a new mbsid is close to life...

MIDIbox SID
1

this is my first post. therefor: hello everybody!!!

first of all i´d like to say that this whole project is such a great thing, i´m really impressed. seriously.

when i came along to this site, i was on the search for a sequencer-diy-project, with comparable abilities to the “schrittmacher”, but affordable.

that´s how i found ucapps. while skipping through the projects, i´ve soon been attracted by the mbsid - lovely. i already used prophet64 (the software version) and had a closer look to the prophet64 cartridge. but it didn´t match my needs. i need knobs and buttons, no mouse and keyboard-shortcuts to rerach the parameters.

so i soon decided to build a mbsid first, then the sequencer, as the sequencer seems to be a little bit more complex. i´m not a total newbie to soldering, and i do have a slight idea about electronics - i modified some old drummachines in the past which work pretty well. also can i read schematics.

but i never did such a big project. so i thought for practising, the mbsid looks perfect. it will heöp me to understand mios and the ideology behind all of this.

so i started to read and read and read and… finally ordered the pcb-kit at mike´s.

i´m going to build a full control-surface sid, for the beginning with just one sid/core, but when all works well, i will expand it to the maximum. should be no problem, because in the meantime i cannibalised a few c64 and do now have 8 sid6581 in different revisions. that should be enough.

while waiting for the pcbs i built the optimised psu, which i awaited to be a bigger problem, but it works how it should… thanks to the really good advises here in the forum.

so right when the pcbs arrived, i unpacked them and started soldering. that was 3 days ago, and now the core, the sid, the bankstick, the 3 din and the 2 dout modules are ready. and after some first voltage measurements they seem to work how they should. but i have to check them more precisely.

to conclude: there will be a new mbsid around in a short while  ;D

thanks to tk and all the cool people around here.

i´ll be back after the weekend to report on the complete voltage check. and i will post some pictures here the sooner or later.

bye,

t.

2

this is my first post. therefor: hello everybody!!!

Welcome aboard!

when i came along to this site, i was on the search for a sequencer-diy-project, with comparable abilities to the “schrittmacher”, but affordable.

There you go, you already made your first mistake. Best to get it out of the way anyhow :wink: DIY is rarely cheaper than retail!

so i soon decided to build a mbsid first, then the sequencer,as the sequencer seems to be a little bit more complex.

Hehehe you’re a midibox junkie now. TK is the main pusher, if you need a hit :wink:

I’d say the SID is the more complex of the two, although…

so i thought for practising, the mbsid looks perfect. it will heöp me to understand mios and the ideology behind all of this.

it will make good practice for sure!

Look forward to seeing the synth! :slight_smile: Good luck with the testing!

3

hi stryd,

well, you´re right, i´m addicted now. need several pushes a day…

you might be right that diy-projects are not much cheaper than retail, but i think a self-built mbseq is much!!! cheaper than the cost of a “schrittmacher” (it´s about 1600 euro). not to forget the experience of creating something on your own…

so stay tuned and have a nice weekend,

t.

4

just a short update: the core just works fine…  :smiley:

now i have to go to work… the whole weekend. no measurements until monday…

5

finally, after a very busy weekend (what day is today?  ;D) i did all the voltage checks on core and sid module. everything seems to be fine… everywhere is the right voltage… :slight_smile:

but: i can´t upload mios! >:(

i have to figure out what the problem is. i suppose it can´t be my midi-interface (emagic mt4) because i´m using it all the time and everything is ok with it.

so it might be the pic… it doesn´t send messages at all, there´s no sign of life from it. altough i did order a pre-burned pic, i´m not sure if that really is so. how can i check if the bootloader is burned on the pic? do i need the pic burner module for that? i wanted to build one anyhow, so that´s no real problem…

well, i have to check the forum if i can find a topic which can help… i like to solve problems on my own, if possible. if i can´t i´ll ask for help here…

it´s too bad that a problem comes up that early and i now have to take a closer look at mios, pic-burning and programming and the midi-protocol. i wanted to do that later when it comes to customize my midibox…

but maybe it´s good to get forced to do that cause i know myself good enough to know that i will probably be too lazy to learn all the details of mios and stuff when everything works without problems…

well, let´s go…

6

You will find some tips here:

http://www.midibox.org/forum/index.php?topic=7853.0

and in various other articles within the troubleshooting section.

All errors and analysis tips which ever have been made are collected there (and some in the MIDIbox SID section, initiated by people who started the topic in the wrong section - sorry for that, don’t know how to handle this w/o the help of an additional moderator)

Best Regards, Thorsten.

7

alright, update:

i had to work all the time, so there was not much time left to take care of my mbsid. i just managed to build another core and sid module and tested them. i also built the pic burner - i checked the pic i ordered from mike and, surprise, surprise - it was blank.  :-\

no wonder i couldn´t upload mios… so i burned bootloader on it (and another virgin pic). it worked without problems.

then, after a break of some days, i uploaded mios to the pics - no problem. then uploaded the sid application - no problem.

so far so good.

not so good: when i connect the sid and the core and try to power them (i use the optimized psu) the lcd lights up but no messages appear and all seems to be frozen. i checked the conections - seem to be ok. the problem is that i can´t run the interconnection test because i can´t acces the core via midi as long the sid module is connected to it. what the hell? i tried the whole procedure with both of my core and sid modules, always the same.

and because i couldn´t find anything in the forum to help me with this particular problem, i ask for help here…  :slight_smile:

so: anyone who can give me a hint waht he problem could be? please?

8

some news: i solved the “freezing” problem… i mounted ic2 upside down… now the core powers up correctly when the sid module is attached. then i ran the interconnection test.

here´s the mistake: i measure 0.45v at pin res#. also i measure 0.02v at pin cs#, but i think that´s ok…

so i checked again for shorts etc. but everything is fine. what could be the problem ? is it possible that i killed the ic by mounting it upside down? or maybe a capacitor is dead? please help… :cry:

9

update: finally my second sid module passed the interconnection test. but there´s still no sound. and after using some new 74hc959 on the other module, i still measure 0.45v at pin res#. any hints, please?

10

it bleeps! it bleeps!

11

what was it ?

12

really stupid and mysterious: one of the cables at the bottom of the core was broken… don´t ask me why… i couldn´t see this mistake. but for no special reason i had the idea to check this connection with my multimeter… well, didn´t beep, so i exchanged the cable with a new one, and: it bleeps! it bleeps!  ;D

still, i have to debug my other sid…

but during a break from debugging i soldered a bankstick pcb and mounted it - works perfectly.

now i have to buy some encoders and buttons before i can build my control surface.

has anyone experience with alps stec16b03 and b04 encoders? and where to get them cheap?

it bleeps! it bleeps!  ;D

13

i hate parts suppliers, especially conrad!!!

i bought some new 74hc… for my sid and guess what, they sold me a broken one!  :-\

but there is also good news: i exchanged the broken 74hc… with another one, and: it also bleeps!!!  ;D

for now i have 2 working sid modules. that means i´m finished for now. after christmas i will build two more core/sid modules and then i have to think seriously about a nice enclosure and a frontpanel…

i´m happy  ;D

merry christmas to you all!

14

merry christmas  :wink: