Toshiba T3200SX D.O.A

[Carcenomy]

Hmm, I'm not too fussed about the sound quality on the PC side too much, but a card that has some high end on it, so it doesn't sound like I'm listening to it through a pillow would be nice. The ESS audiodrive does sound nice though. I'll PM you about it. Thanks!

That SB32 sounds like a beast! Most of the audio stuff is done on my Amiga though. It's hooked up to some really nice audio gear, circa 1972, and sounds better than you'd expect.

Hopefully I might have news about the faulty PSU on Saturday.

I expect it sounds freakin' awesome I'm like the bag of holding - yes, I have an SB32PnP lying around. Yes, it's big... not nearly as big as a real AWE32 though, about 40% shorter. I'd doubt it'll fit the T3200DX nice though. How about a real SB16? I'm also looking at getting an ACA1230 for my own A1200, would you be interested in an FPU/RAM accelerator for yours? Can only go as high as 4MB without it killing the PCMCIA slot, an issue that goes away if you're not using the original EC020. Can go as high as 8 if you're not using PCMCIA though.

[Clym5]

Oho, I'm very interested. Expect a PM shortly. I do use the PCMCIA slot, but anything more than the stock 2mb would be awesome. It leaves me with 1.5mb to load modules in, which, for bigger songs, isn't enough.

And WHDload barely works on 2mb anyway.

[Carcenomy]

In that case it's already populated with a 4MB SIMM and goes great. It's one of these: http://www.bigbookofamigahardware.com/b ... px?id=1045, has the '882 FPU too.
You know I'm going to HAVE to get a real accelerator for mine now right?

[Clym5]

I finally got in contact with the person who might of had a chance of fixing the PSU, and while he doesn't have time to fix it, due to work and a overseas trip, he's given me some places to look and such. Check the rectifier diodes, check the caps, and switching transistor.

If that fails, I'm not sure what I'll do. Maybe someone lurking around on the forums has experience with switching supplies?

[Clym5]

Thanks to SpidersWeb, I now have a working PSU! The computer works! Now for the hard part orlf putting it back together..

From what I can tell, my machine has 640 + 4480K of RAM, a 16MHz 386, the 387 co-pro, and now a 4GB SSD in it!

The SSD is actually a CF to IDE adapter, no SATA ofc.

The only issue I see now is the sticker on the monitor I had to peel off. Getting it to stick again might be troublesome.

This T3200SX is ex-Air New Zealand, so either the HDD is empty, or it might have some interesting stuff on it. I'll try and see what's on it tonight.

Thanks again for all the help!

[tezza]

Good to know some progress has been made. Nothing like seeing a machine come back to life.

[Clym5]

Well, I've been using the T3200SX for the last few days with the case off, as I forgot about getting a new BIOS battery, and now it seems to of killed itself...

It still starts up, but either gets stuck just after the memory test, or reboots just after saying "Starting MS-DOS". I have a feeling it's the RAM, as in BIOS, it sometimes lists as being a bit less than it actually is. Also, when it very occasionally managed to get into DOS, HIMEM would throw a hissyfit and not load.

EDIT: Oh great, the 3v test pad on the motherboard is reading 4.72v. I probably fried something... Though, the PSU seems to be in spec as far as voltages go.

Another EDIT: All fixed now. I think it was SmartDrive that caused the issue. I heard that turning on and off a system running SmartDrive could cause data corruption. Somehow my RAM issues went away with a new install of DOS, which is odd.. I still have the 4.7v issue on the 3v line though.

[SpidersWeb]

If your T3200SX goes nuts again, two things to check:

- motherboard is flat, nothing pushing on it, and is screwed in securely
- keyboard connector is ALL the way in

When I first did work on mine, I had random crashes/reboots which freaked me out but it was the two things above that sorted it. SmartDrive can cause errors when write caching is enabled but I think that should be off by default. However it might be worth running Checkit and having it thoroughly test your extended memory.

If I remember correctly when messing with mine, the 384KB bonus RAM gets appended to the end of your SIMMs, so if SmartDrive was using XMS - it'd be using the first pair of SIMMs in your RAM bank - but DOS would be using the built in memory - so any faults in that extra memory could cause data corruption. Just thinking out loud.

[mehimu]

I'm not sure why you are facing this, may be there is some problem with the hard ware

[Clym5]

I forgot to post an update! I reassembled it, and found that the display doesn't work. It could be the PSU, or the PDP display itself. The T3200SX has been sitting in the corner for a bit, as I've been working on other things. (By working on, I mean distracted by!)

I haven't given up on it though!