Hi!

Does anyone has any extra information about what to think about when/before soldering the Sigmatel AC97 chip to an A1-XE? Anyone that has done it??

I plan to solder my chip tomorrow but I like it to work so I like to know if there are anything else that must be done; extra resistors, capasitors, etc. that may be missing and needs to be soldered or anything like that?!?

I practiced on an old SODIMM module yesterday and moved a small chip from one place to another on it. It all went fine. (It better, 'cause the solder equipment costs like $2000-3000. )

I just want to be sure that I'm not missing anything, apart from a perfect soldering, that it will work on my A1 when I'm done!

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- Don't get fooled by my avatar, I'm not like that (anymore, mostly... maybe only sometimes)
> Amiga Classic and OS4 developer for OnyxSoft.

@Deniil715

All necessary resistors and capacitors should be on the motherboard. I simply soldered the Sigmatel AC97 chip on my A1XE and it worked under OS4.

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A1SE: G3@600MHz, 2GB, 1GBit network card
A1XE: G4@933MHz, 2GB, refitted AC'97 codec
microA1: G3@800MHz, 1GB

- A1 Linux support -

@Deniil715

I've done this to my board. All I did was add the Sigmatel chip and nothing else.



I added solder to the PCB first, so there's something there before placing the chip.

Use a fine point tip on the soldering iron. Be careful with these as they don't hold heat as much since they are smaller. Smaller tips are blamed for many lifted traces (PCB trace comes unglued and lifts off the board) but they can be used if you go slowly and give them time to warm back up again.

Do not worry about getting too much solder, have some solder wick to suck solder bridges and globs back out and try again.

Place the chip, tack a corner pin to hold that end, then tack the opposite corner. This holds the chip in place to get other pins going. Don't worry about getting those first two joints perfect now, just get them holding the chip in place and clean them up later when the chip is held in place by more soldered pins.

Don't use too much solder. Look at other surface mount chips for a guide of what things should look like. Add solder if needed. Remove with solder wick when needed.

Sometimes I poke at a pin with a fine point model knife to see if pins are held solid or if they wiggle a bit. If they wiggle they may not be connected properly.

When done soldering all pins, look closely for tiny solder bridges between pins. This might be hard to see. I gently scrape between pins with a fine tip model knife to cut any tiny bridges. Without applying force, put the tip of the knife between the pins toward the chip packaging. Gently press against the PCB and pull away fromthe chip package. This direction is impotant as it pulls debris out and away from the chip. Pushing the knife toward the chip may hide solder debris under it and behind the pins where it's harder to see, and may move around and cause problems later. A magnifying glass would be handy. So would a microscope.

Of course, make sure the chip is placed in the correct orientation. There's nothing more annoying than getting part way through and realizing you need to undo it and rotate 90 degrees or somethgn like that.

A friend of mine had once done some rather large sirface mount chips, PQFP I think, by slathering on a lot of solder across all 4 sides, and using solder wick to remove the excess afterward, leaving a nice amount that stayed on the pins and pads. Of course check for tiny bridges that may still be hiding.

Last edited by billt on 01-Oct-2008 at 01:54 PM.

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Thanks!

Then I'd just get too it then.

I have a microscope and one of these so I guess the soldering isn't going to be a problem..

I just hope I won't put it the wrong way then..

_________________
- Don't get fooled by my avatar, I'm not like that (anymore, mostly... maybe only sometimes)
> Amiga Classic and OS4 developer for OnyxSoft.

@Deniil715

Lucky you!

_________________
A1SE: G3@600MHz, 2GB, 1GBit network card
A1XE: G4@933MHz, 2GB, refitted AC'97 codec
microA1: G3@800MHz, 1GB

- A1 Linux support -

@Deniil715

Although I agree it's nice to have sound on the motherboard, I don't suggest anyone use it.

I have an AmigaOneXE that came with on-board sound.
It was great when a determined programmer found a way to write a software driver for it.

But, the sound quality is bad. It sounds shallow and slightly buzzy. Sometimes it has pops or other quirks. I'm sure there are some improvements that could be made to the driver, but that would be a difficult task at best.

When I use an M-audio PCI sound card with the EnvoyHT drivers, all the problems went away and it sounds great.

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@logicalheart

The PCI solution sounds a lot less time consuming and risky....and prone to much less frustration as well. I don't have the patience or the steady hand anymore.....soldering such small connections can try the patience of a saint!

I suppose if I was absolutely out of cash and all I had was a soldering iron, solder, and an AC97 chip at my disposal, I might attempt it. But compatible PCI cards can be found for $20 US or less if you look around.

Last edited by ferrels on 01-Oct-2008 at 07:27 PM.

@ferrels

Ys, I agree with what you say, mostly, but the bad thing about a PCI card is that it takes one PCI slot, hehe. If the user doesn't care much about sound quality, you get sound AND a spare PCI slot for things like USB2 cards, for example.

Saluditos,

Ferrán.

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@logicalheart

Im with logicalheart :) I use the ESI Juli@ also envy24ht

@Kicko

phase 22 plus envy24ht here, why would you risk you unique, irresplacable motherboard, for avarage sound?

