UK1541 user feedback

  • Thread starter Thread starter MagerValp
  • Start date Start date
  • Replies Replies 95
  • Views Views 6419
Status
Not open for further replies.
If I press the RESET on the UK1541 (right button) then it resets and freezes on the text screen (it never gets into the browser)... I have to turn off the c64 for a few seconds and on again to make it work again. This is of course only if I make it "freeze" with the remote control core reset button.

However there is a problem with the "fire" button on the remote control too (that's the fast forward or next button on the remote - the 2nd button in the 2nd row) ... sometimes it stops working after I Unmount the image. You can browse the current directory but you cannot mount any other image or go up to higher directory anymore. This happens a lot here... you have to turn the c64 off for a while and then back on to make it work again. Currently this is happening really A LOT and more or less randomly :( makes the device pretty unusable.

Also, I have no idea how to "reset" the 1541 now properly after a custom loader is loaded into the 1541... the "core reset" is not working anymore if I press the Reset button on the uk1541 then it resets but i get "device not present" error and I have to power cycle the c64 (with some pause) to get it to work anymore. Strange. Please return the "core reset" button functionality to the uk1541 otherwise it is unusable on those c64 that don't reset the serial line when you reset the c64 (I guess that is a lot of them).
 
Last edited:
Ok this seems to be hardware problem, you need to return device to me. Full money back is guarantee.

PM Sent.
 
Last edited:
What ? Everything worked fine before this SD core update... not sure why this would be a hardware error. I am 100% sure this is a firmware bug and not a hardware error. Before this update I have never had a problem with the "fire" button, it stops working randomly, but ALWAYS after I UNMOUNT an image, unmount works but after that it stops working.
About the core reset problem you said yourself you disabled the button and it doesn't work. This is 100% firmware bug and hardware is fine.
 
First you started with core6502 restet button, now you clam about SDcore reset. I need to know what is wrong with your device, that's all. I do not now then it freeze in boot.
As I understand you press and hold reset button for Core6502 and you press reset button on pcb , yes ?
 
Last edited:
I am not claiming anything about any SDcore reset? And where did I say I press and hold reset button for core6502 and press button on pcb ? These are the problems I reported:

1. The "select" button (2nd row 2nd button) on the remote control stops working "randomly" but always after I press it to Unmount a .d64 image. After the unmount the button stops responding. The only thing that helps is the c64 power cycle (with some pause).
2. The "core reset" button (1st row 3rd button) is not working. It makes my device freeze up or it does the same as the point 1. ("select" button stops working)
3. Because the "core reset" button is not working I cannot reset the UK1541 anymore on my c64. This c64 does NOT have the SERIAL reset line wired to normal c64 reset so when I reset the c64 it does not reset the UK1541. On the other c64 which has the serial reset wired to c64 reset this is not a problem and UK1541 works fine there. But there are a lot of c64's out there which don't have serial reset wired to c64 reset so they will have to power-cycle the c64 to get uk1541 working again after a custom loader is installed.
 
All you clam is connected to IR and master of this is MSP430. This is hardware problem in my opinion and I am a designer of this device.
Discussion about it is useless, I can not help you from distance.
 
Last edited:
If you say so. But I haven't had a SINGLE problem with IR prior to this firmware update. Also the IR works fine for everything. The "select" button stops working after the Unmount sometimes. ALWAYS after I unmount the image (which Select button is needed to do and works upto that point).
Also when the "select" button on the remote control is not working the FIRE button on the joystick connected to the UK1541 is not working either ! So I don't think this is IR problem at all.
 
Last edited:
Could you please draw me a scheme how UK is designed because I do not know :)
I can not fix it from distance that's all. IO port is broken it not coming back till power up, it holds zero.

IF it is a problem of software it should popup in all users not only in your device.
 
Last edited:
kisiel said:
Could you please draw me a scheme how UK is designed because I do not know :)
I can not fix it from distance that's all. IO port is broken it not coming back till power up, it holds zero.

IF it is a problem of software it should popup in all users not only in your device.
Click to expand...

Kisiel, your attitude towards paying customers that do their best to give bug reports is really bad. If you want I can send you my UK1541 back in a week or two, but I would like a replacement or a fixed unit back and not a full refund.
 
So this is bad attitude because I want to refund you money for device for investigation.
That's cruel.
 
as much as I have read,,,,

PLEASE STOP...

I understand a fault has accurd on Tom-Cat device after a firmware update ??,

as kisiel explained the IO part of the device which controls the multiple comms, IR , function buttons and joystick fire button is causing one of the signals to hold and stick at "0" in effect causing it not to respond ,,, correct ??

this suggests a hardware fault if Tom-Cat is the only user affected by the sdcore update.

I dont have a UK1541 but this is what I have concluded from your conversations.


@kisiel your English does come across in the above few discussions as abrupt, sarcastic and arrogant, its probably a language issue ( I hope),

I think Tom-Cat is worried he will get a refund on a device that is hard to source and would prefer a repair or replacement not a refund.

please keep it civil here,

thanks,
 
Last edited:
Tom-Cat said:
Kisiel, your attitude towards paying customers that do their best to give bug reports is really bad.
Click to expand...
I beg to strongly differ.

Having sold many relatively complex devices, I can empathise that a bug report, no matter how thorough, may not be enough to resolve complex issues. Sometimes the only way is to have the customer ship you back the device because trying to resolve the issue remotely would require knowledge on the part of the customer only very few people have.

