ST-BOOK ROM dump?

[simbo]

once you take the lcd top half off as above

then clicking it out the frame is done with nails and care

grow a thumb nail all the time
you do if you play guitar anyway

so run it around to click out the plastics
once its free from the body of the unit the back of it clicks off leaving the body of the lcd front
and its guts and the book lower body
as you see when you get below the metal plate you get to the row and columb drivers and the bad connections
as pictures above show

its quite easy to handle lcd but mega carefully...
two towels or more to suspend it well without having to stress it IN ANY WAY

DONT break the screen
or else its gubbed

any streaks can be cured with care in lcd
other than modern lcd as they use 1024 row etc etc 3 d etc
and 1micron 24crt gold connections to the lcd frame
modern tv drivers dont fail the lcd frame plate connections do
from too high a density

[simbo]

in my estimation seeing a book guts for the first time

its the best designed main pcb ive ever seen

and reflects everything the japanese are great at
at the time

layout..2d

its the best main atari pcb made for sure
ill take more pictures as a colour scan of both sides zip etc

by far the best atari portable and mega cool
and a privalage to work on for sure

after all i already tested the main pcb
its cool before and after chip read

and the LCD!!!!! worked no streaks!! now
perfect!!! ill do more tomorrow
couldnt sleep without adding the caps

[Shredder11]

Great work Simbo!

Regards thumb nails, actually I am a guitarist of 20yrs+ and keep both my nails short. Why? Because I also play keyboards and longer nails just skid off the keys causing loads of mistakes. I appreciate that certain styles of guitar playing require the thumb nail though, so it is lucky for me I do not play those styles!

[simbo]

well on further examination i see a few things and one problem

the vcc supply is generated by a small ic and a fet
the output of the ic is supposed to be a nice saw tooth wave
instead the output is mush and pulse modulated

so ill check all the support components then replace this ic
MC34063A U904
the speaker makes a shuuuuarg sound and the 4bomb message still appears
the lcd has noise on its screen caused by this
now the rows are restored anyway
however the noise remains
and the unit fails to power off correctly
so basicaly this ic is gubbed
checking the hdd supply to its motor it seems correct
and rises to 5V fine

so ill order a new ic from ebay or something {easy to get still}...done 20 off for £4

now back to the 4 bombs
i think this is either the vcc problem
or is a failure of the dma controller
its the same ic used in late TT and some ste/st machine
square plcc so ill add a socket once i proof the voltage rail's

[Mal7921]

well on further examination i see a few things and one problem

the vcc supply is generated by a small ic and a fet
the output of the ic is supposed to be a nice saw tooth wave
instead the output is mush and pulse modulated

so ill check all the support components then replace this ic
MC34063A U904
the speaker makes a shuuuuarg sound and the 4bomb message still appears
the lcd has noise on its screen caused by this
now the rows are restored anyway
however the noise remains
and the unit fails to power off correctly
so basicaly this ic is gubbed
checking the hdd supply to its motor it seems correct
and rises to 5V fine

so ill order a new ic from ebay or something {easy to get still}...done 20 off for £4

now back to the 4 bombs
i think this is either the vcc problem
or is a failure of the dma controller
its the same ic used in late TT and some ste/st machine
square plcc so ill add a socket once i proof the voltage rail's

Eeek, looks like it's a little worse for ware, possibly being aggravated by not being used for quite a while.

Still, it's in the best hands and I'm sure it'll live to be used again

[hwarin]

Hi, all

Very happy to find a technical topic on the ST-Book. I've just restarted mine last sunday.

First of all - Does someone need a dump of a French ROM ? --> What tool to use ? [I've forgotten a bit all those Atari stuff since years]

Secondly, I've noticed that there is a Lithium battery on the mother board. I've checked mine that seems completely dead - It appears not to leak- Does someone is aware of any leaking on this kind of old battery ? Where would be the better place to find a replacement in case of leak risk ?

Thirdly - Main battery seems completely dead - 2.6 volts after 2 days of non stop loading - Any idea to replace NiCD elements ? I've found a link in US of a compagny that claims to rebuild them but I would prefer make this by myself ($$$) - Would there be any known trick to disassemble it ?

Fourthly - Screen - I don't remember well how good it was when new. Today, it is as bad as on lot of pictures that we can find on the web - mostly with vertical lines extending from top to bottom. Does anyone have any idea on what can cause this ? Is this normal (I remember that the screen had never been famous, even worst than the Stacy, but I think that it was more or less "readable") ?

.... Lot more things to say on this 20 years back experience !

