SIDbox in Progress, Core Done, LCD Working, DIN4X trouble solved?

[snebenan]

Hi all.

I've been lurking this forum a few months and you seem to have a real nice community here. Congratulations!

I'm Chemical engineer from Sweden with a taste for electronic noise (and often plenty of distortion)

Anyway, I've just ordered my first Core/sid kit(s) from Smash so it won't be too long now before I start asking silly questions, like what end of the soldering iron to hold onto... well, maybe not that one but I'm a complete newbe when it comes to PIC's and assambler. I've done some electronics in the past like building a Gyraf SSL clone etc. But this is a bit different.

I'd just like to give you a little preparation of what to come.

My plan is to build a stereo SIDbox with 2 8580SID's with a minimal control panel.

The first step is to just get one voice working.

Then a second voice for stereo.

When this is working, I'll probably add a feedbackloop and create a nice frontpanel.

But, that's the current plan, it may be revised later  ;)

And I'll tro to post some pictures along the way as well.

The name is Peter by the way.

//Cheers

[stryd_one]

Welcome aboard man :) I'm sure you'll have no troubles, especially if you've done such a project before. You won't need to know any ASM for what you mentioned, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by how easy it is to do.

A bit of lurking and a bit of searching and shouting out when you need a hand is all you need... Oh and hold the soldering iron the right way around.... Oh and don't kiss it when it's on ;D

[snebenan]

Ok, I received a box from Smash last week. Very professionally packed and lots of small bags for everything.  :D

I've soldered my core board, a flat cable to my LCD and is now working on my optimized PSU.

However, I made a small mistake when buying stuff for the PSU, I'm missing the 220 Ohm resistor. Does anyone know if I can use a 390 Ohm one from the C64 main board insted? (It's the resistor that is attached to the power LED on the main board ) It should only make the led a bit dimmer or?

Oh, some tips for future newbees.

1. Desoldering using a 18W soldering iron is not great for desoldering bigger components like the power plug. I ended up brutally carving away some solder and mainboard to get it off.  :-[

2. Wireing the LCD cable reqiores patience...

Cheers

//Peter

[snebenan]

Ah, what the xxxx

I soldered on the 390 Ohm resistor and did some measurements:  ;)

5V      = 5.33 V

14V    = 14.3 V

LCD    = 5.33 V

That looks a bit on the high side for me, but mayby that's ok?

Straight from the power supply:

5VDC    = 5,33 V

9VAC    = 10,0 V

Cheers

/Peter

[stryd_one]

.3V high is probably OK.... Chances are, that's an error with your meter ;)

about the LCD cable, did you follow the PDF guide? That's definitely the way to go.....

[snebenan]

.3V high is probably OK.... Chances are, that's an error with your meter

well, my meter was quite cheap so it is possible  ;)

I checked the LCD guide, the core description and also my LCD datasheet so it should be ok. I usually check my connection one extra time before connecting anything so it should be ok. However it is a PLED so we'll see if I need to mess with the driver or not.

Cheers!  :)

/ Peter

[cimo]

heyyyy

jag ar inte svenska men jag ticker om sverige saaaa micket.. kanelbullar !!

jatte bra kompis!!!

simone

[stryd_one]

it is a PLED so we'll see if I need to mess with the driver or not.

For SIDv2 and other 4685 based projects, yes you will. Those PLEDs don't like to run in 4-bit mode.

[snebenan]

heyyyy

jag ar inte svenska men jag ticker om sverige saaaa micket.. kanelbullar !!

jatte bra kompis!!!

Yep kanelbullar is a great thing about Sweden  ;D

Btw, I just checked your website and saw the MagicBoogieBox and Damn that thing is cool!!!  8)

Cheers

// Peter

[cimo]

.. unfortunately the poor thing still misses a decent front panel/cover ..

 

 

[snebenan]

Ok, I finally got some spare time to finish my core.

I did some measurements before plugging in any IC's

PIC:

  pin 1, 11, 32       5,33V

  Pin 20         5,28V

Optocoupler pin 8     5,33V

Looked OK to me so I plugged in IC's and attached LCD and threw the switch and see a black LCD, hmm maybe i should try to adjust the contrast? 

[glow=black,2,300]READY...[/glow]

Aah much better, It's ALIVE!!!! =D

Next step is to solder the SID pcb.

/Cheers

[snebenan]

I will probably end up known as the slowest Sid boxer ever...

But at least it's going in the right direction.  :D

I've soldered my sid board and just did some voltage checks:

With only power connected to the Sid PCB (without IC's) I got 9,07V on leg14 - leg28 on the SID socket.

Good!

Btw I did a silly misstake here, I switched my +/- 5V first causing my voltage to be only 7,37V. But I color coded my + and - cords so I could spot it rather quickly.

After connecting core and Sid board:

IC1: leg 14 - 25.        5,31V

IC2: leg 08 - 16.        5,31V

IC3: leg 08 - 16.        5,31V

Still a bit high, but my meter was very cheap  ;)

Next is to load some code into that PIC and see what will happend. I'm expecting LCD troubles (4bit issues)

but you never know.

Cheers!

//Peter

[stryd_one]

I will probably end up known as the slowest Sid boxer ever...

You've got some tough competition there mate! (me!)

4bit mode shouldn't be a problem, fear not.

