I am desperate with this one, please, give me a hand! Pulsar no working anymore...

[Nestor]

If the chemical developed a layer of oxidation on the STDM connector i doubt a pencil eraser or alcohol could help get rid of it. Steel wool will. I am not familiar with "De-oxit" as Valis suggested, it sounds right. Of course I don't insist and I haven't tried it, I only know that conductors can become insulators or develop high resistance with oxidation layers and it is common in electronics to apply steel wool to clean the upper layer of oxidation so to reach copper or gold so the connection to be good. I don't believe gentle apply of steel wool will take away too much material (as my little experience with diy PCB's has taught me).
https://electronics.stackexchange.com/q ... lectricity

I discard the problem coming from the STDM connector, because the broken card does not work, regardless of being or not connected to the STDM. If I take the second card out, of course, the STDM cable is not present, but the card does not load SCOPE, so it must be the card I guess.

[nebelfuerst]

I think the problem is some mechanical one. As the card worked before and you used a suitable spray, these options remain:

Some damage on the card like bent legs of the DSPs or some other broken parts.
I recommend to check all legs of all DSPs for shortcuts and disconnects.

[Nestor]

I think the problem is some mechanical one. As the card worked before and you used a suitable spray, these options remain:

Some damage on the card like bent legs of the DSPs or some other broken parts.
I recommend to check all legs of all DSPs for shortcuts and disconnects.

How do I do the latter?

What I am feeling right now is that it should be a really silly something that is broken.... but the difficult thing is to find out which one exactly.

[fra77x2]

but the card does not load SCOPE,

Yes it seems the board has a problem...

It's a pity. Perhaps you can get another one or work with just 1 card. It should be possible.

[Nestor]

Yes, this is my intention, I will most probable work again with one card, no problem. But I MUST have a Pulsar on my system, or I will die in two weeks….

Repairing it could be expensive, I don't know. But I am more than happy with my old one still working and the license being transferred with a 5.1 SCOPE.

[valis]

Email support about key transfers. Used cards show up here frequently.

My card was starting to throw up occasional errors, and I wound up doing a total system reinstall & rebuild (replaced the PSU and HD in that 2001 era machine) and it hasn't given complaints since. But I did notice if I left it off, the card complains again. This might be a capacitor but I suspect it's probably solder cracks that I can't see with the eye, so I reflowed things in the oven. Been working since, but I grabbed a spare PCI card or two for when it does eventually fail completely.

Note if you try the oven trick, you have to remove all plastic and shield certain components from the heat. This is all well documented by the graphics card community 10-12 years ago, under something they called 'bumpgate'.

[fra77x2]

so I reflowed things in the oven

I can't believe you have baked your Pulsar!

It's just crazy.

[Nestor]

Email support about key transfers. Used cards show up here frequently.

My card was starting to throw up occasional errors, and I wound up doing a total system reinstall & rebuild (replaced the PSU and HD in that 2001 era machine) and it hasn't given complaints since. But I did notice if I left it off, the card complains again. This might be a capacitor but I suspect it's probably solder cracks that I can't see with the eye, so I reflowed things in the oven. Been working since, but I grabbed a spare PCI card or two for when it does eventually fail completely.

Note if you try the oven trick, you have to remove all plastic and shield certain components from the heat. This is all well documented by the graphics card community 10-12 years ago, under something they called 'soldergate'.

Wow... that's amazing, I don't know if I'm willing to do such a thing.... but if it works, it could be a possibility

[valis]

It was failing with the same error message as my Pulsar1, and when that card failed GaryB said the message indicates the card failed completely on a dsp chip. Heated & cooling cycles can cause solder cracks in aging music gear, so I figured I'd apply the bump-gate method to the my second failing card to see if it helped. It did, but I don't trust it now, so it's certainly not something I'm recommending. Rather, it seems like our cards are all aging and it's probably best to hedge your bets against failure at this point as well.

[Nestor]

You’re right! Mine is already 21 years old, can you imagine it? If it was a son, it would be already married or leaving home.

[nebelfuerst]

I recommend to check all legs of all DSPs for shortcuts and disconnects.

How do I do the latter?

What I am feeling right now is that it should be a really silly something that is broken.... but the difficult thing is to find out which one exactly.
[/quote]

Put the card on a table and use some maginfying instrument. The legs of the DSP-chips are separated in 0.5mm. They should not contact each other ( a minimal space is fine ). The legs need to be connected on both sides, too.

In an electronic lab, you also test the connection of the pins by touching them, which you should not do, unless you know how to solder SMD !

[garyb]

as i said, the dep failure is usually one of the filter capacitors for that chip, but all the other speculation is also a possible cause.

[Nestor]

I recommend to check all legs of all DSPs for shortcuts and disconnects.

How do I do the latter?

What I am feeling right now is that it should be a really silly something that is broken.... but the difficult thing is to find out which one exactly.

Put the card on a table and use some maginfying instrument. The legs of the DSP-chips are separated in 0.5mm. They should not contact each other ( a minimal space is fine ). The legs need to be connected on both sides, too.

In an electronic lab, you also test the connection of the pins by touching them, which you should not do, unless you know how to solder SMD !
[/quote]

I did it, and there is no sign of any broken contact or anything like this. I think Gary is right, the problem seems to be in one of the capacitor.

[Nestor]

Dear friends, I am so grateful for your help, your ideas, etc., I realize Planet Z is, in terms of passion and attentiveness, as alive and nice as it used to be many long years ago!

The license has been transferred really fast, today even being a Sunday, which is amazing. Everything is working as expected, no problems. Thanks again and again! I have lost 4 DSPs, but got Pulsar back, that’s all I wanted to have.

I will have to congratulate you all with a happy song, for sure! Look forward for a little gift

[Music Manic]

I did it, and there is no sign of any broken contact or anything like this. I think Gary is right, the problem seems to be in one of the capacitor.

Have you checked capacitors with multimeter?

[Nestor]

I did it, and there is no sign of any broken contact or anything like this. I think Gary is right, the problem seems to be in one of the capacitor.

Have you checked capacitors with multimeter?

No, I have no idea how to do it, and I have not a multimeter either at hand. Is it difficult to handle?

[Music Manic]

No, I have no idea how to do it, and I have not a multimeter either at hand. Is it difficult to handle?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXxOHcUhVfE

[dawman]

These damn board only last 20 years?
We should be getting 50 out of them.

Hope you get it working Nestor.

Glad you’re okay too.

[Nestor]

These damn board only last 20 years?
We should be getting 50 out of them.

Hope you get it working Nestor.

Glad you’re okay too.

Hehehe... yeah my brother, "only" 21 years.... isn't it amazing? And we have the luxury of having still the support of the SONIC CORE, that is truly wonderful.

[yayajohn]

Nestor; So sorry for the loss of your dear friend I know you did everything possible to save him/her. I have a 22yr old P1 sitting in my 11yr old son's computer staying nice and warm while he games most of the day........and night.
Seriously, I hope you and your loved ones are staying well in both health and spirit.

Dan