sjt

Thanks for the reply. I had built half of the TI factory test jig (the rs232 side). I will complete the PIO side of it and try the test again. It's sad that I don't even have a PIO printer anymore to try this with real hardware at this time. Thanks for explaining that CRU addresses are only even. I wondered about that as well on easy bug. Steve

That is an interesting take. I was testing the card since I didn't have anything to connect it to, and it and was just purchased. It seemed like a simple way to test it, to be sure it was working. I actually have built the hardware to connect tot he card to simulated the rs232 port, I just hadn't added the PIO part of it. I will and try the test again. I was hoping someone could help me get to the bottom by just loading and testing another rs232 card on another system. So far no one stepped up. Without the test fixture if it tested the same way i would have my answer. Steve

I built the test jig. To run with the diagnostic. I found the test never gets far enough to use it. It stops with a CRU arror at 1302. When I try and write to C1300,C1301 I can't change the values (using easy bug) I can change the value at 1302 however. There some other addresses i can't change in addition in the 1300---> 130e block. Trying to determine if there is an actual fault on the rs232 card or not, according to the test the answer is yes. If someone with a mini mem cart could load the TI mini mem menu diagnostic. I can upload the file if needed. Then in easy bug C 1300 (enter) change values

Those posts are from 4 or 5 years ago....

I have the same card, the information you have provided suggests strongly that there is nothing wrong with it. BTW it can be modified with 2- 256k srams which would be equal to adding another layer of chips it will add around 250 sectors. One common issue with these was when you press down on IC's that are piggy backed into the sockets to re-seat them, sometimes you can break the connection on pins between chips. The chips circled are the additions . BTW the dip sw sets the CRU address, only one should be on. Your card is also missing the upgrade that makes it invisible to the system. (note: switch on the upper right. Pm me if you want more info

Thanks...I will try one of the larger eproms. I'm looking forward to getting a bank switched board to play with. I ordered a few 2764's with some other things.

Thanks for confirming this. I put a few sockets on the board to play with it. Of course, the first thing I found was you can't close the case , well not unless you remove a piece of it to accommodate the eprom socket & chip height. At the moment I can't seem to find a 2764 around, can I use a larger eprom? will it work if the code is only 8k. Of course I would need to add vcc and address A12 or in TI cartridge A3 pin 24

I'm a bit confused about the TI Cartridge pinout. Looking at the docs I've seen showing the cartridge pinout, they don't seem to line up with a cartridge. Cartridge edge connector The Top of the boards are PINS 36 to 2 (left to right) The bottom the boards are PINS 1 to 35 (left to right) Looking at a cartridge like PARSEC that has a ROM on it. My assumption is pin 1 of the rom would be A7 followed by A6,A5,A4...A0 then D0,D1,D2, then Gnd. But those pins don't line up the the docs on the Cartridge edge connector. As a test I wanted to burn a 2764 with the diagnostic cartridge rom (assuming it was an 8k rom) and put it into one of these boards. But in testing the PARSEC and MUNCHMAN boards... it doesn't make sense. Can someone fill me in on what I;m missing here? Did TI use non standard roms? After I posted this , I looked at it again, It occurred to me..what if they flipped it around on both address and data lines Msb & Lsb It appears that is exactly what they did, now it makes sense.

Ok...we seem to have gotten away from testing the RS232 card using the Mini Mem utility supplied by TI to the user groups. Here is the answer as to what is needed to make that test work. It took a bit of hunting, but I found it. I will post a photo of it when it's built. I don't have a 16 pin idc connector around for the PIO portion. I may just construct it to plug directly into the serial port and add a ribbon to connect the pio port. See the attached Schematic. I didn't see a way to embed the photo here, I'm attaching it in hopes it will be viewable. There are just a few parts needed. I will post a list once I have it assembled and tested. I think there are 6 Leds, 1 resistor, 1 Transistor, and a resistor pack (that can be subbed by individual resistors) throw in some hookup wire, and few connectors to the whole thing. Steve

I Think I may have the answer here. My assumption is this test will fail on everyone's system attempting to test the TI card without a loop back cable mentioned but not described in one of the doc files uploaded here recently... Here is the paragraph: *RS232 INTERFACE TEST: THIS PROGRAM TESTS THE ROM AND BOTH THE SERIAL AND PARALLEL PORTS. THIS TEST REQUIRES A SPECIAL SERIAL TO PARALLEL CONNECTOR. IF AN ERROR IS DECTECTED, THE PROGRAM STOPS AND A DIAGNOSTIC ERROR MESSAGE IS DISPLAYED. {THE THREE PRECEDING PROGRAMS WERE WRITTEN IN A SONSTANT LOOP. THIS MEANS {THAT THE TESTING CONTINUES UNTIL AN ERROR IS DETECTED, THE UNIT IS TURNED {OFF, OR A QUIT IS PERFORMED. Note: The typos are theirs To verify this someone needs to load the program into minimem and try it on another system Meanwhile I need to find a description of how they wanted a cable to be wired for this test. Steve

Hi I just got a TI rs232. At this moment I don't even have a cable made up for it. I loaded the TI diagnostic into MiniMem. When selecting the RS232 test it shows a bit failure at 1302 I used easy bug, C1300 1 and the card doesn't turn on. It does turn on at C130E 1 Is this normal for the rs232 card ? Is there a better test? Steve

Yes, this is an upgrade worth doing! Ask if you have any questions. I can help with the eproms if needed. Steve