SIDKick pico 2350DAC PCBWay Boards Not Showing up as USB

[bmmcwhirt]

I ordered 10 boards populated from PCBWay and none of them will show up as a USB drive. I have pin headers with a jumper for the boot switch.

I have verified my USB adapter and cable have DATA.

My headers.

Image of board and components.

Just t check that there were do driver issues I plugged in a RPi PICO2 in boot mode and it shows up fine.

I find it hard to believe I got 10 DOA boards, so it must be something I am doing.

[frntc]

Hm, it should work with your headers. Is the order of pins on your USB-breakout the same as on the SKpico? (and of course connected with the right orientation ;-))

[bmmcwhirt]

I also have a FNRIS Tweezers LCR, if I need to test any of the SMT components. Orientation of al the parts looked good to me.

[frntc]

no need to invert. yes, orientation looks good. there are not many components involved when you flash. you could test if the LDO outputs 3.3V (measure at the large capacitors next to the LDO). If you have the equipment, the next would be the crystal frequencies.

[bmmcwhirt]

Sorry, I've not had a chance to run any tests yet. I have my scope setup now, and I'll test the voltages and freq.

[bmmcwhirt]

Ok, went into the lab room and was getting ready to do some test... Plugged the SKP2350 in and it showed up right away. So plugged it back into the MS Surface Pro and no Joy.

On the PC it works on, I've only tried two, I was using USB 2.0 to USB C adapter board. On the MS Surface both USB C ports are actually TB4/5. I wonder if that has something to do with it. Again a normal RP Pico 2 works, but I'm also using a USB C to Micro USB cable, where as my USB C to USB C cable is 240W TB 5 cable. It's the cable I usually use as I know for a fact it has good power and data lines.

Also is there a wiring diagram for the C64U? The wording isn't clicking for me. And is the audio header G L R or G R L? And there is another 2 pin header at the bottom of the board, what is that for? Again maybe it says in the README and I'm not catching it.

[frntc]

for all models with DAC it's right-ground-left (from top to bottom), see https://github.com/frntc/SIDKick-pico#firmware-which-one-to-choose

For the Ultimates, wire it up as described here: https://github.com/frntc/SIDKick-pico#installing-additional-cables-in-an-ultimate-64-board--commodore-64-ultimate (if you want to use one SKpico). The A5/A6 and A8/IO pins are the two at the bottom.

There's also an add-on board making this easier, just didn't find the time to describe it on the github page yet:
https://www.pcbway.com/project/shareproject/Commodore_64_Ultimate_Ultimate_64_Adapter_for_SIDKick_pico_all_models_with_DAC_6a444486.html

[bmmcwhirt]

for all models with DAC it's right-ground-left (from top to bottom), see https://github.com/frntc/SIDKick-pico#firmware-which-one-to-choose

For the Ultimates, wire it up as described here: https://github.com/frntc/SIDKick-pico#installing-additional-cables-in-an-ultimate-64-board--commodore-64-ultimate (if you want to use one SKpico). The A5/A6 and A8/IO pins are the two at the bottom.

There's also an add-on board making this easier, just didn't find the time to describe it on the github page yet: https://www.pcbway.com/project/shareproject/Commodore_64_Ultimate_Ultimate_64_Adapter_for_SIDKick_pico_all_models_with_DAC_6a444486.html

I understand the amount of work that goes into designing and maintaining a project like this, and I greatly appreciate the hard, time-consuming work. So I understand the need to get something back for your time, either from PCBWay sales or sales from authorized resellers. However the adapter board seems to be a be simpler. Is there a chance the KiCAD for it can be made available? I ask because I have a Cubiko CNC and blank 2 layer copper boards. I could CNC a simple board like that way faster than ordering from PCBWay, and I already bought extra machine pin headers. I would even be willing to make a small paypal donation.

[bmmcwhirt]

@frntc Not sure if you will notice this since I marked this as answered, but I am curious about if the KiCad Project for the add-on board can be made available?

[modeler]

Following. I had 10 x 2350PWM boards assembled by PCBway also, and they all worked fine. I have since built some 2350DAC boards myself from scratch, and these work also.

If you get completely stuck, I would happily do you a swap - send you one of mine verified / working for one of yours. I am in the UK if that helps.

[nginsber]

I also received the same boards from PCBway a few weeks ago and just getting to test them. I've tested two boards and getting the same thing. Windoze says "device descriptor request failed" in device manager.

[bmmcwhirt]

There are two primary reasons you get the device descriptor error.

1. A bad cable or one that is too long. If you have a USB cable tester, you can test that the data is working correctly. If possible use a cable less than 300mm.
2. Power/Amps issue. Make sure you are using a USB port that is physically on the motherboard. Unplug any unnecessary USB devices, and it's Windows so the ridiculous necessity, full power cycle. Actually, I just had to do this the other day on an Intel NUC running Debian after I plugged in a bad USB serial cable.,

[nginsber]

Yeah. I just got that - two cables later. Not all cables are created equal. Same cables works on other devices.

[bmmcwhirt]

Yeah. I just got that - two cables later. Not all cables are created equal. Same cables works on other devices.

I recommend a line tester like one of these:
https://github.com/atomic14/usb-tester
https://github.com/petl/USB-C-cable-tester-C2C-caberQU
https://github.com/alvarop/usb_c_cable_tester
https://github.com/fdufnews/USB_cable_tester_V2
https://github.com/ornotermes/usb-cable-tester

For power testing I use a commercial tester. There are many I just know this one works as I use it.
https://www.amazon.com/FNIRSI-Multimeter-Bluetooth-Detection-Measurement/dp/B0BJ253W31/

I test every cable I buy and if it fails to meet what is advertised, it goes right back before even being used, beyond testing.