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BroadBlues On Blues BroadBlues On Amiga Walker Broad

Yea, the sound quality is something I've been questioning too... Let's see what I get. I had a SB Audigy before, well, still have but it locks up the computer when using 3D and stuff...

I was thinking about a CMI8738 based card of some sort, but a cheap such may not sound better than the AC97 anyway, so why bother... I don't feel like putting out $80-100 and get a huge card smacked with features I can/will never use just to get better quality, if it even is better....

@broadblues

The thing is that it isn't irreplacable anymore with the SAM, so I think this is a very good time to do it, before SAM disappears too!

_________________
- Don't get fooled by my avatar, I'm not like that (anymore, mostly... maybe only sometimes)
> Amiga Classic and OS4 developer for OnyxSoft.

Now I have soldered my chip and done the USB-fix. Let's hope it works now when I get home with it..!

_________________
- Don't get fooled by my avatar, I'm not like that (anymore, mostly... maybe only sometimes)
> Amiga Classic and OS4 developer for OnyxSoft.

@Deniil715

Motherboards soundcards don't sound bad, at least on what i ve tried. This could be to a problem with the whole mobo. For an average user, a mobo sound chipset is enough, unless you plan to work on audio tasks, so a good sound card is needed.
Check first the motherboard, as the sound shouldn't be sounding bad.

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Hi @Deniil715

Yea, the sound quality is something I've been questioning too...
IMO, the AC97 sound is about equivalent to SB128 PCI which I think is reasonable.
My A1 came with about a three inch case speaker. How are you goiing to handle the speaker system?

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@Deniil715

Quote:

Now I have soldered my chip and done the USB-fix. Let's hope it works now when I get home with it..!

Now then do I sense another thread "A1 DEAD! HELP!" coming up? ( I hope not)

I really dont understand the need to do such a thing as soldering as other people have mentioned soundcards are available.

Last edited by Magic on 02-Oct-2008 at 05:14 PM.

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It works!

I wasn't very worried though. I have the right equipment at work for this stuff.

@_ThEcRoW

The sound is quite ok I think. Can't really determine with this stereo and speakers unless I can switch between a really good card and this in realtime... There is a lot of noise on the AUX though, Sounds like it's picking up noise from the gfx card or something...

@Snuffy

The speaker system..? Well, I hook it up to the stereo as I always have..

@Magic

Well, since I was given a chip for free, I have the skill and the equipment, it wasn't such a hard choise now that there actually is a replacement for my old A1 in the unlikly case that it would break.
The biggest risk was the transport to and from work on a bicycle IMO, not the actual soldering..

_________________
- Don't get fooled by my avatar, I'm not like that (anymore, mostly... maybe only sometimes)
> Amiga Classic and OS4 developer for OnyxSoft.

@Deniil715

Glad it works for you. I have (well, had) two XEs, one with the chip and one without (it has an SB Live! card).

The XE with the chip makes all sorts of funny clicks and noises when booting up, but after that I can't tell the difference between them.

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tony

Hyperion Support Forum: http://forum.hyperion-entertainment.biz/index.php

@tonyw

Yes, it appears to set all volumes to absolute maximum when AHI loads, then resets to something else when the Mixer loads. It clicks everytime the volume change in large steps even if there is no signal, which is strange, or badly designed.

It also seemed like it reset the volume for every new AHI user, ignoring the Mixer setting. I had to touch the Mixer knob to get it back. I have to test this further though...

I also noticed that the Mixer doesn't support arexx commands för the via686 driver I e-mailed Davy about that.

_________________
- Don't get fooled by my avatar, I'm not like that (anymore, mostly... maybe only sometimes)
> Amiga Classic and OS4 developer for OnyxSoft.

@logicalheart

Quote:

I have an AmigaOneXE that came with on-board sound. It was great when a determined programmer found a way to write a software driver for it. But, the sound quality is bad. It sounds shallow and slightly buzzy. Sometimes it has pops or other quirks. I'm sure there are some improvements that could be made to the driver, but that would be a difficult task at best.

I have the on board chip, and I don't have these problems, certainly not the pops, and other quirks. I have an Altec Lansing Series100 speaker system, and my onboard sound seems absolutley fine. I only use PlayCD, Tunenet, and AmigAMP, for playing mp3's or internet radio. If you use other audio programs your problems may be application based, where they stress the hardware more.

_________________
Peter Swallow.
A1XEG3-800 [IBM 750FX PowerPC], running OS4.1FE, using ac97 onboard sound.

"There are 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't."

@Deniil715

The micro does something similar..
I have a micro with the sound it came with. This also gives off a stream of static whenever the machine is rebooted. Not for a OS reboot, but a full machine reboot creates a static noise until sometime after kickstart is loaded.
I didn't notice it much when I had a regular set of speakers, but I am now tied in to a mixer with a big amp and speakers. The first time I heard it I thought the mixer was broken!
The mixer is automated through CAMD, so a remote mute/restore is possible, but only if I know the reboot is coming. It's not a big problem really though.

LyleHaze

Last edited by lylehaze on 04-Oct-2008 at 11:48 AM.

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