JGRAHAM2 Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 I’ve seen quite a few posts about incompatibilities of Rapidus and other complaints, but I’d like to see some constructive discussion on installation and use. I’ve just installed it in a 130XE with no modifications other than desoldering the CPU and installing a precision socket. I tried it first on my almost fully socketed board, but the double wipe socket on that board definitely was a problem. I then moved it to my spare board after installing the socket. That was much better and was even better when I used wire ties to hold the precision socket stack tightly together. See the picture on where I connected the 3 wires. This was on the first board before I moved it to the one with the precision sockets, but I did that one the same on the wire solder locations. I welcome comments, but I would really like to see this thread as a go to for Rapidus tips rather than venting. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 Sorry - the only pertinent advice pertaining to this upgrade I've ran across is to not use it. I'll see myself out. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JGRAHAM2 Posted January 22, 2022 Author Share Posted January 22, 2022 7 hours ago, Stephen said: Sorry - the only pertinent advice pertaining to this upgrade I've ran across is to not use it. I'll see myself out. Thanks @Stephen, time will tell as to whether I agree with you. One question, did you ever use it with no other mods? This is not advice as I’ve only just installed it. It’s just a question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclaneinc Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 Sadly there's a lot of negativity towards this item and from what I've read, the maker does not help the cause, again, this is from reading the forums.. Obviously, we hope you find it useful, fun and has a purpose but so many have been put off by the feedback and being a rather expensive item people hoped any issues would be resolved. I'd be keen to hear thoughts on the product and issues that arise (if any).. Hope it ticks all your boxes. Paul.. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beeblebrox Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 @JGRAHAM2 You might wanna check out FJCs video channel here which has several Rapidus related vids - might be helpful: https://www.youtube.com/c/flashjazzcat/search?query=rapidus Although bare in mind FJC himself has stopped supporting the upgrade because of it's generally widely accepted/ongoing known issues (there is a video amongst his which outlines this). Good luck. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JGRAHAM2 Posted January 22, 2022 Author Share Posted January 22, 2022 1 minute ago, Beeblebrox said: @JGRAHAM2 You might wanna check out FJCs video channel here which has several Rapidus related vids - might be helpful: https://www.youtube.com/c/flashjazzcat/search?query=rapidus Although bare in mind FJC himself has stopped supporting the upgrade because of it's generally widely accepted/ongoing known issues (there is a video amongst his which outlines this). Good luck. @Beeblebrox Thanks, I’ve seen his videos which cover the issues with U1MB, which is why I didn’t add this to one with that mod. (I highly respect his expertise and have learned so much from watching his mods and repairs. I like to watch videos, like his, that include the mistakes or failures as well as the successes. Adrian’s Digital Basement is another.) I am hoping development continues for this device. I have 8 130XEs right now, as well as a spare board, so I can keep this one to play with the Rapidus. The mod has no irreversible changes to the motherboard or case, so if I need to, I can remove it. (Other than the socket and I consider than an enhancement.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 This should be your first stop for Rapidus info and resources: http://drac030.krap.pl/en-acc-pliki.php 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JGRAHAM2 Posted January 22, 2022 Author Share Posted January 22, 2022 9 minutes ago, flashjazzcat said: This should be your first stop for Rapidus info and resources: http://drac030.krap.pl/en-acc-pliki.php @flashjazzcat Thanks, I’ve looked at this. I updated the firmware to the one posted by Lotharek. Looks like Draco has a newer MODULE.ROM. I’m not sure how to check the PBI0 as he recommends. Is it likely this one is different? It originally had the Sept 2016 version of the firmware I believe. It is now Nov 2016 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peri Noid Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 My Rapidus machine is more sophisticated - it includes U1MB, VBXE and Simple Stereo (PIA Covox is on its way). And it works well. I'm not experiencing anything unusual. Only from time to time but it's peripheral-related (like a cart that I connect starts to play tricks). 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 (edited) It's a touchy upgrade... It likes a better PIA, hct or f08 chip, a good 4050, and decent caps, anything that touches the reset section of the computer needs to be up to snuff. Sometimes the missing components down near freddie need to be populated for timing issues. Clean power with plenty of current is a must. Make sure it's got a good strong CPU... no made in mexico crap. If all the stars are aligned, you'll be set. Edited January 22, 2022 by _The Doctor__ 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JGRAHAM2 Posted January 22, 2022 Author Share Posted January 22, 2022 38 minutes ago, _The Doctor__ said: It's a touchy upgrade... It likes a better PIA, hct or f08 chip, a good 4050, and decent caps, anything that touches the reset section of the computer needs to be up to snuff. Sometimes the missing components down near freddie need to be populated for timing issues. Clean power with plenty of current is a must. Make sure it's got a good strong CPU... no made in mexico crap. If all the stars are aligned, you'll be set. Thanks, once in a while it doesn’t boot after the progress bar reaches 100%. A reset usually works for that. I’ll look at the other things you mentioned, but the CPU is the NCR version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 38 minutes ago, _The Doctor__ said: If all the stars are aligned, you'll be set. The astronomical aspect is important to consider, since none of the other measures listed will necessarily make a bit of difference if the machine is blighted by the known U1MB/Rapidus compatibility issues. If @Peri Noid has such a machine and it does not suffer unexpected cold-starts on warm reset, etc, when running in 'Classic' mode, this is certainly excellent news. