Terrible Fire TF530 CPU compatibility list?

[bugsymalone666]

So I have just built a TF530, I bought the parts about 12 months ago and it took a year to get on top of life to get round to building it.

One of the hard parts to source was an actual CPU, along with the CPU socket, as its a pricey part!

I have a MC68EC030RP40 , so 40mhz one, its the all black ones, not the CPU's with gold bits on. I also have an FPU a matched (40mhz one), the FPU's seem pretty cheap by comparison to the CPUs. I chose a 40mhz Crystal to go with it, as I was under the impression thats what I needed.

I wasnt sure if I would be able to solder it up ok, but I cant have done a terrible job, my Raspberry Pi could see and program both CPLDs .

So I plug it in to my Amiga yesterday, nothing, black screen the 68000 original chip works fine, so that means my creation is the problem .

I know on various things apparently there have been alsorts of chips used, I have seen boards for sale that seem to be the same processor but with a 25/33mhz crystal, would that be a reason for it not to boot?

Could the FPU cause an issue? Going to prise that out today and see if it makes any difference.

I'm open to easy suggestions as I started looking for another CPU, but same problem as last year, practically nothing all that cheap available on ebay.

[supaduper]

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[Mark sealey]

I had a black screen on my TF534....found out the cpu re-locator was not sitting right in the cpu socket....moved it towards the back of the cpu socket ^^ way

I would like a full 030 with mmu too

[bugsymalone666]

Originally Posted by Mark sealey

I had a black screen on my TF534....found out the cpu re-locator was not sitting right in the cpu socket....moved it towards the back of the cpu socket ^^ way

I would like a full 030 with mmu too

Yeah initially I was thinking it might have been something like that, mainly my Amiga lives at my parents, for the first time since it came in to their home in 1990 I brought it home to mine to look at (as I have extra tools and space here).

When I built mine, I also got a relocator board, which initially I installed in to the socket with the accelerator attached. It was all pretty tight to the components below and close to the Kickstart rom, then I remembered how with all the components I had for this upgrade I had purchased 2x 64pin sockets, one for the relocator and one as a spacer for the relocator.

So I tried that tonight and it fits much better, everything is seated correctly.

I removed the FPU (A MC68882FN40 - apparently a 40mhz matching one for my crystal and CPU) as gentley as possible, but managed to slightly crack the socket (sure glue will fix it), but alas it made no difference, still a black screen.

So everything is located properly, just not working, which is why I wondered about compatibility.

Supaduper was saying in a message how not all the these 030 40mhz actually do 40mhz, so I guess might be fine clocked at 33mhz.

I did find after leaving the computer on doing nothing for 15 minutes the processor was just very slightly warm, like it was operating, but obviously the Amiga was having none of it.

I'm going to see about getting another 40mhz chip, as changing the crystal is more of a pain than changing the CPU chip! Hence the reason for asking about compatibility.

As for MMU, I think when I was reading up, its just a memory management unit, which I dont think the Amiga can actually make use of which is why I got the 68EC030, as a 68030 with the MMU is about 4x the price!

[chue]

what version of the TF530 firmware are you running? I had a similar issue with older firmware, as noted here: http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?...78#post1254678

[dalek]

Before doing anything I'd double triple check your soldering under a microscope for bridges and shorts. 90% of the time that's the issue. Just because the CPLDs programmed okay that means nothing - it's only a couple of pins for programming to succeed.

The FPUs can be fake but likely your 030 will be fine at 40MHz.

And read through all info over on the exxos forums....

[bugsymalone666]

Originally Posted by dalek

Before doing anything I'd double triple check your soldering under a microscope for bridges and shorts. 90% of the time that's the issue. Just because the CPLDs programmed okay that means nothing - it's only a couple of pins for programming to succeed.

The FPUs can be fake but likely your 030 will be fine at 40MHz.

And read through all info over on the exxos forums....

I have one of those USB microscopes, about 2mp, so I was checking everything as I was going, no solder bridges I can tell.

I would have thought though for the Processor it shouldnt be an issue though as its through hole and goes direct connection too the 68000 socket pins, just the CLPDs are super fine, but as best as I could with the USB microscope I checked everything twice and it looked ok. I would have thought CPLD issues would mean the IDE and extra memory wont register but the rest should function.

I have another CPU on the way thats been tested and working, so if it still doesnt work, back to the drawing board. I might have to order some more special flux and get my reflow air gun thing out (which incidently I bought for doing this job, but used a soldering iron carefully)

I also think I need to find better solder than the lead free stuff I have, I have some older lead mix solder and that stuff is magic!

But as far as I can tell, everything looks pretty good, so I was surprised when my raspberry pi could even communicate with the CPLDs, because if there was a bad bridge somewhere, it probably wouldnt have worked at all.