Unoffical empeg BBS

Quick Links: Empeg FAQ | RioCar.Org | Hijack | BigDisk Builder | jEmplode | emphatic
Repairs: Repairs

Topic Options
#281136 - 05/05/2006 19:52 Hijack v457: Radio/Aux now work with dead cs4231a
mlord
carpal tunnel

Registered: 29/08/2000
Posts: 14472
Loc: Canada
Hijack v457 is now available.

This version implements a proper workaround for a dead cs4231a chip, so that full functionality of the player is preserved -- except for visuals in Tuner/Aux modes.

So, in many (or most?) cases, a player with a "cs4231a not found" condition can still be fully used, with the only caveat being that the front screen visuals no longer respond to the beat of the sound when in Tuner/Aux modes (visuals work fine for hard disk playback of mp3s etc.).

This should help save a number of players from the soldering-iron / scrap-heap when the cs4231a dies.

------------

The previous release of Hijack was v456, which added support for configuring/using kernels that mount their "disk" over NFS -- complete diskless empeg operation. This requires a kernel reconfig/rebuild to use. No changes for normal use though. This patch courtesy of Thomas J.

Cheers

Top
#281137 - 08/05/2006 01:11 Hijack v458: improved emulation of (dead) cs4231a chip [Re: mlord]
mlord
carpal tunnel

Registered: 29/08/2000
Posts: 14472
Loc: Canada
Hijack v458 is now available.

This version improves upon the dead cs4231a workarounds from Hijack v457, fixing the "slow mute/unmute" issue.

It also slightly reduces the kernel size, by removing the "recent samples" reporting from /proc that was added a few versions ago.

Cheers

Top
#281138 - 08/05/2006 17:42 Re: Hijack v458: improved emulation of (dead) cs4231a chip [Re: mlord]
tfabris
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31563
Loc: Seattle, WA
You, sir, are THE MAN.
_________________________
Tony Fabris

Top
#281139 - 08/05/2006 17:48 Re: Hijack v458: improved emulation of (dead) cs4231a chip [Re: tfabris]
tfabris
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31563
Loc: Seattle, WA
Hm. I just tried to edit the FAQ and add this information to the "no hard disk found" section of the FAQ, and I saw no results from that edit. It appeared to allow me to MAKE the edit, but after the edit was completed, the text I changed did not exist in the FAQ. Tom, any idea why?
_________________________
Tony Fabris

Top
#281140 - 08/05/2006 18:04 Re: Hijack v458: improved emulation of (dead) cs4231a chip [Re: tfabris]
JBjorgen
carpal tunnel

Registered: 19/01/2002
Posts: 3582
Loc: Columbus, OH
Use the wiki, Luke
_________________________
~ John

Top
#281141 - 08/05/2006 18:12 Re: Hijack v458: improved emulation of (dead) cs4231a chip [Re: tfabris]
mlord
carpal tunnel

Registered: 29/08/2000
Posts: 14472
Loc: Canada
s / no hard disk found / cs4231a not found /

Top
#281142 - 08/05/2006 18:21 Re: Hijack v458: improved emulation of (dead) cs4231a chip [Re: tfabris]
mlord
carpal tunnel

Registered: 29/08/2000
Posts: 14472
Loc: Canada
Quote:
You, sir, are THE MAN.

I'm just looking out for Number-One here. One of my four players has the ailment, and this seemed the easiest way to deal with it.

It works amazingly well, too. Once people upgrade to/beyond this version of Hijack, I doubt that many will ever notice if/when the cs4231a bites the big one. Currently, the only indication is a message from the serial port boot log:

Could not find CS4231A (version=80) --> no visuals for Tuner/AUX.

I might eventually have it also show up on Vital Signs as well, just to make life easier when somebody asks why visuals aren't working in Tuner mode..

Cheers!

Top
#281143 - 08/05/2006 20:24 Re: Hijack v458: improved emulation of (dead) cs4231a chip [Re: mlord]
frog51
pooh-bah

Registered: 09/08/2000
Posts: 2091
Loc: Edinburgh, Scotland
You may well argue you are looking out for Number 1, but you are making your fixes / mods / upgrades public, so we all get to benefit as well. Many thanks.
_________________________
Rory
MkIIa, blue lit buttons, memory upgrade, 1Tb in Subaru Forester STi
MkII, 240Gb in Mark Lord dock
MkII, 80Gb SSD in dock

Top
#281144 - 08/06/2006 12:51 Saved from the scrap heap! [Re: mlord]
mlord
carpal tunnel

Registered: 29/08/2000
Posts: 14472
Loc: Canada
Quote:
Hijack v457 is now available.

