@shock__ did you get my message?

Marmes wrote:

@shock__ did you get my message?

Did you mean messages? Of course I did 😀 Going to reply later on.

Just out of interest - how many of you would (have to) use the -5V mainboard feedback feature? I'm having a really hard time cramping it into the design without re-designing a majority of the output stage (may have found a way now ... after spending way too much time on that). Almost outsourced it onto a daughterboard for the headers.

does the card need -5v ? that's new to me

edit:
wait, you mean the card feeding -5v to the mobo? that would be cool but if it causes troubles I can live without it... how about offering it as an upgrade pcb or something ?

Me 😀
I have both LAPC-I and CT1920 - the full set of -5V requiring must have hardware!:)

I don't need -5V onboard rail, what about placing it on daughterboard? 😀

A daughterboard would be just fine, IMO.

dogchainx wrote:

A daughterboard would be just fine, IMO.

With the ISA breakout pins, anyone who would want to could create a -5V module that attached via IDC ribbon cable as is. I'm just wondering if adding an additional header for a -5V daughterboard really saves shock much space & routing headache. That said, if a daughterboard header could be done without too much trouble, it would save people a bunch of hassle.

Actually one could add a bigger -5V regulator (the board has it's own -5V generation for the amp - limited at 150mA or something, which is enough for the purpose but certainly not enough to power an ISA bus).
Would look kinda hack-ish tho. Trying one more thing before I give up on that - doing the design for a daughterboard would take me like 5 minutes and I could provide the PCB scheme/layout publically, now trying to get the -5V feedback stuff onto the board I already spent a few hours on that.

Having the -5v feature means i can use modern power supplies in my old computers (that i would normally have to buy an ancient psu for)?

If so this is a killer feature and is very important to me. Having it in a neat package on an existing card would eliminate one more thing floating around inside the case also.

still have to worry about the weak +5v rail in new supplies, but having this opens up a range of new options from the p4 era when power supplies were generally better made.

Ps: why a 72 pin sim slot? Isn't memory cheap enough to be soldered directly?

Update:

Just realized the output ports are arranged in an unconventional way (going from left to right) Joystick - LineOut - Mic - LineIn. Gonna swap Mic & LineIn which should also clear up enough space to properly add a bigger regulator. But certainly not today - as this means basically redoing 40% of the output layout (but hey ... once I'm done the card shouldn't even resemble the reference board too much anymore, which is also a good thing).

While I would appreciate a -5v option (directly on card or daughter board), its not something I have to have. I can always use my old PSU and rebuild it if needed in the future.

shock__ wrote:

Just realized the output ports are arranged in an unconventional way (going from left to right) Joystick - LineOut - Mic - LineIn. Gonna swap Mic & LineIn which should also clear up enough space to properly add a bigger regulator. But certainly not today - as this means basically redoing 40% of the output layout (but hey ... once I'm done the card shouldn't even resemble the reference board too much anymore, which is also a good thing).

First we need to check the Vibra bracket we'll use afterwards - looking at different models, I guess they use the same order: Joystick - Speaker / Line Out - Mic In - Line In. Proofpic: http://sishardware.com/imgs/a/a/d/m/y/creativ … _card_3_lgw.jpg

Please let me once again come up with another suggestion 😀
I've already mentioned somewhere in the thread that this year we are celebrating the 20-th anniversary of InterWave.
The first chips were shipped in 1995 as well as the first original GUS PnP cards (as confirmed by the copyright sign). ARGUS will be produced in 2015.
"A coincidence? I don't think so" (c)
I believe this fact is worth commemorating on the PCBs. We may even send an assembled board to AMD HQ - I guess, the guys will be VERY much surprised to receive such a device 😀

When I thought about a way how we can integrate such commemoration into the design, I've come across an archived page on AMD Website: http://www.datasheetarchive.com/files/amd/doc … 04/wcd0048b.htm
There is some sort of a logo for the InterWave:

I haven't managed to find it in any higher resolution (leave away any vector!..), so I've decided to re-create it in Corel. The work is still in progress, but tomorrow I'll be able to send the final variant. Of course, it will have to be adapted either to silkscreen, or to putting it on the layer itself - i.e. 1-bit image, but that can be done, I guess.
Current status of my work in Corel:

Awesome stuff 😀 Would certainly like to add that to the board.
(sorry, just got some bad private news - therefore just a short reply)

^ hope all is OK, don't worry about stuff here, real-life (TM) comes first

Nothing that can't be sorted out and nothing that applies to me directly (yet as indirect as it can get).
Sadly nothing one can do a lot about (nopes, no one died).

EDIT: Also sticking with the orientation of the output jacks for now (still trying to jam the -5V circuit in)

Sure, the order of the jacks is better left at whatever order is easiest to
layout on the pcb - always seems such jacks are too darn close together
when you go reaching round to the back of the computer, though..

Very minor suggestion - end the copper layout at the pcb corners like
you can see here;
http://www.expresspcb.com/GTips/PCB2.gif
Reason is that if the PCB Fabrication Company doesn't round the
pcb corners, the pcb board user may want to do so himself (i.e. gently,
using a metal file). If the copper layer doesn't extend right into the
corner, there's no way you can file into it and risk exposing it partially -
Best to remove sharp pcb corner edges (their sharp enough to cut
flesh!) inside the computer, where you're going to be sometimes
reaching into to change cables, other cards, etc.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
hard1k Ahhh, but isn't that logo a company trademark (albeit a defunct
company)...

buyerninety wrote:

If the copper layer doesn't extend right into the corner, there's no way you can file into it and risk exposing it partially - B […]
Show full quote

If the copper layer doesn't extend right into the
corner, there's no way you can file into it and risk exposing it partially -
Best to remove sharp pcb corner edges (their sharp enough to cut
flesh!) inside the computer, where you're going to be sometimes
reaching into to change cables, other cards, etc. [/color]

Copper planes have a creepback of 0.5mm or something, so no chance to file into them, unless you want to.
About rounding off the corners, I'll have to see what the PCB plant says too that (don't expect it to be a problem), but that certainly is a suggestion that wouldn't harm.

EDIT: Well, regardless of this day being supercrap otherwise and largely on the project - seems like the layout for including the -5V generator worked out this time.

I don't really see why adding a -5V regulator is such a big thing. Very few cards use it, and it is easy enough to add it already. You can either use a free ISA slot and create the -5V using a voltage regulator, or you could make an ATX-to-ATX cable with the regulator on the middle.

Still a moderately "nice to have" feature for folks who like their hardware unmodified - sure you could design a small ISA plugin board or hack another random ISA card to supply the voltage along its' usual functions, but that would either take up a whole slot or look "hack-ish". I've upscaled the normal -5V generator circuit for now (by means of power output and physically), with a jumper allowing the -5V to remain either local or be fed back to the mainboard along supplying the -5V to the amp on the card - also fills up a bit of unused space in the analog section (right part of the mainboard) so it looks less empty and less like the reference board 😀

All is good ... just got partially annoyed when I first tried to add the circuit, expecting it to be a lot smaller than how it turned out to be.