RickyDean Posted September 15 Share Posted September 15 On 1/19/2024 at 3:26 AM, JasonACT said: @RickyDean The memory tester attached, as mentioned above, is for stand-alone usage on the bench. Once loaded, it will run at a low frequency (250MHz) and try to pass the read/write test, then move onto the next higher speed. It will blink a few times a second while running. When a test eventually fails, it will blink slowly a certain number of times, then remain off for 5 seconds and then repeat that slower-blink number. Count them and report back, do this 2 times, once with the SD card inserted and again with no SD card. I can report, my ESP chip tops out at the speed mentioned previously with an SD card inserted, but with no SD card inserted the test finishes with no errors and stops blinking altogether (no blinks = pass at the highest speed, 141MHz). Running this test with my "do not use" SD card from the junk-box, it gets errors a little bit earlier at a slower speed, so different SD cards do make a difference. memtest.ino.uf2.zip 241.25 kB · 25 downloads Jason I'm using this on the white pico in the picture, as it, right now only has 1 psram soldered onboard, and I am getting a 13 on then the 5 off, repeat, SD card installed. W/O the SD card it rapidly blinks for a long time then stops, no more flashing 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickyDean Posted September 15 Share Posted September 15 (edited) 1 hour ago, chue said: I've been running 1 board at 250 mhz and 1 nop. My other two boards are in storage, so I have not tested them with recent firmware. However, they were all behaving identically previously. That is, if one board worked on a certain setting then the others would as well. Thanks Chue, I'm working with the white 8mb board and it's frustrating me. But it seems all 4 of the Blue 2MB boards are now functioning at the same frequency and nop. I may have to build another white board and use the new Psram I got from the people that sell teensie's. Well 1 of the blue one's with the riser's, is not working good at 250 and 1 nop. But if I set it to 254 and 2 nop's it seems to work fine. Edited September 15 by RickyDean added content 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonACT Posted September 15 Author Share Posted September 15 2 hours ago, RickyDean said: Jason I'm using this on the white pico in the picture, as it, right now only has 1 psram soldered onboard, and I am getting a 13 on then the 5 off, repeat, SD card installed. W/O the SD card it rapidly blinks for a long time then stops, no more flashing That's better than most of mine (using the sanded chips) and about the same as my 2 chips bought elsewhere that were not de-badged. What firmware are you trying when it fails on the TI - it should be the 2MB version with only one chip? What's happening exactly? I seem to recall something about not detecting any memory?? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickyDean Posted September 15 Share Posted September 15 7 minutes ago, JasonACT said: That's better than most of mine (using the sanded chips) and about the same as my 2 chips bought elsewhere that were not de-badged. What firmware are you trying when it fails on the TI - it should be the 2MB version with only one chip? What's happening exactly? I seem to recall something about not detecting any memory?? I'm using your last PPEB2 on the page 20, it should be 2mb. The TI will power on, but when going into TI basic and trying to CALL TIPI, CALL MYARCOF/ON and so forth, I get the BAD NAME error. when I try to go into Jedimatt's RAM test, it states no Ram detected. That's it, nothing else. This one has the gold plated exposed soldering points and it is a bit harder to get the solder to flow, so I'm thinking that is is a solder issue, but I've hit all the major points with no joy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonACT Posted September 15 Author Share Posted September 15 16 minutes ago, RickyDean said: I'm using your last PPEB2 on the page 20, it should be 2mb. The TI will power on, but when going into TI basic and trying to CALL TIPI, CALL MYARCOF/ON and so forth, I get the BAD NAME error. when I try to go into Jedimatt's RAM test, it states no Ram detected. That's it, nothing else. This one has the gold plated exposed soldering points and it is a bit harder to get the solder to flow, so I'm thinking that is is a solder issue, but I've hit all the major points with no joy. Well, the Pico is seeing both the PSRAM and SD Card, if you just get the usual LED blink.. So, it must be the connections through the 3 x 245 chips. Can you go into Mini Memory Easy Bug (using FinalGROM) and see if writing >FF to >A000 comes back with something other than >FF? A lost data bit (U3) would cause what you describe. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonACT Posted September 15 Author Share Posted September 15 (edited) Oh, hang on, that probably won't work... If the DSR isn't running (due to a lost data bit) then the memory expansion (and cartridge) won't be enabled. You might just have to use a multimeter to check all the pins are connected through U3. Edited September 15 by JasonACT 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickyDean Posted September 15 Share Posted September 15 (edited) 14 minutes ago, JasonACT said: Well, the Pico is seeing both the PSRAM and SD Card, if you just get the usual LED blink.. So, it must be the connections through the 3 x 245 chips. Can you go into Mini Memory Easy Bug (using FinalGROM) and see if writing >FF to >A000 comes back with something other than >FF? A lost data bit (U3) would cause what you describe. I am getting the LED blink. 5 minutes ago, JasonACT said: Oh, hang on, that probably won't work... If the DSR isn't running (due to a lost data bit) then the memory expansion (and cartridge) won't be enabled. You might just have to use a multimeter to check all the pins are connected through U3. Okay I'll do that tomorrow at some point, I'm tired tonight, and I realize that maybe you meant MA000 instead of CA000? 20240914_225729.mp4 Edited September 15 by RickyDean added content 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonACT Posted September 15 Author Share Posted September 15 6 minutes ago, RickyDean said: I realize that maybe you meant MA000 instead of CA000? Yeah. