STE video chip

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exxos
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Re: STE video chip

Post by exxos »

So it was the track width was to large to "snap to" the pad :roll:

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Re: STE video chip

Post by exxos »

So JLC do not do panelized assembly on small boards :roll:

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If I put panel by customer, it still moans that the board diameter is too small. :(

My workaround for this previously is to just deliberately make the board larger and hacksaw it when it comes :roll:
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Re: STE video chip

Post by Steve »

If you ordered a few of these boards I wouldn't mind testing one in my out of phase STe if possible @exxos
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Re: STE video chip

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Steve wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 10:25 pm If you ordered a few of these boards I wouldn't mind testing one in my out of phase STe if possible @exxos
Once I get one tried in my own STE and it fixes the problem, I'll send you one to see if it solves your problem as well.
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viewtopic.php?f=17&t=1585 Have you done the Mandatory Fixes ?
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Re: STE video chip

Post by Steve »

Cheers! :dualthumbup:
fenarinarsa
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Re: STE video chip

Post by fenarinarsa »

Hello everyone,

I ran into an issue that may or may not be related to your findings.

Last month I released a VGA intro for Mega STE + ET4000 video card https://demozoo.org/productions/303160/
The sound is made of PCM audio data streamed from the hard drive.

However I had many audio bugs (audio cracks), which didn't come from my code because I disabled the audio streaming and played back looping empty buffers and the cracks were still there.

I use the blitter to transfer data through the VME bus and I also found out that transferring data with the CPU reduced drastically the number of audio cracks (a few to none, actually).

On Atari forum I was told about a known DMA bug with some Mega STE shifters. It looks there was various revisions of the C301712 because the earlier ones had this DMA audio bug on MSTE. So I tried to swap the shifter with one of my STE's.

shifter.jpg
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The Mega STE original shifter is the C301712-001 and the STE shifter is C300588-001

Putting the C300588 into my Mega STE made the DMA audio issue completely disappear. However Idek on Atari-forum tried the same swap and it didn't make the audio bug disappear on his setup.

I just put the C301712 into my STE and I was expecting the graphic issues that you posted here, but so far everything works perfectly. I think this STE is one of the early TOS 1.62 ones, with three ICs in the middle (no more 2+piggyback patch) and external blitter.

just FYI :)
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Re: STE video chip

Post by exxos »

Thanks for pointing this out. If you have a simple audio program to use, then next time I have the STE connected up I can see if audio gets trashed. I would assume so.

While I've known about those problem chips for a long time, I never thought anything much of it. There could be other factors at play as well. But it's probably down to tolerances on every machine. Some it works fine on, some not. The version of combo could be a factor for example.
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viewtopic.php?f=17&t=1585 Have you done the Mandatory Fixes ?
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fenarinarsa
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Re: STE video chip

Post by fenarinarsa »

exxos wrote: Thu Jan 20, 2022 5:43 pm Thanks for pointing this out. If you have a simple audio program to use, then next time I have the STE connected up I can see if audio gets trashed. I would assume so.
Here you go https://github.com/fenarinarsa/ste_dmatest/releases/

Tested on my Mega STE with the faulty C301712 and the audio cracks/clicks can be heard clearly.
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Re: STE video chip

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fenarinarsa wrote: Fri Jan 21, 2022 12:07 am Here you go https://github.com/fenarinarsa/ste_dmatest/releases/

Tested on my Mega STE with the faulty C301712 and the audio cracks/clicks can be heard clearly.
Thanks, will try and test it out tomorrow.
https://www.exxosforum.co.uk/atari/ All my hardware guides - mods - games - STOS
https://www.exxosforum.co.uk/atari/store2/ - All my hardware mods for sale - Please help support by making a purchase.
viewtopic.php?f=17&t=1585 Have you done the Mandatory Fixes ?
Just because a lot of people agree on something, doesn't make it a fact. ~exxos ~
People should find solutions to problems, not find problems with solutions.
fenarinarsa
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Re: STE video chip

Post by fenarinarsa »

Well, I've just tested the C301712 on my STE with my tool and I can also hear audio cracks. I guess putting it into my STE doesn't fix anything then.
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