+tf_hh Posted December 28, 2014 Share Posted December 28, 2014 Hi there, announced for the ABBUC hardware contest, my project "Sys-Check" takes 3rd place - thanks to all voters. Now I´m ready to ship out the solution to all who are interested in. Sys-Check will be only offered as D.I.Y. assembly kit. You will get: - one high quality, gold finished PCB with markings and explanations on it - all parts including sockets, chips, resistors, cables and so on to finalize it Each assembly kit costs 25 euros (approx. 31 US dollar at today) plus shipping (from 5.60 euros to 27 euros depending on the destination and amount of orders). I only sell complete kits, no single PCBs or less parts. Timeline: - Orders accepted until January the 14th 2015 - Payment via bank transfer or paypal must be done until January the 19th 2015 - All orders after 14th January will be canceled, all payments after 19th January will be refunded - PCB order will be placed on January 20th - Delivery of each kit to buyer approx. at the end of February (depending on international shipping times) This will be the first and last batch. If you´re interested, please place order by EMAIL. I will not accept orders here in the forum or by personal message (PN). Please email your order to tf_hh@gmx.de. You will get an answer within 48 hours. Please sent my the name of your country to calculate shipping costs before I answer you. In the attachment of this post you will find the english translation of Sys-Check manual. Best regards, Juergen Manual Sys-Check II english.pdf 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marius Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 I will place my order through e-mail! One more question though: Are the JEDEC files freeware, so in the (far) future I could fix the device if one of the gals or microcontrolers might get broken? Thanks a lot! Marius 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen J. Carden Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 Hi there, announced for the ABBUC hardware contest, my project "Sys-Check" takes 3rd place - thanks to all voters. Now I´m ready to ship out the solution to all who are interested in. Sys-Check_II.jpg Sys-Check will be only offered as D.I.Y. assembly kit. You will get: - one high quality, gold finished PCB with markings and explanations on it - all parts including sockets, chips, resistors, cables and so on to finalize it Each assembly kit costs 25 euros (approx. 31 US dollar at today) plus shipping (from 5.60 euros to 27 euros depending on the destination and amount of orders). I only sell complete kits, no single PCBs or less parts. Timeline: - Orders accepted until January the 14th 2015 - Payment via bank transfer or paypal must be done until January the 19th 2015 - All orders after 14th January will be canceled, all payments after 19th January will be refunded - PCB order will be placed on January 20th - Delivery of each kit to buyer approx. at the end of February (depending on international shipping times) This will be the first and last batch. If you´re interested, please place order by EMAIL. I will not accept orders here in the forum or by personal message (PN). Please email your order to tf_hh@gmx.de. You will get an answer within 48 hours. Please sent my the name of your country to calculate shipping costs before I answer you. In the attachment of this post you will find the english translation of Sys-Check manual. Best regards, Juergen I would Like two please! Stephen J. Carden Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+tf_hh Posted December 29, 2014 Author Share Posted December 29, 2014 Hi Marius, I will place my order through e-mail! One more question though: Are the JEDEC files freeware, so in the (far) future I could fix the device if one of the gals or microcontrolers might get broken? Thanks a lot! Marius Yes, Sys-Check II is freely published. In the attachment of this post you will find all files needed. Of course I publish also newer versions to the community. Regards, Juergen Sys-Check II english.zip 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+tf_hh Posted December 30, 2014 Author Share Posted December 30, 2014 Hi all, I forget something to mention... All purchasers of the Sys-Check assembly kit will receive the newer version 2.1 - the difference to V2.0 (which is the one sent to the ABBUC hardware-contest) is the ability to use up to 128 KByte EPROMs (27128 / 27256 / 27512 and 27010/271001) holding up to four different Sys-Check firmware versions or XL/XE operating systems. This feature enables Sys-Check also to be a kind of external OS switcher. Two additional DIP switches allows manually selection of one of the four operating systems. This new usage is an idea from two guests at the ABBUC general annual meeting hold at the end of october 2014. Thanks, folks. Best regards, Juergen 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marius Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 Wow man! I did not understand this, but what do you say? Can an Atari 8bit have an EXTERNAL OS? This is extremely interesting! So your SysCheck + a MyIDE interface could give a stock atari XL/XE a fabulous compatible combination with the MyBIOS in ROM? In this SysCheck device?? Amazing! Or did I understand you wrong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Larry Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 Well, that is interesting! I am eager to hear the answer to ProWizard's question... -Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marius Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 (edited) Well, that is interesting! I am eager to hear the answer to ProWizard's question... -Larry Oh.... it does not have a cart port! On 600/800XL it might work though. I hope it works with external OS.... interesting! Edited December 30, 2014 by ProWizard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillC Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 Oh.... it does not have a cart port! On 600/800XL it might work though. I hope it works with external OS.... interesting! It's too bad they didn't arrange the vias by the ECI/CART card edge connections to allow adding the connectors, similar