I have updated the first post with scans of the card's bare PCB (from the non-working one I received) and a components list

note:
Did my best to describe them but:

a. not sure if the 2 resistor network descriptions are fine though - I believe they are COMMONED and not isolated networks , I get the same resistance in each pin only if the 1st one is the common pin in each measurement edit: 220ohms one is isolated not common

b. the PAL-16L8 IC has the "read protection" bit enabled, so there is no way for me to read it 🙁

I hope this extra info proves helpful in repairs , if you think I can add anything more or help with component identification please say so 😀
I plan to solder sockets on the bare pcb and replace all ICs and passive components on it, if the PAL is not the problem then I think the card will work again 😁

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PeterLI wrote:

My 8 BIT card has firmware level 200-009. No idea what that means.

My V.004 card reports it's version as 200-004 and the V.010 one as 200-010 so your card is just one revision behind the V.010 one.
No idea if the game bugs exist on V.009 , you'd have to test 😕 , you can upgrade to the latest version we have found (010) but it would require for you to remove the V.009 OTP ROM chip and replace it with an eprom that holds the latest version... putting a socket and not soldering the new eprom directly is a good idea also 😉

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^ Gateway, Laser Squad, Wing Commander , see first post

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DonutKing wrote:

That is strange, I played Wing Commander 1 with this card and an Mt32. I believe I sold them both to Dacow. Perhaps my card was a later revision?

Ooops sorry I only just saw this post now, I had a quick look at the card and there's no sticker on the IC so I'll have to download the utility and report back.

I've also got a MQX32 that I'll test WC1 on as well.

edit: the firmware on Donut's old Music Quest card has a firmware level of 200-010 and intro works okay. The MQX-32X also exhibits the hanging during WC1 intro.

^ thanks for the testing dacow!

Today I finished soldering the passive parts and sockets on the dead mpu card:

if the GAL at U5 is not dead I am 100% sure the card will work again just fine, every other IC is new since they were common ones 😀

Cool! Looks like a very neat job from the front... may we see the back please? 😀

sure, here it is:

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Very nice job indeed, I hope it works!

If only we all have soldering skills like yours 😀 can't wait to see if it works like everyone else 😀

nah, my soldering skills are not anything special... I have sent the card to a friend on AmiBay to safely desolder it, there was no way I could achieve this result with the simple tools I have atm... so it is still looking great because of him 😁

I did try it but with the old Z8+SRAM chips (since the new ones haven't arrived yet) and although the result was an improvement we're still not there... The pc used to freeze when something tried to access the MPU, now it just complains that it can't access it.
I really hope the new Z8/SRAM fix it and it's not the GAL that is damaged... the GAL cannot be replaced because the code in it was the read protection bit set to ON :\

thanks for the wishes, will update when the new chips arrive 😊

keropi wrote:

I really hope the new Z8/SRAM fix it and it's not the GAL that is damaged... the GAL cannot be replaced because the code in it was the read protection bit set to ON :\

I wouldn't be too sure of that :

www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum/entry. ... L-(Part-1)

keropi wrote:

^ thanks for the testing dacow! […]
Show full quote

^ thanks for the testing dacow!

Today I finished soldering the passive parts and sockets on the dead mpu card:

if the GAL at U5 is not dead I am 100% sure the card will work again just fine, every other IC is new since they were common ones 😀

Wow, thats a fresh new card.. 😎

Great Hierophant wrote:

keropi wrote:

I really hope the new Z8/SRAM fix it and it's not the GAL that is damaged... the GAL cannot be replaced because the code in it was the read protection bit set to ON :\

I wouldn't be too sure of that :
www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum/entry. ... L-(Part-1)

ah yes, ChuckG and his awesome work on cloning the CMS GAL... highly doubt he will have any interest in messing with the MQ gal just so I can fix this... ofcourse cloning this could lead to a clone of the whole card 🤣 , it could solve the mpu deal once and for all but it would also be on the illegal side of things 😢

@Robin4

yeah, it looks very nice and I prefer from the other good card I have 🤣 🤣 🤣

I think that the only potential illegality of a clone is if you made an exact copy of the PCB layout or infringed on the firmware code used to control the device. I do not think that the simple logic equasions of the GAL are likely to have any protectability under copyright.

Of course, the real trouble is following Chuck(G)'s work so you can do it yourself.

Update on the dead mpu card: it works fine now!
Luckily the culprit was the Z8 mcu, the old one was dead and after replacing the card started working again 😁

I have left it playing the music from Tyrian with a SC-55 (jukebox function in the setup program) for testing purposes, so far so good 😊 , it's been ~30mins now... will try later some tricky intelligent mode games just to be sure 😎

edit: gateway is fine too, success! 😊

edit2: made a breakout cable with parts I "borrowed" from other cables 🤣 , this just became my favorite mpu card: