Finished PSU replacement on my X68k Expert, what next?

[famiac]

Hey guys, i just got home from vacation and have finally unpackaged my junk x68k. Still new like many others, so i have a question or two. Now that my psu has been replaced, i have checked all traces and everything seems to be properly connected to the right source.

What do you guys think i should do next before i plug it in to test it?

I have yet to replace the sram battery, and that seems like the next place to go. However, i'm very eager to plug it in and try it out on the monitor i bought. Any precautions i can take to make sure the monitor doesn't take damage?

EDIT: I just realized i need a human 68k disk. could someone mail me one for cheap? Also, would this allow me to write disks externally on a teac drive?

[eidis]

 Hi Famiac !

Replace all capacitors if you want to be extremely careful. The SRAM battery can be replaced with a CR2032 in a battery holder. There have been some rare reports that LCD monitor damages one specific IC in the X68000. If that happens, it can be easily remedied. However, until now there have been no reports that monitors get damaged.

Fixing RGB output
http://gamesx.com/wiki/doku.php?id=x68000:fixing_rgb_output

The FC5025 USB 5.25" floppy controller supports only read mode. I contacted the author and at present time there are no plans of adding write support. You probably will need to build an oldskool PC for data transfers.

P.S. By the way, the EXPERT has 2Mb factory built-in RAM by default so you could get away without using switch.x. This is not confirmed. My ACE-HD defaults to 1Mb when the SRAM is cleared.

Keep the scene alive !
Eidis

[famiac]

Hey eidis, thanks for the reply. I won't try a recap immediately, but i'll do it if i encounter an issue. Do you know where i can locate the sram battery?

Also, don't i need human 68k to play games from a hard drive?

[eidis]

 Hi Famiac !

It should be on the daughterboard which is at the very bottom of your X68000, the one which has soft power switch and audio sockets.

Keep the scene alive !
Eidis

[famiac]

Thanks eidis. Would you be able to write me a human 68k disk? I can send you a floppy to write it on.

Also, what's the easiest way to access the main board?

[eidis]

 Hi Famiac !

The following article might help.

How to open X68000
http://gamesx.com/wiki/doku.php?id=x68000:how_to_open_x68000

P.S. You should seriously think about a retro PC for data transfers until you set up a hard drive.

Keep the scene alive !
Eidis

[famiac]

I do have a windows 98SE all in one PC i use for FDSloadr with a 3.5 inch drive, but i'm not sure if i can hook up a 5 inch drive to it. I'll open it up and look if it has the 34 pin connector. I guess you can't write a disk in the meantime then.

Thanks again

Edit: I didn't realize the disassembly page from that japanese site was translated! Good to know.

[BlueBMW]

Where are you located famiac?

[famiac]

I am located in Austin, Texas

[eidis]

 Hi Famiac !

Sorry, but due to long term health problems I won't be able to assist you with the acquisition of HumanOS floppy disk. I have the time but unfortunately not the health to manage the logistics.

Windows98 machine should definitely be compatible with 5.25" floppy drive. Check the BIOS if it supports them.

There has been a lot of good feedback about TEAC-55GFR 5.25". You should probably try getting one along with a floppy cable which has 5.25" drive sockets, if your current one does not have one.

Keep the scene alive !
Eidis

[famiac]

No problem at all eidis! You're always a great help!


Edit: funny story, when i opened the right panel and removed the IO slot expander i noticed that the CPU fell out of the socket. I wonder if that's why the seller was selling this as junk haha.

Edit 2: i just found an Xellent 30S board and a a home made circuit with a switch, i wonder what it does. The seller said the switch was a toggle between 10 and 16 mhz

[eidis]

 Hi Famiac !

Congratulations on your discovery. Could you please make quality photos of your Xellent 30S board from both sides without using the flash of the camera ? The circuit with a switch is an overclocking mod.

Keep the scene alive !
Eidis

[famiac]

Yeah it just confused me because i thought the xellent 30s board was already an overclock mod.

Edit: I'll take pictures as soon as i get back home. I had to move into my dorm today, but my house is only 40 min away from home. Is getting to the daughterboard pretty straightforward after removing the motherboard? Also, does the Xellent30s need drivers?