to what was done with the RAM320XE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+tf_hh Posted December 31, 2014 Author Share Posted December 31, 2014 Hi, Wow man! I did not understand this, but what do you say? Can an Atari 8bit have an EXTERNAL OS? This is extremely interesting! So your SysCheck + a MyIDE interface could give a stock atari XL/XE a fabulous compatible combination with the MyBIOS in ROM? In this SysCheck device?? Yes, this is the second goal for Sys-Check. To enable a diagnostic software even if the computer doesn´t start in case of bad memory or a bad operating system ROM, I must enable the possibility to get control about the complete address range of the Atari. This is realized by draining the refresh line down (low), the Atari MMU is deactivated during this time and Sys-Check mirrors the operating system you want to the address bus. Without this, Sys-Check can´t more than any diagnostic cartridge like SALT, but this is not enough, as everybody knows who is doing repairs. So you can use ANY operating system or firmware that works in the address range from $C000-$FFFF. You can also use an OLD-OS from the 400/800 series (using only $D800-$FFFF), a XL OS patched with Hias´ High-Speed SIO or QMEG or whatever you want. Some OS like SPOS (a german patched one) doesn´t support correct checksums, so the checksum test of Sys-Check will always fail - but this has no effect of using such an operating system. The V2.1 can hold four different operating systems, if you want to use Sys-Check diagnostic features, you´ve three operating systems for general use free. Best regards, Juergen 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+tf_hh Posted December 31, 2014 Author Share Posted December 31, 2014 Hi again, another information, because I receive a question about it and want to clarify... Of course both logic chips (GAL 22V10) and the EPROM is programmed with the needed content. So you must not be able to burn GALs or EPROMs. Best regards, Juergen 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Defender II Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 Before you send the order for the final PCBs can you add the holes for pass through of cartridge and ECI ports so we can add the edge connectors if we want them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen J. Carden Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 Hi there, announced for the ABBUC hardware contest, my project "Sys-Check" takes 3rd place - thanks to all voters. Now I´m ready to ship out the solution to all who are interested in. Sys-Check_II.jpg Sys-Check will be only offered as D.I.Y. assembly kit. You will get: - one high quality, gold finished PCB with markings and explanations on it - all parts including sockets, chips, resistors, cables and so on to finalize it Each assembly kit costs 25 euros (approx. 31 US dollar at today) plus shipping (from 5.60 euros to 27 euros depending on the destination and amount of orders). I only sell complete kits, no single PCBs or less parts. Timeline: - Orders accepted until January the 14th 2015 - Payment via bank transfer or paypal must be done until January the 19th 2015 - All orders after 14th January will be canceled, all payments after 19th January will be refunded - PCB order will be placed on January 20th - Delivery of each kit to buyer approx. at the end of February (depending on international shipping times) This will be the first and last batch. If you´re interested, please place order by EMAIL. I will not accept orders here in the forum or by personal message (PN). Please email your order to tf_hh@gmx.de. You will get an answer within 48 hours. Please sent my the name of your country to calculate shipping costs before I answer you. In the attachment of this post you will find the english translation of Sys-Check manual. Best regards, Juergen I Need a e-mail that I can paypal you your funds for this hardware project. You can e-mail it to my web site. RealDos @ bellsouth.net Just remove the spaces out of it. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+tf_hh Posted December 31, 2014 Author Share Posted December 31, 2014 Hi Steve, I Need a e-mail that I can paypal you your funds for this hardware project.You can e-mail it to my web site.RealDos @ bellsouth.netJust remove the spaces out of it.Steve EMails sent :-) BR, Juergen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+tf_hh Posted December 31, 2014 Author Share Posted December 31, 2014 Hi, Before you send the order for the final PCBs can you add the holes for pass through of cartridge and ECI ports so we can add the edge connectors if we want them? Not easy, because there´s not enough space for it. Today the PCB has 10cm height and ~9cm width, to include ECI and cartridge port pass-through AND some space for holding a cartridge I´ve to add approx. 5 cm. This will raise the price for PCB more then three times up, and the PCB is already the most significant part in calculation. The ENIG (gold finishing) of the PCB is the main reason for the higher price, but I´m not willing to use the simple HASL method, because you will be have problems with the XE contacts within a couple of weeks. Best regards, Juergen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Larry Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 Hi again, another information, because I receive a question about it and want to clarify... Of course both logic chips (GAL 22V10) and the EPROM is programmed with the needed content. So you must not be able to burn GALs or EPROMs. Best regards, Juergen I'm sorry, but I don't understand this. I guess that I would interpret this to mean that "if the user changes these" then Sys-Chek II will not function as it is intended." (?) But if we use a larger eprom, then so long as the original firmware (eprom) is in one of the 16K banks, then we can put other OS in the other 3 banks. (?) Is that correct? Thanks, Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+tf_hh Posted December 31, 2014 Author Share Posted December 31, 2014 (edited) Hi Larry, I'm sorry, but I don't understand this. I guess that I would interpret this to mean that "if the user changes these" then Sys-Chek II