Wilba Posted October 23, 2006 Report Share Posted October 23, 2006 Good to hear!Just to recap: you swapped the two optocouplers around, so now the SmashTV PCB (which previously was giving the frame errors and overrun errors) is WORKING? and the Mike's PCB which was only sending out upload requests is unchanged?You really should swap the optocoupler back and prove it's really the optocoupler (you seemed to think reseating the optocoupler was the cause, highly doubtful, but make sure anyway). Put a big tick on the "good" optocoupler!!!So Mike'S PCB is broken in another way. It's hard to know how, since you had the "good" optocoupler in there, and the PIC which was eventually proved to be good, and the loopback test passed... since it's sending upload requests, the PIC is powered and oscillator is good... maybe it is continually resetting? Check power supply I guess... and all solder joints around the optocoupler, TX, RX pins... The best news is, you now have a working PIC + Core PCB + MIDI connection. This makes debugging the second Core a lot easier... because you know what the bug CAN'T be... Now that you have MIOS on the PIC, when you put it in the other PCB, you should only get ONE upload request, and you have 2 secs to upload a new MIOS, or you can upload an application at any time. What this means is when you put that PIC in the other PCB, if you keep getting upload requests you know the PIC is resetting itself for some reason... I guess you could also try the LCD in the other PCB and check if it's "READY" also... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toneburst Posted October 24, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2006 Hi Wilba,Just to recap: you swapped the two optocouplers around, so now the SmashTV PCB (which previously was giving the frame errors and overrun errors) is WORKING? and the Mike's PCB which was only sending out upload requests is unchanged?That's about the size of it. The 2nd kit still just sends out upload requests, but the second one seems now to work fine. I've managed to upload MIOS, the SID application and the SID Interconnection test app so far. I have another spare optocoupler now, so I will try that in the Mike's board, though I don't expect it to make any difference. I'll also try swapping the optocouplers back again, as you suggest, just to see.I've been using 2 different PSUs (a 5v 'wallwart' one and an Optimised PSU/C64 brick one), but both seem to work with the SmashTV board.Now that you have MIOS on the PIC, when you put it in the other PCB, you should only get ONE upload request, and you have 2 secs to upload a new MIOS, or you can upload an application at any time. What this means is when you put that PIC in the other PCB, if you keep getting upload requests you know the PIC is resetting itself for some reason... I guess you could also try the LCD in the other PCB and check if it's "READY" also...I'll definitely try this, though I'm getting increasingly nervous about removing and reinserting the PIC chip- those pins are so delicate!I'm at work at the moment, but as soon as I get home, I'll try the tests you suggest, and let you know what I find out. I may even pop home at lunchtime and give it a try...Thanks once again for all your help and encouragement,Alexhttp://www.toneburst.net Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carsten_the_dane Posted October 24, 2006 Report Share Posted October 24, 2006 Just a small remark: You dont have to push the PIC all down into the socket, as long as all pins connect. It will make it easier to uninstall from the socket, if you just place it lightly - atleast as long as you´re troubleshooting.I really hope you will have some succes soon, im glad its not me havent your problems./carsten Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilba Posted October 24, 2006 Report Share Posted October 24, 2006 another tip: put the PIC in a spare IC socket (assuming you use the cheap ones, not the expensive machine pin ones)... this makes it easier to insert and remove from the PCB as well as preventing the pins being bent. An old trick from when I was constantly moving PICs between PCB and burner.You should also get an IC removal tool... just a cheap one that looks like a really wide pair of tweezers... I can't believe I went so long without one, cursing every time I had to pull an IC out... if only to give the SID chip some respect, get one ;D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toneburst Posted October 24, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2006 Just a small remark: You dont have to push the PIC all down into the socket, as long as all pins connect. It will make it easier to uninstall from the socket, if you just place it lightly - atleast as long as you´re troubleshooting.Ah, that's good advice Carsten. I didn't realise that.another tip: put the PIC in a spare IC socket (assuming you use the cheap ones, not the expensive machine pin ones)... this makes it easier to insert and remove from the PCB as well as preventing the pins being bent. An old trick from when I was constantly moving PICs between PCB and burner.So you mean put the IC in a socket, then put that socket into the socket soldered to the board?Genius....I'll add a spare socket to my little (but growing) list.You should also get an IC removal tooI will try to track down one of these. Sounds very very useful. I've been using a screwdriver pushed underneath the IC, but it's quite hard to lever the chip out without bending the pins. ...if only to give the SID chip some respectI always treat my SIDs with respect and wear the ceremonial gloves, hat and cloak when handling it ;)Alexhttp://www.toneburst.net Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toneburst Posted October 24, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2006 Just got the first sound out of one of my SID boards!!!!I'm very happy :)Still loads of work to do- need to get the Mike's Core up-and-running. I put a new optocoupler in it and put the PIC (now with MIOS installed) back in the socket. I still can't upload anything to it, but I now get MIDI Frame Errors, rather than nothing except Unexpected Upload Requests. It's not rebooting all the time, anyway, so it's definitely progress! I'll recheck solder joints and component values again later.The working SID board is the one I got with the kit From Mike, which I just put together this evening. For symmetry's sake though, I'd like to get the Mike's MIDIShop Core, and SmashTV SID working too, of course. Unfortunately, that means desoldering and removing all the pins from the SID socket I managed to break while testing voltages a while back. I'm going to need to invest in some desoldering braid, I think, because my desoldering pump isn't doing the job.I'm so glad I've managed to get a sound from it at last!!!!Alexhttp://www.toneburst.net Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antimon Posted January 4, 2007 Report Share Posted January 4, 2007 I wonder have you been able to fix that board from Mike's shop? I'm having exactly same problems now and don't know what to do. Please help if you have solution.Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toneburst Posted January 4, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2007 I wonder have you been able to fix that board from Mike's shop? I'm having exactly same problems now and don't know what to do. Please help if you have solution.ThanksHiya,it's a while since I did any MIDIBox stuff I'm afraid (got sidetracked into other things).I honestly can't remember if I did get the Mike's MIDIShop boards working, but I suspect not. I know I did manage to burn out one of my PICs by sending 14v instead of 5v through it, and that the working SID synth setup I have so far consists of 2 Smash TV boards (no control-surface yet, though I was only planning a 'Step-A' to start with) . Unfortunately I don't have time at the moment to troubleshoot the Mike's boards, but I'll have another look next month when I have a bit more spare time.Sorry I can't be more help right now, and good luck with it!Cheers,Alexhttp://www.toneburst.net Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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