CD32+TF330 sometimes doesn't boot

gtsamour

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Hi,

I have a setup of a CD32 (revision 3) paired with a TF330 revision 3b with a golden 68030 50Mhz and with the latest firmware (v2). The PSU is a new one I bought from here with double the power of the original one.

Every blue monday the cd32 when i flip the power switch, will not boot. It will just stay there with the faint green light. If I press reset it will continue and boot normaly.

Its not something that happens most of the times, it happens some times but on the second try it boots and works normaly.

The console is recapped by myself and the power caps are with the correct orientation (initially they were reversed as with the known issue of the wrong silkscreen onboard).

It happens sporadicaly and it boots on the second try (with either the power switch or the reset button) but just wanted to know if someone else has encountered the same thing.

Also, I have thouroughly cleaned the contacts on both the cd32 and the tf330 card. It could just be a case of the rgb cable putting some weight and bending the riser downwards a little.

Thanx
 
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Hi, I run my T330 with a standard power supply. Use some alcohol on the pins on the board. Try and keep stretching from the RGB cable to a minimum, also check the connection of the keyboard.
 
I have cleaned the pins with 99% isopropyl alcohol, I have no keyboard connected.
 
I think the RGB cable is pulling at my riser too, I try and keep plenty of slack in the cable and then pin it underneath. Has worked for me so far ;)
 
Another thought is the CD32 rear power switch, I had a similar issue on a cd32, shorted the switch, and switched it externally, the issue disappeared.
 
I think the RGB cable is pulling at my riser too, I try and keep plenty of slack in the cable and then pin it underneath. Has worked for me so far ;)
You think a 3d printed cover for he kipper riser could help?

Another thought is the CD32 rear power switch, I had a similar issue on a cd32, shorted the switch, and switched it externally, the issue disappeared.

The switch how.... you think some kind of corrosion ot dirt inside of it could cause this?
 
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Another thought is the CD32 rear power switch, I had a similar issue on a cd32, shorted the switch, and switched it externally, the issue disappeared.

The switch how.... you think some kind of corrosion ot dirt inside of it could cause this?
As I said earlier, just a thought could be a number of different faults most likely a bad connection issue somewhere. To answer your question, the contacts wear down, or become dirty over time due to arcing (depends on switch quality), with a cold start there maybe a volt drop across the contacts, the second start may have allowed the contacts to heat enough to negate the voltage drop across the contacts.
 
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Problem found,

it was the "new" psu I bought from torsti76 a while back, using the original psu everything works flawlessly, 75 straight power ons all perfect.

torsti76 psu: 6 tries, 3 times failed to boot.

I know many people bought this and I saw no complains here. Maybe mine was a bad nut. Measured voltages (without load) are 5,32V and 12,15V.
I don't know why, maybe this slight overvoltage on the 5V line doesn't go well with the TF330.

Thank god it didn't blow up my CD32 and TF330 card.
 
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Problem found,

it was the "new" psu I bought from torsti76 a while back, using the original psu everything works flawlessly, 75 straight power ons all perfect.

torsti76 psu: 6 tries, 3 times failed to boot.

I know many people bought this and I saw no complains here. Maybe mine was a bad nut. Measured voltages (without load) are 5,32V and 12,15V.
I don't know why, maybe this slight overvoltage on the 5V line doesn't go well with the TF330.

Thank god it didn't blow up my CD32 and TF330 card.

Sorry to hear that.

But first of all, I explicitly warned about the slight overvoltage in my sales thread. The voltage will drop by at least 0.15 V under load, so I doubt that's the cause.

I use one of my own PSUs on my CD32 with TF330 and don't have any issues.

I suspect the plug itself. With this aftermarket DIN plugs, I often had the problem that they have to be pushed really hard into the socket to make good contact.

Can you try that first, please?
 
Problem found,

it was the "new" psu I bought from torsti76 a while back, using the original psu everything works flawlessly, 75 straight power ons all perfect.

torsti76 psu: 6 tries, 3 times failed to boot.

I know many people bought this and I saw no complains here. Maybe mine was a bad nut. Measured voltages (without load) are 5,32V and 12,15V.
I don't know why, maybe this slight overvoltage on the 5V line doesn't go well with the TF330.

Thank god it didn't blow up my CD32 and TF330 card.

Sorry to hear that.

But first of all, I explicitly warned about the slight overvoltage in my sales thread. The voltage will drop by at least 0.15 V under load, so I doubt that's the cause.

I use one of my own PSUs on my CD32 with TF330 and don't have any issues.

I suspect the plug itself. With this aftermarket DIN plugs, I often had the problem that they have to be pushed really hard into the socket to make good contact.

Can you try that first, please?


I dought this is the issue, I inserted the plug more than once or twice and trust me I'm not a newbie in retro consoles, I would know if the plug wasn't all the way in.

Sorry but I'm not taking any more chances with a 500 euro console. I'm not saying all your psus are bad, maybe just mine.

Also there was a beep coming out of the speakers when the cd32 managed to boot. No sound with the original psu.
Also the CF card got corrupted and one partition got unrecognisable. Sorry, no more tests.
 
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I see. I can't rule out the possibility that your PSU is bad.
The only thing I can tell you is that I tested each and every PSU with my own precious mint condition TF330 equipped CD32 before shipping it out. In particular, each PSU was used to boot the "Wing Commander" CD as well as the CF card on the TF330.
I've never had a beep from the speakers upon switching on or that nondeterministic boot behavior, but who knows. Maybe the postal service was rough on your package, maybe one of my solderjoints is bad.

Anyway, since your CD32 works with the original PSU, the fault must lie with what I sold to you, so I'd like to offer you a refund. Please send me your PayPal details and I'll refund the cost for the unit. I can't refund the shipping costs, however.
I hope you understand that I'm not a business but just a guy who discovered that these PSUs - at least in general as it seems - work very well with the CD32. I wanted to help others enjoy that, too, even if they aren't inclined to soldering. Before this thread none of the many people I sold these PSUs to had any complaint, so I hope this will stay the only "Monday model" of them all.
 
I understand, I never implied that it was your fault.

Forgive me for not agreeing to submit my console to more testing, I nearly had a heart attack with this "adventure", I thought my console has gone bad, and as you know they aren't cheap anymore.

I'll send you my paypal email right away.

I see. I can't rule out the possibility that your PSU is bad.
The only thing I can tell you is that I tested each and every PSU with my own precious mint condition TF330 equipped CD32 before shipping it out. In particular, each PSU was used to boot the "Wing Commander" CD as well as the CF card on the TF330.
I've never had a beep from the speakers upon switching on or that nondeterministic boot behavior, but who knows. Maybe the postal service was rough on your package, maybe one of my solderjoints is bad.

Anyway, since your CD32 works with the original PSU, the fault must lie with what I sold to you, so I'd like to offer you a refund. Please send me your PayPal details and I'll refund the cost for the unit. I can't refund the shipping costs, however.
I hope you understand that I'm not a business but just a guy who discovered that these PSUs - at least in general as it seems - work very well with the CD32. I wanted to help others enjoy that, too, even if they aren't inclined to soldering. Before this thread none of the many people I sold these PSUs to had any complaint, so I hope this will stay the only "Monday model" of them all.
 
Happy to hear that you did track down the problem.
 
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Hmmmm, but I don't have any symptoms resembling the ones that are mentioned in your link. After booting the cd32 works flawlessly for hours.

Well I mention this as the symptom is a grey screen (ignoring the "boots for a few minutes" on that particular link). They have a few articles on there that mention dead/grey screen machines and that was the fix.

Worked to resurrect mine too.
 
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