The machine from this thread (https://www.stardot.org.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=30170) has suffered a relapse.
It was occasionally temperamental but always worked eventually. Then this evening it died mid-initialisation of a drive. It would occasionally boot up, but more often than not wouldn't.
The previous checks showed it was reading the rom and the CPU was doing its thing. But the RTC once again wasn't putting a signal out on TP1.
Again, changing the RTC did nothing.
So, following Beebmaster's advice I gave it a good scrub with IPA.
At which point Q2 snapped off. It's looking pretty ropey and corroded. Since that seems to be tied to Chip Enable (amongst other things) for the RTC, I'm guessing this could have been the cause of my issues all along? Will a flakey chip enable stop it putting out a signal to SQW (TP1)?
In any event, I need a new Q2.
Edit: Looking at this thread (viewtopic.php?t=29862), was the BC182L ever tried as a substitute? It seems to be more available than the BC183L...
It was occasionally temperamental but always worked eventually. Then this evening it died mid-initialisation of a drive. It would occasionally boot up, but more often than not wouldn't.
The previous checks showed it was reading the rom and the CPU was doing its thing. But the RTC once again wasn't putting a signal out on TP1.
Again, changing the RTC did nothing.
So, following Beebmaster's advice I gave it a good scrub with IPA.
At which point Q2 snapped off. It's looking pretty ropey and corroded. Since that seems to be tied to Chip Enable (amongst other things) for the RTC, I'm guessing this could have been the cause of my issues all along? Will a flakey chip enable stop it putting out a signal to SQW (TP1)?
In any event, I need a new Q2.
Edit: Looking at this thread (viewtopic.php?t=29862), was the BC182L ever tried as a substitute? It seems to be more available than the BC183L...
Statistics: Posted by Boydie — Sun Jan 12, 2025 8:11 pm