SE/30 PDS Adapter Epic Blunder

[JDW]

He however has the older Turbo 040 revision that does not have the ASIC but a lot of GALs instead. Totally different story.

There are going to be at least one (maybe more) dead GALs on there.

However keeping a few of those ICs around if they are legit might still be a good thing just in case.

Well, if @joethezombie could please confirm with the seller as per what I wrote in my previous post, that would put my mind more at ease with the purchase.  I really want to know how that Chinese company acquired them and why they still have them after all these years.  It's a valid question since stocking parts that don't sell actually costs money for the storage space.  At the very least, they should be able to supply a photo of multiple chips in their stock.  If the chip looks the same in terms of pins and silkscreen as is shown in my 040 board photo, then it's probably legit.  And in that case, getting them all shipped to you, @Bolle would probably be best for now.  And we can decide payment, splitting, etc. via PM.

 

[james_w]

Yes @JDW I'm afraid my Turbo040 is the old one, just as @Bolle says. I won't be able to test whether I have 100% definitely fried my bored for a couple of months but I'm fairly sure I have :/

If there's anything I can do to help with Epic Blunders or accelerator stuff though I'm willing to help where I can

 

[JDW]

@joethezombie

Since I don't know the company in China you contacted, I cannot ask them the questions I suggested in my previous posts.  Therefore, if you could please ask them those questions, that would go a long way toward finding out if those so-called "Daystar" VLSI chips are legit or a scam.  Thanks.

@james_w Thank you for the clarification that your 040 card uses different chips.

 

[joethezombie]

It was a state-side company, and I have asked for clarification on the authenticity of the chips, and a reimbursement policy.  I'll keep you posted...

edit:  Keep in mind, there are also PALs on the newer card as well.  So a replacement of the ASIC may not be enough.  I don't think I'm brave enough to risk my own 040 to test these replacements, either.

But I'll be happy to split the order up and ship them out to whomever wants them.

 

[Bolle]

It is only the ASIC that got struck by 12V though.

The GALs should be fine, at least there are no lowered resistances to ground or Vcc on any of their inputs/outputs.

 

[joethezombie]

So I received a somewhat strange reply this afternoon:

After picking the parts I found that we cannot sell. Parts leads are all damaged to some degree as you can see by photo so we are going to dispose of parts.

I have asked if he could dispose of them to me, I'd pay any shipping and handling charges.  No response as of yet.









 

 

[SE30_Neal]

So I received a somewhat strange reply this afternoon:

I have asked if he could dispose of them to me, I'd pay any shipping and handling charges.  No response as of yet.









 

How bizarre. Lets hope you can get them

 

[Bolle]

Those are all fixable. I’d even pay for them with those bend legs.

Edit: chips look legit at least. Mine has the exact same holes on the four corners. Logo and part numbers seem good as well.

 

[joethezombie]

I agree.  I told him that I am a small operation that hand assembles, so fixing the pins would not be an issue.  He probably thinks in terms of an automated setting.

 

[SE30_Neal]

I agree you can straighten the legs

 

[JDW]

Telling that particular seller they’re fixable will probably result in him coming back and saying, “After much thought we’ve decided not to dispose of them after all. That will in fact be $100 for the chips.“

Even if the pins are fixable, we don’t know how they’ve been handled. If they’ve been zapped with static electricity, well, those pins won’t really matter.

 

[JDW]

The chip on my 040 PDS accelerator, which @Bolle currently has, is shown at left in the photo below, while one of the chips Joe is seeking to obtain is shown at right below.  If the top row of silkscreen is a production date code, I would assume my "VLSI" chip was made the 20th week of 1995?  If that's the proper reading, then the "Daystar" branded chips would have been made the 32nd week of 1994.  If true, then it is interesting why the newer chip would have "VLSI" printed on them instead of the Daystar branding.