This version implements a proper workaround for a dead cs4231a chip, so that full functionality of the player is preserved -- except for visuals in Tuner/Aux modes.


My "new" fifth player:



Cheers!


Attachments
282816-a.jpg (189 downloads)


Top
#281145 - 08/06/2006 12:52 Re: Saved from the scrap heap! [Re: mlord]
mlord
carpal tunnel

Registered: 29/08/2000
Posts: 14472
Loc: Canada
Close-up (blurry):



This unit had a botched cs4231a chip replacement, with several pads missing and misaligned, as well as the usual IDE header issues. I had previously written it off as a goner for spare parts.

But with the recent Hijack kernels, a cs4231a chip is no longer necessary. So I grabbed a Dremel tool and cut the chip free from it's pins, and then took copper braid and a soldering iron and cleaned up the pads (much better than the picture makes it appear).

It's working very well now!


Attachments
282817-b.jpg (185 downloads)


Top
#281146 - 08/06/2006 13:05 Re: Saved from the scrap heap! [Re: mlord]
mlord
carpal tunnel

Registered: 29/08/2000
Posts: 14472
Loc: Canada
Close-up of the damaged area.



The barely visible whispy-thin debris around the pads is cotton from the Q-Tips used to swab the area with cleaning alcohol.


Attachments
282818-c.jpg (184 downloads)


Top
#281147 - 08/06/2006 13:28 Re: Saved from the scrap heap! [Re: mlord]
pgrzelak
carpal tunnel

Registered: 15/08/2000
Posts: 4859
Loc: New Jersey, USA
Impressive!!!!

I wonder if anything interesting could be done with that board real estate...
_________________________
Paul Grzelak
200GB with 48MB RAM, Illuminated Buttons and Digital Outputs

Top
#281148 - 08/06/2006 13:44 Re: Saved from the scrap heap! [Re: mlord]
schofiel
carpal tunnel

Registered: 25/06/1999
Posts: 2993
Loc: Wareham, Dorset, UK
I believe that you could successfully get a new chip onto that.
_________________________
One of the few remaining Mk1 owners... #00015

Top
#281149 - 08/06/2006 14:54 Re: Saved from the scrap heap! [Re: schofiel]
mlord
carpal tunnel

Registered: 29/08/2000
Posts: 14472
Loc: Canada
Quote:
I believe that you could successfully get a new chip onto that.


Yes, I think so. The nice thing with the cs4231a, is that many of the pins are "no contact" (unused). So the missing pads here don't matter much.

But the previous owner also thought that a new chip could be placed there, and the results were less than impressive. I could probably do a better job than that, and you (RobS) certainly could. But perhaps I'll just leave well enough alone, for now.

Cheers!

Top
#281150 - 08/06/2006 14:56 Re: Saved from the scrap heap! [Re: pgrzelak]
mlord
carpal tunnel

Registered: 29/08/2000
Posts: 14472
Loc: Canada
Quote:

I wonder if anything interesting could be done with that board real estate...


Mmm... it even has many of the needed address and data lines to support fancier functions.. Mmm...

Top
#281151 - 08/06/2006 15:34 Re: Hijack v458: improved emulation of (dead) cs4231a chip [Re: tfabris]
tfabris
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31563
Loc: Seattle, WA
Quote:
Hm. I just tried to edit the FAQ and add this information to the "no hard disk found" section of the FAQ, and I saw no results from that edit. It appeared to allow me to MAKE the edit, but after the edit was completed, the text I changed did not exist in the FAQ. Tom, any idea why?

This just happened again.

I thought perhaps my inability to edit the FAQ was a result of the server getting hacked a few weeks ago, but that seems to be not the case, since that problem has been solved and I still cannot edit the FAQ.

TOM!?!?!?!