Labeling as "bad" the attitude of investing every possible resource into resolving an issue that may affect a lot of people is not constructive at all and contributes to negate honest efforts and goodwill.

IMHO, it is you who have a "non-constructive" attitude by not accepting the potential complexity of the problem and the necessity to take greater action to get to the root cause of the problem and fix it for good.

As with every software/hardware issues with digital technology, there can be no guarantees the issue will be resolved quickly. Also, if I read your post properly, you're effectively tying up efforts to get a solution for "one or two weeks".

AFAIK, the best solution remains to offer a refund and ask for the device back so the developer can use every specialized tools available to fix the matter.
 
The REFUND part is wrong. I want the device. I don't want to loose the device just because there is something wrong with it. If you refund me the money and I send you the device back I won't have the device anymore. It is not like I can just buy a new one in a week. Normal practice is either to fix the device and send it back to me or send me another device that is working.

- - - Updated - - -

eslapion said:
Tom-Cat said:
AFAIK, the best solution remains to offer a refund and ask for the device back so the developer can use every specialized tools available to fix the matter.
Click to expand...

As I said in the previous post - I won't have the device anymore and I cannot just buy a new one. I think normal practice is to send it back or send a working one back. No idea what business you guys are running but this is NOT normal business practice.
Click to expand...
 
Tom-Cat said:
Normal practice is either to fix the device and send it back to me or send me another device that is working.
Click to expand...
How exactly can you do that if you're confronted with a fault that possibly affects all units or a large number of them? There are so many situations where sending you another unit will simply put you in the same problematic situation.

Tom-Cat said:
As I said in the previous post - I won't have the device anymore and I cannot just buy a new one. I think normal practice is to send it back or send a working one back. No idea what business you guys are running but this is NOT normal business practice.
Click to expand...
I don't know of anybody who's normal practice involves telekynetic repairs - except perhaps in Star Wars. How can you possibly send a working unit back if you have no clue what causes the problem and the sent unit might have the same problem?

This is inviting honest business people to waste energy and time and I feel your position is equivalent to contempt for normal human limits.
 
As amibuyer said... I will stop after this post. I will send the unit back to kisiel to fix it, no problem. But I don't want a refund, I want a working unit back - either my unit fixed or another working unit, I will even pay for postage, no problem. I like the device a lot and all I did was report bugs I found. Please check the messages if you think otherwise. If I get a refund I will loose the device... one cannot just buy another one. If you think this is not reasonable then that should be it. It will just show that when you find a hardware error on your device and you want it fixed you will actually loose the device you bought.
 
Last edited:
@Tom-Cat

Let me give you a concrete example:
Altough I do not advertise it here because it may be considered piracy, I make and sell a cartridge for another Commodore computer.

Scenario 1
About 6 months ago, I had a customer contact me because he had a problem with it when powering up. I suggested he sends it back to me for a repair and when I got it, it seemed to be working perfectly well. After investigation, I realised the problem was actually with a faulty capacitor in the reset system of the customer's computer. This caused his computer to take a little bit too long to power up and was barely noticeable to him most of the time.

How could I possibly fix that ? How could I possibly had known if, just like you, he had refused to send back his cart unbless I provide him with a working one since a hundred carts would all have failed anyways?

Scenario 2
In another situation, I had a customer indicate one specific portion of this cartridge, which worked perfectly well on my computer did not work with his specific computer. He refused to send me back the cart. This left me hanging on a limb asking to hundreds of other people if they had a problem with this specific portion of the cart. Finally, after a few months of scrunging whatever information I could find I came to the conclusion there is a very slight difference between old or new revisions of the Commodore computer this cart is designed for. Incompatibilities occur when you use the older version so I had to issue a recall for dozens of carts.

This situation would have been avoided if the customer with the first problem had allowed me to investigate his specific configuration instead of just telling the symptoms and refusing to allow me to investigate his specific cart.

Both of the above really occured.

From my end here it looks like the bottomline is you assume too much and you lack imagination about the thousands of things that can cause the problem you have as well as the level of complexity involved. With the attitude you have, you hinder and obstruct honest efforts to provide a good quality and reliable product.

It will just show that when you find a hardware error on your device and you want it fixed you will actually loose the device you bought.
Click to expand...
Well, this is a community where the products you purchase are made in VERY small quantities compared to what you buy in a large electronics store so this remains a possibility. If you buy sophisticated products under such conditions, you must accept the facts that:
If there is a problem...
1. It may not be easy at all to pinpoint it - it might even be impossible to find the root cause within reasonable time

2. Even if the problem is identified, it may not be possible to resolve it at all

3. A fix may require sending back the device to the seller with no guarantee the problem is solvable

So what's a small hardware provider to do in such situations? The only humanly reasonable limit is to refund the customer.

Accept it or don't buy anything for Commodore computers.

That's why a few months ago, I tried a friend's Zoomfloppy on my i7 laptop BEFORE buying one.

It was a good thing I did because it turns out the software for this device is totally incompatible with the french-canadian version of Windows 7 installed in my computer. No matter how many replacements I would have asked for, it would NEVER HAVE WORKED.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
OK, so please update GUI to 0.48 from January 2016, my mistake... or it is lost in translation.
For Core6502 you have the latest beta version, not released yet.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom