Dragon's Lair Fans - Arcade Lifestyle
General Chat => Technical Area => Topic started by: level42 on July 09, 2015, 10:17:07 AM
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Since the ROM signatures of the Fluke 9100A are different from those on the 9010A I thought it might be worthwhile to check them on known working hardware and maintain a list.
Here's the small start :)
https://www.icloud.com/numbers/AwBUCAESEE5y2qCeoAXOG8sqQGggsMIaKbJLDaOZmWbosjtZHRkyTEqF5TPwm1Eluj725HvNzK29lnTJZUvp4rr5MCUCAQEEIFTL9fKl7mElO7x7QvumaDLsNfOwydRC5lK37Zm06xXf#Fluke_9100A_signatures.numbers
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I watched your you tube video today on the 9100A. :)
Nice demo.
Good luck with your signature list, hopefully any other 9100 users will contribute.
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Indeed, i liked your vid, very interesting stuff.
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Great, thanks !
Got some response on the tech tool list and I forgot to show something: when doing ROM or RAM tests you need to set the step to 1. By default this is 2 which means that the tests will always skip every next address. This sounds strange but he 9100A was designed in the 16 bit era and following that it makes more sense.
Also need to check the mask setting when doing ROM tests, don't know what it should be yet.....
Anyway the values in my list are incorrect, will update it ASAP......the funny thing is that suddenly this info is popping up ;););)
[EDIT] I have updated the file, checked the Midway signatures and they confirm and I've read the Namco signage sand added those too.
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I retrieved my Fluke keyboard (plus I/O modules and some pods) from my storage so I could do my first careful steps in programming it.
Let me say that being used to point and click for so long doesn't make using the system any easier, but with the downloaded manuals on the iPad I was able to create a new Program file and started to enter a practice program from the manual and later also Andy's CRC32 program, which will make it possible,to check ROMs with the values known on stuff like ROMident.
Regretfully the screenshot Andy posted only shows part of the program so I emailed him...
But....I have opened a new file, successfully entered the test program, checked it for errors, debugged it (no errors, but I learned how to do it), saved and even compiled the program.....and successfully ran it too :)
Now all I need is to learn the TL/1 language. Lots of stuff is pretty familiar and straightforward like Basic/C.
First goal is to write a simple program for Galaxian that will do the basics in one go:
- bus test
- ROM tests (hopefully will integrate Andy's CRC code)
- RAM tests
If I get that working I'd love to add I/O tests using the I/O modules I have, this will really add something the 9100A can do, but the 9010A can't :)
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30+ years ago I was typing in programs from computer magazines, now I'm typing in a program from an iPad, you can't say we haven't progressed ;);)
Damn using that keyboard......it feels.......much better than I'd expected....like meeting an old friend...of course it's an extremely high quality keyboard....
It's rather big though....both these keyboards are great in their own way :)
The display however.....mmmmmm....80 columns in color is not something I really enjoyed. Of course my eyes haven't gotten any better either.....i did flip the handy "green only" button on the monitor but still....the dot pitch on this size color monitor is something we're not used to anymore ;)
I think a monochrome display might look a lot better, the colors don't add a lot anyway (it's possible to configure the colors by the way, but the defaults are the best).
Oh wel....it'll do. I have successfully hooked up an RS-232 cable between the Fluke and my iMac before so I should be able to type programs on the Mac and transfer them.....but all in all it's definitely workable as is :)
Just reminds you how spoilt we are today...
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those are the best keyboards out there, just like the old IBM ones :
(http://www.clickykeyboard.com/_ebay/l6731/l6731-009.jpg)
Nothing beats the good old clicky keyboards IYAM ;D
by the way, did you backup that drive in there ?
what happens if it fails, will it render your fluke totally unusable ?
there must be a way to clone that drive, i am sure
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Yeah you're kinda right about those keyboards....it would be funny to confront a youngster with it....HAH I'm going to let Mark type in some text on it and see his respond, LOL.
I still have your SCSI interfaces Etienne so I should be able to back it up.
However, if the HD crashes it won't be a nightmare, Andy provided a very good way to do a full install.
He even figured out a way to get rid of the HD all together and use an Compact flash card instead, using a (rather expensive) SCSI to CF interface from EBay (Japan).
This also makes it possible to get rid of the extremely loud fan....it's like a vacuum cleaner !
Anyway all that great info can be found here:
http://www.andysarcade.net/personal/tech/fluke9100/index.htm
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Mmmmm, I found an alternative to the SCSI to CF adapter:
http://shop.codesrc.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=58
It's quite a bit cheaper AND it is actually mentioned to be compatible with the Fluke 9100A.... :)
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I still have your SCSI interfaces Etienne so I should be able to back it up.
did i supply SCSI interfaces ? cant remember that ??? :D
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Haha yes you did :) :)
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Well waddayaknow.....there hasn't been any videos about the 9100A on YouTube until a few weeks ago and now look !!!
http://youtu.be/BqmWddqsETI
Posted only a couple of days ago !
And it's a whole serie ! Too bad I don't understand an word !!!!
Etienne..........we need your help....... ;);););)
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;D my wife's help you mean, my spanish is not so good :D
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Precies maar jij moet haar even lief aankijken ;););)
Sorry guys, hard to translate that one.....but indeed Etienne, indeed, I hope her technical Spanish is excellent ;);););)
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have downloaded them, will ask her tonight to take a look.
she's a spanish teacher so i guess she should know her spanish :D
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Its quite a bit of work I think because he says a lot....
I think the general steps he takes are writing to a RAM area, then tests the RAM area which fails and then he shows how to,use the IO module on some buffer IC for that RAM area.the last is most interesting for me as I haven't tried IO modules yet but it looks not too complicated....
