TF536 doesn't _quite_ boot

68030 + SDRAM + IDE

Moderators: terriblefire, Terriblefire Moderator

Aeberbach
Posts: 149
Joined: Mon Dec 16, 2019 10:24 pm

Re: TF536 doesn't _quite_ boot

Post by Aeberbach »

Looks like I am confirmed as some kind of idiot. RAM came off with a heat gun, did not appear damaged, everything looks perfect but now no boot, nothing from serial. I guess the cheapest thing to try is buy more RAM. On the upside, a brief check with a slower 68030 shows no change so it is perhaps not the 68030 that is dead.
alenppc
Moderator Team
Moderator Team
Posts: 906
Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2018 12:59 pm

Re: TF536 doesn't _quite_ boot

Post by alenppc »

Aeberbach wrote: Mon Sep 21, 2020 12:52 pm Looks like I am confirmed as some kind of idiot. RAM came off with a heat gun, did not appear damaged, everything looks perfect but now no boot, nothing from serial. I guess the cheapest thing to try is buy more RAM. On the upside, a brief check with a slower 68030 shows no change so it is perhaps not the 68030 that is dead.
Mounting the ram backwards is likely to kill the RAM chips only.

However, the card will boot with no ram, if yours is not booting, there is another fault somewhere.
User avatar
GadgetUK164
Posts: 430
Joined: Fri Jan 04, 2019 2:26 pm

Re: TF536 doesn't _quite_ boot

Post by GadgetUK164 »

Which version of firmware are you using too? If you remove the RAM it should boot without it.
My YouTube Channel - www.youtube.com/GadgetUK164
matt020
Posts: 292
Joined: Sun Sep 29, 2019 9:17 am
Location: West Australia

Re: TF536 doesn't _quite_ boot

Post by matt020 »

Did you try booting it without RAM chips?
bnice7
Posts: 18
Joined: Mon Jul 27, 2020 8:31 pm

Re: TF536 doesn't _quite_ boot

Post by bnice7 »

Aeberbach wrote: Mon Sep 21, 2020 12:52 pm Looks like I am confirmed as some kind of idiot. RAM came off with a heat gun, did not appear damaged, everything looks perfect but now no boot, nothing from serial. I guess the cheapest thing to try is buy more RAM. On the upside, a brief check with a slower 68030 shows no change so it is perhaps not the 68030 that is dead.
Don't be so hard on yourself, everyone makes mistakes. I have built 3 so far and have 5 more PCBs on the way. One out of the 3 that I made (the one I kept for myself of course) was initially working, but now I can't get it to boot either. I've reflowed it so many times trying to get it going again that I'm convinced I either damaged/overheated the Cpld or messed up the PCB somewhere.

Anyway, it might be worth cleaning up the board really well, get all that flux off and post some more pictures here. It looks like some areas on the PCB were scraped, but it's hard to tell if it's not just leftover flux.
User avatar
rubber_jonnie
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 10462
Joined: Thu Aug 17, 2017 7:40 pm
Location: Essex
Contact:

Re: TF536 doesn't _quite_ boot

Post by rubber_jonnie »

Don't be too hard on yourself, I built a Greaseweazle last week and got one of the few chips it has 180 degrees out, killed the chip. It happens, it's what you do next that's important :)
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
Danoo
Posts: 249
Joined: Wed Jan 29, 2020 1:25 pm
Location: Queensland, Australia

Re: TF536 doesn't _quite_ boot

Post by Danoo »

Aeberbach wrote: Mon Sep 21, 2020 12:52 pm Looks like I am confirmed as some kind of idiot. RAM came off with a heat gun, did not appear damaged, everything looks perfect but now no boot, nothing from serial. I guess the cheapest thing to try is buy more RAM. On the upside, a brief check with a slower 68030 shows no change so it is perhaps not the 68030 that is dead.
We have all done it at some stage, put something in back to front. Just a few months ago I put a molex plug upside down into a old IDE hard-drive. I thought it was a bit stiff when I pushed the plug home, did not have my glasses handy at the time to check (nah it will not fit in upside-down, yes they will if you push them hard enough :oops: ). Power it up, and bang!! terrible fire (smoke), 12 volts into the 5 volt line :shock:. Luckly it only blew a cheap diode, and was easily repaired. That is after 40 years of I should know better electronic/computer repair :roll:
Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated - Confucius
User avatar
DoG
Posts: 1125
Joined: Sat Apr 07, 2018 12:26 pm

Re: TF536 doesn't _quite_ boot

Post by DoG »

Danoo wrote: Mon Sep 21, 2020 2:11 pm We have all done it at some stage, put something in back to front. Just a few months ago I put a molex plug upside down into a old IDE hard-drive. I thought it was a bit stiff when I pushed the plug home, did not have my glasses handy at the time to check (nah it will not fit in upside-down, yes they will if you push them hard enough :oops: ). Power it up, and bang!! terrible fire (smoke), 12 volts into the 5 volt line :shock:. Luckly it only blew a cheap diode, and was easily repaired. That is after 40 years of I should know better electronic/computer repair :roll:
Did the same on a floppy drive. Step motor was toast. 12V on 5V line is not great.
Aeberbach
Posts: 149
Joined: Mon Dec 16, 2019 10:24 pm

Re: TF536 doesn't _quite_ boot

Post by Aeberbach »

I remember doing that in a SNMP modem manager system under development - a 540MB 2.5" hard drive, shockingly expensive thing back then. We only had one in the company. When connected in reverse a piece of one of the controller chips actually flew off the PCB off and smoke came out.

Anyway, after removing incorrectly installed RAM from both my TF536 boards (and binning it) and cleaning them up a bit I think I just need to order new RAM. Both Xilinx devices respond to xc3sprog on the pi and can be programmed so I am hopeful this mistake only cost me $20 or so. Still there is the possibility of CPLD I/Os being toast but it won't cost me a huge amount to find out. One board did _not_ boot with the RAM removed - the other I didn't try as I have just cleared a big mess of wires off the desk and I need to leave it all alone until the RAM arrives. Thanks all for looking and for spotting the mistake :oops:
Aeberbach
Posts: 149
Joined: Mon Dec 16, 2019 10:24 pm

Re: TF536 doesn't _quite_ boot

Post by Aeberbach »

I am still at a dead end. I have two TF536 cards that will not boot. When the TF536 is removed from the A600, DiagROM boots normally to a connected monitor and gives serial output on my terminal. Both cards look fine when inspected with a microscope. One has RAM attached - the right way round this time - and the other doesn't. Both should show some output on serial through DiagROM, errors if there is no RAM (as in the video from the first post) or just working with the RAM installed.

I have a Mac SE/30 to test my 68030s with, and they are fine.

There is no serial or other sign of life when either card is installed.

That leaves:
- the Xilinx part. How likely is it that the CPLD is dead, preventing boot? It is recognised for programming by the raspberry pi but that does not mean installing the RAM backwards did not kill the ports that RAM was attached to. Replacing one of these on a hunch is difficult, and costs $40.
- Lemaru's riser for A600. Not by design because it works for him and others but could the one I have be damaged? I have inspected it carefully and there appears to be nothing wrong, it's all passive.

Must be the Xilinx?
Post Reply

Return to “TF536”