cfarl Posted March 3, 2022 Share Posted March 3, 2022 4 hours ago, Al_Nafuur said: Maybe you had "Skip flash erase before programming" checked? https://pluscart.firmaplus.de/pico/?flashing You are only comparing the first 0x400 bytes (1024 bytes) here! 0x400 bytes is the default setting for reading of the STMCubeProgrammer. You should set it to 128 KiB (0x20000) to read and compare the whole firmware flash area. I have flashed using the same configuration: The comparing with 0x20000 gives me the same result.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Al_Nafuur Posted March 4, 2022 Share Posted March 4, 2022 20 hours ago, cfarl said: I have flashed using the same configuration: did you checked the boot0 jumper? 20 hours ago, cfarl said: I can't see any issue here, all looks fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfarl Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 (edited) 9 hours ago, Al_Nafuur said: did you checked the boot0 jumper? I can't see any issue here, all looks fine. Yes, both boot0 and boot1 are jumped.... I have built a cartridge with some slots to test the SMT and esp boards, before putting them in a final cartridge: As you can see, boot1 is jumped here to avoid doing this in the STM board (until soldering it in the final cartridge). So, I have a STM board that works as expected using this slotted cartridge. And another that is not working.... This is the not working one: Both have the same image programmed (as previous images), but something in this board is not working.... Maybe some hardware component? Edited March 5, 2022 by cfarl Adding more information. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfarl Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 And I have a mounted cartridge that was working and stopped working.... So, I have 3 STM boards, and just one is working. It's frustating.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Al_Nafuur Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 11 hours ago, cfarl said: Maybe some hardware component? The STM boards used to be cheap and reliable. But since chip prices have increased (by a factor of four), the quality seems to have dropped significantly. The last batch I ordered had 5 out of 40 boards not working. Luckily I could get 4 of them to a working state by resoldering the MCU. In my current batch I have found 2 not working boards so far.. You can check the MCU connections with a magnifier and maybe resolder it with some flux and a heat gun, if you are familiar with it. 11 hours ago, cfarl said: And I have a mounted cartridge that was working and stopped working.... That doesn't seem like a solder problem. Can you try to flash the old (working) firmware version and test again? 11 hours ago, cfarl said: Yes, both boot0 and boot1 are jumped.... I have built a cartridge with some slots to test the SMT and esp boards, before putting them in a final cartridge: Nice test board. Since the STM boards are not that reliable anymore, I might try this too. 11 hours ago, cfarl said: Looks like the flux hasn't been cleaned properly in the factory. I had this with the new boards too. Cleaning with alcohol and a brush made them look nicer, but did not put them in a working condition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfarl Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 4 hours ago, Al_Nafuur said: The STM boards used to be cheap and reliable. But since chip prices have increased (by a factor of four), the quality seems to have dropped significantly. The last batch I ordered had 5 out of 40 boards not working. Luckily I could get 4 of them to a working state by resoldering the MCU. In my current batch I have found 2 not working boards so far.. You can check the MCU connections with a magnifier and maybe resolder it with some flux and a heat gun, if you are familiar with it. That doesn't seem like a solder problem. Can you try to flash the old (working) firmware version and test again? Nice test board. Since the STM boards are not that reliable anymore, I might try this too. Looks like the flux hasn't been cleaned properly in the factory. I had this with the new boards too. Cleaning with alcohol and a brush made them look nicer, but did not put them in a working condition. I will try the resoldering, good ideia! Then, I will check the connections of the board. Good to see you liked what I have done to test the boards! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+fdr4prez Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 4 hours ago, Al_Nafuur said: Looks like the flux hasn't been cleaned properly in the factory. I had this with the new boards too. Cleaning with alcohol and a brush made them look nicer, but did not put them in a working condition. There are basically two types of flux used in electronics. Water soluble flux is required to be cleaned off with water because the flux after reflow was slightly conductive, but it is not typically used these days due to the extra work needed in the manufacturing process to clean the flux off, but it can still be requested from your CM. Many smaller/inexpensive CMs don't even have a washer for this process. Most solder these days are using a "no clean" flux. This means that the flux does not need to be cleaned off. It is electronically inert and can be left on the board after the reflow process. So it requires less work. The "no clean" flux can be removed, but it is just normally a cosmetic/aesthetic thing to do so. Please be mindful that no clean flux can turn milky white if attempted to be cleaned off with alcohol or water - YMMV - it depends on the formula of the no clean flux in the solder. