[SOLVED] Memory Card problems on MVS MV1 with MV-IC

dj-ad

n00b
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Sep 26, 2019
Posts
22
Hello !

First of all, i wish to all the members a happy new year 2020, may it bring to you health and joy to your life :buttrock:

I'm finally posting here because i'm stuck now and did all i could to try to solve my problem.

Whatever i do, the memory card is not recognized, it's as if the system ignore everything memory card related. I even don't get any error or output from the bios

My setup :
- MVS MV1 board
- MV-IC repro PCB from Lee Smith
- Genuine Neo IC8 memory card with fresh battery
- home made 60 pin IDC ribbon cables
- unibios 4.0

What i did as testing so far :
- test all the pins of the ribbon cables one by one from one side to the other end with a voltmeter in continuity mode all is good
- test all the tracks on the MV IC PCB from the IDC connectors to the PCMCIA port to try to see if there's any broken track all is good
- plug the card, only CN6 connected, switch on power i have no errors and i was told that this should trigger an error
- make shorter cables (40cm) because the first i made were as long as 2.50m and i thought about maybe interferences still no luck
- tried to test pin 57 and 58 for continuity on CN6 (card detection) with memory card inserted i have a continuity so the memory card is closing the lead and motherboard should detect that at least card is inserted you can see a video of the test on youtube here from another guy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2BYBYUpnsQ&feature=youtu.be
- hardware test's memory card menu does never see my memory card and does nothing except displaying insert a card
- pressing ABCD at boot logo brings memory card management menu but the card is never seen and all sub menus keep saying insert a memory card

The guy i bought the memory card from certified me that it was working before shipping.
Let's say it does not work...

What i do suspect now :
my motherboard has a problem somewhere preventing the bios from even trying to communicate with the memory card because even if the memory card was faulty, as the card detection lead is closed when inserting the memory card into the MC-IC, i should at least get a communication error but instead, nothing happens. It's as if the motherboard even never tries to initiate any communication with the memory card.

Do you guys have any clue of what i can do next ?

I have seen a video from gadgetuk that is de-soldering chips from an mvs because of a same issue (video available here, will start at the right position https://youtu.be/NNTBChEVHHY?t=1382)
I suspect the same issue for me.

Thanks a lot for any input that will help me solve my problem.
 
Last edited:

shadowkn55

Genbu's Turtle Keeper
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The first thing to try is to find another board with the memory card headers and see if your equipment functions there.
 

leejsmith

Cham Cham's Banana
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Aug 11, 2017
Posts
159
HI, We have tested a lot of things over email. Before I sent the MV-IC board they are tested with my own MVS-4 so I know the MV-IC is good. We have checked the cables Op made and did a very basic test of checking the CD2 line is shorted when his card is inserted with a multi meter. This was enough to show that the connection for this part are correct and my own testing showed that with just this part connected and a card inserted my MVS-4 will give a memory card error and this would be correct as the address and data lines are not connected at this time, but OP's MVS just refuses to see that the card is inserted no matter what, He even setup the DIAG bios and he showed CD1 and CD2 lines are not closed so it will not try to look for a card. The last part via email was to check what model the board thinks it is running as, perhaps it can be set to a 1 slot system that does not use a card at all ?

One last option is I am going to send him a test setup that I know works 100% with everything he needs.
 

ack

Ninja Combat Warrior
15 Year Member
Joined
Apr 9, 2009
Posts
538
I would try verifying continuity between CD1/2 on CN5 and PRO-B0

I think its

PRO-B0 PIN 88 <=> CN5 PIN 2A
PRO-B0 PIN 89 <=> CN5 PIN 29A

CN5 and PRO-B0 are on opposite sides of the board and the trace follow a similar path. Perhaps there is damage that took out both traces.
 

dj-ad

n00b
Joined
Sep 26, 2019
Posts
22
Thank you guys for helping me to solve this issue. Ack, i’ll try your stuff but my mv-ic connects through cn6 and cn7 which are both 60pins connectors. I don’t remember a cn5 somewhere. I’ll check that too.
 

ack

Ninja Combat Warrior
15 Year Member
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Apr 9, 2009
Posts
538
CN5/CN6 are the 60 pin connectors on the MV1 side. I should have mention my suggestion was without the MV-IC plugged to verify the CN5 CD1/2 pins on the MV1 make it to the PRO-B0.
 

dj-ad

n00b
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Sep 26, 2019
Posts
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I would try verifying continuity between CD1/2 on CN5 and PRO-B0

I think its

PRO-B0 PIN 88 <=> CN5 PIN 2A
PRO-B0 PIN 89 <=> CN5 PIN 29A

CN5 and PRO-B0 are on opposite sides of the board and the trace follow a similar path. Perhaps there is damage that took out both traces.

