VOGONS


Reply 440 of 548, by Arvid

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LABS wrote on 2020-03-13, 08:48:

Thanks for pointing that out, I'll check on this. You can safely assemble your kit with the included components.

Thank you, hopefully I´ll get around to assembling it soon 😀
Does that mean that I read the markings correctly on the inductors? I have zero experience in reading resistors and inductors.

Reply 441 of 548, by LABS

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Arvid wrote on 2020-03-13, 09:33:

Does that mean that I read the markings correctly on the inductors?

Not exactly, brown/green/brown/silver = 1/5/1/10% = "1" + "5" + 1 * "0" = 150 uH with 10% tolerance

Blasterboard: DIY SB2-compatible sound card on ATmega MCU
Sonic Buster 8: New 8-bit ISA sound card

Reply 442 of 548, by Arvid

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LABS wrote on 2020-03-13, 11:16:
Arvid wrote on 2020-03-13, 09:33:

Does that mean that I read the markings correctly on the inductors?

Not exactly, brown/green/brown/silver = 1/5/1/10% = "1" + "5" + 1 * "0" = 150 uH with 10% tolerance

Not sure if we are misunderstanding each other and you are talking what the markings should be for it to add up to be 150 uH, but mine look exactly like the ones in this picture https://github.com/labs-lv/blasterboard/blob/ … rd-detail-3.jpg and I don´t think these are brown/green/brown/silver? To me those in the picture look to be red/red/brown/silver which would add up to 220uH?

Reply 443 of 548, by LABS

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Arvid wrote on 2020-03-13, 12:19:
LABS wrote on 2020-03-13, 11:16:
Arvid wrote on 2020-03-13, 09:33:

Does that mean that I read the markings correctly on the inductors?

Not exactly, brown/green/brown/silver = 1/5/1/10% = "1" + "5" + 1 * "0" = 150 uH with 10% tolerance

Not sure if we are misunderstanding each other and you are talking what the markings should be for it to add up to be 150 uH, but mine look exactly like the ones in this picture https://github.com/labs-lv/blasterboard/blob/ … rd-detail-3.jpg and I don´t think these are brown/green/brown/silver? To me those in the picture look to be red/red/brown/silver which would add up to 220uH?

Oh, I see, you have inductors from previous stock. It doesn't matter in this case, 100uH-390uH are all ok.
And yes, it is 220uH on the picture.

Blasterboard: DIY SB2-compatible sound card on ATmega MCU
Sonic Buster 8: New 8-bit ISA sound card

Reply 445 of 548, by bibo

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Hi Eugene,

1st, I would say thank for your effort on this project.
I received my DIY kit a while ago, but in the meantime I've finished it. It looks very nice, although I prefer the green PCB, too. ... but that's ok.
It's a very nice "addon" for my turbo xt machine.

But here's the trouble...
After checking all soldering and double checking components to their correct location, I tried to commision the blasterboard in my computer.
BB claims to be compatible to the original SB 2.0 in some way. So I've downloaded the original drivers from creative . Is this supposed to work?!
1st power up... booting... , the drivers installer didn't recognize the BB at all (used: IO220h, IRQ5, DMA1).

Some restarts later, installer found the hardware. config.sys, autoexec.bat was adapted, accordingly.
Loaded prince of persia, configured sound device... awsome sound/fm music played.

Then reboot... BB is not recognized anymore: CTSND0004

After a while BB worked again. Tried to play the bbcnews.voc from samples directory. 1st couple of seconds, sound was played, correctly.
Then, I think almost at the end, the last 2 sconds of the *.voc are repeated forever. Program hangs!

I haven't tested any other programs, yet. I think, as far as I remeber, the driver (config.sys) must be installed. At least, BLASTER var has to be set.
I will test the BB in another board 386DX/40... Just to make sure, my current machine isn't broken in some way.

Is there anything I can check on the BB itself? I've got a multimeter, oscilloscope and some experience 😉

BTW:
My config: Noname Turbo XT (NEC V20, Phoenix Bios 2.27), 640KB, Trident VGA, Floppy controller on Gotek, ST-MFM controller on ST-225
BB -> IO:220h, DSP(IRQ:5), OPL2(IRQ:open), DMA:1

Regards, Bibo

Reply 446 of 548, by bibo

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Did some further testings...

Installed the BB into a Pentium-style board (~133MHz) with fresh installed Dos 6.22.
Also tried to install / dignose the original SB drivers. No luck at all. Again: Maybe it isn't supposed to work?!

But I've run some mod tracker. That's working very well.

Back to my turbo xt. I still need to find a suitable mod tracker which performs on the old xt.
In the 90's, I think, I did this already on this machine with an original SB.. I have to dig in my floopy discs...

Reply 447 of 548, by Jo22

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bibo wrote on 2020-04-03, 09:03:
Did some further testings... […]
Show full quote

Did some further testings...

Installed the BB into a Pentium-style board (~133MHz) with fresh installed Dos 6.22.
Also tried to install / dignose the original SB drivers. No luck at all. Again: Maybe it isn't supposed to work?!

