Hi all,

I've hit a wall and I'm hoping you can help. I'm attempting to
download the pcode to my 6.270 board so I can start playing around
with some simple programs and I haven't been able to do so. When I
turn the board on, the yellow LED (SER XMT) stays on. When I connect
the RJ11 cable, the green LED(SER RCV) comes on as it should. I then
place the board in download mode by holding down the Choose button and
tapping the reset button. The SER XMT LED goes out like it should, and
I then attempt to download the pcode using IC v3.2 but get an error
message saying "bootstrap download failed."

When I attempt to download in IC, both the XMT and RCV LED's blink,
which tells me I'm on the right COM port and that the computer is
attempting to talk to the board but it's unable to download for some
reason. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance,
Brian



(You need to be a member of hc11 -- send a blank email to hc11-subscribe@yahoogroups.com )

Brian,

I am assuming you just completed assembly of the board, and this is the
first attempt to download. I am not sure what instructions you found for
assembly, this page has the 6.270 manual in chapters (scroll down a
little to find a table with the manual chapters..
http://www.mil.ufl.edu/imdl/handouts/default.htm

I don't know if there is a current 6.270 interest group, but some of the
original authors monitor the h...@yahoogroups.com board.

My guess would be something is going wrong with the memory or the memory
latch. Chapter 4 of the manual above has the board checkout procedure.

Hope that helps,

Jim

-----Original Message-----
From: m...@yahoogroups.com [mailto:m...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf
Of Jessica
Sent: Monday, July 31, 2006 6:28 PM
To: m...@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [m68HC11] MIT 6.270 ver 2.21

Hi all,

I've hit a wall and I'm hoping you can help. I'm attempting to
download the pcode to my 6.270 board so I can start playing around
with some simple programs and I haven't been able to do so. When I
turn the board on, the yellow LED (SER XMT) stays on. When I connect
the RJ11 cable, the green LED(SER RCV) comes on as it should. I then
place the board in download mode by holding down the Choose button and
tapping the reset button. The SER XMT LED goes out like it should, and
I then attempt to download the pcode using IC v3.2 but get an error
message saying "bootstrap download failed."

When I attempt to download in IC, both the XMT and RCV LED's blink,
which tells me I'm on the right COM port and that the computer is
attempting to talk to the board but it's unable to download for some
reason. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance,
Brian

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



(You need to be a member of hc11 -- send a blank email to hc11-subscribe@yahoogroups.com )

Hi Jim,

Thanks for the reply. You're right, I did just finish assembling the
kit after taking my time to be sure to I get everything right the
first time. So much for that! I have a paper version of the assembly
manual for the 6.270 ver 2.21 that was included in the kit I was
given so that's what I used. The link you gave me looks like the
same book in pdf format.

Before installing any of the IC's, I performed the initial check and
everything looked good. I carefully installed the HC11, ram, and the
IC's and performed the next list of checks. Passed again. I thought
all was well until I tried to download the pcode. The LED's flicker
like the manual say they should when downloading so it's obvious
that the computer is talking to the board and that the board is
trying to do what's it's supposed to.

Is there any way to test the 32K RAM chip? You mention that it could
be the memory latch. I assume this is the 74HC138 on the 6.270
board? Any way to test that? I suppose I could just replace them
both, assuming I can find them, but it would be nice to test them
first. Any thoughts?

I aplogize if my questions are what most of you would call "dumb"
but I'm no EE and have limited experience in this sort of thing.

Thanks again for your help!
Brian

--- In m...@yahoogroups.com, "Jim Peterson" wrote:
>
> Brian,
>
> I am assuming you just completed assembly of the board, and this
is the
> first attempt to download. I am not sure what instructions you
found for
> assembly, this page has the 6.270 manual in chapters (scroll down a
> little to find a table with the manual chapters..
> http://www.mil.ufl.edu/imdl/handouts/default.htm
>
>
>
> I don't know if there is a current 6.270 interest group, but some
of the
> original authors monitor the h...@yahoogroups.com board.
>
>
>
> My guess would be something is going wrong with the memory or the
memory
> latch. Chapter 4 of the manual above has the board checkout
procedure.
>
>
>
> Hope that helps,
>
> Jim



(You need to be a member of hc11 -- send a blank email to hc11-subscribe@yahoogroups.com )

Brian,

I am not an EE either, My primary skill is software. I do know at least
one of the 6.270 board designers monitors the handyboard group list on
yahoogroups.com. I do know the handyboard is an extension of the 6.270
design. Some one there may be more directly skilled in assisting your
diagnosis.

I am sure you have checked each of the power pins for correct voltage,
and carefully examined the board for solder wires. I believe you should
also be able to detect the address pulses on the address lines with a
logic probe.

Hope that helps.

Jim

-----Original Message-----
From: m...@yahoogroups.com [mailto:m...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf
Of Jessica
Sent: Monday, July 31, 2006 10:09 PM
To: m...@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [m68HC11] Re: MIT 6.270 ver 2.21

Hi Jim,

Thanks for the reply. You're right, I did just finish assembling the
kit after taking my time to be sure to I get everything right the
first time. So much for that! I have a paper version of the assembly
manual for the 6.270 ver 2.21 that was included in the kit I was
given so that's what I used. The link you gave me looks like the
same book in pdf format.

Before installing any of the IC's, I performed the initial check and
everything looked good. I carefully installed the HC11, ram, and the
IC's and performed the next list of checks. Passed again. I thought
all was well until I tried to download the pcode. The LED's flicker
like the manual say they should when downloading so it's obvious
that the computer is talking to the board and that the board is
trying to do what's it's supposed to.

Is there any way to test the 32K RAM chip? You mention that it could
be the memory latch. I assume this is the 74HC138 on the 6.270
board? Any way to test that? I suppose I could just replace them
both, assuming I can find them, but it would be nice to test them
first. Any thoughts?

I aplogize if my questions are what most of you would call "dumb"
but I'm no EE and have limited experience in this sort of thing.

Thanks again for your help!
Brian

--- In m68HC11@yahoogroups .com, "Jim
Peterson" wrote:
>
> Brian,
>
> I am assuming you just completed assembly of the board, and this
is the
> first attempt to download. I am not sure what instructions you
found for
> assembly, this page has the 6.270 manual in chapters (scroll down a
> little to find a table with the manual chapters..
> http://www.mil.
ufl.edu/imdl/handouts/default.htm
>
> I don't know if there is a current 6.270 interest group, but some
of the
> original authors monitor the handyboard@yahoogro
ups.com board.
>
> My guess would be something is going wrong with the memory or the
memory
> latch. Chapter 4 of the manual above has the board checkout
procedure.
>
> Hope that helps,
>
> Jim

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



(You need to be a member of hc11 -- send a blank email to hc11-subscribe@yahoogroups.com )