Ok i did the test, and the voltmeter in continuity test is sounding like expected.

So cd1 and cd2 from PRO-BO are linked to the CN5 port and thus to the mv-ic

Edit : i confirm that pin 2a and pin 29a from CN5 on the MV-IC are linked to the PRO-BO pins
88 and 89 and i confirm that two pins of the PCMCIA pins are connected to the PRO-BO with memory card inserted
 
Last edited:

dj-ad

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Sep 26, 2019
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I don’t know if this is the expected behavior but without the memory card, both pins from CN5 on the MV-IC and the pins on the pcmcia port are linked to PRO-B0
 

dj-ad

n00b
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Sep 26, 2019
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Thank you for your kind reply Neo Alec but i already know that page and tried myself to follow all pins to find broken tracks... but unfortunately, the pinouts of the page is for AES and some (most) of the pins, does not apply the same in my MV1... even the chips are not labelled exactly the same way so it’s kind of messy to try to figure out which of the hundreds pins does what and where :(

I’ll try one more time to follow each pins but i had no success last time i did this.
 

ack

Ninja Combat Warrior
15 Year Member
Joined
Apr 9, 2009
Posts
538
2 other things you can try

Visually inspect the 60 pin connectors on the MV1 and verify they aren't oxidized/dirty. I've had a few boards that had random MV-IC/memory card issues that were fixed by cleaning the pins.

Try using a jumper to jump CN5 2A/2B pins, and CN5 29A/29B on the MV1. That will simulate a card being inserted. If the diagbios doesnt see a card inserted then the issue points to your MV1 board and not anything with your MV-IC/memory card/idc cables.
 

ack

Ninja Combat Warrior
15 Year Member
Joined
Apr 9, 2009
Posts
538
One other thing.

Is it possible you are simply plugging in the cables wrong? It should be this

MV-IC CN7 <=> MV1 CN6
MV-IC CN6 <=> MV1 CN5

I thought from previous testing I did few months back if you had them swapped it would cause a continual watchdog/reboot. I just retested it and it boots fine and doesn't detect the card as one would expect.
 

dj-ad

n00b
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Sep 26, 2019
Posts
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Hey ack !

I’m away from home for my job right now but i will be back tomorrow night, i’ll test this ! But i can tell you that i’m a real dumb lol, because i’m connecting MV-IC CN6 <-> MV1 CN6 and MV-IV CN7 <-> MV1 CN5... i was so convinced that 6 with 6 was so natural :rolleyes:

I hope that is the (obvious) issue :loco:
And i’m pretty sure that i will post here that it wasn’t working because it was connected reversed
 

leejsmith

Cham Cham's Banana
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Posts
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I sent you the service manual picture and you said it was setup the same way and was correct so I hope this is not the problem !
 

dj-ad

n00b
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Sep 26, 2019
Posts
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Dear Ack and leejsmith ! Thank you both for your patience and your help !
As i expected, it’s now working.

I’m really sorry for having bothered you, i feel so dumb right now lol.
The issue was the ribbon cables reverted
With CN5 from MVS plugged into CN6 from MV-IC and CN6 from MVS plugged into CN7 from MV-IC everything is now working like a charm :help:

I’m so sorry for the mistake, you’ve spent so much time for me and the issue was me being so stupid lol

Please apologize !

This topic is closed and may help anyone else in the future in need of troubleshooting his MV-IC issues !

Thank you so much again, you guys rocks !
 

ack

Ninja Combat Warrior
15 Year Member
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Apr 9, 2009
Posts
538
No worries, glad you got it figured out.
 
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