BlueSCSI Issues - Bus Error
- Thread starter rjkucia
- Start date
Let's get a side profile, it looks beveled to meI still see that location B5 isn't soldered fully in the hole. Hmmm.
Well I went and used this as an excuse to finally upgrade my SLR! I also grabbed a work light to brighten the scene. I don't have a macro lens for the new camera but hopefully these pictures are clear enough. I did not expect this to turn into a photography project, lol
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Big difference! 
Even the location at B5 looks soldered just fine.
A work light? I learned the hard way that it's not the best lighting for photography or a green screen. Nevertheless, I am not sure that not all iPhone models can equal well-equipped SLR cameras. Using the camera is nice when the phone doesn't produce the needed results.
Even the location at B5 looks soldered just fine.A work light? I learned the hard way that it's not the best lighting for photography or a green screen. Nevertheless, I am not sure that not all iPhone models can equal well-equipped SLR cameras. Using the camera is nice when the phone doesn't produce the needed results.
Other than the solder blob at C14 which isn't hurting anything, I cannot see anything wrong.
I guess the white I am seeing under the main chip on the BluePill is silkscreen. Even so, I can't help but wonder if that chip being a fake instead of authentic could have something to do with it.
I guess the white I am seeing under the main chip on the BluePill is silkscreen. Even so, I can't help but wonder if that chip being a fake instead of authentic could have something to do with it.
Glad that seemed to work better!
Since it sounds like we agree that Drake's soldering skills are pretty good, any other suggestions right now? The programmer arrives tomorrow, and I can see if updating the firmware changes anything.
lol yeah it's definitely very harsh lighting, and if we need to I *could* try for a whole makeshift studio setup, with multiple lights and diffusers and such, but... It'd be a lot easier if this was 4 months ago, then I could just take a picture outside! Winter in Wisconsin is very, very dark, unfortunately.
Since it sounds like we agree that Drake's soldering skills are pretty good, any other suggestions right now? The programmer arrives tomorrow, and I can see if updating the firmware changes anything.
I keep repeating that it could be a knock-off IC causing issues; but if that's true, only a swapping of the BluePill would fix it. I honestly don't know what else it could be, but I am not the developer, so my feedback is limited in its usefulness.
Oops right, sorry - if the firmware update doesn't work, replacing the BluePill would be a good next step!
The chip on these bluepills are reliable from my experience, I've been using them well over a year now without issue.
All bluepills are clones at this point so it's just a gamble of "which clone works".
We offer free bluepills flashing/updating so I'm happy to do that for anyone. Otherwise as before, I'm also happy to mail replacements.
Xoxo
The ST-LINK arrived today, and gave us a not-so-dramatic ending. I updated the firmware and now it works perfectly! My same image of 7.5.3 that crashed on boot now boots and runs perfectly off of the BlueSCSI.
Despite some of the warnings, it was incredibly simple to do! Honestly the hardest part was figuring out which of my micro USB cables were power only vs data cables (only 3 tries!)
Thank you everyone for your help! I'll update everyone in case I run into any other issues, but for now I'm confident it's at least behaving better than it was before.
On a side note - anyone selling a mount for the BlueSCSI so I can put it inside my case?
Despite some of the warnings, it was incredibly simple to do! Honestly the hardest part was figuring out which of my micro USB cables were power only vs data cables (only 3 tries!)
Thank you everyone for your help! I'll update everyone in case I run into any other issues, but for now I'm confident it's at least behaving better than it was before.
On a side note - anyone selling a mount for the BlueSCSI so I can put it inside my case?
I have a 3d print I can mail you, just PM your details again. If there's someone closer in the sellers group it will be cheaper to mail so we'll figure it outThe ST-LINK arrived today, and gave us a not-so-dramatic ending. I updated the firmware and now it works perfectly! My same image of 7.5.3 that crashed on boot now boots and runs perfectly off of the BlueSCSI.
Despite some of the warnings, it was incredibly simple to do! Honestly the hardest part was figuring out which of my micro USB cables were power only vs data cables (only 3 tries!)