No hurry ;)
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yeah, he talks about testing ram rom and adress bus and stuff.
its not that she dont understand what he says but i think its better to have specific things you want to have translated, she is not going to write all down while looking (in her eyes boring) video :D
so if you have certain things you want translated, gimme the timecode on the vid and i'll ask.
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by the way, YouTube does some automatic voice recognition, and for the most part its pretty accurate my wife says.
try the subtitle option and config it to translate in dutch.
most of the things he says are pretty well interpreted by the recognition engine :
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Hah, never knew that was even possible, amazing !!
Quite coincidently Anunaki was here yesterday evening and told me about this too, thanks !
Not perfect but it sure helps.
Did anyone notice the barcode tag on the 9100A ? starts with USAF so the previous owner was the U.S. Air Force :)
Mine came from Geveke, currently Getronics, I remember they did repairs for Atari Benelux B.V.
I already something learned from this video and that is how to do block memory writes !!! I knew the 9010A could do this and it has a dedicated key for it but the 9100A doesn't......should have known it was under the WRITE key and then one of the soft keys options.......feel stupid ;)
Anyway this shows how great videos can be as a help.....yes of course there are the manuals and if anyone reads them I do but the amount of info Fluke provided for all parts of the system is staggering...
I'm at page 173 of the programming manual and it is almost 500 pages....
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Mmmmm, I found an alternative to the SCSI to CF adapter:
http://shop.codesrc.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=58
It's quite a bit cheaper AND it is actually mentioned to be compatible with the Fluke 9100A.... :)
The thing is quite amazing...you can configure it to "show" a drive serial number etc. so it looks completely like a physical drive to the system it's connected....I guess some hardware will check that stuff....
It's even been tested in an arcade machine: http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?p=3027446
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And a new vid from this guy :D
(http://img.youtube.com/vi/f702vD3zxYo/0.jpg) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f702vD3zxYo)
(http://www.opdenkelder.com/pics/player.jpg) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f702vD3zxYo)
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He's using a 9010a this time :)
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Holy crap, I've spent about 24h. (OK well at least a good part of it) between despair and regret....
Story is....my 9100A's front has come loose. That plastic of the front has become rather brittle over the years and the "latches" (or clamps or whatever they are called) had been partially broken, probably from people opening it before I owned it.
Now, I had put away the machine somewhere but somehow the complete front had fallen down from about 1 meter...... I was not really that worried about it, the flat cable had come loose of course, but I had checked the pins right away and they were not even a bit bent...
But......the display in this unit is not an LED or LCD device but a VFD (Vacuum Fluorescent Display).
( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clUVEyi_YNM )
Essentially this is a bit like a CRT (although still different) but it IS in essence a glass tube...soooooo.... there was a slight worry about it...
I wanted to see if I could check some things on the Asteroids so I got out the unit, reconnected the front and powered it up......
The display remained dark and my heart sank.... The LED indicators for BUSY and Hard Drive activity were still working so the connector was OK. Keyboard worked too (at least, I could reset the unit with the reset key).
I tried reseating the Z8 processor as it was somewhat loose, but that didn't help. And there's not much more that can come loose on the display PCB so I thought I was screwed.
You see these displays are not available anymore. There are still VFD's being made, but not this type.... :(
So I already started looking around/asking if anyone would have a display....but the search was unsuccesful.
I already started to look at how the unit sends data to the display (basic enough, ASCII characters as RS-232 at TTL level, but there is also some special graphic commands) and if it might be possible to use another display.
However....as always.....check basics. What bothered me was that there was no visual damage on the VFD. No breaks or cracks. The slightest crack would render it useless of course, because the vacuum has to remain in tact for it to not burn out....
So....let's check voltages ! The VFD requires a couple of rather strange voltages, one of them is 70V for the filament. Measured that one first and....nothing !
Mmmmm....so I searched through the schematics, couldn't find anything how the 70V was generated but I _did_ find a repair log ( http://www.jammarcade.net/fluke-9100-repair-log/ ) and there it mentioned a 125mA fuse for the 70V. I had seen a fuse quite near the front of the unit so.....let's see. Measure it: open !
Replaced it and.....
YESSSSSSSS I was greeted by the beautiful glow of the VFD again ........MAN was I HAPPY !!!!!!!!!
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pfffieeuwww, I can imagine that !
now store that B!tch on a place where the front cannot get off ;)
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:spaceace: :spaceace: :spaceace:!!!!!!!!!!
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Have to find a nice mechanical solution to fix the front (while still being able to open the unit)....
Although VFDs are supposed to last very long (20 years) this certain type is simply unavailable (contacted factory). amazingly the product was only cancelled in 2007....which is kinda weird and makes you wonder if there wouldn't be any stock somewhere. However, even IF you can get them they will be pretty pricey.
Now the data that the main PCB sends out to the display is a serial communication like RS-232 but at TTL level. The "simple" characters are ASCII compatible coded. It should be possible to make something with a Raspberry Pi that will receive this data and put it on a display. THere needs to be some software conversion done though as there are several special (control) characters and the display can also do graphics.
Not saying I plan to develop a plug and play solution but I'd first like to see if I can "catch" the data on see them on a terminal program.
To do that I need to interface the TTL level RS-232 to real RS-232 levels. I was first thinking of building a circuit myself with a MAX232 (have plenty of them) but while googling around I found these ....and yet again I am baffled how they can produce AND ship them at these prices and still make some money.....
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=121597412242&globalID=EBAY-US
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=151749229981&globalID=EBAY-US
No way I would even get out my solder station when these things are readily available for prices close to zero.... :)