STE V1.5 32MHz BOOSTER - STATUS

[exxos]

New PCBs arrived today...

A quick test to see if it fits this time...

IMG_2380.JPG (123.33 KiB) Viewed 4998 times

IMG_2381.JPG (77.47 KiB) Viewed 4998 times

.. and perfect fit 3rd time's the charm!

Will try and find some time to build it up soon and test.. but as its basically a clone of the V1 booster then it should work OK..

[rpineau]

Nice.
I wonder if we should do this for the 68020 booster instead of using the expensive PLCC plugs.
Not as nice but a lot cheaper and easier to find (PLCC plug is still better for proto ).

[exxos]

I wonder if we should do this for the 68020 booster instead of using the expensive PLCC plugs.
Not as nice but a lot cheaper and easier to find (PLCC plug is still better for proto ).

Maybe I got some plastic squares cut to "fake" the CPU to hold the adapter in place, its the most expensive part, but still cheaper than a proper adapter. Idea is tested for long time with my MMU 4MB kit, so it works

[ube]

3D printing time!

[exxos]

3D printing time!

Need to be really accurate for this job, so they going to be machined

[rpineau]

May be it's time to build a small CNC out of a broken 3D printer and use something like a small stack of acrylic sheet glued together after cutting them to make a fake CPU.
Just thinking out loud here
Rodolphe

[troed]

May be it's time to build a small CNC out of a broken 3D printer and use something like a small stack of acrylic sheet glued together after cutting them to make a fake CPU.
Just thinking out loud here
Rodolphe

A friend of mine has a 3D-printer sized CNC, AFAIK it wasn't very expensive. He's even used it to mill working one layer (could probably do two if careful when aligning) circuits from copper plated boards.

[exxos]

Assembly started

So nice not to have one of those evil sockets

1.jpg (22.34 KiB) Viewed 4733 times

2.jpg (67.26 KiB) Viewed 4733 times

[exxos]

Sometime later...

v15b.jpg (54 KiB) Viewed 4702 times

Seriously not fun to build these!

[exxos]

So initial tests are a bit complicated scenes the 8 MHz line needs 150pF otherwise the machine does not even tried to boot..

It was running well until we got to the blitter test and it crashes every time. I spent the past couple of hours trying to figure out why, and I just remove the booster and put the original CPU backing, and the blitter test still crashes. So this motherboard has some strange fault I already change the chip twice and now I am doing memory test to see that reveals anything.

So I am currently stuck testing out the booster properly until I can figure out what is wrong with this motherboard

UPDATE:

Okay it seems there was some bad connection on the ROM board somewhere as to why it would run perfectly well with all the other tests is beyond me

I guess I am discovering new depths of screwyness all the time..