Can't solder? External U1MB

[Mclaneinc]

Indeed they are, careful with the magic erasers, they can be quite abrasive..Ordinary erasers / rubbers (uk name) are good..

 

Normally just a reseat is enough...

[+ZuluGula]

8 hours ago, Dmitry said:

I destroyed an 800XL attempting an antonia install, heck that machine was socketed.   I destroyed an XE GS trying to replace a bad antic chip.

Where are you located? I would be interested in purchasing your damaged computers.

[Mr Robot]

I would be interesting purchasing your desoldering equipment if you have no need of it any more 

[+mytek]

10 hours ago, MrFSL said:

Forgive my reply. I don't have a virus related excuse. I just didn't appreciate having myself, or others, or Candle's work criticized by someone acting so superior.

You're absolutely right that I was out of line and obviously should have not said anything no matter how I felt because for one,  I had no stake in what was being discussed. But to be clear it was never intended as a criticism of Candle's work. Was I acting superior? Perhaps it can be interpretated as such, and I'll own that because it sure came across that way.

 

Now to leave on hopefully a more productive note... since this is a new PBI device being contemplated, has any consideration been made to combine the Freezer and SysCheck functions as part of it? 

 

[Irgendwer]

6 hours ago, candle said:

my main concern is USB connector for powering it for those of you who can't or won't solder that single wire

So for 600XLs or 800XLs which have at least one pin connected to 5V in a 600XL compatible way, you don't need the USB power?

[candle]

no you don't

 

[MrFSL]

53 minutes ago, mytek said:

Now to leave on hopefully a more productive note... since this is a new PBI device being contemplated, has any consideration been made to combine the Freezer and SysCheck functions as part of it?

Well - Sys-check brings a memory upgrade and OS switching which sounds like it would be there. The specific Sys-check rom and circuitry that checks the OS/BASIC/RAM chips probably won't be included.

 

As far as Turbo Freezer - Candle answered that I think:

 

In the same post he mentions not connecting to the SIO port because he did not see it as necessary. I would only mention that this would eliminate the need for the USB power interface at the least and possibly add the additional features we see in things like the AVG cart.

 

[+kheller2]

I think a lot of people are going to buy this external U1MB... instantly upgrade your 600XL/800XL (and I'm assuming the 130XE with an adapter board). 

 

All this goes to show is that the 1090 or any bus box expansion system would have been very nice.  I used to drool over the Ti 99/4 PEB.  Imagine a bus device that allowed you to drop in the U1MB, Syscheck, Serial boards, and so on.   Sadly, nothing adhered to the PBI device addressing standards, and Atari later dropped the PBI code in their own ROM but.. it would have been so nice.

[+mytek]

1 minute ago, MrFSL said:

Well - Sys-check brings a memory upgrade and OS switching which sounds like it would be there. The specific Sys-check rom and circuitry that checks the OS/BASIC/RAM chips probably won't be included.

 

As far as Turbo Freezer - Candle answered that I think

Yes it would be redundant to have the OS switching and extended RAM of the Sys-check, but what I was really referring to was the diagnostic capabilities it has. As of this day the main uses for the PBI seem to be: Mass storage interface (IDE, CF, SD), extended RAM, Sys-check, Freezer, Ethernet (wireless or otherwise, aka Fujinet). I know its asking a lot, but combining all of this into one board would be the ultimate (pun intended) PBI device. A modern Black Box so to speak (no need for the serial or parallel ports if Ethernet is included).

[candle]

there is handfull of software that relies on transmission conducted by SIO port - most of this software could be just corrected by the author, or left for other devices to cope with, remaining one - weill i know one - it's a demo that uses 2 channels of pokey to play a music while its loading data from disk drive

for PBI device this is non issue, loading speeds are 1.7mbytes/s for any sd to memory transfers

implementing UART that would handle SIO calls, and CPU that would take care of logic nessesary there is beyond hardware capabilities of chip used here - it's simple CPLD device, not FPGA, although quite modern one

SIO cable is expensive to make, as this is manual labour, and my point is to have this as much automated in assembly process as possible, because this increases production throughput and availibity

I don't know how many AVG carts are up there - i suspect a lot, since its quite a while since it was released, still, you can't compare product that is going to be mass-produced with one that is done in small batches when TMP has the time for it

this is the same reason i don't do that myself anymore - it was painfully slow, and was infecting my health

 

 

as i said before - syscheck's features and freezer ones are already covered by this design - as for ethernet - i can't do everything myself, and since this is a pass-through device, there is no reason that anyone else couldn't make that part

esp32 is good way out, just add a parallel interface so it wouldn't be painfully slow, and you're done

software wise it doesn't matter if fujinet was written up to the SIO specs, and is not relaying on psyhical interfaces

 

Edited January 20, 2021 by candle
add information

[MrFSL]

Completely understood. I am all for driving the production price down.

