help with Parallel testing for hill 320?

[a158946]

My hill 320 isn't working as intended, and I'm trying to figure out if the right signals are coming from my parallel port. So far, I've tried setting different PPT modes in the bios, but I get the same output (pins 2,3,4 and 9 =5v and pins 5-8 = 0v)

when I check each channel on my controler, Some are always on, and some are always off.

sometimes I get some channels switching in sync with the vixen sequence playing for a short while, then it goes to the above mentioned senario.

Is this maybe a clock issue? How do I check the clock?

I've also checked the data pins at the parallel port (without controller attached), and every time I've done it, I just see the output above. Is this a normal to only see it like this? Do the signals just switch too fast to be able to detect on an analog volt-meter?


Also, I get exactly what I expect when I set vixen to use a standard parallel port output (8 channel), and probe the ppt port directly.

I'm completely lost at this point.

thanks for your help.

[RichF]

Check your cables and connections look for anything that would allow any electrical noise to be picked up by your cable.

[a158946]

Check your cables and connections look for anything that would allow any electrical noise to be picked up by your cable.
Nothing looks obvious, but I am curious if the problem is before my controller anyway. When using the hill320 plugin with vixen, should I be able to probe the parallel port directly on the computer.

[a158946]

Found my problem...melting insulation (from soldering heat) on a couple of data connections to / from the Hill320 (improper selection of wiring to use - CAT6)

[cheeryguy123]

I have a question about the HILL 320. Do you use capacitors on the 74ac574pc chips? If so, what kind are supposed to be used? This may be the wrong place to post, just thought that someone here would know.

thanks