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Torch Triple X c1985.

Thanks so much for offering to look at this. Do you have an EPROM programmer? If so, it may also be capable of reading PALs/GALs. Even if the PAL is locked/fused to prevent the design being read, it's possible to construct an adapter that exercises all of the inputs and records the outputs by treating the PAL as a normal EPROM. I'll dig out the details as it's a while since I did this.

If you don't have an EPROM programmer, I'd be happy to do the reading/recovery but can understand if you don't want to risk shipping something so rare.
 
The programmer i got is xgpro t56

this chip says PAL 16R8ACN 8518, i don't see anything similar supported with this programmer
 
I've got a BP Micro 1200 which can probably read the chip if it's not secured -- otherwise I have a DuPAL which can read protected PALs by brute-forcing the logic inside.

Let me know if you'd like me to take a shot at reading the chip. The programming mode on PALs needs some fairly high voltages and currents compared to, say, EPROMs, so isn't widely supported.
 
Thanks for looking into this. If your programmer doesn't list that part then it's either a case of shipping it to someone who can read it or building an adapter to read it as an EPROM (assuming we're right in thinking it's only using combinatorial logic). And thanks too to philpem for offering to look at it.
 
Progress... But it's really flaky. I should probably solder the video RAM back into the board and remove the sockets. They seem to cause more trouble than they're worth.

Things to get this far:
-Borrowed another OMTI5200
-Tried original floppy drive which activated but gave 'Key disc error 7'
-Tried another floppy drive that also activated but also gave 'Key disc error 7'
-Tried a Gotek but then realised I couldn't set it to 'drive 2' which the Torch requires
-Found a way to make Gotek be drive 2
-Tried various disk image types on Gotek but just got 'Key disc error 9' on every one
-Went back to second floppy drive and realised the arm that lowers the heads was not working properly so pushed it down allowing the heads to load properly
-Torch booted and read the key disc properly and then started to boot...

Lots more to do but I have seen it boot!

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RobColeman said:
Well done! That's awesome :)
Click to expand...
I am pretty chuffed to be honest.

But the next hurdle is that once it's finished booting, I can close the kernel window but there are no icons or menus on the display, so I can't actually do anything with it.

I need to read the manual and work out if I can get a terminal window open or similar. 😂
 
I've been rifling through my Torch boxes and I've found one box containing a boot disk and several key disks. As is looking to be typical, the 3M 'backup' boot disk is mouldy (but not physically damaged) while the key disks look fine.

I have 2 more boxes to find.
 
With the latest news of the Triple X booting I'd like to return to my emulation but am stuck without keyboard/mouse input.

Can anyone dump the internal ROM from the D8749HD MCU in their keyboard? Has anyone dumped one of these before, what's required?
 
Currently checking what equipment I have... I think I'm just missing a 4Mhz crystal. 🤔 I also have code downloaded from eevblog forums so if I can find something to rip a crystal out of it shouldn't be too long. 🙂

(Ignore what's currently on the breadboard!)

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No suitable crystals in my boxes of bits. An assortment (including 4Mhz) is due for delivery tomorrow courtesy of Jeff's emporium.

The only thing making me a bit nervous is the apparent need to apply 12v to one of the pins. I can see the definition of the pin in the datasheet but I can't see (from a quick skim) any reference to using 12v to get a logical 'high'. Hmm. I need to print it out and have a closer look.

The Nano is already programmed with the requisite code and I can see the code running so that all seems OK.
 
What does the mouse actually plug into, is it connected to the keyboard or main machine? It looks like we have the keyboard schematic but no mention of mouse input, just the keyboard matrix.
 
It plugs into the keyboard itself. The connector is the same type (like a UK telephone connector) and plugs in on the right rear corner.
 
Crashedfiesta said:
It plugs into the keyboard itself. The connector is the same type (like a UK telephone connector) and plugs in on the right rear corner.
Click to expand...
So it's actually a serial mouse, according to the service manual based on the Alps UDA020134A which I can't find any info on, so no idea what it's transmitting.

It sounds like the mouse pointer can be moved with keyboard cursor keys though, so hopefully not a major issue for me.
 
Hmmm. Tried the circuit I found on the eevblog forums to dump the keyboard controller ROM but it is giving me trouble. Three attempts, three different results. I think the 12v connection could be flaky. Will have to debug later.
 
Well, I don't know what I'm doing wrong but I've tried dumping the keyboard ROM at least nine times and I've got nine different results... 🙁🙄 I'll have another go tomorrow.
 
This is like me with my Laser 200 getting a different logic trace every time I power the thing up. Some machines are just cursed.
 
Pernod said:
With the latest news of the Triple X booting I'd like to return to my emulation but am stuck without keyboard/mouse input.

Can anyone dump the internal ROM from the D8749HD MCU in their keyboard? Has anyone dumped one of these before, what's required?
Click to expand...
Not a lot. Just a programmer that supports them.

The 8048 and 8049 have no provision for protecting the ROM contents. Needless to say, that probably drove a lot of the cloning of the 8048 keyboard controller in the IBM PC.

If you've got access to one I can pop it in the BP Micro and get it read out. Happy to do it by return of post but I'd suggest Special Delivery both ways if we went that route. Though at least once it's read out, it can be programmed into an 8749 to make a replacement.
 
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