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JGRAHAM2 Posted January 22, 2022 Author Share Posted January 22, 2022 (edited) 1 hour ago, Peri Noid said: My Rapidus machine is more sophisticated - it includes U1MB, VBXE and Simple Stereo (PIA Covox is on its way). And it works well. I'm not experiencing anything unusual. Only from time to time but it's peripheral-related (like a cart that I connect starts to play tricks). I am going to run as is for awhile until I am familiar with it. How are you using it? Anything that uses the extra speed or other features? Any problems you had to overcome as you did the mods? What firmware versions are you running? Edited January 22, 2022 by JGRAHAM2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peri Noid Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 41 minutes ago, flashjazzcat said: If @Peri Noid has such a machine and it does not suffer unexpected cold-starts on warm reset, etc, when running in 'Classic' mode, this is certainly excellent news. Well... unintended cold-starts at warm resets in "classic" mode happen sometimes. But since I know about it - it's not a problem (for me). 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peri Noid Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 40 minutes ago, JGRAHAM2 said: I am going to run as is for awhile until I am familiar with it. How are you using it? Anything that uses the extra speed or other features? Any problems you had to overcome as you did the mods? What firmware versions are you running? I built it "just like that" and had no problems. But then it all burned down due to a weak PSU (never use a stock PSU with such a config). The computer went to Lotharek, who fixed it and redid some elements. Now it works fine using latest U1MB firmware from @flashjazzcat and the 6S9054E Rapidus FPGA core. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 For me, that's a big problem... for playing video games that require a power cycle to go on to something else... no big deal... for darn near everything else I do, BIG problem... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peri Noid Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 But if I need a machine in classic mode - I take a machine without Rapidus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JGRAHAM2 Posted January 22, 2022 Author Share Posted January 22, 2022 2 hours ago, Peri Noid said: But if I need a machine in classic mode - I take a machine without Rapidus What I am seeing so far is that it is much more stable in Rapidus mode. I still need to do some more tuning though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drac030 Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 10 hours ago, JGRAHAM2 said: Looks like Draco has a newer MODULE.ROM. I’m not sure how to check the PBI0 as he recommends. Is it likely this one is different? It originally had the Sept 2016 version of the firmware I believe. It is now Nov 2016 PBI #0 is hardwired to Rapidus. This may only be a problem if you use any other PBI device (like IDE+ for example). In this case the external PBI device should get configured to release the PBI #0. The BIOS/menu: the earliest version I have here is dated 15 Nov. 2016. But indeed, the production Rapiduses were shipped with slightly earlier version, date 29 Sept. 2016. I have no idea, why. In any case, the differences between the 2016-revisions are probably minor - what they exactly are, I do not remember, it has been 6 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JGRAHAM2 Posted January 22, 2022 Author Share Posted January 22, 2022 1 minute ago, drac030 said: PBI #0 is hardwired to Rapidus. This may only be a problem if you use any other PBI device (like IDE+ for example). In this case the external PBI device should get configured to release the PBI #0. The BIOS/menu: the earliest version I have here is dated 15 Nov. 2016. But indeed, the production Rapiduses were shipped with slightly earlier version, date 29 Sept. 2016. I have no idea, why. In any case, the differences between the 2016-revisions are probably minor - what they exactly are, I do not remember, it has been 6 years. @drac030 Thanks, is there any other firmware I should update? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam242 Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 7 hours ago, Peri Noid said: My Rapidus machine is more sophisticated - it includes U1MB, VBXE and Simple Stereo (PIA Covox is on its way). And it works well. I'm not experiencing anything unusual. Only from time to time but it's peripheral-related (like a cart that I connect starts to play tricks). That is one crowded XE... what's up with the non-standard keyboard ribbon cable? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drac030 Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 1 hour ago, JGRAHAM2 said: Thanks, is there any other firmware I should update? The firmware in the sense of "ROM software": FLND6502 v.1.1, MROM v.1.2 (MODULE.ROM only), Rapidus OS 2.43, these are the latest revisions. The firmware in the sense of "FPGA core": the production core 6S9054E is still the latest one and there are hardly any chances for a newer revision, I am afraid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peri Noid Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 7 hours ago, adam242 said: That is one crowded XE... what's up with the non-standard keyboard ribbon cable? The keyboard is built with a PCB instead of mylar and with carefully selected tact switches. It still uses original keys and rubber springs, yet it's much better in usage and more precise (in my opinion since I heard different things from people). It is a project of one of out Polish Atari community members. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Larry Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 @drac030 What do you have your Rapidus in? How stable is it? Didn't you have a very early 14 MHz version at one time? Just curious. Hope things are well with you! Best regards, Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drac030 Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 (edited) 3 hours ago, Larry said: What do you have your Rapidus in? It is 65XE with ECI. Pictured: 3 hours ago, Larry said: How stable is it? Perfectly. I use it for programming, i.e. hours-long sessions of editing the source, saving to HDD, assembling, reloading the source code, editing again etc. I would not do that on unstable machine to avoid the risk of losing/screwing the sources. 3 hours ago, Larry said: Didn't you have a very early 14 MHz version at one time? Even earlier I had a 10 MHz prototype. Later the 14 MHz one. Yet later (about 2014) a 16 MHz one. After that, the first 20 MHz prototype. The photo shows the second 20 MHz prototype. I also have a production board (partly visible on the right). I use the proto with an experimental 40 MHz core (unfortunately, not compatible with the production boards for a reason). EDIT: the computer works in turbo mode by default (like 99,99% of its time). But never had problems in Classic mode either. 3 hours ago, Larry said: Hope things are well with you! Thanks, I surely hope so too! Edited January 23, 2022 by drac030 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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