June 2002 - TechToolsList - listserv.classicarcade.com

Re: WTD: Dead or Alive Z80QT code...
by John Robertson 18 Jun '02

18 Jun '02

Approved: lost4words If some bright person wants to implement the QT changes, perhaps on a small sub-board, that would use the original Z80 pod, then more folks could use the Quick Test functions of the Z80-QT pod. I just opened mine up and it's all surface mount. Nice board - shielded etc. I can send pictures... If anyone wants to attempt this, the QT manual has the P.A.L. structure in the schematics section, and I'll store the ROM code on the FTP site later today in the new Z80-QTpod directory. John :-#)# At 12:50 PM 04/04/2002 -0800, John Robertson wrote: >The interface board IS the same as the Z80/Z80-AA, but the QT main board >is a bit different...there is a 6114 RAM, 2764 ROM, a PAL, and some >hardware...no PIA, the interfacing is all down with discrete components. >The clock speed of the CPU is 8Mhz by the way... > >So...I guess if we read the ROM someone will have to take a look at the >PAL to see if they can read it as well...I have a PAL reader (if not >secured)...it's a P16L8A. > >John :-#)# --=======74F83429=======-- --=======34863B6D=======-- --=======18B618D5=======--

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Fluke 9020A for auction (not mine!)
by John Robertson 17 Jun '02

17 Jun '02

Closing just after Monday June 17 - 12 noon Pacific Coast time: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1740025991 No accessories, and not sure if it would be a lot of use, but the 9020 does have the IEE-488(#?) as well as the RS-232 interface. Good for parts? John :-#)# How to subscribe or unsubscribe from the list: To do either you send email to "MajorDomo(a)flippers.com" and in the body you state either "Subscribe techtoolslist" or "Unsubscribe techtoolslist", note that the Subject is "" (Blank)...

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Fluke clock module.
by Philip Mayor 17 Jun '02

17 Jun '02

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RE: From All Bad Comes Some Good (was: Sad 9100 day for me)
by Chris Hardy 17 Jun '02

17 Jun '02

Hi all, I still have the floppies here, but I need to post them to Andy Welburn so he can check they are ok. (there was the possibilty of a little accident when I was duplicating the disks). I would be checking them myself except I found out the floppy drive in my 9100 is faulty. > We can also image the floppies, so they are at least email'able, > if not downloadable. IIRC, someone across the pond had a set > of original distribution media. Did anyone (over here) ever get a backup > of them? The only problem with this, is that the image would have to be suitable for writing back with a PC floppy drive. If I recall correctly, they are MFM format disks. (according to the disk duplicator box) I'll try and get these posted ASAP Chris ------- Virgin Interactive - Important Information ------- Please read the following notice relating to this e-mail message: http:\\vmail.vie.co.uk\exchange\disclaimer.htm ----------------------------------------------------------

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Sad 9100 day for me
by Corey Stup 17 Jun '02

17 Jun '02

My main 9100's HD died. Now I have 2 9100's with dead drives. Drive wouldn't spin up, seems stiction raised its ugly head. A quick rap with a tool got the drive spinning again, but alas, the system comes up with an "unable to chk drive: f7" error, and won't boot. Hopefully its just a slight filesystem error and some of the data may be retrievable later, as there were parts libraries and other utilities that I didn't have saved to floppy. <sniff, sniff>

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Re: Testing Galagas
by Kev 16 Jun '02

