the becoming of a midbox sid.

[kokoon]

uhh i'm afraid the bypass caps on your DINs aren't correct :> but i could be wrong.

[Wisefire]

actually i am quite shure they are correct..  but i could be wrong as well :D

when seen from the "up"side with the little indent (the U indentation) facing up.. the upper right pin is vdd.. am i right?

i deduced this info from http://www.ucapps.de/mbhp/mbhp_dinx4.pdf

[kokoon]

hmm on ucapps it says first bridge then bypass... but you've made the bridge with the bypass cap which isn't EXACTLY the same. but by no mean i'm sure it's wrong. someone else tell.

[raphael]

when seen from the "up"side with the little indent (the U indentation) facing up.. the upper right pin is vdd.. am i right?

Right ;)

hmm on ucapps it says first bridge then bypass... but you've made the bridge with the bypass cap which isn't EXACTLY the same. but by no mean i'm sure it's wrong. someone else tell.

For me, it looks correct. (BTW.: What do you mean with "first bridge then bypass" ???)

Raphael

[moebius]

Wrong Wrong Wrong - even on the DOUT page. Seems like TK doesn't GET it? :P

As KD was helpful enough and pointed out this design flaw, sny questions about bypass caps should be forwared to him I think, his email address is: dalenkarl@yahoo.se

Bye, Moebius

[Wisefire]

OK, this would now be a good time to utter a WTF..

are you beeing serious moebius.. is it really wrong on the dOUT page itself.. does TK doesnt know what he is doing..

WILL MY MIDIBOX SID ONLY DISPLAY "HEHEHEH, GOTCHA!!!!" ON MY BEAUTIFUL LCD SCREEN???

WILL IT DISINTEGRATE IN FRONT OF MY EYES.. AAARGH.. ok..

</drama>

im leaving them there as they are now.. ill wait until this is sorted out. otherwise im resoldering 2 much..

now for some other important events..

got my second c64.. its a c64c.. and i got crazy and soldered another dIN

now its just waiting for the pics to arrive before i can even hear something out of my sid chip..

[eumir]

you have no idea how useful is this post, really, i mean, I have 3 c64´s waiting for me to be brave enough to start building my mbsid (I´m afraid of burning my sid´s), cause I needed some kind of tutorial or something. Now watching you do it is motivating me. Thank you, really, I mean it. I´m ordering the parts from SmashTV next week. Thanx again!

[tarzan boy]

daamn, i've found 5 c64s (3 c64c's) and NONE have had a disk drive. i was wanting to do some video programming but my datasettes are so unreliable.

and yeah, this thread is really useful, i was thinking earlier today 'if i hadnt started 2 days before him, i'd be following his every move!'

catch up and get ahead of me so i can follow your lead!!

[moebius]

There will be no Midibox. Bypass caps are wrong. Believe me. Believe me. Believe me - I do. [K.D Lang]

Bye, Moebius

[kokoon]

For me, it looks correct. (BTW.: What do you mean with "first bridge then bypass" ???)

ahh i see now. he forgot to connect (bridge) CLI to ground. then i put the cap between CLI and Vdd.

but he can just add those 4 connections (isolated bridges) and i guess it'll be okay. i'm really not that sure though. i followed every step on ucapps and i got it right (that means my SIDs work. i haven't tested the DINs yet though :D

[Wisefire]

@eumir: thank you, i am glad that people can find motivation in my posts. and i hope you'll build a beautiful sid. good luck and why not show us how your progress will be! :D

@tarzan boy, i will probably not catch up seeing i dont have any PICs yet. but if you want to buy my diskdrive..  ;D

@moebius: it refuses to proof that it exists, for proof denies faith, and without faith its nothing!! (modified quote from h2g2)

@kokoon: but we are talking about the dINs and the dOUTs.. so its not THAT bad when they dont work inmediately.. ill still be able

to get some sounds out of my sid.. :D but still its kinda serious.. what am i doing wrong then.. i followed the instructions and

in my opinion followed them correctly.. so wtf is CLI and what am i doing wrong..