Regards - Hervé

[Mal7921]

There was a claim at the time of launch that regular AA batteries could be used and that the ST Book would ship without a rechargeable battery (that being an optional extra), and is referenced in the manual, though Atari changed their mind at the time os shipping.

Mine has a bit of a Bodged repair on the battery, Simbo still has mine at the moment but can't do anything at the moment due to an operation on his arms. From what I could see as some of the internals were exposed, it appeared to be regular AA rechargeable batteries, though I wouldn't like to say for sure. Best electronics are the only people doing returns in the US and while expensive, it is more likely to work than shoving regular rechargeables in and crossing your fingers.

Having said that, compared to the cost of a replacement Sony vaio battery, Best electronics price is pretty reasonable.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mal7921]

Screen, if you look at the pictures of my st book you'll see it had a similar issue, Simbo went through how he fixed it in the thread so would be worth checking that first.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[hwarin]

Hi,

About screen, I have found a slightly better setting on contrast, now, but this is still quite horrible. Will post a picture when I'll be able to take a good one.

Not certain to have seen your screen, I didn't read all threads of this forum yet !

Regards

[Mal7921]

Look towards the bottom of the first page, as I remember it's around there, I'm on iPhone at the moment so not exactly sure where in a 'normal' browser.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[skeezix]

Really, the screen just needs a front light, or an all new LCD panel of some sort and adapter .. the vertical lines, really, with tweakng contrast just-so you can usualyl clear them out, but since theres no backlight.. its just a dim screen. Even in clear ambiant office light, its not particular good. I think it was like this, day one (Lord knows how anyone would use it as a MIDI station or the like, like they anticipated

Also, remember we added a section on the wiki, soi put useful notes there
wiki/index.php?title=Atari_Forum_Portables_FAQ

I took a bunch of notes on my two units when I was fiddling with them, but we just had twins so I'm totally wiped out for free time for awhile. Still, any notes, pop 'em up there, and one of these days I'll add more than the one entry I put in before the twins came

jeff

[simbo2]

well i eventual found the time to chase the fault that was causing the lcd to have lines down it
it was caused by the little charge pump circuit inside the lcd panel
when the capacitors start to leak all over the board the thru plated holes suffer
to cure it i used kinar wire and soldered them top and bottom on some of them not accessible from below
because of the driver ic's then i use some liquid flux treatment then a paint brush a small drop of solder paste and heat
to tin the thru inside
{best that can be done}
the rule is if you dont need to tin it near the chips dont
most of the thru holes around the caps were kind of oozing black metal oxides
and a little smoke that smells like old batteries
so i just stick to a few that where and issue
all the ones around the 22uf cap area you should also do the ones near to the 10uf and 68uf caps and replace them also
i posted the method i used but seems its lost or not approved yet
this finaly fixed the lcd the darker areas on the attached lcd screen are the camera i used problem with refresh of the lcd


now ive restored the machine and it boots from CF
ill cut a small section of plastic from where the modem usually goes { pretty useless now}
and add a sdcard adapter to it
so you can slide the panel off the side and plug in an sdcard for transfer to and from the cf card etc pc satandisk etc

so ill send it back to mal soon as its all complete {just waiting for internal cable's

here is the link for the parts i used


IDE CABLE £15 {cant find one cheeper perhaps someone can find one}

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/6inch-2-Drive ... 416118c629


CF ADAPTER FOR TYPE 1/2 44pin youll find many versions on ebay
they are all as good as each other
i used this one as ive used it before

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dual-CF-Compa ... 4aafb031c4

the sdcard adapter i cant find on ebay anymore
youll need one with the sdcard facing front
or try ebay.hk

[simbo2]

if you want rid of the vertical lines follow this referance
open the lcd lid case using a big flat driver {youll see where the snap catches are } with care!!!!
on the left is a pcb
mounted on it is 4 22uf electrolytic caps {smd} i used normal radial caps as there is enough space
if they are folded over
trim there legs and change them out but dont fold them down yet
clean the board with a little dilute vinegar and a brush {small sable 4 or 5}
to clean up any electrolyte around the ics pins and the resistors etc it may bubble a bit or fiz wait till it stops
make sure to remove all residue
be careful not to leave any vinegar by using some ipa after or distilled water {kettle and a spoon to make your own}
now take a burnish pencil brush and clean the top ring of each thru connection
these take the signals from the top to the bottom
the next step is to release the lcd panel from the lid
and place it on a towel with the board towards you glass side up^
take off the plastic insulating board from the pcb
and again use the burnish pencil {you can find this in maplin or ebay}
{i find to place it on the thru and rotate it is best }
you need some kynar wire {hook up wire .1mm }
and place a small connection through the thru's
fold over and solder the ring
only do the ones around the caps and the chips next to the 22uf caps
when you turn it back over you can trim and solder the wire as needed fold it and again solder as needed
i would use a 14watt iron for this and not any higher really
this lcd streaking is caused by an uneven grounding across the small driver ic's and connections
also check and resolder as needed the connections between the ic's and the pcb board
this way your fixing the charge pump that the caps are part of
there is two more caps you can replace if i remember its 10uf and 68??