But I've run some mod tracker. That's working very well.

😳 My, 133MHz is way to fast for an SB 2.0 card! Heck, even the 486 platform is almost borderline.
The FM chip, the OPL2 (YM3812) is speed "sensitive" in the way that it needs a certain amount of delays.
Especially with older software titles, which of the "hard coded" numbers of delays are too few (when the SB2 runs in a modern PC).

The digital portion, the SB DAC should not be affected, though.
Provided, that a modern PC has -5V (affects "real" SB1/SB2s and their clones only).

Edit: Small edit.

"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

//My video channel//

Reply 448 of 548, by Benedikt

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Jo22 wrote on 2020-04-03, 12:59:

😳 My, 133MHz is way to fast for an SB 2.0 card! Heck, even the 486 platform is almost borderline.
The FM chip, the OPL2 (YM3812) is speed "sensitive" in the way that it needs a certain amount of delays.
Especially with older software titles, which of the "hard coded" numbers of delays are too few (when the SB2 runs in a modern PC).

Wouldn't that be a use case for the stereotypical "Turbo" button on machines from that era?

Reply 449 of 548, by LABS

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bibo wrote:

...although I prefer the green PCB, too...

Yes, greens have more retro look, but after situation with pcb copying, thick solder mask is a weak, but at least some kind of protection. And I preferred white over black one.

bibo wrote:

...Also tried to install / dignose the original SB drivers. No luck at all. Again: Maybe it isn't supposed to work?!...

Which drivers did you try? SB2/BB doesn't need drivers for DOS. However, 'test-sbc.exe' will not pass, because it uses DSP's record functions which are not supported on BB. Windows 3.x should work fine with standard SB1.5 drivers. Windows 9x detects it automatically. During development BB was tested on 386SX/486DX/P166MMX/P3-1000 - DSP worked without problems. OPL2 behaves the same as on SB2. I do not have an XT machine, but there should be XT+BB users out there who can share the experience.

The card uses +5V and +/-12V ISA supplies.

bibo wrote:

...Back to my turbo xt. I still need to find a suitable mod tracker which performs on the old xt...

Check this out, XT-friendly and supports BB directly: GLX Player the only XT player ? Check Mod Master...

If you have a faster machine like that P133, try common titles like DOOM/Warcraft/Blood etc. All should work fine with OPL2+DSP combination.
On XT try something that use direct DAC mode, like KnightMare.

If you experience instability in card detection - it should be an assembly issue. Download PCB layout from https://github.com/labs-lv/blasterboard and check component placement and soldering quality as it is suggested in assembly manual.
PM me with hi-res photos of solder side of the board (do not post them here in the main thread).

PM me with any questions, will be glad to help.

Blasterboard: DIY SB2-compatible sound card on ATmega MCU
Sonic Buster 8: New 8-bit ISA sound card

Reply 450 of 548, by FreddyV

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bibo wrote on 2020-04-03, 09:03:

Back to my turbo xt. I still need to find a suitable mod tracker which performs on the old xt.
In the 90's, I think, I did this already on this machine with an original SB.. I have to dig in my floopy discs...

Try my player, Mod Master XT 😀

Reply 451 of 548, by bibo

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Thank you all for your answers.

The BB rocks in my XT, now:

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Actually, nothing was wrong with it.
I just found the correct turbo jumper (switch) 😒 . I got two of them -> [oo] [ooo] 1st one (which I missed) turns on the 12MHz , the other one decides between 12MHz/4.77MHz?!

Also, thanx goes to @eugene and @FreddyV for pointing me to Mod Master (XT). Mods are now played fine and smooth @22KHz, now.

The other thing I did, was updating the XT bios from Phatcode to version 3.1 (2017). That's amazing... I mean the XT is 25+ years old 😁

Reply 454 of 548, by RetroGamer02

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Hi would it be possible to buy a pre made Blaster Board? Also how much would it cost? I would PM but I literaly just registered this account.
I cant buy one right now but would love too at some point. Saw that it was the last one in stock and changed my mind just had to have it. =)

Reply 457 of 548, by Schmonz

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Hello Labs,

same as the three people before me: I would like to order a Blaster Board as kit or assembled, but I am not allowed to send you a PM.

Would be great if you could get in touch with me.

Thanks!

Reply 459 of 548, by LABS

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All orders are shipped. Currently out of stock, but will be available at the end of July. Please preorder now if interested, as half of next stock is already sold out.

Der Kuenringer wrote on 2020-07-06, 12:43:

The quality of this soundcard is really impressive. I just have to ask - is there any chance you would consider doing an MCA version of the Blasterboard, sometime in the future?

Thank you. There was such an idea, but it was abandoned due to complexity of MCA bus and most important the lack of MCA-enabled machine were I can test the card. So I doubt it will ever happen.

Blasterboard: DIY SB2-compatible sound card on ATmega MCU
Sonic Buster 8: New 8-bit ISA sound card