did J25. So naturally I disconnected it, doublechecked the PSU B requirements, checked for solder bridges, doublechecked the jumpers... Everything seemed fine, and V3 no longer gets hot. So, being the ever optimistic (and impatient) newb, I proceeded to upload the firmware [setup_mb6582.hex]. MIOS Studio could not connect to the core, yet it recieved an upload request, so I decided to let it do its thing, thinking perhaps it'd be able to connect once it was done. Uploading took absolute ages, more than an hour! And once it was done, it still couldn't connect to the core...! Uploading the testtone app succeeded as well, but no sound was generated. Tried the ASID player and one of my favorite sid-files; no dice. So... Have I fried something? Are my CORE and my SIDS (2x6581) still ok? Perhaps I have a problem with the audio outputs? Or the MIDI ports? Well... I'm off to bed - this is doing my head in. I'll do some more voltage tests when I wake up, maybe that's where the fault (or one of them) lies, but I'm still very puzzled that MIOS Studio can upload to a core it can't connect to, and that there's no sound other than background noise. Please dumb down your response to just above retard-level. Thank you in advance.

nILS, fair enough. I'll shut my piehole and buy you all some beers as a thank you for effectively lending me your brains (and time), once the synth is up and running. And cheers for the link, just what I needed.

So I've ordered all the parts necessary for an MBSID w. 2x6581 and a Step A CS, to start with. One thing I've found that cheesed me off a little bit, is that I could order everything from Mike in Germany (fast and cheap, Germany is right next door), except for the PIC18F4585. And you can't not have that, so I had to order that from SmashTV at a considerable cost and it won't be here for many weeks. I don't know who to blame, so it's just some general venting... But Mike, please consider buying a bunch of PIC18F4585's...! Anyway, what I actually wanted to ask was; I've bought 2 x 6581 off of eBay instead of "crippling" my C64 (it'd be like horribly disfiguring an old friend, then laugh about it) but I can't see which revision versions they are. From the picture, I can see they were made in week 50, 1984 (says '5084'). Is there any way I can figure out exactly what type they are? Some test perhaps? Are the various 6581/8580 revisions different enough to warrant tracking down more pairs for even more varied SID action? Thanks guys :)

Thanks for the inputs. So there seems to be general agreement that the modular approach is the way to go for a newbie, and that it'll be the easiest to fit in the C64 case. I would have thought it'd be the other way around, due to the compact size of the MB-6582 boards. The case is of the later generation (1990?), which if I'm not mistaken contains an 8580. So I got some bits to get me started. It irks me that I'm going to murder a perfectly functioning C64, but on the other hand I never use it. It just sits around gathering dust. Still, I apologize to the C64 community... I'm sorry, ok? As for the control surface, I can live with only having access to the various parameters via the PC (or the Yamaha RM1x) for now, but I do love me some knob twiddlin', so that's a must have in the months to come.

Hello all As I'll become unemployed soon, I'll have plenty of time (if not exactly a lot of money) for a hobby project such as the Midibox SID. I guess I could stop smoking... Riiight... Now, I've had a fairly good look around at the site and forum, and while the fully fledged box with 8 SIDs and all the bells and whistles and pretty lights is the end goal, it's way too difficult to start with. But since I want the fully tweakable control surface, the sammichSID or something similar is not really to my taste or needs. So I wonder, would the best (read: easiest, simplest) starting point be with the compact MB-6582 PCB or the 1xSID, 1xCORE in-a-shoe-box? If I choose the latter, can I upgrade to the MB-6582 without too much hassle? Which would be the best route to go if I want to fit it all in a C64 case somewhere down the road (i.e. in a year or so)? Btw, maybe you could have a noob section where people wouldn't be afraid to ask beginner questions. Just a friendly suggestion. Thanks in advance for your answers and patience. -Pyotr