Andromeda Stardust Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 So these all tested fine before you shipped them? It appears some Lynx II owners were having issues as well so it may not be related to clearance issues in the cart port. I wish I could do more to help... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+karri Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 Yep. They all started up nicely. I played to get a score. Shut down the Lynx and started it to verify that the score was there. I am stll pondering of what would be the best way to create the carts. One way would be to rely on some OEM partner that has proper equipment for reliable soldering. My method is a bit uncontrolled. No photographs with xenon lamps for spotting bad solders and cheap temperature controllers. This was my first test with very tiny chips. The goal should be a 97% yield. Obviously I am far from it right now. So I will wait fro the non-working carts to come back so that I can have a look what went wrong. After that I will change my processes accordingly. To tell you the truth this is what happens with most products. You have a bug or two on the first proto that gets fixed later. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonma Posted January 25, 2017 Author Share Posted January 25, 2017 Okay I tried the .LSD from your post but still not seeing enough colors... Flappy oops.JPG EDIT: Sorry for the bump. If I knew how to make my own .LSD I'd have fixed up a batch already... Happy birthday I try a new file for lsd preview Yep. They all started up nicely. I played to get a score. Shut down the Lynx and started it to verify that the score was there. I am stll pondering of what would be the best way to create the carts. One way would be to rely on some OEM partner that has proper equipment for reliable soldering. My method is a bit uncontrolled. No photographs with xenon lamps for spotting bad solders and cheap temperature controllers. This was my first test with very tiny chips. The goal should be a 97% yield. Obviously I am far from it right now. So I will wait fro the non-working carts to come back so that I can have a look what went wrong. After that I will change my processes accordingly. To tell you the truth this is what happens with most products. You have a bug or two on the first proto that gets fixed later. I'll try again the cart today to testing it again. flappy2.zip 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonma Posted January 25, 2017 Author Share Posted January 25, 2017 @Tonma, are you planning a more formal release? Or is there a way to tip you for your work on this? Sorry but not. It's my "hello world" game. It was a simple gameplay to start something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzoff2000 Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 Ouch. Obviously the first batch suffered of something that I do not know yet. I have two carts on their way back for examination. I have since changed the flux and solder in case it was material related. In any case I will drop by the post office in about an hour to post some more Flappy Carts. I send a new cart to TrekMD and Kosmic Stardust as well. I hope to get this issue fixed before using these chips for a real release. If someone else has similar problems please tell me about it. Don't be shy. Mine still hasn't arrived (to Australia) yet, but keen to try her out. Fingers crossed she'll fire up no probs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbo Laser Lynx Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 I got mine yesterday, thanks so much! I really love the yellow cart, it looks great! Big thanks to Karri and tonma for this fun project. The game itself plays nicely, looks great and the music is funny. I got 'insert game' at first on my Lynx II, also when trying to align the cart more to the sides, but when I pushed cart in really gently it started working. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+karri Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 (edited) Great. I will be making some experiments with the optimum cart width and thickness. Right now the width is 57mm and the thickness should be 2.6mm. Perhaps the best size would be a tight fit to the connector. Leaving 0.1mm free space sideways and let the connector pads press on the cart close to the top of the connector strips. In that way the connection would be made even if the cart is only partially inserted. My next cart design will then have the fixes learned by this test run. If everything goes well I should have the boards in my hands by the end of February. The design was sent in before Chinese New Year. Perhaps I should spill the beans... Or perhaps not... Edited January 25, 2017 by karri 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SainT Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 (edited) One thing I found interesting is the use of the shim which I have on the Lynx cart, I found having a square edge on the left and right sides seemed to be causing problems in some Lynx's with the horizontal alignment of the cart and stopping the cart working in some machines. So I ended up beveling all sides of the shim section which come in contact with the Lynx (the front was anyway) to help the cart locate more easily, and I've not had an issue with this since (fingers crossed). The dimensions of the Lynx cart are 57.15 (for the one I measured, but this is actually the design size, so I'm impressed with the accuracy) and 2.5-2.6 thick. As its a 3d printed shim, the thickness varies a bit with surface roughness. Apart from the issues I had with the shim and beveling, they seem to be pretty reliable in terms of working on first insertion, at least from my experience! I hope others have found the same... Edited October 25, 2019 by SainT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+karri Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 Thanks for the comment SainT. I know more when I get the failing carts back. There seems to be one common denominator. The carts that have failed have been through JFK in the US. In order to save weight (20g max for €1.30) the carts are not padded in the envelope. If the carts get bent during delivery it could snap off the legs from the pcb. Perhaps I should go further and use 50g. The price goes up by €1.50 for postage and €0.60 for the box. Not exactly a show stopper either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+karri Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 I just received a failing cart from France. The solder had given up on one edge of the chip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdoi Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 