Yes, I know they are. I have been just so overloaded with real life things that taking the time to post or do anything outside of my full time job has been nearly impossible. For that I am sorry. I am working on a few things around here behind the scenes to try and get some cash flow and make some improvements.
The first on my list to getting some systems together to sell off. This is mostly Amiga related gear, but I have a few consoles as well I may be letting go. I plan to add a section to the site for all of that, so my visitors will get the first go at them at a lower price found on other pages when I make them available. Keep an eye out for that new page up in the top menu.
Service and new work you ask? Yes I am taking in a few limited things. For now I am steering clear mostly from completely dead machines. I just cant give you all the time on them they need, and its not fair to keep them here for so long while you wait for me. Please feel free to ask, and if I cant do it I will refer you to someone that will. As always I will still take in upgrades, recaps and minor repairs with no problems.
We will see you all soon! Also dont forget to join us in our Discord chat! ITs full of some amazing people now! Join us here: https://discord.gg/794pneG
Surfing through the feeds over at Facebook I came across a really neat post with a video showing of this A1100 motherboard inside an Amiga 1000 case. I dont know anything about it other than watching this video, but I would sure like to find more in it. What do you think? Do you know who this is and what the plans for this are in the future?
Yes, its true! I am home again for a bit and catching up again. If your up for watching me work you can watch me at the time of this post on Twitch. Hope to you see online! I do take questions if I see them.
Doing some random repairs and other things. Live on Twitch if anyone is interested. https://www.twitch.tv/acill
For those looking for work and status updates, its that time again for me. Work calls and my full time job is taking me out for a bit. I will be out of touch and not have much contact from today through December 5th. If I am able to get internet access will get back to you. Thanks and see you soon!
I am home again for awhile (I hope at least and didnt just jinx myself here). Over the last weekend I got several things finished and out. Hopefully this means I can start to get to the more difficult items here and get them taken care of! As I say often, thanks for the support and understanding!
I’ve been streaming on Twitch as well. Nothing exciting or narrated much. its me working and a live feed going is all. If you are interested in checking it out you are welcome. The link to my twitch channel is here: https://www.twitch.tv/acill and for a more personal way to watch me I have been doing things over at my Patreon geared more and teaching as support. You can find that here if you want to join. I have a very low entry point and dont expect much at all. That can be found here: https://www.patreon.com/acillclassics
Did you know you could help support the work I do and get yourself some cool merch at the same time? I’ve got a Cafe Press shop with a few cool items. Take a look at it and show off the Acill Classics Logo! https://www.cafepress.com/acillclassics
If you have a ZZ9000 card for your Amiga you need to have this done ASAP! I am happy to offer the fix free of charge for those of you here in the USA. All I ask is you please cover the return shipping back. I will of course accept any tips, but payment for such a simple repair isnt required. I would rather see it gone right and back to you quickly!
I have also reprinted the information from the MNT site with a direct link so those of you wanting to do it yourself have the information available. I will also be doing a video on this fix and post it here publicly as I am doing it on my personal ZZ9000. As always, thanks for the support and have a great day!
MNT ZZ9000s revision R-1 and R-2 have a design error that shorts the 1V8 and 3V3 supply voltage rails of the ZYNQ module together by a wrongly connected pin on connector U12 (pin number 93). The pin is documented as XADC power supply in the MYIR documentation, but it is not specified that it is already internally connected to 1V8. This is how the mistake happened.
The problem is that the mistake leads to various supply and I/O voltages connected to the ZYNQ that are specified at maximum ~1.9V are now supplied with 3.3V. This makes the ZYNQ run almost 10 degrees celsius hotter than it should, and will potentially damage the ZYNQ over a longer time.
What about ZZ9000 R-3?
If you have ZZ9000 R-3 from Batch 5 or later (to be shipped in August/September 2020), you don’t need to worry. The problem is already fixed.
Overview of ZZ9000 PCB layers
Copper fills are switched off in this view.
Zooming into connector U12 (top connector):
Close-up of pin 93 connected to 3V3 by mistake:
Fixing Methods
There are at least two known alternatives for disconnecting the 3V3 trace from pin 93 of U12.
The first step is always to unplug the ZYNQ module.
Then, either:
Cut and remove a part of the trace with a box cutter or razor directly in front of the pin 93 of U12. This is indicated by “CUT” in the following graphic. You will need some sort of magnification lens or (cheap) microscope for this.
Drill a hole with a ~1mm bit through the PCB at the location indicated by the X. The easiest way to find the right place without a template is to count the pins of U17 and U9 on the back. This is indicated by “DRILL” in the following graphic.
If you drilled the hole, make sure to remove any coppper debris in it. ZZ9000 is a four-layer board with internal copper fills. You want to make sure that 3V3 is not shorted to GND inside of your brand new hole. (Check the end of this document for hints on this).
Photo of where to Cut Trace (Method 1)
Thanks to Chucky!
Photos of Applied Hole (Method 2)
Technical Drawing of Trace/Hole Location
Top view of card:
How do I know it worked?
To confirm the successful fix, you need a multimeter in continuity mode / beeper and measure if 1V8 and 3V3 are still connected.
First, plug the ZYNQ module back in, or you won’t be able to check for the fix!
If the fix is applied, 1V8 and 3V3 rails should not be connected with the ZYNQ module plugged in (no beep).
An easy location to check are the south pins of C55 (3V3) and C53 (1V8):
Also, you should check that neither 3V3 nor 1V8 are now shorted to GND (for example by copper debris in the hole). You can do that by checking continuity across the pins of capacitors C53 and C55 each.
