Re: Help IDing unknown cards...

[Wayne Lafreniere <wplafreniere@lynx.bc.ca>]

Don Bruder wrote:

> In article <5c07806a.0306050338.318043c0@posting.google.com>,
>  julesrichardsonuk@yahoo.co.uk (Jules) wrote:
>
> > ROM Card:  No idea what this is; presumably the 6 ROMs (2716 chips)
> > contain utilities that could have been accessed under software
> > control? No idea what the switch at the rear edge of the card does
> > either.
>
> Pure guess based on the chip count and switch: "You want //e ROMs with
> that? Or would you rather use ][ ROMs?"
>
> > 80-column card:  Marked as 'Chinex' and made by Creative, presumably
> > necessary software for this still exists somewhere? Any ideas what the
> > 'middle' connector (with no cable attached) is for?
>
> I'd bet on the connector being a serial port for attaching an external
> terminal.
>
> > ZIF-socketed card ("unknown_04.jpg" on the website):  The ZIF socket
> > is a 28-pin unit. I'd say it was a programmer, but wouldn't it need an
> > external 24V (??) supply if that were true?
>
> Not neccesarily. That physically large electrolytic capacitor with the
> trnsistor right next to it (in the upper right corner of the board in
> your shot) screams "voltage doubler!" at me. I'd have to actually chase
> traces and see how it's wired to be certain, though. If it's wired as I
> expect it would be, there's your 24 volt supply, derived from the
> motherboard's +12V supply.
>
> The 40-pin chip is marked
> > as "S6821P", whatever one of those is. The first 3 of the switches are
> > labelled as '16', the next 3 as '32' and the last 4 (overlapping by 1
> > with the previous 3) as '64'.
>
> Those are all but guaranteed to be your "Are you burning an 8, 16, 32,
> or 64K ROM?" selector.
>
> I feel real confident about calling it an (E)EPROM burner.
>
> > Card with 8 LEDs and 4 empty 16-pin DIL sockets ("unknown_02.jpg" on
> > the website): Any ideas? Possibly a joystick controller or something
> > and the joysticks plugged in via the DIL sockets? The two 40-pin chips
> > are 6522's. There's a back of 8 DIP-switches on board, plus a switch
> > in the top-right which just seems to enable or disable the LEDs as far
> > as I can see.
>
> Something about this one is tickling my brain. I'm getting the
> impression that I've seen this card (or one *VERY* like it) and I should
> *KNOW* what it is,  but I'll be dipped if I can figure out what/why...
>
> >
> > Card with remote pushbutton switch ("unknown_03.jpg" on the website):
> > All TTL logic on board, ROM is a 2716 chip. Underside is labelled
> > "Wild card". Anyone seen one of these or know what it is?
>
> That one I can ID...
> It's a "WildCard II" - At one point, it was considered *THE ABSOLTE
> ULTIMATE* in copy-protection breakers. The remote pushbutton is an
> interrupt switch (hit it, and the computer gets an NMI), and on board
> there were ROMmed functions similar to the normal "monitor" routines
> that could be used for doing quite an amazing number of things like
> single-stepping code, (useful for boot-tracing) Snatching segments of
> code (like the "volatile" areas that the copy-protectors liked to
> clobber in order to hide their encryption routines) and so on. With a
> WildCard in a slot, no copy protection scheme has a ghost of a chance.
> For so-called "single-load" protection, boot the disk, hit the button,
> save a memory-image to disk, write a loader to drag it in via DOS3.3 or
> ProDOS, and the crack is done. No muss, no fuss, no bother. For
> multi-check protections, it'll basically lay the code out in front of
> you so that it can be worked with, stepped through, traced, or whatever,
> without needing to resort to the often tedious method of boot-tracing
> through it to find and neuter the protection.
>
> For the rest, you're on your own, at lest as far as help from me is
> concerned... Sorry...
>

 Card with 8 LEDs and 4 empty 16-pin DIL sockets ("unknown_02.jpg" on
> the website):


I believe this is a 32 channel (4x8) digital i/o card very similar to John Bell
engineering card I have. It has the 2  x 6522 chips and the 4 sockets but no LED's

Wayne Lafreniere