MJay99 wrote on 2022-04-24, 19:21:

Utsource ships from Shenzhen, so they shouldn't be affected currently. I've received deliveries from them over the last weeks and years (the latest one last weekend).

How long is shipping time typically?

And Shenzhen was in lockdown previously, so I wouldn't be surprised if there was a ripple effect as a consequence.

If anyone is able to provide a programmed ROM, or even just the image, please DM me.

Some pointer towards a SO-44 adapter for the TL866II+ could also be appreciated if I need to program my own. The ones I’ve found on eBay have a bunch of female headers, so have no obvious way to actually attach them to the programmer…

Sunoo wrote on 2022-04-24, 19:36:

Some pointer towards a SO-44 adapter for the TL866II+ could also be appreciated if I need to program my own. The ones I’ve found on eBay have a bunch of female headers, so have no obvious way to actually attach them to the programmer…

There is one listed on Aliexpress: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32960830281.html

Shponglefan wrote on 2022-04-24, 19:45:

There is one listed on Aliexpress: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32960830281.html

Oh, I see, there is a second board that goes under it. That makes more sense.

Shponglefan wrote on 2022-04-24, 19:25:

How long is shipping time typically?

To Europe and on their cheapest service: Sometimes it takes up to a week for the packet to get picked up, after their internal 'collection' from external shops is done (which is the stage your order seems to still be in, otherwise you'd see a tracking number listed in their backend). After pickup, it usually took about 7-10 days, with my last order being from April, 8th.

I was looking at the BOM and then over at Mouser which has a BOM tool. Sadly none of the BOM files for the card are compatible with Mouser's upload tool. 😒

Being fairly new to acquiring board components, I think I'm going to produce a Mouser compatible BOM .csv and post it here for both everyone to vet that I haven't made any mistakes as well as to provide it for everyone's use.

When I was looking earlier, it seemed like some things had to come from Digi-Key, as Mouser didn’t seem to stock them. If you discover otherwise, it would be nice to save a bit on shipping and only order from one spot.

I ended up having to order from both Mouser and Digikey. Between the two of them, got everything in the BOM except the RAM and the IW78C21M1 chip.

Speaking of RAM, it’s SIMM or soldered ICs right? No need for both?

And it looked like if you wanted the maximum possible RAM, it has to be a SIMM?

I’m sure that’s been answered, but it’s hard to find things across 142 pages.

Yes, it looks like it's either/or.

I opted for the 72-pin DIMM slot.

Question related to latest discussion, is TL866+, SOP44 adapter and selecting 29F800 is enough to dump the IW7821M1 content?

terryfi wrote on 2022-04-25, 00:11:

Question related to latest discussion, is TL866+, SOP44 adapter and selecting 29F800 is enough to dump the IW7821M1 content?

That would work, but if the chip is already installed in a card, I believe you can just run some software in ARGUS_final_doc.zip from the first post in this thread.

EDIT: Assuming you mean dump as in read from. If you want to write it, you’ll need what you mentioned.

What's the difference between V and VDC ratings on capacitors?

Also recommended brands?

V is Volts, VDC is Volts - Direct Current. They’ll be functionally identical in this case.

I usually buy Nichicon, but Panasonic also makes nice stuff.

What about the ceramic caps? Looking at the list, I think I'll go with Taiyo Yuden. (Sounds familiar from the ol' blank DVD days.)

Edit: Or not... I don't know what I'm doing~

Edit 2: The parts list includes 5 or 6 not connected (nc) resistors. What should their values be if they were to be connected? 🤣

Edit 3: The Value for the resistors is talking about the Ohms yes? Seems to make sense. Do we want resistors rated for higher voltages?

For the 75 Ohm resistors, I have these (ERJ-U06F75R0V) Panasonic ones. Rated for 150V. So many variables to these things, I don't know which ones are important to consider and if you do consider them, in which direction should the value go.
Like for the caps above, what're the intended tolerance values? This is a sound card... I imagine lowest is best in this case?