thanks Karri I received your cart and it works now glad to hear that you find the issue of my failling cart Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 Thanks for the comment SainT. I know more when I get the failing carts back. There seems to be one common denominator. The carts that have failed have been through JFK in the US. In order to save weight (20g max for €1.30) the carts are not padded in the envelope. If the carts get bent during delivery it could snap off the legs from the pcb. Perhaps I should go further and use 50g. The price goes up by €1.50 for postage and €0.60 for the box. Not exactly a show stopper either. Do you think Xray scanners at customs are "nuking" the flash chip? It shouldn't at the low dosage the scanners use (or take an extremely long time to damage data at low power levels), but you never know. Sorry also about the solder woes. RoHS compliant does not have nearly the structural integrity of traditional leaded solder. It was also responsible for the Xbox 360 RROD failures. I placed my Lynx card in an envelope and am mailing it back to you. It should go out tomorrow. I placed the card in a sheet of folded printer page secured with a staple, and stuck it in an envelope and affixed four stamps. No customs form to fill out, yay! I don't have an accurate postal scale but I think as long as it's under one ounce, there shouldn't be any issues sending it as lettered mail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrekMD Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 Thanks for sending the replacement cart, Karri! Could you PM your address to me so I can return the defective cart? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdoi Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 and congratulations Tonma and Karri, this little game is very pleasant and addictive! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonma Posted January 26, 2017 Author Share Posted January 26, 2017 My card always works on my Lynx I And save game too, as you can see my new highscore. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvirtuale Posted January 28, 2017 Share Posted January 28, 2017 This game makes me crazy.After 6 hours of play continued ... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitari Posted January 28, 2017 Share Posted January 28, 2017 Cart arrived Karri but I cannot get it working - just the Insert Screen. I've tried lots of different positions... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+LS650 Posted January 28, 2017 Share Posted January 28, 2017 My replacements arrived. Both work great! I will get the faulty one in the mail today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+karri Posted January 28, 2017 Share Posted January 28, 2017 I already examined two faild carts and it looks as both have been subjected to some bending. I will send a few carts in padded envelopes on Monday to see if the success rate gets better. The "perfect soldering technique" is still something I am looking for. I might need to create a proper RoHS curve for pre-heating the chip and let it have a natural cooldown of 10 minutes to minimize the risk for cracks in the solder caused by heat expansion differences of the chip and the pcb. This is a fascinating subject that I have decided to master. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BadPricey Posted January 28, 2017 Share Posted January 28, 2017 I already examined two faild carts and it looks as both have been subjected to some bending. I will send a few carts in padded envelopes on Monday to see if the success rate gets better. The "perfect soldering technique" is still something I am looking for. I might need to create a proper RoHS curve for pre-heating the chip and let it have a natural cooldown of 10 minutes to minimize the risk for cracks in the solder caused by heat expansion differences of the chip and the pcb. This is a fascinating subject that I have decided to master. Padded envelopes will make a world of difference. I shipped Lynx games with cardboard to protect them and a padded envelope when selling them on eBay. I always took pics of it working prior to shipping and sent images of them to the buyer. Never had any returned. My flappy bird worked ok but envelope looked like it had been through the mill. Rgds BadPricey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+LS650 Posted January 28, 2017 Share Posted January 28, 2017 Yes, I think some of international mail is handled by Neanderthals. My faulty cart is now in a padded envelope, returning to Finland by air. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+karri Posted January 29, 2017 Share Posted January 29, 2017 I did some standard tests and to my big surprise the content of the flash chip changed by itself over time. I will still change all the bad carts I find in the field to working ones. But obviously this choice of chip was not a good one. Anyway the carts are no longer available. Except for people with carts turned bad. They will be replaced. The slim cart was a nice experiment though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BadPricey Posted January 29, 2017 Share Posted January 29, 2017 My son and I played Flappy Bird tonight. He had one question, Can you unlock skins. What is it with kids and unlocking nonsense that has no effect on the game! ? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 I did some standard tests and to my big surprise the content of the flash chip changed by itself over time. I will still change all the bad carts I find in the field to working ones. But obviously this choice of chip was not a good one. Anyway the carts are no longer available. Except for people with carts turned bad. They will be replaced. The slim cart was a nice experiment though. So, the flash ROM itself is self corrupting, and not a solder issue? And I would assume such corruption results in the signing failure and resulting "INSERT GAME" message. Which means if it isn't a solder mask issue, then the replacements you sent out or existing working carts may cease to function? Could Xray scanners at customs be causing bit rot of the flash? But game is so fun and who doesn't want a cute canary yellow homebrew cart for their Lynx? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jungsi Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 Thanks to Tonma for the game und Karri for the Cartridge! Arrived in Germany. It's great working on my Lynx 2 with McWill Display - also highscore is saving. :-) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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