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avatar_PulkoMandy

Albireo - USB/SD/Serial interface for CPC

Started by PulkoMandy, 15:54, 18 October 15

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PulkoMandy

#250

Information about payments
Please wait until I contact you with payment info (I will do so when I have a board ready to ship for you).I don't want to receive payments too much in advance then have people waiting on me to ship the boards. I would then have to handle the pressure of everyone waiting, and also possibly cancelling and rescheduling orders and whatnot. So I prefer that you pay only when your board is ready to ship. Thanks for your patience!


You can pay either using paypal or a bank account transfer. The price is 25 euros, or 30 euros if you want tracked shipping.
If you want, you can order multiple boards. However, I will try to get the boards in the hand of as much people as possible, so I may delay shipping of your second (and third, ...) boards.


If there is a hardware problem, you can send the board back to me and I'll fix or replace it. So don't worry about getting a prototype. (and if you get a final version, I will do the same, because I don't want the boards to be thrown away in case of problems).


Already shipped (with tracking numbers for those who chosen tracked shipping)

Please let me know when your board is delivered!


       
  • 0 - PulkoMandy (delivered)
  • 1 - OffseT (delivered)
  • 2 - Gryzor (delivered)
  • 3 - Prodatron LA004676145FR
  • 4 - cpcmaniacoLA004875968FR
  • 5 - ||C||-||E|| (delivered)
  • 6 - TFM (x1) (delivered)
  • 7 - pelrun (delivered)
  • 8 - hsimpson (delivered)
  • 9 - majikeyric (x1) (delivered)
  • 10 - SOS LA005163955FR
  • 11 - Audronic (delivered)
  • 12 - gros_minet (delivered)
  • 13 - Fessor (delivered)
  • 14 - Sykobee (Briggsy) (no tracking)
  • 15 - CraigsBar
  • 16 - OffseT (replacement for board number 1 which didn't seem to work for him)
Batch 1 waiting list
Status: Assembly and delivery in progress.



       
  • 17! - Optimus
  • 18! - Ast
  • 19! - tonio8bits (x1)
  • 20 - skywalky
  • 21 - Jungsi
  • 22 - Poliander
  • 23 - Yannis_uno
  • 24 - Rennert
  • 25 - HAL6128
  • 26 - Joseman
  • 27 - Tai

       
  • 28* - Grim
  • 29 - reidrac
  • 30 - cosa_nostra_6128
  • 31 - Targhan
  • 32 - oratyper
  • 33 - NiNxPe
  • 34 - Vandalsk (x1)
  • 35 - Dirtybb
  • 36 - Dubliner
  • 37 - ronaldo (x2)
  • 39~ - cpcmaniaco (x1)

       
  • 40 - Munchausen (x2)
  • 42 - jrodriguezv (x2)
  • 44 - netmercer
  • 45 - Shining
  • 46 - archosmo
  • 47 - awergh
  • 48 - wilco2009
  • 49 - dodogildo
  • 50 - Apollo (x2)
  • 52 - dxs
  • 53 - AlexD
  • 54 - jaime
  • 55 - merlinkv (x1)
Batch 2 waiting list
Status: Nothing done yet.

       
  • 56 - majikeyric (second board)
  • 57 - CraigsBar (second board)
  • 58 - TFM (second board)
  • 58 - tonio8bits (second board)
  • 58 - Merlinkv (second board)
  • 59 - (awaiting orders...)

hsimpson

#251
Phew... the shipment arrived. I have my Albireo :) . Thanks a lot @PulkoMandy .

Fessor

Mine arrived too.
But its not running stable.  :'(
Without inserted SD-Card it starts with a few problems with beeing detected, but detection problems increased in a very short amount of time (~2 Minutes) to a point were it wont get detected anymore.
With inserted SD-Card it won't get detected or only for a very extremly short period of time after switching the cpc off and on.

CPC 6128 with MotherX4, X-Mass, X-Mem, Albireo, no external PSU.

Tested with the Basic-Test-Programm posted a few pages before. Increased the counter at the loop to 10 and inserted a goto-line for an endless-loop.

I think that my CTM644 and my MP2 are not delivering clean or stable 5V anymore after 30 Years... :'(

PulkoMandy

Did you try the other parts of the program? (listing files or usb mouse?)


There may be a problem with the detection code, since it does a reset of the device and maybe does not wait enough after it. If the other parts are working, it's just this and I can try to make the detection more reliable.

TFM

Quote from: Fessor on 21:23, 24 February 16
CPC 6128 with MotherX4, X-Mass, X-Mem, Albireo, no external PSU.


Clearly a problem of power supply.
Ist ein Wunder dass es überhaupt tut. Ich brauch schon eine externe Stromversorgung wenn ich mehr als das X-MEM dran habe. Die Dinger gibt's billig bei Amazon. Nimm Dir ein 5 V mit 2 A oder 3 A.  :)
TFM of FutureSoft
Also visit the CPC and Plus users favorite OS: FutureOS - The Revolution on CPC6128 and 6128Plus

Fessor

Yes, it must be a Problem with the Powersupply. Without load my CTM644 delivers 6.45V...(!) on the plug, i dont know if its normal, my MP2 has even a voltage in this range on its 5V-Plug. Under load i don't have measured.

Even Standalone, directly connected with the adapter of the mx4, it works only a short amount of time before it stops working and status goes to 255 so it hangs endless in line 480.
It shows me the capacity of my fat partition on the sd-card. at listing the directory i got error 42.

I will see at the weekend when the ordered PSU arrives. With stable Voltage and then enough current the Problems should go away.