16 Jun '02

>I've been having some fun servicing a pile of Galaga boards and have found >a few commonalities that I thought I'd share: > >*The custom chips legs are corroding off - spray contact cleaner on them to >slow this down, something that leaves a fine silicon film might be best. I shove these chips into machine pin sockets & solder the legs into the socket. This does 2 things in my eyes. Strengthens the legs and eliminates the silver tarnish problem. JROK is working on replacements for some of these. I think he has a buffer chip available for sale now 08XX? >*White IC sockets are trash - replace them >*Ceramic SIP resistors are trash - replace all of them! >*Weird problems are sometimes traceable by momentarily shorting circuits to >ground on the video board that use resistor pull-ups, the control ICs do >not have strong pull-ups (otherwise they would not need the resistors) and >you can learn a lot of how the images are built this way. Interesting >watching lines appear, characters vanish, stars scroll sideways.... Is there some method to this madness? >*The horizontal delay timing is CRITICAL and if you are getting RAM errors >but the RAM is good, then check the 220pf cap on the delay circuit... > >That's all for today. But I did get in my Z80QT pod and boy that one is >FAST on the RAM tests! A couple of seconds to verify a 1k block instead of >a minute or two (short test). What a difference to troubleshooting time! > Sure rub it in! ;-) Thanks for the tips! Kev

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Testing Galagas
by John Robertson 16 Jun '02

16 Jun '02

I've been having some fun servicing a pile of Galaga boards and have found a few commonalities that I thought I'd share: *The custom chips legs are corroding off - spray contact cleaner on them to slow this down, something that leaves a fine silicon film might be best. *White IC sockets are trash - replace them *Ceramic SIP resistors are trash - replace all of them! *Weird problems are sometimes traceable by momentarily shorting circuits to ground on the video board that use resistor pull-ups, the control ICs do not have strong pull-ups (otherwise they would not need the resistors) and you can learn a lot of how the images are built this way. Interesting watching lines appear, characters vanish, stars scroll sideways.... *The horizontal delay timing is CRITICAL and if you are getting RAM errors but the RAM is good, then check the 220pf cap on the delay circuit... That's all for today. But I did get in my Z80QT pod and boy that one is FAST on the RAM tests! A couple of seconds to verify a 1k block instead of a minute or two (short test). What a difference to troubleshooting time! John :-#)#

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Cracking the 9010A ROM signature generator
by John Robertson 15 Jun '02

15 Jun '02

I give up, I am way too frustrated by this stupid signature crap so I am going to dive into my 9010 and see if I can figure out how it is doing it. I first have to figure out if it is in the pod or the base unit, when the signature is being generated I see lots of activity on the pod data buss, so I am assuming the process is handled inside the stupid base. I am going to also see if I can figure out mathematically the difference between the fluke signature and the regular checksum by reading a small bit of data and then doing a checksum on the same bit of data, then extrapolating it from there. I suspect that the unit is taking each data line and adding it up, then the next data line...and summing them all together or in series. Gah. digging into it tonight, perhaps I can report out later this evening what I fine. Any suggestions? I am NOT an assembly language person...I can read it a bit, I understand the process, but I have not programmed with the stuff more than a few lines. If someone wants to disassemble the ROM in the base unit, the images are on ftp://www.flippers.com/public and I found a nice Z80 disassemble called DZ80 http://www.inkland.demon.co.uk/dz80/index.htm heh, heh... John :-#)# To UNSUBSCRIBE from techtoolslist, send a message with "UNSUBSCRIBE" in the message body to: techtoolslist-request(a)flippers.com. Please direct other questions, comments, or problems to jrr(a)flippers.com.

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Re: Binaries
by Kev 09 Jun '02

09 Jun '02

Great! So it' will be a simple matter to toss in the freq counter program for other script programs. Thanks, Kev > >So far all I've found on the tapes are the Tape MERGE binary, the Unsigned >Add binary, and the Frequency Counter binary. All work - the frequency >counter is very fast at recognizing the freq, goes from 10Hz to 6mHz. Neat! > >I'm too tired...the BINARY programs are sent to the RS-232 by the command >AUX I/F - WRITE. The BINARY code is then dumped out the RS-232 port. The >RKSIC program was calling it "Receive Hex File from 9010A" > >So I WILL be able to save the Utilities (above) and store them on the FTP >site! Sunday... > >John :-#)# > >How to subscribe or unsubscribe from the list: > >To do either you send email to "MajorDomo(a)flippers.com" and in the body you >state either "Subscribe techtoolslist" or "Unsubscribe techtoolslist", note >that the Subject is "" (Blank)... >

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Binaries
by John Robertson 09 Jun '02

09 Jun '02

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