Catweasel PCI story and problems...

[Ilwrath]

Well...  I finally convinced UPS to turn over to me by box containing my new Catweasel Mk3 (PCI/Flipper) card.  (This is, perhaps a story for another time...)

Anyhow, now that I had my new card, I was happy!  I unpacked it, and saw a SID socket sitting empty.  I couldn't let that go to waste...  I ran off to my closet and pulled out a dead C64 (hey... everyone has skeletons in their closet, I just happen to have COMPUTER skeletons in mine, ok?)...  Anyhow, it was labelled "No boot/No Video signal"...  Sounds like a perfect candidate to pull a SID chip from!  ;-)  

After gently wrestling with the aged socket for a few minutes, it released me my prize.  a 6581 SID.  I socketted it on my Catweasel, and then set the 6581-enable jumper, tore open my PC, and installed the card.  Hooked up the sound, hooked up a TEAC 3.5" floppy, and bolted the system back together.

Booted her up, and decided to give Windows a go, first...  (I actually don't have a functional Linux installation on the machine at the moment, so I didn't have much choice in the matter...)  Anyhow, driver installation went a little oddly.  The card was properly detected, but the machine did a hard reset while installing the drivers.  Hadn't seen that happen before... But next boot, it installed the drivers cleanly, and all went well.  

First, I tried the floppy drive.  I cleanly read the Amiga formatted DD disk I inserted.  I was happy about this working, and tried a few other diskette formats, also with great results.  Cool!  

Next, I figured I'd put the SID through it's paces.  Windows had already detected it as a 6581 board, and all looked to be good.  I downloaded a SID player (ACID 64) that supports CW-mk3, and fired it up.  It detected the board perfectly, and was off to the races.  I loaded up a SID file, and it started playing....  But very poorly.  The timing was all wacky, and I was only getting 1 out of 3 channels.  Not sure what to make of this, I started checking my speaker wiring.  All good... Tried the output on the back of the catweasel... same sound problems.  Bummer.  

Maybe it's a bad SID player, I thought.  I grabbed up the newest ViCE emulator, and had a go with it.  It also detected the CW-mk3 and let me choose it for my SID sound engine.  Cool!  Fire up a game, and once again, oddly timed music, along with missing channels.  Tried fiddling with PAL/NTSC settings, thinking that might be the problem.... no help.  (It did change the pitch and tempo, as expected, but didn't fix the timing issues or missing channels.)  

Now....  Here's the questions....
1) There is a floppy drive style power connector on my CW-mk3 board.  It's not mentioned in any documentation.  From eyeing where the traces go, I'd guess this is used to power the board when it's in the A1200 clockport configuration.  Anyone know if this is correct?  With the card in a PCI slot, I do not have anything connected to this port.  And, to me, at least, it doesn't look like I should...  But confirmation of this would be nice.

2) You think I might have a bad SID chip?  This is my guess, but I don't have another one within reach at the moment.  Is there any particular model of SID this board works better with than any other?  I'm currently using a 6581...

3) Is there anything that supports the joyports?

4)  There are some sloppy solders on the surface-mount PCI/Flipper controller chip...  Not sure if this may also be a problem....  Doesn't look like anything is bridging, but it's hard to tell, for sure.

(edit -- fixed typo... dyslexic chip number!)

[Ilwrath]

Hmm....  I'm not above giving this a bump up...  C'mon....  I know some people on here own these cards...  Any hints would be appreciated.  ;-)

[Ilwrath]

@Pyromania-
Thanks!  I didn't know there was a yahoo group for this.  I'll check it out.

@Trev-
Yeah, I was thinking of contacting Jens.  He's been very good about answering my questions in the past.   I just figured someone here would know, so I wouldn't have to bother him with it.

@KennyR-
The chip is a genuine 6581.  I enabled the 12v 6581 jumper on the card, as I should for that chip.  Power was certainly a question I had about this chip, though.  If it requires 12v.... Where would it be getting that from?  Surely the 3.3v PCI bus with microscopic traces seems a bit flimsy...  That brings me back to looking at that floppy-style power connector....  Does anyone know for sure what it's for?

Bummer about your CW SID drivers not installing under Linux.  I'm planning on installing a 2.6 kernal-based x86 distro soon...  (New machine, so I figure I should run a new kernal and really battle the bugs!) I'll let you know how badly that bombs out for me.  ;-)

[Ilwrath]

If we're both thinking of the same thing, it's an audio patch cable connector to internal motherboard sound inputs, like the ones PCTV cards have.

I have one of those, as well.... A standard 4 prong audio jack.  In fact, I plugged a wire into it that leads to the Aux IN on my soundcard.  That delivers sound to my soundcard mixer.  

But, not shown on the diagram of the card, and way down by the PCI connector and Amiga Keyboard connector, there is another 4 pronged connector, complete with orientation plastics, just like a floppy drive has.  Does your card not have this?

[Ilwrath]

I just checked my last couple in stock and they don't have a connector like you state.

Oddly enough, the one you sent a picture of to the gallery, does....

Gallery Link -- It's in perfect view in the lower-left of the picture.  This card is identical to mine.  (Is it mine?  ;-)  )

My suggestion is DON'T USE IT.

Yeah, no kiddin'....  To my amateur eyes, it looks like it would short out the PCI bus, if used while the card is plugged into a PCI socket (which led to my theory about it powering the card while it's in a clockport configuration.)

Next time I speak with Jens I'll ask him about it.

Cool.... Thanks!  Let me know.

[Ilwrath]

I think you're looking at the four pin audio connector.

NOO!!!  Please....  As stated (twice) I've already identified the 4-pin AUDIO connector.  This is ANOTHER 4 pin connector, complete with plastics, just like a floppy drive has.

The Catweasel mk3 fit in my case with a very minimal of effort, and all ports lined up fine.  I believe my case is also an Antec.  (it is an older model, though, which I've updated with stronger power supply for my new system... shrug)

[Ilwrath]

Well, I pulled the 6581. It WAS a very early chip from a C64 of unknown problems....  

 I replaced the model with a 8580R5 I scavenged from a known good late edition C64c I had sitting around.  Figured no harm in testing, right?

Well, I socketted the 8580 on the Catweasel board, hooked back the 4 prong AUDIO, left the 4 prong unknown connector alone, and installed the card back in my computer.

Booted up..... and tested ACID 64....  SUCCESS!!!  Perfect C64 sound!  :-)  

Now, that leaves the question....  Is my 6581 damaged, or does the Catweasel Mk3 not like the early 6581 chips?  I'm not sure how to answer this one, without finding more SID chips.  I'll have to search my closet more...  (I need to anyhow, now....  I have to find a SID that'll work in my 64c.  ;-)  I'd hate to part out a computer that actually has nothing wrong with it, other than the fact I stole a chip out of it!)

@redrumloa-
Sure...  I'll snap some pics and assemble you something...  You want it as a simple HTML or something?  E-mail me...  :-)