My QL failed

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mselkin
Bent Pin Expansion Port
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Joined: Mon Mar 01, 2021 11:49 am

My QL failed

Post by mselkin »

Hi everyone,

Today my QL failed, showing this on boot up:
Image

I’m using a Minerva ROM but it is not showing a RAM error.

Any suggestions re trouble shooting would be appreciated.

Mark


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FrancoisLanciault
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Re: My QL failed

Post by FrancoisLanciault »

Is it always the same exact pattern or there is some variation every time you plug it in ?

François


mselkin
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Re: My QL failed

Post by mselkin »

It’s a different pattern.
I can here the speaker click if I press a key so that little processor is working. If I leave the power on, the screen turns black after a few seconds. That could be Minerva entering F2?


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Maskenlos
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Re: My QL failed

Post by Maskenlos »

Hi Mark,
If I leave the power on, the screen turns black after a few seconds. That could be Minerva entering F2?
Does the QL then behave as expected? I mean beside the corrupted display?

Try to enter:

Code: Select all

beep 10000,10000
or

Code: Select all

Paper 7
CLS
If this simple code works as expected my guess is video error. But I am far away from being a QL Expert.

Maybe this is helpful, see paragraph 2.2 ff

http://sinclairql.net/srv/qlsm4.html#s4

Rgs,

Stephan


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XorA
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Re: My QL failed

Post by XorA »

That looks like minerva is running and has tried to print a ram error. And you are generating a valid video signal, my money would be on a failed address or data line somewhere around the ram (bad chip, multiplexer chip fail etc)


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Ruptor
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Re: My QL failed

Post by Ruptor »

XorA wrote:That looks like minerva is running and has tried to print a ram error. And you are generating a valid video signal, my money would be on a failed address or data line somewhere around the ram (bad chip, multiplexer chip fail etc)
Yes and the little dashes under each line are telling us something but I don't know enough about the memory display. Mine had lines that is longer dashes caused by one dead ram chip. I think the memory error number display area is big so even if one ram chip is dead you can still see the address but best get input from an expert.


Silvester
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Re: My QL failed

Post by Silvester »

IMHO the first thing to do is replace IC19, IC20 and IC21 with HCT equivalents (IIRC Dennis Briggs suggested this back in 1980's).


David
maigretnz
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Re: My QL failed

Post by maigretnz »

IMG_20210719_102709.jpg
(on our TV)
I have a similar failure.
Has there been any consensus on the remedy?
(on my old monitor)
IMG_20210719_100933.jpg
IMG_20210719_095940.jpg
Last edited by maigretnz on Mon Jul 19, 2021 1:03 am, edited 1 time in total.


mselkin
Bent Pin Expansion Port
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Re: My QL failed

Post by mselkin »

Sorry, I don't have the expertise to help fix it.
I tried replacing any chip that was socketed but there was no change in the display output.
I have not had time to try unsoldering RAM chips.


maigretnz
ROM Dongle
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Re: My QL failed

Post by maigretnz »

As it may be a RAM issue I used my phones thermal imaging camera to monitor the temps of the chips.

None seemed hot but I note IC7 & IC8 stayed cold.

So not working or is this normal?

Edit: Examining more closely it was just a parallax with the camera and all the RAM chips appear evenly heating.

I note IC 19 & IC 20 are a lot cooler than the others and it was suggested 19,20 & 21 can cause trouble. So perhaps I should look at those.
ram thermal.jpg


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