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfarl Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 I have tried to flash the old (working) firmware version, and the working cartridge is still not working... I will try clean the board with water, do the resoldering, and let's see what we get.... The strange thing is that I can connect the board in my computer usb and program it. So, I think the MCU must be working, and I'm having some soldering or broken track problem.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Al_Nafuur Posted March 5, 2022 Share Posted March 5, 2022 4 hours ago, cfarl said: I have tried to flash the old (working) firmware version, and the working cartridge is still not working... ? So maybe a defective solder joint after all? 4 hours ago, cfarl said: I will try clean the board with water, do the resoldering, and let's see what we get.... ? 4 hours ago, cfarl said: The strange thing is that I can connect the board in my computer usb and program it. So, I think the MCU must be working, and I'm having some soldering or broken track problem.... Most of my not working boards did flashed fine too. The USB connection uses only 2 pins, but to work in the VCS more than 20 I/O pins of the MCU must be soldered correctly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfarl Posted March 6, 2022 Share Posted March 6, 2022 3 minutes ago, Al_Nafuur said: ? So maybe a defective solder joint after all? ? Most of my not working boards did flashed fine too. The USB connection uses only 2 pins, but to work in the VCS more than 20 I/O pins of the MCU must be soldered correctly. Nice to known about this! And your not working boards, you have soldered the MCU and they started to work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfarl Posted March 9, 2022 Share Posted March 9, 2022 Good news! I have washed my not working cartridge with water and neutral detergent, and after this I have dryed it using a cold air hair dryer. Then, I remade the soldering of the MCU, used a microscope to check the terminals, and used a multimeter do check the continuity. Then, I tested it in my old Atari and.... It worked! Nice!!!!! I did the same with the other board, and tested in my test cartridge. But this one is still not working.... Well, at least one of them is working again! Thanks by your advice! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfarl Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 Well, now I'm working to bring the not working MCU back to life. I was checking all the componentes of the board, and discovered something interesting... In a working board, this component (the oscilator crystal) has very low resistance. But in my not working board, the resistance is very hight... Something like Mega Ohms. My conclusion: this component is not working. Now the problem.... I can't find the specification of this component in its body. Someone can help me on this? I want to replace this component, but I don't know what is it.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Al_Nafuur Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 2 hours ago, cfarl said: Well, now I'm working to bring the not working MCU back to life. I was checking all the componentes of the board, and discovered something interesting... In a working board, this component (the oscilator crystal) has very low resistance. But in my not working board, the resistance is very hight... Something like Mega Ohms. did you measured the resistance in circuit, or did you removed the oscillators before you measured their resistance? 2 hours ago, cfarl said: My conclusion: this component is not working. ? 2 hours ago, cfarl said: Now the problem.... I can't find the specification of this component in its body. Someone can help me on this? I want to replace this component, but I don't know what is it.... I am not 100% sure, but it should be a 8 MHz oscillator. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfarl Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 Ok, I removed the oscillator from the not working board and placed it in the working one.... And the working one is still working. Conclusion: the problem is not in the oscillator. I measured both the oscillators out of the circuit, the resistance is very high. Interesting thing, now the working board is measuring the high resistance even in the circuit. I could have done some mistake in my previous measure.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfarl Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 19 minutes ago, Al_Nafuur said: I am not 100% sure, but it should be a 8 MHz oscillator. I'm thinking buying some oscillator tester, as this one, just to know about this. https://pt.aliexpress.com/item/32902587660.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.70a433c10DOZgG&algo_pvid=51dbe012-a4cd-4597-919a-fe2b2da2593e&algo_exp_id=51dbe012-a4cd-4597-919a-fe2b2da2593e-5&pdp_ext_f={"sku_id"%3A"65817865303"}&pdp_pi=-1%3B46.85%3B-1%3B-1%40salePrice%3BBRL%3Bsearch-mainSearch 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfarl Posted April 16, 2022 Share Posted April 16, 2022 I managed to get my other no-working STM to work. I have found two pins with broken tracks, and remade it: Now it is working as expected! Thanks for your help!!! