[abc80] Super Smartaid Cartridge

Anders Sandahl anders at abc80.net
Fre Apr 5 11:21:42 PDT 2019


Hi,

I have a number of different smartaid´s lying on my work bench size
forever. I should have answered this earlier to with some of my
experiences of those. I have also noticed that all IC's where sanded off.
I guess that this is some protection against making of copies...

Then I had some memory of that I actually dumped some PROM's. So I started
to look for the files. When I found them I realized that I actually had
published them! You can find the dumps in the archive:
https://www.abc80.net/archive/luxor/Prom/fw/super-smart-aid/

The battery is there since the module contained a real time clock. It also
have a 2K CMOS RAM that is backed up.

When it comes tho the keyboards I have the same experience as Peter.

Hope it helps.

/Anders

> Hi Mikkel,
>
> On Wed, Apr 3, 2019 at 2:46 PM Mikkel Christensen <mikkel at mikjaer.com>
> wrote:
>> My name is Mike, i run this small YouTube channel where i restore old
>> computers, and currently im workin on an ABC 80!
>
> Nice videos. As an aside, that keyboard might very well have been
> working when the seller sent it. 100% of the Keytronics keyboards of
> that generation is deteriorated to the point where they might work
> when you take them down from the attic, but the foam doesn't really
> stand up to transport. And since it was some discussion of if the
> contacts where of the inductive or shorting type: They are inductive.
> It might look like they conduct, but unless they have been damaged the
> little foil bit that touches the keyboard has a see through isolating
> layer at the bottom.
>
>> Mine has this "Super Smartaid" catridge which is giving some problem,
>> se the next 10 seconds of this video for the symptoms:
>>
>> https://youtu.be/H6KNZi3cBZ8?t=94
>>
>> I have taken it apart and discovered a leaked battery, which i plan to
>> replace and to clean the board this next weekend.
>
> For a leaking battery damage that looks pretty good. Here's hoping
> there's no hidden damage!
>
>> But i also tried to look around for schematics, rom images or
>> information about the circuit in case my beforementioned attempt does
>> not work. But it looks like the silkscreen has been sanded of the
>> integrated circuits, and i have had no luck whatsoever finding anything
>> about this cartdrige.
>>
>> Can any of you lend me a hand?
>
> Let's see what we can do. You probably know step 0: Put some black
> electricians tape over those EPROM windows before they die from
> exposure. No Super Smartaid ROMs are listed in Mame, so it would be
> great if you could dump them so we can get them emulated and saved for
> the future.
>
> That cartridge seems to be a a number of pretty neat convenience
> extensions to Basic, you can find the manual here:
> https://www.abc80.net/archive/luxor/ABC80/Owoco-super-smartaid.pdf.
> Let me know if you need help with any of the Swedish.
>
> Those ICs with sanded text is very likely to be dead simple LS74
> address decoding stuff. Why anyone would sand them while keeping the
> text on the RAM is beyond me. The battery seems to be a backup of
> settings, and the manual describes situations where the settings RAM
> can get corrupted and make the machine unusable. It has the reset
> procedure to fix that described under "RESERVUTGÅNG".
>
> The manual also says that version 2 (which you have according to the
> startup screen) will abort all programs after 8 * Ctrl-C. So that
> might also be something to try when you get that strange startup
> behavior.
>
> Best of luck, and keep us updated!
>
> Regards,
> --
> Peter Bortas
>
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