Nice pictures of the gutted-but-working empeg, Mark.
_________________________
Tony Fabris

Top
#281152 - 09/06/2006 04:24 Re: Hijack v458: improved emulation of (dead) cs4231a chip [Re: tfabris]
drakino
carpal tunnel

Registered: 08/06/1999
Posts: 7868
Quote:
TOM!?!?!?!


Fixed now. Next time alert me in the moderator board or something. Seems it was a fluke of MySQL where it would lock the table and mark it as crashed, but not show anything wrong. Someone else opened the table a week ago it looks like when MySQL was restarted. And then your edit blew it up again somehow. No errors, no problems found on a DB check, but a check, repair and optimize pass seems to have it happy again.

Top
#281153 - 09/06/2006 11:02 Re: Hijack v458: improved emulation of (dead) cs4231a chip [Re: drakino]
tfabris
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31563
Loc: Seattle, WA
Thanks so much, Tom! Working now. Updated the FAQ.
_________________________
Tony Fabris

Top
#306981 - 07/02/2008 00:09 Re: Saved from the scrap heap! [Re: mlord]
mlord
carpal tunnel

Registered: 29/08/2000
Posts: 14472
Loc: Canada
Dredging up an old thread of mine.

This is one of the "dead" units that I acquired from another BBS denizen once upon a time ago.

It worked for me here for a while after the "fix" described above here, but then stopped working, giving tons of I2C errors at boot.

Lately I have been using it to trace circuitry while repairing other units, and now that all of my other players are working well, I figured I'd tackle this one again.

Using the LogicPort analyzer on the I2C revealed that the CPU was sending correct data to the DSP, but the DSP was not ACKing the packets. I then hooked the analyzer up to the DSP oscillator circuitry -- pin5 of the nearby 74LVX74 chip, and discovered NO CLOCK.

Which is odd, because the DSP clock circuit is quite simple on this board. There's just a clock IN, and a clock OUT on the DSP, and then a crystal and the dual flipflop (the 74LVX74).

Oh, wait, there's also a clock POWER pin on the DSP. Mmm.. 0V.. that could be a problem. I tracked this back to where it originates, and that's the working 3.3V supply. So not that.

In desperation/inspiration, I took my trusty soldering iron to the clock POWER pad on the DSP (pin 65), and then also touched up the feeder coil pads (silver can thing, near the far edge of the board beside the SA1100), and then checked the clock again.

Woo-hoo! Nice little square-waves on the LogicPort display now. So I plugged in a hard disk and listened to The Guess Who for a spell.

Now to reassemble it all and perhaps find a home for it.

Cheers

Top
#306995 - 07/02/2008 15:27 Re: Saved from the scrap heap! [Re: mlord]
altman
carpal tunnel

Registered: 19/05/1999
Posts: 3457
Loc: Palo Alto, CA
One of the pads in the picture though does have a trace going to it, so it might be important... or not. I don't have the datasheet for the 4231 to hand. The pad in question goes to a via though, so you could always run a patch wire from there if you can't follow what chip it goes to next.

Hugo

Top
#307000 - 07/02/2008 16:01 Re: Saved from the scrap heap! [Re: altman]
mlord
carpal tunnel

Registered: 29/08/2000
Posts: 14472
Loc: Canada
Originally Posted By: altman
One of the pads in the picture though does have a trace going to it, so it might be important... or not. I don't have the datasheet for the 4231 to hand. The pad in question goes to a via though, so you could always run a patch wire from there if you can't follow what chip it goes to next.


Yeah, there are two missing pads that would normally connect to a via there. If I ever get hold of a new cs4231a chip to install, I'll jumper those back into place.

Cheers

Top
#307030 - 08/02/2008 01:42 Re: Saved from the scrap heap! [Re: altman]
mlord
carpal tunnel

Registered: 29/08/2000
Posts: 14472
Loc: Canada
In case you missed it, the mystery of cs4231a "failures" has been unraveled here.

A simple pin-lift and jumper wire are all that's needed to work around the design flaw.

Cheers

Top
#307775 - 01/03/2008 03:06 Re: Saved from the scrap heap! [Re: altman]
mlord
carpal tunnel

Registered: 29/08/2000
Posts: 14472
Loc: Canada
The missing cs4231a has now been successfully replaced.

Top