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I could purchase some sort of heatsink, I don't mind. I'm programming on the device during the weekends and it's really annoying to have to shut down the device every so often and wait for it to cool off.
Which chips would have to be cooled? Just the PLL or some of the other chips around it as well?
Thanks
Jens - I do not know what to do with the information you provided me with, sorry. I have located the U23 position near the Xilinx chip, please provide me with the steps to take from here on.
Thank you
Update
Since my last (and very long) post, I've installed heatsinks on the VIC-II as well as on the CPU. These are small aluminum units with a height of 5mm. Sadly the issue persists, after about 45 minutes the display image turns monochrome. I've exchanged the display as well, no effect either
Ralph
Hi
I'm having the same issue, after about 45 minutes of usage, the image on the screen turns monochrome and after about one and a half hours later, I stop getting feedback all together (screen freezes). I know that the system still runs because I am able to hear sound on my speakers.
The issue comes up much sooner if I just reset the machine (both on epyx fastload reloaded cartridge and dedicated power switch) after the issue occurred for the first time. I have to wait a longer period of time before the image output is again stable for longer periods of time.
I have mainly been playing games on the system, it'sva long list with which I'm not going to bother anyone.
At the moment I have a NTSC VIC-II connected to an active S-Video to VGA converter which is then connected to a VGA LCD.
I have a PAL VIC-II as well but the image on the LCD flickers when I use it, I suppose it has to do with the 60Hz refresh rate of the LCD and the 50Hz output of the PAL VIC-II. I have not tested if the monochrome image or freeze issues occur with the PAL VIC-II though, the flickering of the screen doesn't make for a enjoyable experience with the machine.
Further I am using your official power adapter, an original breadbin keyboard and Pixelwizard c64c case, the chips themselves on the board are either new or new old stock, I can provide a list of these if required.
Finally, I do have a theory about why this issue happens: the chip overheats somehow. That said, it does not happen with the same chip on an original breadbin C64 board. I swapped the VIC-II on that one and ran some demo for more than four hours, no monochrome image, no freeze. I even put the breadbin board in the same Pixelwizard c64c case and ran the test again, same result. This, according to me, means that the C64R-MK2 would be at fault for the aforementioned overheating problem.
Sorry for the long and explicit message but I thought that a deeper description of the issue and debugging steps taken would serve better to diagnose the problem.
Thank you and have a nice day,
Ralph
Hi,
I recently acquired a mk2 from you (order 53023), while using the serial connection it froze up. I tried disconnecting the cable an reconnecting it again but got nothing over the terminal (Tera Term, current version). After this I turned the device off and on again, it boots correctly but again nothing over the serial connection. Subsequently I rebooted the computer but no serial was found.
Since then I've tried everything combination of booting with the device and connecting it (C64 off/ PC on, PC off / C64 on, C64 on / PC off) but to no avail. I tried it on two different computers as well. Neither combination nor computer found the serial port again.
I've bought old new stock for the chips on the board, I have the following components:
- MOS 8500 CPU
- CSG 8562R4 VIC-II
- MOS 6526R-4 CIA (x2)
- CSG 8580R5 SID (x2)
As you may see from my order, I bought the 'original' power adapter, which is what I am using. I placed the 'notch' of the chips towards the lever (as indicated in the user guide).
The only other device I've connected is a new original SD2IEC powered by the user port (tfw8b) and an Epyx Fastload Reloaded. The cartridge gets recognized but I get an error '?DEVICE NOT PRESENT ERROR' for the SD2IEC (at first it took a very long time for the error message to appear, now it happens almost instantly).
If you have any more questions (or ideas) please let me know.
Have a nice day and hope to hear from you soon
Ralph
PS: Originally I wanted to use the serial connection to debug the SD2IEC problem...
