exxos wrote: ↑Fri Dec 03, 2021 10:20 pm
Sinis wrote: ↑Fri Dec 03, 2021 10:08 pm
Can I try to remove the Dallas RTC ? I removed it to "better" clean the motherboard while I changed the PSU ; perhaps did I made a mistake on It, or there is a problem. Falcon should start without the Dallas component ?
No do not remove the RTC.. This is very difficult to do and you may cause a lot of damage. The Falcon will not start with the RTC removed.
But when you say you removed the RTC , was it in a socket or did you un-solder it ? I am not sure what you have actually done ?
Is the floppy drive LED on the keyboard flashing at all ? On RTC faults, it will flash very fast several times then it will pause for a second and flash several times again indicating the machine is trying to start up but the RTC contents are corrupted, so it can't boot.
Thank you and sorry for my unclear comments.
To make things easier, here is a summary:
Before the power supply operations, my Falcon was in the following state:
- I had unsoldered and removed the original NVRAM/RTC, replaced with a socket (
https://www.exxosforum.co.uk/atari/store2/#0112) and a new Dallas component (
https://www.ebay.fr/itm/203233472168)
- I had removed the original hard disk, replaced by the
https://www.exxosforum.co.uk/atari/store2/#0036 media and a CF card
- I had replaced the original floppy drive by a new one (
https://www.exxosforum.co.uk/atari/store2/#0037)
- I had removed the original RAM and replaced it with the
https://www.exxosforum.co.uk/atari/store2/#0086 media and a strip
https://www.exxosforum.co.uk/atari/store2/#0091
- I had added a 68882 FPU (
https://www.exxosforum.co.uk/atari/store2/#0011) in the empty slot.
- I replaced the original fan with
https://www.exxosforum.co.uk/atari/store2/#0074.
At this point, before yesterday, the Falcon was almost working normally. It was booting without any problem, I had access to the partitions on the Flash card, some floppies were working but the 3 main problems I had were :
- the language and keyboard were well saved in NVRAM but not the date and time.
- almost all floppy disks (many of them original) were unreadable: worse, they weren't even great. Systematically or almost, it was the second side that was the problem. Out of about 100 floppy disks, I was able to format 2. This was what led me to replace the floppy drive with a new one, but without any improvement
- finally on some basic tests (notably the one provided on an original Falcon floppy disk), the DSP did not seem to be recognized. One of the programs sends some numbers to the DSP and waits for half of these numbers to return; the return was zero each time.
- sysinfo.exe gave this results:
- IMG_7612 2.jpg (523.86 KiB) Viewed 2247 times
For the first issue, I thought that I might have cleaned the motherboard badly (flux...) after the NVRAM operations; for the second issue, it seemed to me, from what I could see around and what was indicated to me when I submitted the problem (
https://www.exxosforum.co.uk/forum/viewt ... 653#p74649) that it was relevant to replace the PSU. It was obviously a good thing to go with a new, modern power supply.
So, at this point, the Falcon was working "almost" normally.
What I did yesterday:
- I gently removed the Dallas from the stand, without difficulty (that's the whole point of the stand)
- I cleaned the whole motherboard, with care and patience, on both sides, with a cotton swab, with isopropyl alcohol (
https://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B07DWC ... UTF8&psc=1). Not only to the NVRAM, but everywhere (maybe that's my mistake?)
- I also noticed some bad traces towards the external SCSI connector (which were there originally):
- IMG_7627.jpg (288.87 KiB) Viewed 2247 times
I noticed that but doesn't want to do anything for the moment, as I don't plan to use SCSI things and I'm not sure it was a "problem" for the moment.
- I put back the Dallas component
- I disassembled the original power supply, unsoldered the connector and the switch, soldered the connector on the new power supply and the new power supply on the switch, and reassembled the whole.
Today:
- on startup or reset, the screen shows what you saw before (blue pixels on black screen without screen synchro)
- the diode at the bottom left lights up and stays lit
- the disk access diode stays off and never lights up, with or without flash card installed.
- the fan is running
- no beep, nothing on the keyboard
I have not yet done the manipulations to change the voltage of the new PSU. I don't dare to touch it anymore... and I'm a bit tired. I'd rather wait a bit and get back to it when I'm in good shape.
Thanks for your help... I was so happy to receive the new power supply to be able to "finalize" this Falcon (...for the anecdote, it's my birthday on monday, and symbolically, I was hoping to have a Falcon in full shape ! and be able to put the soldering iron and all the stuff in the garage, and just enjoy this beautiful Falcon)