Thank you everyone for your help! I'll update everyone in case I run into any other issues, but for now I'm confident it's at least behaving better than it was before.
On a side note - anyone selling a mount for the BlueSCSI so I can put it inside my case?
Some bad news - after using the BlueSCSI for a while, the bus errors have reappeared. Usually what happens is that it works perfectly well for a while, but after large amounts of disk activity (like copying files, unstuffing, etc) it starts acting up. Same behavior both internally and externally.
Once it starts "acting up", System 7 will usually refuse to boot without disabling extensions. If I had both an internal and external SCSI device attached, no devices would be detected at all.
It's definitely different from before, because it does work fine for a bit, it just gets bad after a while. Notably I did just add a PDS Ethernet card - I have no idea if it's possible for these to cause SCSI issues, but the card seems to be working without any issues.
I've been using my RaSCSI/PiSCSI since this issue popped up, and haven't encounter similar problems.
Any suggestions? I think it might just be time to get a BlueSCSI 2.0, but let me know if anyone has other ideas. Thanks!
Once it starts "acting up", System 7 will usually refuse to boot without disabling extensions. If I had both an internal and external SCSI device attached, no devices would be detected at all.
It's definitely different from before, because it does work fine for a bit, it just gets bad after a while. Notably I did just add a PDS Ethernet card - I have no idea if it's possible for these to cause SCSI issues, but the card seems to be working without any issues.
I've been using my RaSCSI/PiSCSI since this issue popped up, and haven't encounter similar problems.
Any suggestions? I think it might just be time to get a BlueSCSI 2.0, but let me know if anyone has other ideas. Thanks!
I have 3 BlueSCSI devices. Two are the internal type, and one is DB25. Two are version 1.1-a hardware (with STM32F & WCH clone chips) and another is 1.0-c (STM32). I have flashed them with various firmware updates over time, and now all are running the newest Dec. 2022 firmware without issue. In fact, @eric kindly showed me the benefits of overclocking about a month ago, and I've been able to boost speeds to 96MHz and 128MHz without issue.
Perhaps the key to my success was that I did NOT build them myself. I obtained pre-built devices from @Kay K.M.Mods who has an eye for detail. As a result, I never had bus error issues.
Simply posting my experience doesn't magically make everything better for those who have such issues, I realize that. And I don't want my words to make anyone feel bad. But I do wish to say that something must be awry in the chips or soldering because it cannot be an inherent design defect. If it was, I would expect to have seen such issues when testing my own BlueSCSIs in a PM9600, SE/30 (stock and with upgrades), Mac SE (stock and with SpeedCard accelerator) and a Color Classic Mystic.
Maybe @eric would have further ideas to share regard bus errors.
Perhaps the key to my success was that I did NOT build them myself. I obtained pre-built devices from @Kay K.M.Mods who has an eye for detail. As a result, I never had bus error issues.
Simply posting my experience doesn't magically make everything better for those who have such issues, I realize that. And I don't want my words to make anyone feel bad. But I do wish to say that something must be awry in the chips or soldering because it cannot be an inherent design defect. If it was, I would expect to have seen such issues when testing my own BlueSCSIs in a PM9600, SE/30 (stock and with upgrades), Mac SE (stock and with SpeedCard accelerator) and a Color Classic Mystic.
Maybe @eric would have further ideas to share regard bus errors.
I'm sure it's not an issue with the design - after all, the issue I'm having seems to be uncommon! That said, since mine is the 1.0 version, were there any changes made in 1.1 that may have corrected any issues in that original design?
I haven't tried a new SD card yet after experiencing these latest issues, so it could be that. Or, I may need to redo some soldering. I'm just not sure what would be a likely cause for the bus issues I'm seeing now. I thought maybe it was the heat, since it takes some time to show up - but I would have expected the issue to happen less/after a longer period of time when using it externally.
I haven't tried a new SD card yet after experiencing these latest issues, so it could be that. Or, I may need to redo some soldering. I'm just not sure what would be a likely cause for the bus issues I'm seeing now. I thought maybe it was the heat, since it takes some time to show up - but I would have expected the issue to happen less/after a longer period of time when using it externally.