Edit2: i just found an xellent30s folder in the mirror of groundzero organization, so i'm not too worried about replacing sram now.

[eidis]

 Hi Famiac !

Be prepared to take the X68000 apart completely for the name of science and you will learn everything about disassembling it. The SASI machines are very service friendly.

Xellent30s requires a SRAM driver.

Keep the scene alive !
Eidis

[famiac]

Thanks eidis. Any idea why xellent30s is installed as welll as the overclock mod? Doesn't the overclock damage the system, and should i remove it?

Also, would you like me to make a list of caps on the x68k expert?

[eidis]

 Hi Famiac !

You inspired me to un-engrish a long overdue Wiki article.

Xellent30s CPU accelerator board
http://gamesx.com/wiki/doku.php?id=x68000:xellent30s_-_cpu_accelerator_board

By default, Xellent starts in X68000 mode and needs a SRAM driver. That means that X68000 will use its default CPU and and not the more faster MC68EC030.

You probably know the answer to everclocking question yourself. It kills hardware, but very slowly.

Keep the scene alive !
Eidis

[famiac]

Wow thanks eidis!
Would it be safe if i just left the switch in the 10Mhz position?

[eidis]

Hi Famiac !

Yes.

Keep the scene alive !
Eidis

[famiac]

Anybody know the purpose of this oscillator on the daughterboard?

http://i.imgur.com/wguykZ3.jpg

[eidis]

 Hi Famiac !

It looks like a part of the overclocking mod.

Keep the scene alive !
Eidis

[famiac]

There appears to be no video output and the soft power isn't working... However the floppy drives will accept my human 68k disk and eject it when i press the button so that might be good news.... What next?

Edit: i removed the exellent30s board and replaced it with just the cpu. The behavior jumped around for a bit but now i think the cpu is blown. It gets really hot and the system reacts the same with or without it. I have another system that i just tested with my new psu and it powers and shuts perfectly. However the floppy drives don't detect a thing, even though the light is blinking, and the rgb output is present but does not sync properly on the monitor. I tried messing with th adjustments on the monitor but to no avail. Also, the monitor thinks the x68000 is outputting 15khz but i thought the default was 31khz.

I feel really put down after replacing 40 capacitors in vain. Can anyone help or should i save up for a new console? I'm going to try buying a new cpu chip and socket first, as there are two sockets in the main board for the cpu but the top one broke while i was removing the chip and the one soldered in has a different style of pins

[BlueBMW]

CPU is socketed right?  It shouldnt be too hard to replace it.  68000 cpus are pretty common so Id guess it should be pretty cheap.

[famiac]

It's looking to be about $40 for a cpu and a socket. I don't know if that's cheap. Also i'll have to wait two weeks to get that. I wonder if it has any other problems :/

Edit: i will try replacing the SN74ALS05AN on the other x68000 in the meantime and see how that goes.

[famiac]

After replacing the als05, i got a still and clear insert floppy messag. It was thrilling. Then, after swapping floppy drives with my other x68k and closing the case, i get nothing. My power LED stays red and the fan won't spin. At some point the fan would try to spin and then i saw smoke. Something must have shorted... Now both of my x68000 are kaput and i have no idea why.

[eidis]

 Hi Famiac !

Try to disassemble the damaged X68000 and smell the motherboard and floppy drives to determine which chip or component is bad. I have a feeling that the problem could be linked to this:

Soft-power troubleshooting and repair
http://gamesx.com/wiki/doku.php?id=x68000:soft_power_switch_troubleshooting_and_repair

Keep the scene alive !
Eidis

[famiac]

I swapped capacitors between mainboards (one had new ones) and now i have one that shuts on and off normally, except when the floppy drives are connected. How could i fix that?

Edit: if i wiggle the floppy drive ribbon cable it turns off. Also, the floppy LED is red for some reason. Lastly, my other drives look very clean but fail to detect when a disk is inserted. How can i fix that?

Edit 2: Swapped the floppy data cables and now it turns on and off fine and i get the normal green light. My x68k is a true frankenstein now...

[eidis]

 Hi Famiac !