Regardless, the middle and bottom row of numbers is exactly the same on both chips, so it would appear to be the same revision and should function the same (assuming no damage by static over the last 25 years in storage).

 

[james_w]

This is a very promising development! I know it won't help me but I'm cheerleading from the sidelines

 

[trag]

The chip on my 040 PDS accelerator, which @Bolle currently has, is shown at left in the photo below, while one of the chips Joe is seeking to obtain is shown at right below.  If the top row of silkscreen is a production date code, I would assume my "VLSI" chip was made the 20th week of 1995?  If that's the proper reading, then the "Daystar" branded chips would have been made the 32nd week of 1994.  If true, then it is interesting why the newer chip would have "VLSI" printed on them instead of the Daystar branding.

Doing a quick Google Image search, there are indeed Daystar Turbo040 cards with the "Daystar" labeled ASIC.   And all the ones I looked at had the 1994 date code.

I really hope the supplier can be persuaded not to dispose of them, except to us/you.

 

[trag]

You know, it's possible that those chips have bent pins because they were pulled off of failed Turbo 040s when Daystar re-worked warranty covered cards.    And then somehow the tray of pulled chips made it into the sales channel.

There are many other possibilities too, others not so depressing, but it is one thing to consider.

Although, if the above was the case, I don't think the pins would look quite so clean.

 

[JDW]

You know, it's possible that those chips have bent pins because they were pulled off of failed Turbo 040s when Daystar re-worked warranty covered cards.    And then somehow the tray of pulled chips made it into the sales channel.

Meaning, they could be a bad batch as a result?

If they really are committed to "disposing" of them it would be completely stupid and moronic for them NOT to ship the chips to Joe for the cost of shipping.

Another idea.  If there is a huge number of these chips, would there be a quick and dirty way to test them all?  If there is such a way, perhaps a deal could be struck so that the excess chips which test good could be sent back to the seller so they could sell them as known-good chips, if they like.  The deal could be structured so that Joe (the tester, whoever) gets x-number of the chips free of charge for doing that testing service.  But probably the only way to test them would be to solder them into boards, and that wouldn't be so great for the chips or the board which repeatedly gets soldered and desoldered.

Anyway, I am just hoping this works out.  It's an enormous loss if it doesn't.

 

[trag]

Meaning, they could be a bad batch as a result?

Yes, that was my thought, but again, I think the pins look too clean for that to be the case.

Another possibility is that these are ones that failed the post manufacturing test (did they have automated test and scan testing with JTAG back then?) and were binned as failures, and again, somehow found their way into a sales channel.

A happier possibility is that these were manufacturing rejects, because their pins somehow got bent.  So they are perfectly good chips, but couldn't be used in a pick and place manufacturing situation because of the bent pins.

Or they could just be left overs that never got used which suffered some pin damage over the years; e.g. someone spilled the tray onto a hard floor.

Leftovers do find their way back into the sales channel.   AMD made the 79C950 (CURIO) for Apple, which is the chip used from the Q840AV through the PPC PowerMacs (x500 family) to provide internal/external SCSI, Serial, and ethernet.   It was a custom job for Apple.    Yet trays of those unused chips showed up on Ebay about ten years ago or so.   I suspect that those leftovers were from one of the clone makers rather than Apple itself.  Apple seems to do a "good" job of keeping its leftover chips off the aftermarket.

 

[JDW]

A happier possibility is...

The resurrection of my poor 040 card replies heavily on that happier possibility.

Fingers crossed regarding your negotiating skills, @joethezombie!

 

[joethezombie]

Good news!  I have nearly 3 full trays of DayStar goodness on my dining room table!



I'm not sure if I should prepare them with nacho cheese or salsa!  Maybe a delicious queso?

Or perhaps a fill of the tub and a quick swim is more in order?

Many thanks to the kind friends from CHIPNet.com!

 

[Bolle]

You sir are a hero. Did they dispose them to you, or actually charged you something?