Stuck on "Waiting"?

[jaymzjulian]

I got my new vectrex32 today, plugged it into my vectrex, but it seems no matter what I do, it's just stuck on the text "waiting" (So I get vectrex bios startup, then "vectrex32 v1.18", then "waiting" - am I missing something dumb, or is there something else I need to do?

Thanks in advance!
--jj

[Vectrex32]

That's not supposed to happen. Make sure the V32 is securely seated in the cartridge connector. When you get "WAITING", try pressing the Vectrex's reset button. Another thing to try is to connect the V32 to a PC via USB, bring up a terminal window, and see if you can get anything (hit Ctrl+C and see if some text appears).

If nothing works, you'll have to return it to me. I'll refund you for return shipping (up to $7) and either fix it or replace it.

I'm sorry for the trouble.

- Bob

[jaymzjulian]

Thanks for the quick reply, and no need to be sorry at all - bespoke hardware comes with bespoke hardware expectations .  I'll try the PC later tonight (have to move the vectrex first!), and see what I can see - I did try the reset button, to no avail.  I have wondered if it could be related to my vectrex as well, since I did have some issues where a couple of games on the Richard H multicart wouldn't start (always the same games, interestingly, and nothing GCE official)

[jaymzjulian]

Confirming that the issue was on my end - I guess the PCB for the vectrex32 isn't quick as thick as my other carts, and so it's not _quite_ making contact - if I physically hold the cartridge up (i.e. push on the bottom of it), then everything works fine.  I guess I'll need to look at my cartridge port on my unit and maybe tighten that up.

Thanks for your assistance!

[LamerDeluxe]

I'm having a similar problem. When I start the 3D demo it will often get stuck on 'waiting', other times it will not start, glitch or even reset to the Mine Storm game whlle using it.

The cartridge is very wobbly in the connector. Insertion seems a bit shallow a well. I think with a USB cable attached the issue would be worse, probably not even usable, seeing how much trouble it is giving already. I think this cart would definitely benefit from a full size housing for stability. I'm worried it will bend the contacts of the cartridge port the way it is now.

When it does work, by propping it up with something, it is pretty cool.

It seems like when you add more than ten tie fighters the 3D demo crashes BTW.

[Vectrex32]

It should not be wobbling and should not require support for the weight. Is it possible the connector in the Vectrex is loose.

- Bob

[LamerDeluxe]

Could be. Testing it some more, even with propping up the 3D demo is very unstable, while the games don't seem to be giving any trouble. Haven't had any problems with other cartridges.

EDIT: I wonder if it would be possible to bend the cartridge port contacts so the connection would be tighter.

[Vectrex32]

I'm thinking more like whether the solder connections between the connector and the PCB are cracking.

- Bob

[LamerDeluxe]

That would also be possible. And probably an easier fix.

[jaymzjulian]

Yeah, my solution ended up being a pile of books propping it up, which seemed to generally fix it, though is suboptimal - the vectrex32 is the only cart I've had this problem with, so it does seem to be something unique to it.  My _suspicion_, which is only verified by my eye and not real experimentation, is that the card edge on the v32 isn't _quite_ as long as standard, which is usually okay except when it isn't . 

I'm thinking about building some kind of cart-extender to fix the problem more permanently - ideally what I want to do, is something like http://store.go4retro.com/x-pander-3-slot-cartridge-port-expander/ but obviously for a 36 pin vectrex rather than a 44 pin c64 - this would also have the advantage of protecting the physical port, which is a property I also appreciate.  I believe it's the same pincount/pitch as the second half of a 16bit isa slot, so maybe i'll find one of those and cut it in half, but otherwise I might have to pull out the soldering iron and build something...

[Vectrex32]

When the V32 first came out, someone else reported wobbling and thought the problem was that the edge connector was too short. I lengthened it in the next rev of the board and since then, no one has mentioned a problem to me.

jaymzjulian, who started this thread, had the theory that the V32's board is on the thin side. It's supposed to be 1.6mm, which should be fine. I haven't measured it though - I just assumed it was manufactured to the spec I ordered.

I've never seen problems like this in my own Vectrex. Every V32 I send out gets plugged into my own Vectrex first.

I'm a bit hesitant to suggest this but ... you could try putting a thin layer of solder on the V32's connectors to add some thickness. Just the far left and far right connector might be enough. You want it to be thin though, because you don't want to damage the Vectrex's connector.

- Bob

[jaymzjulian]

Firstly, to reiterate paragraph 2, this is not a fair test, since the v32 clearly _does_ boot just fine and run 6809 code - there's just something about how it does its startup sequence that gets flakey, and so comparing it against other cart designs isn't the most useful, since it already _does_ do the thing they do!  I love my v32, and I'm not throwing shade here at the design .

That having been said: to confirm my earlier assertion or not, I actually just measured against some working cartridges - I think I was wrong about the thickness being the issue, since it seems to be the same. Where there does seem to be a difference, is how far "into" the port the carts go - because the vectrex32 has that little lip next to the pins, which none of my other carts do, it gets stop at that edge, whereas the other carts actually go a little into the plastic, a few mm past the end of the edge connector.  I'm not going to take a hacksaw to either my v32 or my vectrex to attempt to test _that_ theory though, hence thinking about just getting an external edge connector.  My current inclination is how "strong" the edge connector is on your vectrex affects whether it gets quite the connection it needs, and that mine (and the other posters) is weak.  A pile of books solving this because it pushes the contacts together...

To be fair to yourself though - it's not a fair comparison, since the cartridge clearly _DOES_ boot and load code, it just can't seem to establish whatever communication is requires for it to get past the waiting point, something that other carts don't have to deal with!

[Vectrex32]

jaymz just gave me an idea.

If you look closely at the V32's bottom cover, you'll see that it is not symmetrical. The screws are closer to one edge than they are to the other. The cover is supposed to be put on so that the edge the screws are closer to, is near the edge connector. If I messed up and put the bottom cover on the wrong way, it will butt up against the shell of the Vectrex before the edge card has gone in all the way.

Let me know if this is the problem.

- Bob

[LamerDeluxe]

Just checked this morning, the bottom plate is oriented correctly.

Then I got my Scramble, VecFlash, Protector/Yasi and Debris cartridges to compare them. They all seemed to have a bit more sturdy connection with a slightly deeper insertion. I also noticed that they still have some play (although with a bit more resistance), so the cartridge housings are not so tight inside the slot that it prevents any wobble.

Upon closer inspection I also think the difference is those lips on the sides of the connector. The difference might just be one or two millimeter though.

The thickness of the connectors looked about the same, though I could measure it with a calipher to make sure.

[Vectrex32]

I've played around with this a bit.

The V32's edge card is 2 mm shorter than an original Vectrex game cartridge's edge card. If I plug the V32 in it works fine, but if I deliberately wiggle it, it will crash.

I can also deliberately wiggle an original game cart and cause it to crash.

With a band saw, I shaved off 1.5 or 2 mm of the V32's board to make the edge card longer. If you do this with the covers on, you won't cut any trace. However, I was still able to wiggle the board and make it crash. The board did not seem to be any more secure than it was before.

I use a retractable USB cable, which has a thin and lightweight wire. As such, it does not pull down the V32 when it's plugged in. Perhaps this is why this problem doesn't happen to me.

- Bob