again there are some thrus to solder wire thru here also

its more likely there is just the ones around the 22uf
but when the 4 bombs appeared the bombs had a line in there drive

this was only cured by doing more thrus work beside the 10uf and 68?

so you end up with this

look here 1 page back for the original caps placements pics

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=20710#p186792


watch out as i had to for the two track just beside C6 i marked with a circle
they are eaten at so need scraped and tinned

[simbo2]

mentioned here
http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fphoenix.inf.upol.cz%2F~opichals%2Flibhyp%2Fhypview.cgi%3Furl%3Datmarita.de%2Fstartseite%2Fimages%2Fchips%2FCHIPS_X.HYP%26index%3D74

is a byte patch to add to the books tos image to patch a bootup bug

so i have altered the tos german image

here is the file attached remember its a bytes swapped image so no need to do this before you flash it to an otp 4mb rom

if anyone reads this and has a tos ~US english version
you can send me the rom from the book and i can dump it and also patch it and post the image
in exchange i a quite happy to send back the rom and a fresh copy of the rom with the byte patch added

i dont need the german rom image
and afaik there is only two flavors US / GERMAN

[Shredder11]

Hey Simbo, is that SD card adapter the same one you recommended to me a couple of years ago? I think I might have a spare one if you need it, for £15 + P&P.

http://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=18840&hilit=Pin+IDE+Adapter+Ebay&start=75#p167647


I never used it as I needed to work out the method first, e.g. maybe use ICD Tools like you mentioned in the other thread and then use HD Driver v7.93 afterwards. Dunno if any special settings are required during partitioning and formatting etc.

[simbo2]

nice

thanks for digging out this topic

i could not seem to find it

nice pics there

yes its the one i use on the falcon cant find it on ebay sure i got it from thailand for a about the same

many are good and work but this is the best one !! for the falcon and the book
basically because its slot faces forwards and it fits nice in a book / or a falcon case
it did come in two types a caddy screw type and the one i have
also it came with cf and sd card added master slave switched
not much use to use perhaps for the book
maybe ok for the falcon but its fully gone from ebay now what a pitty the FC type chipset is not as complient

the book ide is much like the falcon if your a falcon user frustrated with cubase there is always a book {better by far has tos 2.06 solid midi !!}

anyway i want the USA rom image
if your an english language user of a book find and use the dump tool
i promise ill send you a boot patched rom and help you fix any issue

after a year with malcolm's one i am well!! on top of it for sure
and have some spares for the inverters and knowlage of what is what with the lcd
mostly caused by leaky caps and a shorted turns inductor {i rewound it with .075 enamal wire
i would if i were a book owner bite your arm off for it @ 15 quid
together with the gender change dual ide cable and a small case mode make a good addition to self contain the data to the book
you can and i can give you the schematic for the external fdd and asci port
ie you use a external st ste fdd case add a controller and buy the dam cable @ 30 bucks from koda @ best
you need a small board with a fdd controller {ajax chip }
a 16 mhz clock and some logic to provide the port buffers like the ste
then you have asci and fdd
NOT MUCH USE
better is to port an image to cf card and to the books cf adapter
you must use at least the first {boot} partitions of 512MB max {or 511 but i see uwe did something about this in 8.2x >}
then add one of the cards for sd access on the slave ide
with the dual cf caddy you can set any slot to be master and plug the cf card into it


again if you have no falcon or ide st
if you send me a cf card 2GB type 2 and exchange the hdd for a cf caddy {type 1/2}
i can format it and prep it as 4X512 parts and add some software and compilers etc


its not fair people get a rare book then the hdd fails so you can use just a plugged in sdcard that is bootable
if the machine fails to boot from disk 1 master it checks the slave also so boot from sdcard on cf fail is easy
as plug in the sdcard
mostly due to someone deleting the boot .sys

if you suspect the hdd is ok perhaps it can be saved and copied over and the driver added
so send it too me ill connect it and save off the data most fails hdd will just be the driver has been disloged
best advice is to email me and ill help as i can


