Naja, rausziehen (also an den Pins) und hängen lassen kann ich die beiden Kabel ja auch. Ziehe ich sie am Modul ab ist das kein Problem. Die Klemmen (im C64) vertragen auch einen Transport zu einer Konverntion.
(Sofern es die je wieder geben wird...
)
Hi all!
My friend and I have just built 2 Sidekick64 boards but are having some problems, the main menu is not displaying correctly and is unreadable.
If I press 1 at the main screen Action Replay loads perfectly fine, I've replaced the Action Replay file with a Donkey Kong .crt and that loads perfectly as well so it seem like it's just an issue with the main menu.
We are using Australian PAL c64, is there some more troubleshooting I can try?
Thanks!
The main menu doesn't do anything special (it's basically the same functionality as launching a .PRG in the first place <- you can try that as well, by adding one to the main menu -- but since you can launch AR from there, this seems to work, more or less :-)). What Raspberry Pi are you using? How are the jumpers set? Best you post a photo.
I'm using a 3B.
If I comment out "Fav Freezer 1" and enable "PRG 1" will this assign it to the number 1 key? It's hard to see what I'm loading with the menu like that.
I'm using a 3B.
if it's a 3B and not a 3B+ then is uses a different SoC and you are most likely experiencing timing/caching behavior problems. You might be lucky with overclocking (not sure if I remember correctly who figured out timings that might work), but I recommend to use the 3A+/3B+ -- also to not having "support" overclocked isolated "solutions" 
You can post a photo of your SoC, kinzi had a RPi which came with some newer SoC which was clocked lower than it should. Maybe he can help with his settings.
If I comment out "Fav Freezer 1" and enable "PRG 1" will this assign it to the number 1 key? It's hard to see what I'm loading with the menu like that.
in the .cfg there is a section PRGs. CRTs and PRGs will be assigned consecutive letters, i.e. if you have no CRT (not freezers) the first PRG should be 'A'.
I renamed paperboy to rpimenu.prg and it booted fine also..
Ok, I'll get my hands on a 3B+ and see if it works properly, no point in using unsupported hardware, thanks.
Alright, I have a 3B+ !
Exact same problem though, the menu is displayed garbled.
As a test I also loaded up 0.41 and it presented the same issue, I've tried 2 separate SD cards both formatted as FAT.
I don't know if any of this matters, but I've been doing some playing around..
Pressing 1 loads crt perfectly.
Pressing A loads crt perfectly.
Copy batman.prg to PRG folder, configure "PRG 1" SD:PRG\batman.prg, boot to garbled sidekick menu, press A, c64 seems to reset and looks like it's trying to load but locks up at the BASIC prompt.
Rename batman.prg to rpimenu.prg - game loads perfectly as soon as the RPI boots.
I've also connected the board to my c128 and as soon as it's powered on I see is the BASIC prompt but there's random characters over the screen, I've also tried booting to 64 mode by holding down the C= key at power on and same result.
I'm lost, seems to be an issue with prg loading maybe?
nicr4wks : A lot of things do already work - that's good. During debugging: If the launch of a PRG ends in the basic prompt you may always press the reset button very shortly which means that the launch of the PRG is tried once again.
I would not recommend to replace the rpimenu.prg with a different prg. Could you post some pictures of the Sidekick PCB including the position of Jumpers on the pcb frontside?
Also: Is the C64 modified internally by chip replacements or the like?
Good point, totally forgot the c64 has a dual rom with JiffyDOS and standard roms. In Jiffy mode I get the garbled menu, in stock mode I get the BASIC prompt but it's frozen.
The c128 is completely standard.
I tried loading PRG file, TFT shows launcher mode, pressed reset button and it booted back to the BASIC prompt but still locked up.
Sorry, forum wouldn't let me attach a hi-res photo or link to imgur..
imgur (dot) com/a/pJOe1Tq
Going to try and find my original ROM and boot with that.
Edit>>>
Installed original rom, C64 boots to BASIC screen with "Ready" in the top left, I can type in run but it just loads back to the same screen.
Edit>>>
Installed original rom, C64 boots to BASIC screen with "Ready" in the top left, I can type in run but it just loads back to the same screen.
I haven't experienced any kernal which would not allow the Sidekick to render the menu screen correctly. Kernal switches may be problematic when they mess around with signals upon reset (what the Sidekick does itself).
It's hard to judge about the solder points on the photo.
Guessing from the symptoms:
- check the LVC573 (esp. pin 17) and the LVC07.