will not function as it is intended." (?) But if we use a larger eprom, then so long as the original firmware (eprom) is in one of the 16K banks, then we can put other OS in the other 3 banks. (?) Is that correct? The logic terms ("sourcecode") for the GALs are freely distributed, so everyone can change functions of it, if he want. Also the schematics are published. The V2.1 schematics and files I will publish when all is done. What I mean... when you don´t program Sys-Checks diagnostic firmware into an EPROM, then of course you can´t use the diagnostic functions. But in every case you can use standard operating systems. Every slot for one Sys-Check diagnostic firmware OR any operating system takes 32 KByte. This is to keep future expansions to Sys-Check firmware possible and more functionality is not realized due the limited amount of terms usable by two GALs. So this is the complete list of devices: EPROM 27128 (16 KByte) - One Sys-Check Firmware OR one operating system. Sys-Check firmware only until it fits in 16 KByte EPROM 27256 (32 KByte) - One Sys-Check Firmware OR one operating system. Sys-Check firmware can be extended to 32 KByte for future features EPROM 27512 (64 KByte) - Two Sys-Check Firmware OR two operating system OR one of each. EPROM 27010/271001 (128 KByte) - Four Sys-Check Firmware OR four operating system OR every other combination of them Hope all is clear now :-) Best regards, Juergen Edited December 31, 2014 by tf_hh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Larry Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 Terrific! Thanks Juergen, and Happy New Year! -Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillC Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 Hi, Not easy, because there´s not enough space for it. Today the PCB has 10cm height and ~9cm width, to include ECI and cartridge port pass-through AND some space for holding a cartridge I´ve to add approx. 5 cm. This will raise the price for PCB more then three times up, and the PCB is already the most significant part in calculation. The ENIG (gold finishing) of the PCB is the main reason for the higher price, but I´m not willing to use the simple HASL method, because you will be have problems with the XE contacts within a couple of weeks. Best regards, Juergen I know the design is completed, but would it be possible to add a third row of holes between those for the PBI card edge connector, duplicating 1 of the existing rows? This would allow use of a 50-pin header for use with a ribbon cable(the header row spacing is 2.54mm/0.1" instead of the 5.08mm/0.2" spacing for the edge-card connector), this would allow either connector to be used as desired. The use of ribbon cable means the device doesn't have to stick up vertically on the back of an XL computer. A similar modification was done to the IDE+2.0(Rev.C), although they added a separate 50-pin header footprint so both connectors could be present, just another row of holes to allow either connector to be used is all that I'm suggesting. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Larry Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 Just another PITA question... I see that your unit in the picture uses a AT 29C256 flash rom. Any possibility that this could be re-programmed in place (assuming that the computer rom is working OK)? Or with a 28c256 eeprom? Perhaps if not possible now, that it could be done in the future? Or for the ABBUC contest, next year, maybe you could make an internal flash OS that is reprogrammable, say with 4 OS. :-) Why? Aside from it would just be neat, it is only currently available in the Ultimate 1MB. Certainly nice, but those ribbon cables are BIG and the board is BIG -- takes up lots of space, internally. My 800XL lid still doesn't close completely... Edit: Mine is a V1 original Ultimate 1MB. -Larry 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audronic Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 @ all Information for the Sys-Check II kits I have just asked Juergen if the Programable chips could be PRE programmed, and he informs me that they are Already Programmed. Ps Have a Happy new Year for 2015 --- Yeahhhhh Ray W Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+tf_hh Posted January 1, 2015 Author Share Posted January 1, 2015 Hi Bill, I know the design is completed, but would it be possible to add a third row of holes between those for the PBI card edge connector, duplicating 1 of the existing rows? This would allow use of a 50-pin header for use with a ribbon cable(the header row spacing is 2.54mm/0.1" instead of the 5.08mm/0.2" spacing for the edge-card connector), this would allow either connector to be used as desired. The use of ribbon cable means the device doesn't have to stick up vertically on the back of an XL computer. A good idea - thank you. I will change the PCB with this new row, no problem. Best regards, Juergen 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+tf_hh Posted January 1, 2015 Author Share Posted January 1, 2015 Hi Larry, I see that your unit in the picture uses a AT 29C256 flash rom. Any possibility that this could be re-programmed in place (assuming that the computer rom is working OK)? Or with a 28c256 eeprom? Perhaps if not possible now, that it could be done in the future? Maybe possible, but flash-roms with 128 KB max. (only this one have smaller pages sizes than 64 KByte) in DIP package are extremly rare and mostly out of stock. If I change to greater flash-types, then a lot of more logic is needed, new latches and so on. This require a third GAL or completely change to CPLDs - but then SMD parts are needed and the D.I.Y. thing is lost (for a lot of people). I will keep this in my mind. Thanks! Best regards, Juergen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dropcheck Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 Hi, Put me down for one! What's your paypal address again? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bumzyman Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 I'm in for two... Nice work Juergen............... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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