NOOOOOOO!!!!!!! sigh... sob...

bosone · March 15, 2003, 9:52pm

i’m SOOOOOOOOOOOO sad… :(

this afternoon i finished my SID. i was very happy! everything worked at first try and i succeded in listening to the old c64 sounds! cute!

the PCB were not in case, i was just testing. i even added a led to see when the unit is turned on.

after the tests, i left all on my workbech, and unplugged the power supply.

then, after some hours i decided to make some order. i take the core module and ZACK! a spark! the led lighted for a while and then nothing…

i reinsterted the plug, but the led did not lit, and there was no signs of life. the unit made NO sounds!!!

i unplugged the PIC, tunred on the power and made the voltage test: evrerything was correct, and the led was lit…

i tried to insert the PIC into the JDM programmer… nothing!!! there were NO data on it and it was not possible to burnb the firmware…

my PIC is DEAD!!! R.i.P.

:-(((

now i have to wait for the microchip free samples, and i suppose they will arrive on late april…

the BIG question is now: is the SID dead, also???

how can i control if it is sane???

SID and CORE module are connected to the same power supply and were linked altogether when happened the spark…

T.K · March 17, 2003, 1:10am

It’s a great pity!

If you own a C64, you could test the SID with the computer, otherwise I see no chance without a PIC.

However, when I look into my shelf which is full of electronical components I see a lot of PIC16F877-04 which I got as samples from a german distributor. He sent me the 4 MHz version by fault but never wanted them back. I used two of them some weeks for my SID modules (overclocked!), but now I’ve replaced them by PIC18F452. Since I’ve no use for these PIC16F chips anymore, I could give you one for free, just email your postal address

In the meantime you should try to find the root cause for this failure, so that it never happens again!

Best Regards, Thorsten.

bosone · March 17, 2003, 11:06am

you are very polite, but i’m waiting for the free microchip samples…

otherwise, i don’t think the 4MHz versions will work, since i have a 20MHz oscillator…

thank you!

T.K · March 17, 2003, 11:27pm

Hi Matteo,

oh - I overclocked the chips with 20 MHz and noticed no failures (I had luck!). But ok, so I have to search for another useful job for the chips. Maybe I should build even more SID units

Best Regards, Thorsten.

Steven_C · March 18, 2003, 2:16pm

old c64’s are easy to find on ebay, but lets hope the sid is ok!

Steven_C · March 18, 2003, 2:17pm

I’m sure one of us will be able to help you find a new sid if need be!

bosone · March 21, 2003, 6:54pm

now i’m *quite* happy because i have seen on FedEx site that on monday 24 they should arrive the PIC samples from microchip…

i cannot wait to get’em… and i hope that SID will still work!!

bosone · March 24, 2003, 5:36pm

YEAH!

today arrived the free samples from microchip and my SID unit returned back to life!!!

now i only miss the case, then i’ll be able to groove!

js1 · March 25, 2003, 12:10am

Congrats!!!

ItÂ´s sad hear about a malfunction Sid.

I havnÂ´t started my own yet But iÂ´ll do as soon as I finish my final studie (the beginning of April.. )

I just got the samples today and I bought a C64 a couple of weeks ago (itÂ´s still about 150km away from my home though…) so im almost ready to rock!!