SIO2SD Hell!

[DocRotCod]

replace the sio cord .... or remake the sio cord... then see if it's better. If it is then reflash them while it's behaving....

I have swapped the cables and used a meter to check the cables. Don't think that is where the issue is.

[DocRotCod]

I also avoid using maxflash 8 mb carts.... I stick with the 1mb versions.... the banking gets in the way of add-ons including the rtime8 carts

I tried the sio2sd devices without anything connected including cartridges and that did not make a difference.

[DocRotCod]

So I realized that most of the computers I was trying these devices on was modded in one way or another. So I dug out a 130XE that had issues and replaced the pokey. Now I have a stock XE to test with. First thing I noticed is I always had one of these devices that had a dim display. On this unit it is nice and bright - definitely a voltage/amp issue.

 

I will continue testing with this board and see if I can narrow it down.

[_The Doctor__]

yep it is touchy about power and and timing... the cord may look fine but under load and under a scope you will see it, I can verify now that @flashjazzcat is correct in that a bad ground or 5v applied before ground scambles these suckers even on version 2

 

1.make sure to have a strong power supply...

2.make sure the sio cord has the 5 volt pin recessed so it contacts after the other pins... (plugging it in with the computer off also helps here)

3.make sure the sio2sd cord is solidly made and tightly grasps pins.. marginal cords mess the sio2sd up

4.make sure the fuse bits are set correctly

 

the failures above are correctable by almost everyone

except ...

a)not everyone can reflash their atmega someone may have to help with that

b)the slight timing issues with ntsc machines requires a firmware tweak... this manifests itself with loss of menu config via the computer freezing up requiring a power cycle and sometimes scambles the save data requiring a delete of the data to restore full function... it will save its config after you set up again and in the menu so no need to make back up..

Edited February 10, 2017 by _The Doctor__

[_The Doctor__]

the gucio.pl page is gone that has all the information on the devices... please take the time to grab it from the wayback and pigwa sites... the devices are nice but need some tiny changes to make them awesome.... the little things do become cumulative.

 

confirmation of the above posts

I had a bad connection at the dupont connector and bad connections at the sio connector on more than one of these failed pieces of hardware... not always detectable using a meter.. ever so slight dimming of the back light prompted me to put a scope on the verify all the suspicions.... scratchy or current limited power... then I tried flashjazzcat finding about 5v connect before ground and got the same result... then I tried a smaller power supply with a 320XE and same result.... then I tried Pal vs ntsc... If you wish to recreate the conditions you can triple blind verify what we have found.... biggest issues power and cords followed by fuse bits and finally firmware timing... if these are addressed the sio2sd is a rock solid device... anybody who sells or makes these really should make certain to include the best sio to dupont cord they can...

 

I sacrificed two atmega's to confim this all, condolences welcome and flowers/donations for replacements will be accepted

they gave their lives so that others may survive....

Edited February 10, 2017 by _The Doctor__