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.  ;-)

[Pyromania]

You might want to post your problem to the Yahoo eGroup for your card. Someone there should be able to help.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Catweasel_flipper_support/

[Trev]

Or you could contact Jens, the designer of the Catweasel, directly. He's open, friendly, and very helpful. Check out www.jschoenfeld.com.

Trev

[KennyR]

Make absolutely sure that you have set the card for your 6581. It also houses an 6850, but this must be set with a jumper.

On the info sheet that comes with the card, it says:

Only set the 8581 jumper if the real 6581 is installed! It must be left open with 8580 or 6582 chips. This jumper applies 12V to the sockets which are needed for the 6581, but it could destroy any other version of the SID.

If you're giving a 6581 too little voltage or another chip too much, that would explain your problems. It may be that chipless CW3 ship with the 12V off by default, so not to damage a wrongly chosen chip. Check it out.

3) Is there anything that supports the joyports?

Windows does not have any drivers yet - only Amithlon or Pegasos, at the moment. But UAE will also support them directly.

I'm jealous about you being able to install the driver - on my Linux setup the catweasel drivers just point blank refuse to compile (typical linux behaviour: fail for no apparent reason and then never explain why). So I haven't yet heard the SID and maybe never will. :-(

[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.  ;-)

[KennyR]

I think what you're referring to isn't a floppy power connector at all. 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.

[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?

[redrumloa]

Howdy howdy howdy howdy:-) Glad to hear UPS got it straight! Feel free to contact me as your first tech support contact for Individual Computers products.

Luckily it looks like you are just about there. You know what? If you get everything purring away and working perfect,. how would you feel about writing a detailed install guide with pics and screenshots? I can either throw you a freebie or work something out with you for your time:-) It's something I've been meaning to do myself and have been lacking the time.

[redrumloa]

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?

I just checked my last couple in stock and they don't have a connector like you state. I do see holes on the motherboard where one may have been installed in earlier or later revisions. My suggestion is DON'T USE IT. Next time I speak with Jens I'll ask him about it.

[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.

[Trev]

@Ilwrath

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

@Redrumloa

I'm still working on the Catweasel installer. Jens has been incommunicado the last couple of weeks, but I think he might be out and about.

I've also (hopefully) spurred Jens, Toni Wilen, and multidisk.device author into working on the problems with WinUAE and the latest multidisk.device--something to do with the device ignoring the prefs file.

Quick notes from my own experience. On the Catweasel MK3, I had to remove the uppper joystick port and mount it in a separate slot. It's too high on the backplate to be usable in my Antec cases. On the Catweasel ISA, I had to remove the backplate completely--the ISA fingerboard is properly spaced and notched, but the standoffs on the backplate are a bit too long. :-(

I don't have a copy of Amithlon, but one of the projects I'd like to see someone try is running isacatweasel.device and multidisk.device on the same system. Per Jens, it should be possible, but it hasn't been tested. You can use isacatweasel.device on WinUAE, but the emulation itself only recognizes a single device (through the catweasel_io config option).

Trev

[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)

[Trev]

:-) No really! It *must* be the audio connector! ;-) I'll have to check my card when I get home, but I thought the little black connector next to the PCI edge was the audio connector. But I'm also remembering a Sound Blaster style connector as well. I guess I'm smoking something.

Well, the card fit fine, but I couldn't actually plug a joystick into the top port--the restraining lip got in the way.

Trev

[redrumloa]

Trev wrote:
:-) No really! It *must* be the audio connector! ;-) I'll have to check my card when I get home, but I thought the little black connector next to the PCI edge was the audio connector. But I'm also remembering a Sound Blaster style connector as well. I guess I'm smoking something.

Well, the card fit fine, but I couldn't actually plug a joystick into the top port--the restraining lip got in the way.

Trev

No actually he is right look HERE!
That is a picture of a Catweasel i submitted, that was my personal CW MKIII.