Begging for ROMS

[DrSynth]

Ilias,

Ironically, based on very recent experience of buring my own chips, the issue with the CPU you already have may be that the pins don't seat tight enough in the CPU socket. I had a chip that I burned where everything worked except it wouldn't access the disk drive.

Taking out the CPU, gently bending all the pins outward a little bit, then reseating it solved the issue. So it's possible in your case that the pins that are the I/O for the wheels may not be making proper contact.

Manny

[analogreek]

Hi everyone,

sorry, didn't get a notification from this forum, so I didn't notice the reaction, will check my notification settings now ...

Manny, thanks for the hint - will try bending the pins. Need to find out wich ones are exactly the ones for the wheels - is it documented somewhere?

Pulling the CPU out of it's socket: Can I do it like gently levering it from the two edges or do I need a special tool?

Regarding the SEQ 1.3 ROM see the attached picture as a proof ,-) I attached a picture from the chip too - it is IC 101, right?

Will contact Miks for sending him the SEQ ROM chip next week.

- Ilias

[shadowmask]

Manny, thanks for the hint - will try bending the pins. Need to find out wich ones are exactly the ones for the wheels - is it documented somewhere?

AN0, AN1, AN2 on the right-side of the CPU read the wheel positions:



It's probably best to adjust all the pins on the CPU. Just flip it over and push the little curves at the bottom of the legs out toward the edge of the package:


Brian

[DrSynth]

Ilias,

I strongly recommend you get a PLCC chip removal tool:

PLCC PULL.jpg (10.48 KiB) Viewed 1835 times

https://www.amazon.com/RadioShack-Extra ... B0047OMZYY or similar

Regular 32 pin EPROMs can safely be done with a small flat screwdriver.

Manny

[Miks]

Regarding the SEQ 1.3 ROM see the attached picture as a proof ,-) I attached a picture from the chip too - it is IC 101, right?

Yes, IC 101 is the right chip containing the SEQ firmware part.

I strongly recommend you get a PLCC chip removal tool

I second that - a PLCC package isn't that easy to remove without the right tool. You may easily damage the chip/pin(s) or the socket! Those tools are really cheap - I recommend to get one of the 'style' shown in the announcement's picture (in the above thread) - they are easy to handle if you be careful.

[parametric]

Excellent advice Manny. . . .

The correct tool is worth it every time . . .

ICs have a definite talent for doing a somersault and inserting their "legs" into the MEAT of your thumb . . .

And YES, I AM speaking from experience . . .

parametric

[analogreek]

Thanks for the advice about the tool - just ordered one ...

[DrSynth]

I've recently been burning a few sets of EPROMs and CPU's and decided to burn one EPROM with the Musitronics 1.57.1EX firmware to see if it would function without the actual expansion board installed.

It does in fact function normally !!! (At least in my configuration, which is with all 5 SYEMB05's installed)

Samples from the internal wave ram load and save normally. Given the Musitronics expansion has a set of DIP switches to map the memory addresses of the expansion RAM to the correct area depending on how many SYEMB05's you have installed, this makes sense with all 5 card installed. I'll try it out tomorrow to see what happens if different number of SYEMB05's are installed

Miks -- do you still have the contact information for the person where the 1.57EX bin file came from? Perhaps they would be willing to take detailed photos of the expansion board to see the components and layout?

MAnny

[Miks]

No sorry, I have no contact to that guy... but IIRC he is (or was) a member of this forum...

Here you can download the manual for the "Musitronics SY99 PCM RAM" (in English):
http://www.musitronics.org/manuals/user/SY99EX-USER.PDF

[DrSynth]

So a little left turn / thread hijacking (?)

Miks,

Looking at the Musitronics install instructions which shows the specific pins on each IC that need to be tapped, it it possible referencing the SY99 Service manual to deduce the function of those control lines? If so, then knowing the sample memory mapping from this document:

Couldn't someone with the appropriate expertise design their own full 8MB memory expansion Board with current components like this SY99 ower did for the 'stock'' 2.5 MB expansion? (scoll down to the bottom)

https://sites.google.com/site/markw2k9/synthesizer/sy99

Manny

[Miks]

Couldn't someone with the appropriate expertise design their own full 8MB memory expansion Board with current components like this SY99 ower did for the 'stock'' 2.5 MB expansion?

That's be far beyond my capabilities and my skills in electronics!

BTW: that guy is incredible!

[jonrmorgan]

Hi All,

I'm working on an update to my SY Manager app. and have hit what looks to be a hardware problem. My SY99 has the v1.4 ROM.

The problem occurs when SYM sends a voice patch to the edit buffer. On my SY77 the code works fine but on the SY99 the voice mode is switched to 1AFM Mono immediately after the sysex is sent.

I can get round this problem by sending a Mode parameter change message but have to introduce a minimum 1.25sec. delay to allow the SY99's hardware to catch up. This obviously slows the UI up and the code can only be executed synchronously.

So assuming this was a bug in the v1.4ROM I'd really appreciate some help on upgrading to v1.57. I have installed upgraded ROMs on my TX802 and TX81Z but I don't have access to a burner.

Jon

[Miks]

Hi Jon,

the biggest obstacle to overcome is to obtain a H8/532 CPU programmed with the 'correct' code. It seems that Manni alias DrSynth had successfully programmed some empty CPUs he found via internet - perhaps he could help you out? But be aware that the CPU has to be a 84 pin PLCC (CP-84) housing. If your SY99 has a SMD CPU - you lose...

[Miks]

Miks -- do you still have the contact information for the person where the 1.57EX bin file came from? Perhaps they would be willing to take detailed photos of the expansion board to see the components and layout?

Manny, I've found the posting:
viewtopic.php?f=55&t=4185&start=60#p26838

Ilmenator was last active on 01 Oct 2016, 12:22 - but contacting him may be successfull - please try to get in touch with him.

[DrSynth]

Jon,

I'm more than happy to beta test the software for you to make sure the bug isn't also present in 1.57 -- probably the easiest thing before dealing with all the chips and CPU. The documented changes in 1.4 to 1.57 is for the sample numbering and proper multi disk saving -- I don't recall any sysex bugs in 1.4

Manny