in the opinion the st book is the best atari stX and stands next to the falcon far above the TT becouse now it has ide and its better becouse of this
also solid midi clocks and solid transfers so cubase isnt rejected
just turn off its audio tracks the fix from uwe goes far to fix this driver problem on falcon
but the book is solid im sure and wont suffer
using 8.3 its fine here with anything i tried it handles

looking hopefully to repair a stacy

if you have a stacy broken ill fix it

moreover there must be less than 1000

the high serial i can see is xxxxxxx564 mals hereis xxxxxxxx460
others are 4X and some i see 3X

would be nice to have the rom

if it beets copy the english rom out using the falcon TT rom dump tool if you get it into the book

so adding a cable is needed to dump or repair save off its drive

[simbo2]

above all

don't be scared to solder the thru's but poke the wire through first

then solder top and then bottom

you may need to hold the solder tip on the hole for a few seconds
it will smoke and smell like alkaline batteries

then push the wire through and tin solder it
i use a flux pen from ebay to moisten all solder parts
so.. if you need help you can get me on msn or skype and i can help

there is not many books so keep them proper

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j& ... ZMhhGNhulA


this guy has the same issue with lines
if he leaves it it will get far worse for sure...!!

some comments i left also

you should be two people doing this and trace the tracks back from the thrus to where they go

i only needed too solder about 10 and its fine

[simbo2]

http://vsmlibs.host56.com/files/MAKE%20 ... 0FLUID.zip

here is a link on my site

give details how to make cleaning fluid for lcd and cases
non harsh and general purpose soft solvent and anti surfactant

[simbo2]

above ALL
i cant express how delicate the lcd panel and its connection are !!!!!
handle with extreme care when its out its case caddy
also there is a rubber widget in one corner
you must place it to it first ... you'll see
if you dont feel FULLY confident to do the full work
take it to someone who does
or send it too me or another repair guy
im far away in scotland
for-instance cotton gloves are a must use
i can send a plcc extraction tool first if it helps!!! to extract the USA english tos chip
just the under front 3 screws is needed to release the keyboard
then turn the keyboard back to expose the rom { in a socket it will be marked {look back in this topic for photos}}

[simbo2]

Hi, all

Very happy to find a technical topic on the ST-Book. I've just restarted mine last sunday.

First of all - Does someone need a dump of a French ROM ? --> What tool to use ? [I've forgotten a bit all those Atari stuff since years]

Secondly, I've noticed that there is a Lithium battery on the mother board. I've checked mine that seems completely dead - It appears not to leak- Does someone is aware of any leaking on this kind of old battery ? Where would be the better place to find a replacement in case of leak risk ?

Thirdly - Main battery seems completely dead - 2.6 volts after 2 days of non stop loading - Any idea to replace NiCD elements ? I've found a link in US of a compagny that claims to rebuild them but I would prefer make this by myself ($$$) - Would there be any known trick to disassemble it ?

Fourthly - Screen - I don't remember well how good it was when new. Today, it is as bad as on lot of pictures that we can find on the web - mostly with vertical lines extending from top to bottom. Does anyone have any idea on what can cause this ? Is this normal (I remember that the screen had never been famous, even worst than the Stacy, but I think that it was more or less "readable") ?
.... Lot more things to say on this 20 years back experience !
Regards - Hervé

pull and send me the rom please i can send you a plcc tool

ill patch its ABC data and send you both back
did not know a french version exists
if its french then this is a mega rare book
just looking over the topic
take all power off press sleep and hold then power on no power
after replacing the 3 volt cell on the pcb {ebay }

its worth having these roms at any cost!!!

try again

let it run if you get 4 bombs the hdd is gone or its drivers are bad
use cf card ide 0 and sdcard ide1

easy...
above

but it would be nice to have as many flavors of rom image as possible
i also see there are rom revisions

usa english and french would be good

i can supply at a cheep <10 euro price otp programmed with modified tos
as per above data

if anyone needs the psu repaired contact me

if you want your book repaired and sent back perfect with cf and sdcard new bat cells 1200maph lasts prob about 20 hrs
i can do it
you buy the bits ill fit them

its not much cash
maybe

£5 cf dual float adapter
$15 cable with gender changer 44fem to 44fem to 44male
$ 20 sdcard adapter {see above one up for grabs}

battery internal euro 3
battery replace cells about 20 euros for 8X 1.5 v cells
12v pack

best can do it for $ something
i recond use 2400maph cells and see

i recon it will last over 15 hrs


you can use any tool for romdump that supports 512k image size
the one used by TT or Falcon is fine

[DarkLord]

Well, I've got a STacy (and I think you're right, there are very few of them), but its
not broken...unless you count all the things I've done to it.

