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Orders for Sys-Check II (PCB w/ parts only) accepted


tf_hh

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I'm still extremely satisfied by this 'gadget' … I actually was able to repair one of my Atari's. It had one bad ram, which was actually not giving issues is another atari, but on the failing atari, the Syscheck reported bad ram. I replaced it, and the atari is running again.

 

Yes, this SysCheck thing pays itself back :D

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  • 2 weeks later...

I recommend the syscheck cart to all all soldering iron junkies ;-)

 

i have had few problamitc pcbs, now 2 of them works :-) and one - nevertheless cart shows up after power on - still doesn`t

 

i can assume that cpu/ram/rom/ antic/gtia/mmu/clock works ok, so i can dig out in diskrete components.

 

still black screen - geee....how much i love this.,

 

ps. most funny - atari with cart with all dip switchess off - starts ;-)

ps2 . PROBLEM SOLVED

 

syscheck cart has the fantastic option to replace internal rom and / or ram.

 

that helped. guilty was precise socket !!!! A8 line between Freddy and CPU.

 

 

 

JURGEN, You ROCK MAN ! but the question rises :

 

Please, detach freddy PIN 16 from PCB and run TEST - syscheck will confirm memeory is OK, what cannot be true !

Edited by lotharek
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Hi,

 

JURGEN, You ROCK MAN ! but the question rises :

 

Please, detach freddy PIN 16 from PCB and run TEST - syscheck will confirm memeory is OK, what cannot be true !

 

Thanks for feedback to all!

 

Lotharek, without having a look on real hardware now, I think this might be a conceptional thing. When I remember right, the addresslines on the XE mainboards are routed from cartridge/ECI, CPU to the bottom (ROMs) and then left to the Freddy. So the Freddy is the other "end" point. If not, then you couldn´t have a picture, because LS138 also is not connected to A8 and hardware I/O can´t be accessed right.

 

So when only Freddy is "cut" from A8, then RAM access might be correct - but with "holes" every 256 bytes. Is the RAM faulty in this computer? Maybe not really.

 

But this behavior forwards me to a better idea for RAM-testing... after writing ones and zeros to RAM to test, I will add writing a page number and re-test it when complete memory is tested. If the page numbers aren´t equal, there´s any kind of addressing failure, which might cause by an missing trace on the PCB or broken pin like on your socket.

 

Next firmware version is coming asap :-)

 

Best regards, Juergen

Edited by tf_hh
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I knew from the start this would be one of the best projects for a8. I am actually surprised it wasn't invented earlier in Atari history.

 

Have been using this amazing device for some time now, and I am extremely satisfied.

 

The only thing I would really appreciate one day, was the add of a cart port on this thing. Now I have to use my XE->PBI adapter, to hookup the SysCheck II to the XE, and having a free cart port left. I am using this thing in combination with MyIDE, which makes that very cool.

 

Perhaps more people are interested in one with that, and perhaps they are willing to pay a higher price ( I know I am willing to do that ).

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Hi,

 

This is going to be a really stupid questions... But... Which side do I solder the components to?

 

Didn´t you get my email with the link to the building instructions? Sometimes U.S. mail services classifies my GMX.DE email address as spam :(

 

In the attachment you will find the building instructions.

 

Best regards, Juergen

 

Building instructions Sys-Check II English.pdf

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This is going to be a really stupid questions... But... Which side do I solder the components to?

the solder side is the one 'WITHOUT' the white component drawings. You put the components where the drawings are. The PBI

connector is installed on the solder side, ie. on the opposite side and solder on the picture side.

Edited by russg
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Hi,

 

 

Didn´t you get my email with the link to the building instructions? Sometimes U.S. mail services classifies my GMX.DE email address as spam :(

 

In the attachment you will find the building instructions.

 

Best regards, Juergen

 

attachicon.gifBuilding instructions Sys-Check II English.pdf

 

 

No worries, that PDF is exactly what I needed. The only email I have with build instructions links to http://www.van-radecke.de/SysCheck/Building, which doesn't exist.

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@ ProWizard

 

Would you share a photo of the "XE-->PBI Syscheck II and the XE Please

 

Thanks

 

Ray W_______

 

Sure!

 

Here you go! The XE -> PBI adaptor belongs to the Turbo Freezer 2011, but also works without freezer of course...

 

 

And on that PBI you could connect the SysCheck II.

 

 

This time you have a cart port available, which is excellent for MyIDE 2 (or other applications)

Only thing I dislike is that the SysCheck II is not vertically mounted... but hey... with a cart connected that is not really an issue. With Turbo Freezer 2011, Cartridge and SysCheck II it even looks pretty smart.

 

 

 

 

 

Greetz

M.

Edited by ProWizard
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Sadly I don't have a Turbo Freezer, but the adapter from the IDEa HDD works well too:

 

post-21964-0-44445300-1425418157_thumb.jpg

 

Because my 1200XL has a non-standard (Centronics, in fact) PBI connector, I soldered a fifty way pin header to the Sys-Check for ribbon-cable connection to XL machines. Note the IDEa adapter also has a fifty pin header, but I moved that to the underside of the board to correct the funky (reversed) pin assignments.

 

Here's the probably not too common sight of Sys-Check running on a 1200XL:

 

post-21964-0-84679900-1425419542_thumb.jpg

 

And the resulting RAM test failure!

 

post-21964-0-00295400-1425419554_thumb.jpg

 

Nothing marked in red, however. The machine has Ultimate 1MB... I have no idea what bearing that might have.

Edited by flashjazzcat
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Not really: I wouldn't like to kludge around the lack of RAM for the partition table, etc, and there are currently no incentives to do so (nor time, indeed). It's nice to be able to use all this stuff together, though.

 

I really like the TF adapter; I'll have to try and avail myself of Turbo-Freezer should any more be produced. Thanks for posting the photos. :)

 

Now to figure out how to adapt UFlash to handle Sys-Check. I wish I understood GAL code. :o

Edited by flashjazzcat
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The XE-PBI adaptor is nice indeed. They even support a real Atari XL cartridge 'thing' that is in the original XL too. You can put that on the XE->PBI adapter so you can also mount XL style carts with a protection 'door' (man I wished I knew what all these parts are called in English).

 

You know... that plastic thing that you can remove from an 600XL/800XL pcb that is fitted around the Cartridge connector on the PCB. That thing that will guide a cartridge so the protection thing on the cart will slide in....

 

Well THAT part... can be mounted on the XE-> PBI connector. Yes... it's awesome.

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