464+ dead

[chinnyhill10]

Got the 464+ out to finish off my review of the M4. Plugged it in, and nothing. Tested it on a CRT and all I get is a black screen with very faint bars across it.


No audio when I press delete, and no control over the tape deck (if you press play the motor runs).


It's fried isn't it? Presumably the ASIC? It had the same look of all the fried GX4000's I've had down the years.


If so that's annoying as I only use that one for reviews.


Bah!

[gerald]

Maybe it's just the RAM : http://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/amstrad-cpc-hardware/quick-and-dirty-ram-test-for-cpc

[chinnyhill10]

Maybe it's just the RAM : http://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/amstrad-cpc-hardware/quick-and-dirty-ram-test-for-cpc

Don't have a rombox unfortunately.


As I say it looks like a failed GX4000 after a Amstrad PSU 'event' but I don't know enough about failure modes of Plus machines compared to standard CPC's.

[gerald]

Don't have a rombox unfortunately.

But you have a C4CPC 

[chinnyhill10]

But you have a C4CPC 

How do I get that running on a fresh SD card?

[00WReX]

As per the link supplied by gerald, download the RamTest.zip in the 1st post.

http://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/amstrad-cpc-hardware/quick-and-dirty-ram-test-for-cpc

If you need to prepare a clean/new SD then head over to the C4CPC wiki page and download the base file.

http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/C4CPC

Here is the link to the SD card preparation on the C4CPC page.

http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/C4CPC#SD_card_preparation

When you have your SD set up, navigate into the "_C4CPC" folder and within that you will see folders 0 through to F.

These equate to cartridge slots that you can select with the dip switches on the C4CPC.

The prepared microSD card contains the Basic Cartridge in slot 0 (Folder 0) and the cartridge selector in slot 15 (Folder F) by default.

So with the memory test .cpr extracted from the zip file, drop that into folder 1.

Then with the SD plugged into the C4CPC select the appropriate dip switch.

Number 1 switch UP... 2, 3, & 4 DOWN as per the picture here...

http://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/File:DipSwitchToSlot.png

Then simply plug the C4CPC into you Plus and turn it on...
Check out geralds link to view examples of what you may see.

Cheers,
Shane

[chinnyhill10]

As per the link supplied by gerald, download the RamTest.zip in the 1st post.

Thanks for that.


I woke up in the middle of the night with a thought. Could the fault be contamination in the cartridge port? Obviously I'd tried different carts etc which were all pristine. Usually it's the cart edge connector that's the problem but what if something has got onto the internal connector such as a spider or bug? I keep my machines clean but I think this is a path worth investigating.

[gerald]

Thanks for that.


I woke up in the middle of the night with a thought. Could the fault be contamination in the cartridge port? Obviously I'd tried different carts etc which were all pristine. Usually it's the cart edge connector that's the problem but what if something has got onto the internal connector such as a spider or bug? I keep my machines clean but I think this is a path worth investigating.

I think that the dead RAM option has a higher probability than a bug crushed in the connector 

[chinnyhill10]

I think that the dead RAM option has a higher probability than a bug crushed in the connector 

Well it looks clean but I've just given it a big dose of contact cleaner. Now waiting for it to dry.

[chinnyhill10]

Nothing visible but I gave it a good dousing in connector cleaner and success!


https://twitter.com/ChinnyVision/status/932313820202196993


I keep saying M4 card in the video when I mean C4CPC. Blame my joy at the thing working!