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=22327

[simbo2]

i think to epoxy all caps i use is best,,,

[simbo2]

case mods completed
{ DONE you can see the layout of the cf card and sdcard in more detail
any type 1.2 cf adapter is ok obviously using a type 2 card is better
take care with these cables and there ports
once i mount the sdcard and cf cards in the right place with sticky pads
ill drill one or three holes and countersink in some screws and nuts + two 10mm stand offs for the the cf adapter
with the cf card in the front adapter you may just need to add a loop of tape as a pull tape to take it out
without taking the top off incase your cf has any issue
and just change the jumper next to the ide port on the cf card
}

added : i added a pic of what ive done now
so the owner can get at the cf card ive mounted it on three standoffs and below ive used countersunk screws
looks quite neat and tidy
the power connector board had to get the chop and ive added three wires instead {bat , vcc , gnd}
ill add a blob of epoxy to the power plug just in case the wires try to work loose and as an insulator
although i cant see this being an issue
anyway hope others with stbooks
can comment on this solution???
so just waiting now for the right cable to come through the door and i can rebuild the machine
the cf card i formatted on the falcon for 4X512MB partitions
the sdcard can be any under mint is perhaps a good idea or bigdos for access to it
as its prob only gona be needed once in a while

[simbo2]

HI all book owners who want to replace the main battery cells and ill post a link on ebay for the small cell on the main board
BOTH must be replaced to avoid any issues with memory VBAK supply etc
so to start with the small cell on the main board is an ML2016 type
i would defo take it off and put a new cell
here is an eBay link
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MAXELL-ML2016 ... 2a1f8d2487
cost is about £7 {euro 10 or so}

...so back to the main cell i recommend these cells http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AA-Size-Recha ... 19be54c1ad
or similar

ie 1.2v with tabs 2000mAph {they supply 2.0amps for one hour before the voltage drops below 1.1volt}
they are AA cells as used in the pack

best offer a service to rebuild it
what worries me is he quotes 3-3/12 hrs up time
but the st book owners manual quotes up to 10 hrs use

anyway these are the right cells and at 2000mAph i recon youll get maybe 15 - 20 hrs up time
as you should also replace the old coffee grinder HDD with cf and sdcard
they use far less current so you get more up time for sure

now this st book i have rebuilt belongs to member Mal7921
his battery pack had been {lol} rebuilt using some cells packs X2 X4 cells
and hot melt {phew} so was easy to take apart again
also had no thermal fuse so ill add one {120deg 5 amps is ok}
one of the metal tabs has gone astray so i made one from thick sticky copper foil layers
the thermal fuse goes between cell number 4 and 5
anyway ill add a few more pics when i get the spares and add them etc
to form a step by step

here is a link to {lol} best who charges 100 bucks +postage both ways http://www.best-electronics-ca.com/stbook.htm
oh ye + import tax when he sends it back as he usually declares the old value instead of a realistic price based on its value in a current market
so watch out bradly koda can end up costing you a heap of cash that goes to the government
ive told him he is an idiot in the past now he just wont deal with me this is totally pathetic and bad business practice imho

1.2v cells £1.31 ea so X 8 = £10.48
its a no brain'er what one i would choose
they are in the states but youll find similar price etc locally
any questions just pm me
and dont forget to add back the thermal fuse

if you want to get an old one apart
take your time and a small twist of the cell pack can be enough to brake the glue seals then a craft knife or large thin end flat driver
pallet knife etc much like taking a cycle wheel apart youll need two or three to crack it apart with safety

you'll find a way but just don't saw it open like the guy who sold the st book to malcolm did

old cells

take them to tesco or asda etc they will have a safe disposal point
don't just throw them in the bin!!! its bad for the enviroment

[Mal7921]

Hi Simbo, thank you for all the work you are putting into this, it's nice to know that once its all finished it will be as good as it can be, and improved on the day it left the factory.

Let's face it, the hard drives of the time were not the fastest or the most reliable!

As for whoever had the machine before me, they had no idea how to service anything, never mind a computer that is pretty rare and very fragile. Glue stains on the screen case, battery pack looking like it had been in an argument with an axe, and the packing when it was shipped to the UK from Germany was appalling. All I can say is I'm thankful the main unit was still intact, the lid clasp was not so lucky and had to be thrown away. Far too many pieces to fit back together unfortunately.