- check the RPi connector (esp. GPIO 0, 1, 13, 15)
Does freezing work with the Action Replay CRT? Can you try a more complex Easyflash CRT (e.g. Prince of Persia)?
Even that you now have a 3B+, can you post the SoC type? (BCM2837...)
Could you try to boot Sidekick+C64 with the leftmost red jumper either removed or in a vertical position (not horizental)?
Quickly ran the iron back over the GPIO header and reflowed the 573, rest of it looks OK under a microscope. I've 2 boards that have the same behavior though.
Freezing works OK, I tried this PoP crt which loaded OK also Prince of Persia (2011)(Andreas Varga)[cr Nostalgia][t +9][EasyFlash 2011-11-01]
BCM2837B0IFSBG
Leftmost (A13-BTN) jumper no change in horizontal, vertical or removed modes.
I can try on a friends C64c this weekend also, but it doesn't work on c128 either so not confident commodore is the issue.
These are the exact components used to build the board:
I've 2 boards that have the same behavior though.
yes that is indeed strange. But I would not expect any problems from the machines you're trying (since PAL, NTSC, and arbitrary over/underclocked C64s worked for me). It might be the ICs that you use, although they types seemed to be ok (from what I've seen on the images). To double check that: it's a HCT30, right?
When it hangs, can you measure the DMA line and pin 11 and 13 of the LVC07?
Yes, it's this chip to be exact: https://au.mouser.com/ProductDetail/595-CD74HCT30M
My friend I've been working on the boards with has a scope and knows more about hardware troubleshooting than I do, we can have a look at those pins over the weekend. Is there anything else we should probe when looking?
Thanks for all of the help
Is there anything else we should probe when looking?
if the problem is the same on both Sidekicks, all machines, and the ICs used are correct then it begins to be interesting 
To be sure to have asked this: the RPi-power supply does not cause any problems? (you can connect an HDMI monitor and check if you see a yellow flash) If you're using a good power supply for the C64 you can power the Sidekick from there.
nicr4wks : On the photo I can see that you have also put a capacitator on the "10pF (Phi2)" place below the left 245. I can't see if you also put a 10pF capacitator on the position near the left edge of the 2x20 connector (hidden under the display). I usually follow Frenetic s instructions and leave those capacitators out. Maybe this is causing problems? All my Sidekicks 0.4x are soldered without any 10pF caps. (but of course with one 10uF and many 100nF).
nicr4wks : On the photo I can see that you have also put a capacitator on the "10pF (Phi2)" place below the left 245. I can't see if you also put a 10pF capacitator on the position near the left edge of the 2x20 connector (hidden under the display). I usually follow Frenetic s instructions and leave those capacitators out. Maybe this is causing problems? All my Sidekicks 0.4x are soldered without any 10pF caps. (but of course with one 10uF and many 100nF).
oh yes, didn't spot this one! good catch emulaThor . nicr4wks leave out the 10pF caps! (just double checked the github page: "10pF not required (leave out)" )
not guaranteed that this/these cause the problem, but very likely.
nicr4wks : On the photo I can see that you have also put a capacitator on the "10pF (Phi2)" place below the left 245. I can't see if you also put a 10pF capacitator on the position near the left edge of the 2x20 connector (hidden under the display). I usually follow Frenetic s instructions and leave those capacitators out. Maybe this is causing problems? All my Sidekicks 0.4x are soldered without any 10pF caps. (but of course with one 10uF and many 100nF).
Ich versuche hier das Problem mit zu verfolgen, aber ich sehe gar keine Foto's 
Sorry, forum wouldn't let me attach a hi-res photo or link to imgur..
imgur (dot) com/a/pJOe1Tq
Removing the 10pF did not make a difference 
There's no low-power warning on the hdmi output, it's a 5v 2.5a supply I had to upgrade when building the pi1541. I'll try anything at this point though so I'll borrow another power supply that is known to work.
Ich versuche hier das Problem mit zu verfolgen, aber ich sehe gar keine Foto's
Auf das Foto gab es nur einen Link, den man manuell zusammensetzen musste, weil nicr4wks das Bild nicht hochladen konnte hier ins Forum.
Sorry, forum wouldn't let me attach a hi-res photo or link to imgur..
imgur (dot) com/a/pJOe1Tq
Man muss diese zerhackte URL zusammensetzen, um an das Foto zu kommen.
nicr4wks: Could you also check if you are able to test with more different MicroSD card types / by different manufacturers. Although there have never been many reports regarding microSD card problems and it is highly unlikely that this would be the cause -- there are so many different kind of "speed" types for MicroSD cards out there and there might be some rare types of cards that don't interact with the software in the "usual" way.