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonACT Posted September 15 Author Share Posted September 15 13 minutes ago, RickyDean said: Okay I'll do that tomorrow at some point, I'm tired tonight, and I realize that maybe you meant MA000 instead of CA000? Oh, you could turn on CRU >1100 and dump a bit of memory at >4000 to see what the TI is seeing.. Or, if you have RAMBO=1 set, then just write to memory >4000 and see what sticks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickyDean Posted September 15 Share Posted September 15 (edited) 14 hours ago, JasonACT said: Oh, you could turn on CRU >1100 and dump a bit of memory at >4000 to see what the TI is seeing.. Or, if you have RAMBO=1 set, then just write to memory >4000 and see what sticks. I haven't set or even seen the info on setting Rambo on these. I did however just test continuity on the U3 245 and I get good continuity from the top of each leg of the IC to the pinouts that it ties to, so I don't think it's the issue. However I am getting continuity between the untied ends of R1 and R2 and the two pins that they tie to on the pico, I believe pins 29 and 31. This may indicate a short between memory IC pad 1 and pin 19 of the 245 and pin 2 of the 138 at U6? Also I should add that when I check the resistanc on R1 and R2, I am getting 4.98 Kohms on each, not 9.86, like on R3. Edited September 15 by RickyDean spelling, added content 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickyDean Posted September 15 Share Posted September 15 (edited) Looking at the kicad pcb and tracing down, the only real commonality of these two resistors is the connection to the 3 resistors on one side and these two seem to go to the same side of the cpu ic on the Pico. Could it have an internal short? The only way to find out for sure would be to remove the pico from the board and see if the short persist's between those points? Well I think I found it, see the pcb picture cutting btween the two, the short is gone. Edited September 15 by RickyDean added content 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonACT Posted September 15 Author Share Posted September 15 Oh, a bad circuit board? (Sorry, I'm just on my way out to work.) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickyDean Posted September 15 Share Posted September 15 @JasonACT I have determined the issue is not in the pico, but indeed in the pcb. It is showing on a new non soldered one too. So far I haven't been able to trace it down, can't find a common point where the line cross 11 minutes ago, JasonACT said: Oh, a bad circuit board? (Sorry, I'm just on my way out to work.) Maybe my redesign was a bit close, all of the white will have to be cut there. Be careful and enjoy. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickyDean Posted September 16 Share Posted September 16 When I removed the pico, I may have over heated it, it's not working right, computer comes up with a cyan screen or a black one. I am building white #2 this time with the new ram I bought. 8mb this time, about 2/3rds done, but I think I'll have to order some resistors to finish it. I'm sort of confident this one will work from the start. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickyDean Posted Thursday at 08:25 PM Share Posted Thursday at 08:25 PM @JasonACT I have built my second white 8mb version, this one with both memory ic's. When I plug it in and turn on the computer, I don't get the expected quick flash, but 3-5 seconds after I plug it in I get 2 flashs in succession, then nothing. I am trying with 250Mhz and 1 NOP, but don't think this is the problem. What do you think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonACT Posted yesterday at 06:48 AM Author Share Posted yesterday at 06:48 AM 10 hours ago, RickyDean said: I don't get the expected quick flash, but 3-5 seconds after I plug it in I get 2 flashs in succession, then nothing. On 1/9/2024 at 4:54 PM, JasonACT said: ... Attached is a new fail-safe version, it runs at 256MHz (128MHz PSRAM speed). Do you get less errors with that? Oh, and this is a special build for visual status via the LED on power-up: 1 flash (short or long) = all good, 3 flashes = no SD card, 4 flashes = SD card present but no "Primary FAT32 Partition" found, 5 or more flashes = Everything seems OK, but the .ROM files were not found on the SD card. I don't think I coded it to ever flash 2 times. Does the 2 flashes look the same as 3 flashes when powering on without an SD card inserted? (I mean is it as regular with the same on-off period?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonACT Posted yesterday at 07:55 AM Author Share Posted yesterday at 07:55 AM Technically, 2 flashes could happen if the SD card .begin() function fails for some reason other than the 3/4 flash errors (no SD card, no partition). I didn't think that could happen, but maybe it can. It does point to the SD card though. Maybe one (or two) of the PSRAM chips are not being held inactive and are disturbing the SPI lines while it's trying to mount the SD card? Maybe post up another photo? Perhaps sent me the gerbers for your mods in a PM? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonACT Posted yesterday at 12:38 PM Author Share Posted yesterday at 12:38 PM Looks like I reverted my undocumented change to the ESP8266SdFat library in Pico Arduino a couple of months ago - so when it flashed 3 or 4 times before - it now only flashes 2 times. So, yeah, the SD card/partition isn't being detected for some reason to do with the hardware build. If you're using a known good SD card that works on the other single PSRAM chip builds, then it'll be flashing 3 times with the old firmware. Something is blocking clean reads from the SD card. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickyDean Posted yesterday at 08:16 PM Share Posted yesterday at 08:16 PM I'm with outpower and phone service at how, sue to the hurricane. Matybe a bit before I can do anything. Stay tuned. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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