Hardware & Technical Need some help with my BBC Micro

Ozric

Volunteer Moderator
Ozric
Hello there,

A while ago I made this thread about the BBC Micro I just got from my dad. Today I finally got around to firing it up and it at least started, however it was not recognising the language. I took the cover off and then proceeded to press in all the chips to make sure that they were seated OK, put the cover back on and then started it up again and hey presto it worked. I check my Basic knowledge:

10 Print "HELLO"
20 GOTO 10
30 Next
40 End

:D

So now to load up a game and this is where I encountered my problem. Not all of the games will load. In fact I have only got one to load so far (I haven't tried that many yet) and that was Kingdom (the one where you have villagers to work in the fields and a dyke) some other games will get to the main menu (Daredevil Denis, Space Maze) but as soon as I try to start the game it just hangs. With Elite it won't even load past CHAIN "ELITE"

I'm guessing it's a memory issue as it can run some games though only ones that don't involve any real graphics. Anyone have any ideas as to how I might be able to get it working, hopefully without having to try and find some more memory from somewhere, or some way of narrowing it down to being that issue?

I've enclosed a couple of photos of the inside, more to show you than anything else :)


 
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Surfinjo

Surfinjo
The connections may be loose or corroded. A gentle spray with wd40 should do the trick, but don't let that stuff near the keyboard of the circuit board.

Remove that expansion board. It is probably an excellent piece of kit and some of those eproms could be very useful. But eproms don't last forever and you don't need the board or any other extras, so for now keep them out and try later.

Do you have any manuals. I have a load because back in the late 80s and early 90s I ran a user group for Acorn machines.

You don't say if you're using tape or disk If tape, then make sure your player has clean heads. Get a head cleaner. If disks then try to find a blank one and save then load stuff to see if it works. A simple program such as the one you wrote.

Remember that tapes and disks deteriorate with damp, magnetic sources, and time. Try to catalogue the disk or tape with *cat

I have some manuals I'll check out of you need more info, including, hopefully, a circuit diagram. I may even have some spare stuff which could well wing your way if you can use it.
 

Ozric

Volunteer Moderator
Ozric
Surfinjo said:
The connections may be loose or corroded. A gentle spray with wd40 should do the trick, but don't let that stuff near the keyboard of the circuit board.

Remove that expansion board. It is probably an excellent piece of kit and some of those eproms could be very useful. But eproms don't last forever and you don't need the board or any other extras, so for now keep them out and try later.

Do you have any manuals. I have a load because back in the late 80s and early 90s I ran a user group for Acorn machines.

You don't say if you're using tape or disk If tape, then make sure your player has clean heads. Get a head cleaner. If disks then try to find a blank one and save then load stuff to see if it works. A simple program such as the one you wrote.

Remember that tapes and disks deteriorate with damp, magnetic sources, and time. Try to catalogue the disk or tape with *cat

I have some manuals I'll check out of you need more info, including, hopefully, a circuit diagram. I may even have some spare stuff which could well wing your way if you can use it.
Click to expand...

Hey there, I'll admit I didn't look at my post after I made it and so I was expecting the link to my original thread to stick out a bit more, I have now changed it and highlighted it Red ;) have a look at it, and I did that instead of linking the system twice.

I have plenty of manuals (about 2 carrier bags worth) and i am using discs. I don't think they're the problem though because it does really seem to be dependent on what game I am trying to run.

I think one of those eproms gives the beast it's 52K memory :D but I will try disconnecting it and see if that makes a difference.
 

stephen_usher

stephen_usher
That's one non-standard Beeb you have there!

Not only the sideways ROM card but there seems to be some sort of other daughter board sitting above the main circuit board.

As suggested, I'd remove all those non-standard cards and put the Watford Electronics DFS ROM into a standard ROM socket on the motherboard. The system should be standard enough to test then.
 

Ozric

Volunteer Moderator
Ozric
Surfinjo said:
I will also point out that almost any commercial games, especially Elite, won't need or use that 52k memory.
Click to expand...

Oh yeah I know, although my dad did have a space shuttle simulator that wouldn't run because there wasn't enough memory ;)

stephen_usher said:
That's one non-standard Beeb you have there!

Not only the sideways ROM card but there seems to be some sort of other daughter board sitting above the main circuit board.

As suggested, I'd remove all those non-standard cards and put the Watford Electronics DFS ROM into a standard ROM socket on the motherboard. The system should be standard enough to test then.
Click to expand...

Yeah my dad worked at Acorn and with Dr. Christopher Evans for a while, they used to just give around the new hardware and prototypes for each other to try out. Certainly wouldn't get that these days :D

The ROM board is connected to a small board on the motherboard and that then has the multicoloured lead connecting to the daughter board. When I disconnected the ROM card the Beeb started but displayed the Language? so it couldn't see the Basic ROM. I reconnected it and then removed the daughterboard and when I turned it on it just played a continuous beep.

If I take the Watford ROM off, would it plug into where the daughterboard is at the moment and would I need to also remove the smaller board (cause I gave it a gentle wiggle and it wasn't going anywhere). To remove the ROM I have vague memories of my dad just using a flathead screwdriver to prise them out, the ROMs are very well seated in the card, or is that extreme?

Thought I'd include a couple of close shots if they may help.


 

stephen_usher

stephen_usher
The ROM board also has the BASIC ROM on it. In your picture the two ROMs you'll need to move to the main circuit board are the two at the bottom right. The one copyright Acorn Computer and the WE DFS one.

From your pictures the daughter board has the 6502 relocated on top of it, so that will need to be moved back onto the motherboard too.
 
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Ozric

Volunteer Moderator
Ozric
Thanks a lot, I'll give this a go over the next few days (probably tomorrow while waiting for the update) and let you know the outcome...
 
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