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Andrew Davie Posted April 16, 2022 Author Share Posted April 16, 2022 10 minutes ago, cfarl said: I managed to get my other no-working STM to work. I have found two pins with broken tracks, and remade it: Now it is working as expected! Thanks for your help!!! Great news! But how on earth did that damage happen?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfarl Posted April 16, 2022 Share Posted April 16, 2022 (edited) 1 hour ago, Andrew Davie said: Great news! But how on earth did that damage happen?! Nice question, Andrew! First, I soldered it to build a Pluscart cartridge pcb. But then (I don't remember why, if it was because of the not working sd or wifi), I removed it (dessoldered it) from the cartridge pcb. So, in this process, I must be damaged some tracks.... Edited April 16, 2022 by cfarl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfarl Posted May 2, 2022 Share Posted May 2, 2022 Wow, have you seen the price of the STM32F407VGT6? https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32855505972.html?spm=a2g0s.8937460.0.0.65eb2e0eiqr9oi So, I was wondering.... Is this the only Board that could be used to build a Pluscart Duo? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Al_Nafuur Posted May 2, 2022 Share Posted May 2, 2022 15 hours ago, cfarl said: Wow, have you seen the price of the STM32F407VGT6? https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32855505972.html?spm=a2g0s.8937460.0.0.65eb2e0eiqr9oi So, I was wondering.... Is this the only Board that could be used to build a Pluscart Duo? The STM32H7 is cheaper and might work too: https://de.aliexpress.com/item/1005004100170367.html The used MCU is much faster (480 Mhz) and has much more RAM (1024 KiB). But it would need some modifications on the breakout board and the code. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capellão Posted June 13, 2022 Share Posted June 13, 2022 On 5/2/2022 at 12:45 PM, cfarl said: Wow, have you seen the price of the STM32F407VGT6? https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32855505972.html?spm=a2g0s.8937460.0.0.65eb2e0eiqr9oi So, I was wondering.... Is this the only Board that could be used to build a Pluscart Duo? does it work? It looks cheaper. https://pt.aliexpress.com/item/1005003287162641.html 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Al_Nafuur Posted June 14, 2022 Share Posted June 14, 2022 19 hours ago, Capellão said: does it work? It looks cheaper. https://pt.aliexpress.com/item/1005003287162641.html This should work. The offer and picture states that it is a STM32F407VGT6 but the price looks like it is a STM32F407VET6. Both chips are basically the same except the later only has half the flash ROM size (512 K instead of 1 M). Which will only decrease the "Offline ROMs" storage. But if you want to build a PlusCart Duo with the SD-Card you most probably don't care about the flash storage. Since the prices have risen so extremely, I have observed that the quality has declined sharply. It looks like that some dealers are trying to sell VET6 as VGT6 boards and the producers are looking through their waste dumps and sell everything that looks halfway OK. Many of the faulty ones I received only needed SMD re-soldering, but there were also some total failures. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capellão Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 (edited) On 6/14/2022 at 4:55 AM, Al_Nafuur said: This should work. The offer and picture states that it is a STM32F407VGT6 but the price looks like it is a STM32F407VET6. Both chips are basically the same except the later only has half the flash ROM size (512 K instead of 1 M). Which will only decrease the "Offline ROMs" storage. But if you want to build a PlusCart Duo with the SD-Card you most probably don't care about the flash storage. Since the prices have risen so extremely, I have observed that the quality has declined sharply. It looks like that some dealers are trying to sell VET6 as VGT6 boards and the producers are looking through their waste dumps and sell everything that looks halfway OK. Many of the faulty ones I received only needed SMD re-soldering, but there were also some total failures. The right model came in this ad I posted (STM32F407VGT6). It worked! Thanks to the community! Edited July 1, 2022 by Capellão 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Andrew Davie Posted July 2, 2022 Author Share Posted July 2, 2022 On 3/5/2021 at 6:29 AM, Al_Nafuur said: @DablioGames has already build a production ready hybrid (SMD) PCB for UnoCart and PlusCart. He promised to release it as soon as it is "bug-free". Any news on this...? It's been a long time, now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Al_Nafuur Posted July 2, 2022 Share Posted July 2, 2022 9 hours ago, Andrew Davie said: On 3/4/2021 at 9:29 PM, Al_Nafuur said: @DablioGames has already build a production ready hybrid (SMD) PCB for UnoCart and PlusCart. He promised to release it as soon as it is "bug-free". Any news on this...? It's been a long time, now. ?♂️ @DablioGames have you released the SMD board in the meantime? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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