[Wisefire]

well.. i soldered all the PCBs.. only one problem.. in my last din package i had only 3 bypass caps.. so ill have to go to the electronics store when i find the time.. to get 1 cap :S.. also sometime this week ill be getting my tact buttons.. found a company who has mec switches in stock.. so they will probably look nice.. but 1 button is about 1 euro.. so pretty expensive.. but hey.. i want it looking nice..

but those bypass caps are giving me serious headaches.. i thrust TK to be the definitive source of information around here.. so TK if you read this.. what is the correct possition of the caps? have i done it wrong?

and still no pic processors.. which is getting frustrating on itself..

and on another note..when this project is done.. im stepping up the difficulty.. when my mbsid is working as i want it to work.. then im gonna build my own midicontroller yeeh..

[raphael]

but those bypass caps are giving me serious headaches.. i thrust TK to be the definitive source of information around here.. so TK if you read this.. what is the correct possition of the caps? have i done it wrong?

Just take a look at the schematics. They're always right ;D.

For example DIN: If your caps are soldered between pin 16 of every IC and ground it's ok.

(Just for correctnes: Ideally bypass caps should be placed between Vdd pin and GND pin(Vss) of every IC.)

[kokoon]

the bypass cap on DIN is okay but you're missing the GND->pin15 (CLI) connection. i'm not sure whether it's essential or not but that's the error i spotted. but i can see that GND line going quite more further so i don't think it's okay you forgot it.

look:

you forgot this step:

This pictures shows the 4 additional bridges, realized with isolated cables.

[Wisefire]

thnx kokoon for spotting this.. you are absolutely right, the pin 15 bridge to ground is not connected on the back..

its connected on the front.. under the placeholders.. i found it to work and it looked cleaner.. so the connections ARE there.. just not in the usual place :D

that would mean that i HAVE made the right connections.. and its not gonna blow up in my face  ;D

that is a good thing to know..

[moebius]

(Just for correctnes: Ideally bypass caps should be placed between Vdd pin and GND pin(Vss) of every IC.)

Now - that's it. Minimizing "Equal Series Inductance". The whole point of bypassing is to take transient loads off the "power busses".

By the way - small axial ceramic caps fit nicely between machined IC sockets and the PCB.

Bye, Moebius

[kokoon]

thnx kokoon for spotting this.. you are absolutely right, the pin 15 bridge to ground is not connected on the back..

its connected on the front.. under the placeholders.. i found it to work and it looked cleaner.. so the connections ARE there.. just not in the usual place :D

that would mean that i HAVE made the right connections.. and its not gonna blow up in my face  ;D

that is a good thing to know..

then it's okay i guess... just not sure why you didn't solder the cap between pin15 and pin16 like it's meant and like raphael and moebius wrote. but if it's close enough to pin15 then it's probably allright.

note that i don't know shit about how electronics work and that the mbsid i'm building right now is my first venture into the world of electronics. i'm just playing smart  :)

[Wisefire]

hmm, i dont know why.. i just connected it to ground.. itll work probably.. i dont think it mathers that much.. its only for surges and i dont think ill be seeing much of those :P

well now for some good news and some bad news..

bad news first?? ok.. your choice..

i spent the better part of my day traveling to e-parts and when i got there i bought buttons.. pushbuttons from mec.dk.. they are a reseller.. in big quantities though.. thats why i went there.. so we could do this with cash.. so whats the bad news.. i bought 42 of those.. and they are 1.04 euro a piece.. and i had only 35 in my wallet.. luckily he was in a good mood so he let me have them for that price.. but still.. pretty expensive for some push buttons.. BUT imagine them on my mbSID.. would look pretty cewl now would it not.. but im actually pretty much running out of cash right now.. and thats very irritating.. im pretty much broke.. right now i dont have the money to buy another core and another sid module.. so those will have to wait.. as well as the rotary/pushbutton.. but i just have enough money to buy the knobs for on the rotary encoders..

