Level42 Posted December 25, 2017 Share Posted December 25, 2017 (edited) So, I installed a brand new U1MB yesterday. It still has the "factory" firmware so not JFC's yet... Whenever I power up the machine it comes up with the set-up,screen. When I adjust some settings and save it, it seems to go OK, but as soon as I power down and power up again, I get the settings screen again and all the things I changed are back to "factory" defaults..... Did I wire up something incorrectly ? Edited December 25, 2017 by Level42 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Level42 Posted December 25, 2017 Author Share Posted December 25, 2017 (edited) Checked the 4 wires that need to be soldered....all correct.....anything else I could have done wrong ? I'm using the BASIC ROM position for the large connector since this is a 600XL, jumper settings are correct (lower 2 positions). Edited December 25, 2017 by Level42 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marius Posted December 25, 2017 Share Posted December 25, 2017 The Settings are saved in the NVRAM, which is a very small ram part in the RTC chip. Is the battery good? Can you measure the voltage? Is the time saved when you power cycle the atari? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Level42 Posted December 25, 2017 Author Share Posted December 25, 2017 (edited) Well I know it's not nice to swear on X-mas day but .....%*%^%+#^#^}*}>{* !!!!!!!!! I just fixed the problem......and it wasn't because I made a mistake.... I read a bit more on this forum about U1MB not saving the settings and someone suggested to check if the battery was installed correctly. I had a look at mine because I figured it might have come partially loose because of transport. Well it was fit snugly in the holder so that wasn't the problem.....but I thought, let's check if the battery is actually OK. I said to myself....naaahhh, impossible....no way in the world that the battery can be the problem....this is a brand new U1MB which only just arrived from Poland and I'm sure Lotharek checks everything he ships out..........well..... Look at what I measured !!!!!!!!!!!!!! Edited December 25, 2017 by Level42 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Level42 Posted December 25, 2017 Author Share Posted December 25, 2017 This is the battery. Not only is it one of those cheap lousy Chinese no-brand ones, but look at that production date....it's from 2009 !!!!! To be honest, even so, a CR2032 battery should last about ten years but when I buy a new product I expect a brand new, good quality brand battery in there.....penny saving is usually not wise on things like these.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Level42 Posted December 25, 2017 Author Share Posted December 25, 2017 (edited) Luckily I had a good brand, Japanese battery around, popped it in the U1MB, powered up, saved settings and everything is jut fine ! I can imagine some other people might have run into this same issue.... My advice, even if you have a good working setup......check yours and replace it with a well known brand one....who knows these cheap Chinese things may start to leak and damage your ULtimate or your precious Atari..... I cannot understand why any seller is taking such risks by saving a few pennies on inferior batteries from old stocks.....seriously, I'm angry at Lotharek right now.....he can expect an angry email too. I pay a pretty good amount of money for the product, I even pay the insane shipping price of 18 Euros and now I get this ??? Come on !!! Edited December 25, 2017 by Level42 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Level42 Posted December 25, 2017 Author Share Posted December 25, 2017 The Settings are saved in the NVRAM, which is a very small ram part in the RTC chip. Is the battery good? Can you measure the voltage? Is the time saved when you power cycle the atari? Well you were spot on but I missed your posting because of I was already typing up my findings ;) Thanks ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Level42 Posted December 25, 2017 Author Share Posted December 25, 2017 Let it be known that I'm not against anything from China.....but batteries is one of those areas where I avoid them. Now, I've also got an older U1MB which I screwed up myself by trying to replace the headers twice and I shipped to JFC to have a look at it....I had removed the battery because I figured he could install one if really needed.....didn't work out....but I still have that battery and found it back. Same "brand".....production dat is 2006 this time.....granted, I bought that U1MB a few years ago, but the gap between delivery and production dat of the battery still is about 80% of its expected lifetime....... I didn't have problems saving settings with that U1MB though so I figured I'd measure it now: I'd say that is a typical value for a 11 year old CR2032, enough to make it work. But the issue remains : why put in ancient dodgy quality batteries into your product ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted December 25, 2017 Share Posted December 25, 2017 Cough... cheaper from China... cough. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Level42 Posted December 25, 2017 Author Share Posted December 25, 2017 Mmmmm...... Looking at those stamped codes...... Usually date codes are weeknumber-last two digits of the year.....but obviously 64 is not a possible week number.....so......I might be wrong about those datecodes.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Level42 Posted December 25, 2017 Author Share Posted December 25, 2017 Cough... cheaper from China... cough. Yeah wel.....you know....for unimportant stuff....f.i. LEDs or resistors....I have little issue getting them from China....I've even ordered several PCBs lately and let's face it, it's amazing for the price.....even though I've learned they are pretty much "solder one time only"..... I used CR2032s a lot to modify battery back-up circuits on arcade PCBs like Q-bert, Joust and Berzerk. Usually these have a charged battery so I blocked the charging voltage with a diode (Schottky so it had minimal forward resistance) and installed a CR2032 holder. I always bought good quality brand CR2032s locally....yeah they cost a bit more, but I wanted to run those PCBs for at least ten years keeping the high scores and not risking any leaking on the expensive and precious arcade PCBs..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted December 25, 2017 Share Posted December 25, 2017 Yeah, I doubt a coin cell would be lying around that long if he's putting them in U1MBs and SIDE2s all the time. These things happen. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Level42 Posted December 25, 2017 Author Share Posted December 25, 2017 (edited) Yeah, I calmed down a bit already....LOL.... Going to enjoy X-Mas now :) Edited December 25, 2017 by Level42 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DrVenkman Posted December 25, 2017 Share Posted December 25, 2017 I have a brand new U1MB sitting in a box full of stuff just received from MacRorie for my 1088XEL build - now I'm paranoid and will have to check the voltage on that coin battery before I trust it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Level42 Posted December 25, 2017 Author Share Posted December 25, 2017 Never hurts to check before installing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted December 25, 2017 Share Posted December 25, 2017 Board is upside down on the 1088XEL as well, so battery swap is painless. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DrVenkman Posted December 25, 2017 Share Posted December 25, 2017 Board is upside down on the 1088XEL as well, so battery swap is painless. And on that note, I've got your U1MB header pin removal video queued up to watch next before I mod this board for the 1088XEL build. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashjazzcat Posted December 25, 2017 Share Posted December 25, 2017 Oh... so the vertical headers didn't happen, then? Most unfortunate in every respect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DrVenkman Posted December 25, 2017 Share Posted December 25, 2017 Oh... so the vertical headers didn't happen, then? Most unfortunate in every respect. 'Fraid not, at least not on these. I know Mac bought 10 of them for the first kits and builds he's doing for others. He'll be replacing them all on the ones he builds of course and will probably do any extra U1MBs he has at that point, but I asked him to go ahead and send my kit so I can get started this week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemiel Posted December 25, 2017 Share Posted December 25, 2017 (edited) Reset to gnd via capacitor connection will clear this issue again? Edited December 25, 2017 by lemiel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mytek Posted December 25, 2017 Share Posted December 25, 2017 Oh... so the vertical headers didn't happen, then? Most unfortunate in every respect. Last time I spoke with Lotharek about doing this, he said that he builds 50 boards per batch, and wouldn't be able to implement that change until the next batch is scheduled. Perhaps he hasn't gotten to that point of having the next batch built 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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