Falcon maintenance

General discussions or ideas about hardware.
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exxos
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Re: Falcon maintenance

Post by exxos »

Steve wrote: Fri Apr 23, 2021 9:30 pm @stween Could you post a screenshot of your RAM card? I'm thinking it might have high latency chips.
Maybe so but the RAM access timings are lightly controlled by the Videl anyway... Might be interesting to see if it has a slightly different part number than later Falcons...
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stween
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Re: Falcon maintenance

Post by stween »

Steve wrote: Fri Apr 23, 2021 9:30 pm @stween Could you post a screenshot of your RAM card? I'm thinking it might have high latency chips.
Sure; here's what I've got:

IMG_20210423_221215.jpg
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Re: Falcon maintenance

Post by stween »

exxos wrote: Fri Apr 23, 2021 9:32 pm
Steve wrote: Fri Apr 23, 2021 9:30 pm @stween Could you post a screenshot of your RAM card? I'm thinking it might have high latency chips.
Maybe so but the RAM access timings are lightly controlled by the Videl anyway... Might be interesting to see if it has a slightly different part number than later Falcons...
And here's the VIDEL chip:

IMG_20210423_230153.jpg
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Re: Falcon maintenance

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stween wrote: Fri Apr 23, 2021 10:04 pm And here's the VIDEL chip:
Exactly the same one as in my Falcon...

Do you have the same oscillators ?

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stween
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Re: Falcon maintenance

Post by stween »

exxos wrote: Fri Apr 23, 2021 10:11 pmDo you have the same oscillators ?
Here's what I have:

IMG_20210424_003430.jpg
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Re: Falcon maintenance

Post by Steve »

@stween I think it's because your ram is 80ns, I've seen other boards with as low as 60ns before.
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Re: Falcon maintenance

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Steve wrote: Sat Apr 24, 2021 9:21 am @stween I think it's because your ram is 80ns, I've seen other boards with as low as 60ns before.
How would the videl know what RAM speed was fitted ? Same as any other ST, you can fit any speed of RAM from 250ns to 50ns and it makes no odds as the MMU is hardwired to run at the same speed regardless.
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Re: Falcon maintenance

Post by Steve »

Oh okay, sorry I had a misconception of how that worked :) I guess I was thinking of CAS latencies on PC's and how they influence speed.
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Re: Falcon maintenance

Post by exxos »

@stween

On U63 - pin 19 has a 4.7K, solder another 4.7K across it.. And solder another 4.7K from VCC (pin 20) to pin 2.. It may or may not do anything but worth a try..

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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 ?
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People should find solutions to problems, not find problems with solutions.
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Re: Falcon maintenance

Post by Rustynutt »

NEVER seen an Atari 14mb Falcon ST RAM card.
Double wow. Not only the size, but cost at that time was huge.
One expensive Falcon there.
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