CloudStrife

I have no idee of power supply voltage of a CTM644 with no load is applied. But it's not uncommon to have slightly overvoltage. (Seeing the schematics I don't understand the strange powersupply topology used in the CTM644 so can't confirm if it's "normal" or not...)

You should really verify the voltage under load... See if the voltage return back to a more acceptable one. If not you have a trimmer in the monitor that can be change. (Maybe it have change a bit with age...)
And you should verify voltage stability, normally with an oscilloscope but if you already see change with your multimeter it's really mean it's instable...

Bryce

Quote from: Fessor on 00:47, 25 February 16
Yes, it must be a Problem with the Powersupply. Without load my CTM644 delivers 6.45V...(!) on the plug, i dont know if its normal, my MP2 has even a voltage in this range on its 5V-Plug. Under load i don't have measured.

Even Standalone, directly connected with the adapter of the mx4, it works only a short amount of time before it stops working and status goes to 255 so it hangs endless in line 480.
It shows me the capacity of my fat partition on the sd-card. at listing the directory i got error 42.

I will see at the weekend when the ordered PSU arrives. With stable Voltage and then enough current the Problems should go away.

The voltage without load tells you nothing useful, it could be anything and will not only depend on the PSU, but also the meter you used to measure it. Only the voltage under load will give you any indication of how the PSU is performing.

Bryce.

Audronic

@PulkoMandy

Mine arrived today 26-February 2016.
Just waiting for some software to test it.


Thanks    Ray
Procrastinators Unite,
If it Ain't Broke PLEASE Don't Fix it.
I keep telling you I am Not Pedantic.
As I Live " Down Under " I Take my Gravity Tablets and Wear my Magnetic Boots to Keep me from Falling off.

Fessor

Software for testing it can be found at the end of the Page
Shinra Team

Audronic

Procrastinators Unite,
If it Ain't Broke PLEASE Don't Fix it.
I keep telling you I am Not Pedantic.
As I Live " Down Under " I Take my Gravity Tablets and Wear my Magnetic Boots to Keep me from Falling off.

Executioner

Quote from: PulkoMandy on 07:03, 19 February 16
A normal RET will do.

Only if you know the state of IFF1 during your NMI, otherwise you can't restore it (which is where RETN differs from RETI). RETI is effectivley the same on a CPC as RET so not required.

pelrun

Mine arrived yesterday, the original envelope torn open and sealed in a clear bag with a note saying it had been damaged in the mail sorting machines  :o


The board *looks* like it's undamaged, though...

PulkoMandy

Hello everyone!


Some news from the software development side today. Some days ago I received from CloudStrife a small driver to test the serial port. Today I could finally spend some time testing and debugging it. I found some issues with the code, but the most important part: the serial port hardware is confirmed working! The program is a bit crude (it transfers a fixed amount of data at a fixed address, not really useful in this way), and also not completely optimized. But, it is a good base for future developments.


I don't have a download link for this yet, I'll let CloudStrife publish his work the way he wants.

Sykobee (Briggsy)

Mine has arrived, thanks. Soldering that chip with the fine pitch pins must have been fun!


Glad to see the high speed serial works.

PulkoMandy

Soldering chips with small pins is ok if you use the right tools. I have a temperature controlled soldering iron and a flux pen. The flux will make the melted solder flow much better, and stick to the pins and a lot less to the PCB. So with this you can heat 2 or 3 pins at once without problems.
The only tricky part is to carefully align the chip with the PCB footprint, to make sure the pads are isolated from each other.


It's not that hard after some training. And it allows to fit all the extras on such a small board :)

||C|-|E||

Everything seems to work fine in my card!  :D

pelrun

Sometimes surface mount can be easier to solder, and there are some really crude-looking but clever techniques - like dumping a large ball of molten solder on the board and dragging it over a long run of pins. Yay for surface tension!

||C|-|E||

That is called wave soldering, I think :) I tried it a few times with useless circuitry, just to practice, and it actually works very well!

pelrun


It's usually called "drag soldering".

Wave soldering is something different, and requires a giant molten solder bath. The board is held just above the bath and a wave is generated in the solder that washes across the board. It's a mass-production technique, not something you can do on the bench.

||C|-|E||

#270
Thank you for the clarification then, I was not very sure!  :D So, the drag soldering is what I tried  :) I was watching a video and, certainly, the other process is not something you could try at home!  :D

TFM

My Albi arrived a while ago, professionally made, very awesome. Now one question, since it has a micro SD card slot, I assume the maximum will be a 32 GB card, because more than 32 GB can't use FAT32 anylonger. My question is: Are there cards / brands which can be suggested, which not?

TFM of FutureSoft
Also visit the CPC and Plus users favorite OS: FutureOS - The Revolution on CPC6128 and 6128Plus

Grim

Quote from: TFM on 18:45, 01 March 16Now one question, since it has a micro SD card slot, I assume the maximum will be a 32 GB card, because more than 32 GB can't use FAT32 anylonger.
Yep, 32GB max.

Prodatron

QuoteI assume the maximum will be a 32 GB card, because more than 32 GB can't use FAT32 anylonger.
The limit for FAT32 is 2TB.
The 32GB limit is because of the SD-HC specification. >32GB is supported by SD-XC, where the maximum is 2TB (so still fine for FAT32).

GRAPHICAL Z80 MULTITASKING OPERATING SYSTEM

CloudStrife

The CH376 datasheet say it's support up to 32GB, for SD Card and for USB storage and it's said to be compatible with SD and SDHC and say nothing about SDXC.
Maybe it support SDXC card, or more than 32GB on USB but better let assume not...

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