Can anyone help me with this borrowed GameOfYou flashcard?

[gameofyou]

I'm glad you were able to get it working again, and there is no permanent damage!
 
When I build these boards, I just use a fine-tipped soldering iron.  But the secret is to use plenty of flux, so that the solder wants to suck to the pins.  It took me a while to get good at it.
 
In addition to the address/data lines, there is also a WRITE signal and BUSY signal which could have failed.  If it is either of these two signals, then it would still work fine in the PC-Engine.  This is my guess.
 
I have been planning to post the schematics on my web site for a while now, but haven't gotten around to it yet.  Probably, over the Christmas break I will have time to do this.

[roflmao]

The fact that the led is blinking, tells me that it is receiving USB data correctly, so there is no issue with the USB communication.

Round 2: Drug everything out and my xp box isn't sp3. Rather than mess around with actually upgrading it (It has several things I don't want borked by an upgrade), I went back to the win 7 box.
Binder clips on the chips for pressure didn't help, but....

If you put your finger (a broader pressure) on the flash chip, it says it's erasing the chip and lo and behold, it actually works (just finished playing MegaMan).  So we know it's not totally borked, it just needs the flash chip re-soldered.

ROFLMAO: I can give it a shot, or send it back, your call.  I will warn you I might screw it up if I try re-soldering the chip: My current setup has *no* temp control, and I've over-heated a few chips making the ABCards.  Let us know what you want to do.

GameOfYou: Seems wierd that it plays fine without pressure, but won't program without it. I would think that with the address and/or data lines loose, the game would glitch out somewhere.... Granted, MegaMan is only 512K, so it probably doesn't need/use all the address lines, whereas programming it would, but it still seems odd to me....
Something to do with the signals being unstable for high speed programming due to the poor contact?

You can just send it back.  I'd rather have a somewhat working flashcard than a non-working one.   Should I PM you my shipping address?

Thanks for taking a look at it.

[TheOldMan]

I'm glad you were able to get it working again, and there is no permanent damage!

Me too. I hate trying to solder those small pins...

I have been planning to post the schematics on my web site for a while now, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

I thought I had the board layout saved, but don't know where it is. I know its here (pcenginefx) somewhere, just have to search for it.

You can just send it back.

KK. Will go out this weekend. PM address, or I can ask arkhan if he's still got it.
Better yet, make sure. PM Me.
Anything in particular you want on it when I send it back? Otherwise, it gets sent with a us copy of tom's contra port

So it does look like the mail trip probably gooned it up!

I'm thinking not. Seems like problem only got worse with it being sent through the mail.

EDIT:
GameOfYou: Did arkhan ask about another run of these? I know he wants one, and so do I. Anyone else out there want to join in?  (I know, you'll make them after the holidays are over and things settle down

[roflmao]

PM sent!

[gameofyou]

I made a small batch over the weekend, so there currently are some available to purchase thru my website.

[Arkhan]

Snagged two.

Going to turn that NeoFlash into dust and snort it once this one comes.

[gameofyou]

ROFLMAO: I can give it a shot, or send it back, your call.  I will warn you I might screw it up if I try re-soldering the chip: My current setup has *no* temp control, and I've over-heated a few chips making the ABCards.  Let us know what you want to do.

I don't know anything about the ABCards that you are building, but I will share something that I recently got burned by.  The PCBs I order are a standard thickness of .093", which is a good fit for the PC-Engine connector.  However, apparently a lot of PCB manufacturers have a thickness tolerance of +- 10%.  This is a huge variation, & I actually have some PCBs that are so thick they won't even fit in the PC-Engine.
 
Just something to be aware of....
 
My short -term solution will be to sand a few thousandths of an inch from the thick ones.

[TheOldMan]

We're using standard .03" boards (I think that's the thickness) with an ABS printed carrier. The printer is good to 0.3mm (0.01"), but abs is pretty easy to sand down, if we need to.

The main problem is the thin boards want to flex and crack the solder joints. Anything with not enough solder tends to pop apart (especially the data lines, being in the middle of the connector). And of course, you can't tell that until you have the board mounted - with the chip facing down - and by then it's too late   Still looking for a way to get better joints than a R/S 30 Watt soldering iron....
But I've got time. Arkhan has to optimize atlantean yet

Good luck with sanding the boards down. I'd hate to ruin a bunch by sanding off the traces accidentally My best suggestion would be to bevel the outside long edges. But you have a trace running pretty close to the side, so....might work, might not.

BTW, if you're interested in helping with building the ABCard, version 3, let us know. We need someone who understands programmable circuits for that version

[gameofyou]

Luckily, there are no traces routed underneath the edge card connectors, so I should be able to sand that area down a little without damaging any traces.
 
If I had the time I would definately help out with your cards.  I am having a hard time keeping up with my own projects, unfortunately.  Lol.

[TheOldMan]

kk. Was worth a try. If you get time free, and are looking for something to do, keep us in mind.
In the meantime, can you recommend a good read on what the different programmable logic chips can/can't do?

[roflmao]

Quick update:  I got the flashcard back a few days ago and it works fine for me.  I don't have to press on any of the chips.  I just hold it in my hand like I've always done (and I notified Ark of that when I shipped it to him).

Sorry it gave you such a hard time, Ark. Maybe it's a Christmas miracle!

[Arkhan]

I tried holding it in my hand and sacrificing sheep to the OBEY gods.  It didn't like me.  lol.

The one I ordered works fine though!   

I still owe you a poster for helping out though.