[snebenan]

Ok, downloaded Java Runtime and MIOS Studio and connected the Core to my midiinterface (Midisport8x8/s)

On power on I got a sysex message:

00000000065780 ms | Sysex message: F0 00 00 7E 40 00 01 F7

And according to the walkthrough this means the Core is happy and want more action. Yay!  ;D

Core Voltages OK,

Core OK,

SID Voltages OK,

Hmm I think it's time to stuff my deploy the 8580...

//Peter

[snebenan]

Ok, MIOS v1.9f uploaded without any problems.

SID and 74HC595's populated.

But when uploading the "setup_8580.hex" the first big chunk of Sysex is sent and then nothing???

Try again,  Nothing

Restart Mios Studio and Core, still can't upload.

Ok, time to panic, run for your life I'm going to ask a question!!

Wait, i'll restart MIOS studio and try it once more.

Yes! The sysex is flowing!  :D

after 40 seconds of hexadecimal ligo My LCD says

[tt][glow=black,2,300]E002|A001*Ld Chn. 1

1***|Lead Patch    [/glow][/tt]

I guess I'm going to need that bankstick now...

Joy!

[ganchan]

nice green pled, it's the one from ebay?

[snebenan]

nice green pled, it's the one from ebay?

Thanks. I bought it from here

http://www.fractronics.com/

(For once I could find what i wanted in Sweden...)

But you can't buy them there anymore since PLED is going the same way as laserdiscs...

I found the old product description though.

http://www.fractronics.com/2x20oled_new.shtml

(btw. I bought two so if one fails I have a spare, i hope won't need it.)

//Cheers

[snebenan]

Well, no bankstick for me yet.

I got stuck playing leadsounds all night. Just a simple sound with some delay/reverb and woha! Awesome!  ;D

Next steps  are

-bankstick

-DIN

-buttons and encoders ( And here I guess i need to edit some source code right? )

-Second Sid

-Feedback

-Hard Clipper

My evolver is looking jealously at the SID right now...  ;)

//Cheers!

[buhler]

Thanks. I bought it from here

http://www.fractronics.com/

(For once I could find what i wanted in Sweden...)

But you can't buy them there anymore since PLED is going the same way as laserdiscs...

I found the old product description though.

http://www.fractronics.com/2x20oled_new.shtml

(btw. I bought two so if one fails I have a spare, i hope won't need it.)

//Cheers

i have the same LCD.  i like it a lot.  i'm having driver problems with mine though.  it freezes after a few seconds or a few clicks from the encoder.  i'm trying to figure out the .asm stuff to fix it.  let me know if you figure it out.  post the steps if you can.  i'm reading like mad but i'm always missing stuff.

[stryd_one]

I answered the PLED problem in the other thread you asked it in.

Crossposting is bad, mmkay.

[buhler]

i guess i'll add that to my signature as well!! ;D :-[

[stryd_one]

Hahahah :)

Nah don't sweat, keep it fun bro... you'll remember it :)

[snebenan]

Ok some modest progress later.

My second Sid module is done and voltages checked ok (5,29V)

I also soldered up my DINX4 and hooked it up to the core.

But now I may have a problem.

I quickly solders up a encoder and two buttons and connected them to the DINX4.

Now, I'm using the DINX4 from Smash and this one have all output pins in 2x5 groups.

Fair enough I looked at the mbsid_v2_din_default and booted up the monster, but no matter how I turned and pushed my controllers notheing happended to the LCD.

Ok, Some searching later I learned to look into my asm files and see how the DIN Shit register pins are assigned.

And as far as I can understand it looks correct. But there could also be a problem with my LCD freezing or something so i won't see anything no matter what.

Any way, this is how I connected my encoder and buttons.

On J3

        D0 - Enconder A

        D1 - Enconder B

        D2 - Select button

        D3 - Menu button

        Vs - Encoder C, Select button, Menu button

And in the asm

I have this

	;;		Function name		SR#	Pin#
	DIN_ENTRY	CS_MENU_BUTTON_Dec,	 1,	 0	; only valid if rotary encoder not assigned to these pins
	DIN_ENTRY	CS_MENU_BUTTON_Inc,	 1,	 1	; (see mios_tables.inc) and CS_MENU_USE_INCDEC_BUTTONS == 1
	DIN_ENTRY	CS_MENU_BUTTON_Exec,	 1,	 2
	DIN_ENTRY	CS_MENU_BUTTON_Sel1,	 1,	 7
	DIN_ENTRY	CS_MENU_BUTTON_Sel2,	 1,	 6
	DIN_ENTRY	CS_MENU_BUTTON_Sel3,	 1,	 5
	DIN_ENTRY	CS_MENU_BUTTON_Sel4,	 1,	 4
	DIN_ENTRY	CS_MENU_BUTTON_Sel5,	 1,	 3

       

I also trid to switch my A/B on the encoder just in case. ( But mixing these up will only make it scroll in the oposite direction right? )

Anyway, I'm puzzeled and open for suggestions.  ???

My next step will be to see if I can make shure that my LCD is working as it should.

After that I can really know if my knobs are working or not.

Ok, time to go to bed....  :-\

//Peter

[Pascal]

You can check the "freezing" prob. with MIDI-OX or MIOS-Studio. Switch on the Virtual Keyboard and change the Bank or Programchange. The Display must say, that you have noch Bankstick installed or so . . .

With your encoder and Switches, have you checked you cable from DIN to Core!?

[snebenan]

Thanks for the tips Pascal,

I will try them after the weekend.

//Peter