Your culprit is probably the capacitors. Replace all (and I mean all) capacitors. This includes motherboard, sub-motherboard, PSU, the floppy drives, I/O slot riser and RGB module. You will also need to make a new DIY floppy data cable.

Full BOM for constructing a SASI cable
http://nfggames.com/forum2/index.php?topic=5429.msg36889#msg36889

Keep the scene alive !
Eidis

[famiac]

On the (now) working x68k, both mainboard and sub board have new capacitors. I will replace those in the rgb board, IO board, and floppy drives in the coming months.

[famiac]

Alright... So a couple new problems. I wrote a bomberman disk, however it won't play properly, the title screen scrolls vertically as if it were out of sync, but the logo doesn't. It also won't let me select the start game option. Also, i tried to install the sxsi driver but it says "could not register" for the super scsi driver unit ver 1.02 and for the ask68k ver 3.02 sys files.

What could be wrong?

[eidis]

 Hi Famiac !

Please post screenshots of the Bomberman. By default the SxSI driver in MasterDisk_V2 is set to search and initialize device with SCSI ID0. Try installing the SRAM driver with BOOTSET.X. It scans all ID's on every reboot and should give you a better understanding of what is going on.

Keep the scene alive !
Eidis

[famiac]

scsi cable setup: (power cable disconnected)
http://i.imgur.com/JEZt4eQ.jpg

Bomberman screenshots:
http://i.imgur.com/jXqR9VW.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/uLZguzs.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/nZLkJTt.jpg

I tried to connect the scsi2sd to my computer to set scsi id, but my pc couldn't detect it. However, i was using a borrowed cheaply made cable, which i will try to remedy tomorrow. But i have no idea what's going on with bomberman.

[eidis]

 Hi Famiac !

There were unconfirmed reports that SCSI2SD is not not compatible with SASI machines. AztecMonster was always reported as compatible. I see you have a DIY cable. Try tying all ground signals together on the IDC50 connector and see if it helps.

As for the Bomberman issue, Memtest a good place to start.

Memory Test Program v1.12
http://nfggames.com/x68000/Misc/Diagnostics/Memory%20Test%20Program%20v1.12/mtest.zip

Keep the scene alive !
Eidis

[famiac]

Mtest main won't run. It says something about console driver

All other memtest checks are ok

[costa]

Mtest main won't run. It says something about console driver

All other memtest checks are ok

I think Eidis has taught me that one already...

Try
IOCS /r and then rum mtest again.

[eidis]

 Hi Famiac !

Mtest will not work if HIOCS.X is loaded into memory. Navigate with LHES to the directory where you have copied MTEST.R and press Q key two times. It will exit LHES and unload HIOCS.X. Then you can execute mtest from the command line.

Keep the scene alive !
Eidis

[famiac]

Well i did what costa said and everything turned out ok. I'll try what you suggested now. I don't know if i have lhes on this disk. what executables and files do i need for lhes?


Scrolling sprites in argos no senshi
http://i.imgur.com/8avQFa4.jpg

[eidis]

 Hi Famiac !

LHES comes bundled with every HDD image. Please ignore my previous post if you are not using a hard drive setup. Did Mtest pass all tests (TEXT, GRAPHICS, SPRITE, SYSTEM, MAIN) ?

Keep the scene alive !
Eidis

[famiac]

Mtest did run properly, all tests were OK. Sorry for not being clear. I still haven't been able to configure the scsi2sd

[costa]

Hi,

keep in mind that SCSI2SD might not work as is on SASI machines. I have one friend of mine that did this test with one Ace and on Super. Worked on Super only.

Do you have any other SCSI machine?

I tried to get one SCSI2SD this month but they are out of stock. I would be able to test on several different models and provide feedback here for all.
I will check this week to se if they have in stock already.

Mtest did run properly, all tests were OK. Sorry for not being clear. I still haven't been able to configure the scsi2sd

[famiac]

No other scsi modules and no money either. I can sell you my scsi2sd.

My first priority is to fix the graphics problem.
I just installed my xellent30s to cheer myself up though haha. The thing is really cool


Here's a memtest pic:
http://i.imgur.com/JCXdVso.jpg