You can search the thread, there's a BOM as a google doc link with digikey part numbers. Personally, I haven't used it, but in doubt either pick those, or some part that's similar.

Definitely nothing 'needs' 150V ratings on this card, 12V is the maximum voltage used (and that's just to the 5v voltage regulator, afaik) - and adding some margin, everything above 25V should be fine there, too. Most components are on 5V anyways. But if you want to keep things simple (and it's not much of an extra price tag), 25 to 50V parts should fit the bill everywhere, I'd say.

I haven't looked at the schematic for a long time, but NC would mean you should be able to leave them out under normal circumstances (might have been for testing, or some unused feature / idea).

As for the values: 75 would be Ohms, 10k would mean kilo-Ohms. 😉

Sunoo wrote on 2022-04-24, 18:19:

Well, it looks like I'll have a very pretty $80 PCB that I can never complete now, so that's great...

As has been discussed at length in this thread, the instrument ROM is not essential. It is possible to have a working card that does not include the ROM, and this is even discussed in the documentation for the chip. In fact, when we're dealing with games from the MS-DOS era, any game that would use an UltraSound-like card (of any generation) for MIDI playback would often sound better when played through any other quality MIDI device (SC-55, DB50XG, etc.). As far as 1 MiB instrument banks go, it was decent — better even than some of a similar or slightly larger size — but it was nothing essential. Let's face it: the power of the UltraSound was in the RAM-based architecture, for custom instruments, playback of tracker music, etc. None of this requires that ROM.

I would also strongly urge all involved to end the open discussions of dumping and sharing the ROM content. This is not the place for that, and greatly increases the likelihood of this thread being locked or deleted. One of the rights-holders is aware of this project, and has been known to stop in and follow the discussion from time to time. I'm sure he wouldn't be too thrilled with the nature of this discussion of late, and I'm sure nobody wants to invite legal trouble.

Sunoo wrote on 2022-04-25, 00:05:

Speaking of RAM, it’s SIMM or soldered ICs right? No need for both?

And it looked like if you wanted the maximum possible RAM, it has to be a SIMM?

Correct on all counts.

Alright, here we go.

This CSV BOM includes everything minus the IW78C21M1 chip, the DRAM chips, the optional components, and whatever the NotConnected resistors /would/ be.

Also missing is something that I can't identify from the partlist:
6 0402 SMD 0R Resistor or solderbridge

I was also wondering if the molex connector I selected are the usual suspects that we find on Sound Blasters and every other sound card of the past?

Corrections highly welcome!

In Mouser's BOM tool, make sure to map column 1 to Manufacturer Part Number, and column 2 to Mouser Part Number, otherwise an error will happen with the gameport because of a leading 0.

You can also select between quantity 1 (actual quantity required) and quantity 2 which is a combination of cost savings and "I'm an idiot" extra components.

Synoptic wrote on 2022-04-24, 14:03:

I am not planning on doing this as I don't have the time to do so. However, someone can easily do this since the BOM is known. There is an opportunity right there !

Synoptic, if you don't mind verifying that I've not made any horrible fire-starting mistakes. 😅;

Edit: New BOM available: Re: ARGUS Project thread - now accepting pre-orders (for north/south American and Europe)

IcySon55 wrote on 2022-04-25, 04:35:

Also missing is something that I can't identify from the partlist:
6 0402 SMD 0R Resistor or solderbridge

These can be a 0402 sized 0 ohm resistor (basically just a jumper), or you can blob some solder across the two pads instead and make a jumper that way.

Sunoo wrote on 2022-04-25, 00:01:

When I was looking earlier, it seemed like some things had to come from Digi-Key, as Mouser didn’t seem to stock them. If you discover otherwise, it would be nice to save a bit on shipping and only order from one spot.

I think I have discovered otherwise? The only parts missing are special chips that aren't even required to use the ARGUS (sans-MIDI).