[BillC]

5 hours ago, Mclaneinc said:

careful with the magic erasers,

If you are referring to the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser that's a good warning, the following is from an internet search.

I use a cotton swab with isopropyl alcohol.

Quote

Mr. Clean eraser is made of melamine foam which is microporous material that acts like a fine sandpaper.

Edited January 20, 2021 by BillC

[MrFSL]

54 minutes ago, BillC said:

that acts like a fine sandpaper.

LOL... when I bought an old Atari... I used fine sandpaper when erasers (UK rubbers) didn't do the job.

[+DrVenkman]

15 minutes ago, MrFSL said:

LOL... when I bought an old Atari... I used fine sandpaper when erasers (UK rubbers) didn't do the job.

Jeez, please don’t do that. The gold on those contacts is microns thin. If 90% isopropyl won’t clean it, use Deoxit. If THAT won’t do it, you probably have other issues. 

[candle]

gold? gold is on another end of the rainbow

almost all connectors I saw was tin plated

I don't think any of 800xl (xl, xlf, secam rose) I have has gold plating

the only one is 600xl i got from Bob Woolley (Thanks!)

and gold doestnt mix that good with tin - they are incompatible chemically, and will form oxidation layer in between

 

regardless of this, i still belive gold will be a better option to go for when it comes to edge connector

and, if it has any gold, it will be so called hard gold, as they used to do that exclusively for edge connectors

novadays it's a problem to find someone willing to do hard gold plating

 

[flashjazzcat]

I have a few 800XL boards here with gold plated PBI contacts, but they're in the minority.

 

[Mazzspeed]

I would be very hesitant to use any eraser beyond the standard non abrasive rubber type on edge connectors. However, if the oxidization is bad enough, what have you got to loose?

 

You can always build it up with solder (again, not ideal, but it works).

[Mclaneinc]

 Yes the reason I brought up magic erasers is that many people use them to descuff cases and they do that by being very abrasive and removing any patterning, on super thin edge connectors its pretty dangerous to thin them out even more.

 

ISO alcohol 90% percent is more than good enough, rubbers are fine but magic erasers are fine for what they do but leave connectors alone...

[candle]

there are some chemicals for tinning DIY boards, and i'm pretty sure i saw some solutions for re-aplying gold plating to damaged pads on youtube

if all else fails, remaking pcb connector by some to-depth milling and glueing some top and bottom side contacs on thin board made up to today's standards is also an option - all depends on how determined you are

and if this is too much, i'm pretty sure i saw 800xl motherboard recreation somewhere here

 

[moonlight_mile]

I was planning on ordering a u1m but if this is in the works I am gonna wait. Count me in. This looks great. I can solder but would always attempt a solderless version on boards of this age.

I don’t think it was mentioned but is it possible to get an 80 column option on a future revision?

[candle]

80 column option is useless without software supporting it

we do have drivers for XEP and VBXE, and you really should focus on one of these devices

 

[Mclaneinc]

I think there's a few vids on Youtube re building an edge connector back up, sure I've seen at least two...

[xxl]

Will this version be better tested? Will the top half of the PIA address space work in this release, so programs like SynFile+ (or game like Gravity Worms) will also work?
 

[candle]

i'm positive, that all your software, that doesn't follow official hardware specification will end its doings in guru meditation screen

 

[+orpheuswaking]

8 minutes ago, xxl said:

Will this version be better tested? Will the top half of the PIA address space work in this release, so programs like SynFile+ (or game like Gravity Worms) will also work?
 

It's about time you switched to a better file manager program than SynFile, and cut your hair while you are at it... You already know Gravity Worms won't work because you MADE it that way.