whats that you say??? you wanna see the buttons.. ok here ya go..:

you have to admit.. they are nice.. and will look even nicer in a laser cut UI..  and here is the first c64 i got.. but opened..

i took the chip out..

yeah.. i know.. im still busy.. .. hmm? what? oh the PICs.. yeah.. well.. what?? why are you constantly interrupting me?? because you can.. :-\ right.. ok well.. what were you trying to say?? oh the good news.. yeah i did have that too, didnt i.. well the good news IS..... drumroll please *tadarrrrrrrrrr*

I HAVE RECEIVED MY FSCKING PICS!!!!!!!!!!!!!.. isnt that good news.. it was for me..

nice ey.. and plz dont bash me if you figure out where i got them from..plz dont.. i know it isnt that hard to figure out where these came from.. but dont be a n00b basher just because you ca... WHAT??? oh oh.. you wont? thnx thats good to hear.. :P

the plan for the time beeing is: getting the jdm programmer to work.. im gonna try an old pc with 98 or 95.. first gonna test ALL of the voltages.. if they are off.. ill post them here.. if they seem to match im gonna try to upload the bootloader.. if that fails ill come here and read some more.. if that fails ill ask for help.. if that fails.. ill try to insert the pic through my skull and program it with my mind.. ;D nah.. if that fails ill try the other programmers..

if it any or all doesnt fail.. im gonna get it running without CS first.. and without lcd probably.. get some sounds.. record them.. let you guys listen to some.. then ill be getting on with it and building the CS.. but thats future music..

[kokoon]

DON'T bother with the JDM just build the broccoli18. it's like 1 cap and 1 resistor programmer and it worked for me after JDM nightmares (and for other people too)

i really advise anyone that wants to program PIC18x to do it with the broccoli18.

[Wisefire]

well..guess what.. didnt work.. the voltage stays steady as a rock.. on 5.25 volts when mclr# was enabled.. higher or lower delay doesnt affect it..

im gonna try the brocolli thing.. allthough i hate the vegetable.. i may like the programmer :P its really cheap.. and i can probably find the stuff for it in house.. but not tonight :D

[Wisefire]

the broccoli18 thing didnt work either.. and furthermore.. i may have fried one of my PICs..

the broccoli18 programmer doesnt have a list to go through to check the voltages etc..

so when i thought i built it correctly i tried to plug in my pic.. checking the temp with my finger on it when i inserted it. it inmediately rose to a very high temp but not as hot as to really scorch my finger.. so i disconnected everything.. and pulled out the pic.. checking the voltages i found out that i had misplaced my  "- wire" of my 9v battery.. so i put it in correctly and tried it again.. again it ran very hot..pulled the proverbial plug again..

i am not happy about this.. not happy at all.. any and all help is appreciated.. i have no fucking clue what im doing and quite frankly im quite pissed..

i just spend my last money on the part to make this thing.. and it bloody well doesnt work..  on top of that i may have killed one of my PICs..

PLZ.. help.. me...

[Wisefire]

sorry for the bad language.. im calmed down now..

the broccoli18 programmer..

still i would really appreciate help :)

but for now im going to bed..

[kokoon]

have you read the thread about the broccoli18? i got everything i needed to get it working there,

[Wisefire]

yup.. read it.. didnt say anything about pics on which you can cook an egg though.. ( if i remember correctly )

[illogik]

yup.. read it.. didnt say anything about pics on which you can cook an egg though.. ( if i remember correctly )

check for (more) shorts, (check supply voltages if you can figure out). I never had a egg-cooking pic while programmin with JDM, and although broccoli should not be eaten raw this is probably a hardware error.....

no seriously, i know from experience that this isn't a fun stage of midiboxing; spending hours and at the point your nearly finished it bloody doesnt work.  >:(

but this stage is allso the stage where i get impatient (wanna finish WANNA TRY IT OUT!), and make small mistakes.

Now if you have time drink some coffee, and check the broccoli again, with multimeter and you probably find it... 

good luck<

marcel