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Documentation about the Vampire hardware

Vampire Does Not Bootpage  1 2 

Paolo Fpm_paolo
(Needs Verification)
Posts 30/ 1
25 Dec 2020 08:35


Hello people, my Vampire has suddenly stopped working.
It does not boot as kickstart, but if I try to upgrade or downgrade it, Quartus flashes the core with success.
I tried to reseat it but nothing happens.
What problem is that?

My A600 has been recapped and I use a MeanWell 65B PSU.


Gunnar von Boehn
(Apollo Team Member)
Posts 6207
25 Dec 2020 09:15


Paolo fpm_paolo wrote:

Hello people, my Vampire has suddenly stopped working.

From the word "suddenly" I understand it booted before?
Did you change anything?

With the V600 the connection to the mainboard is a weak spot.
The A600 was never designed to be upgraded and the connection to the CPU is a "trick" only.
There is always a chance/risk that this can get loose and loose contact.

I would doublecheck this and maybe even remove and re-seat the card.

Cheers
Gunnar


Ozzy Boshi

Posts 31
25 Dec 2020 10:47


my vampire v600 works perfectly however i sometimes press on the cpu socket zone to see if the card is steady and i've never noticed that the card moved.
is there a way to diagnose if every cpu pin is making good contact?


Paolo Fpm_paolo
(Needs Verification)
Posts 30/ 1
25 Dec 2020 19:10


Gunnar von Boehn wrote:

  From the word "suddenly" I understand it booted before?
  Did you change anything?


No.
I have had my 600 recapped, and yesterday it arrived at home.
I booted and the vampire was working propperly.
Then I shut it down, and went to dinner.
After dinner tried to boot but nothing happened.
 
Gunnar von Boehn wrote:

  With the V600 the connection to the mainboard is a weak spot.
  The A600 was never designed to be upgraded and the connection to the CPU is a "trick" only.
  There is always a chance/risk that this can get loose and loose contact.
 
  I would doublecheck this and maybe even remove and re-seat the card.
 
  Cheers
  Gunnar

tried to remove and reseat sweveral times.
tried to clean contacts with alcohol.
NOTHING WORKED.

This is my vampire

EXTERNAL LINK


Gunnar von Boehn
(Apollo Team Member)
Posts 6207
25 Dec 2020 19:15



This picture looks ugly.
This poor Vampire card did suffer badly.
 
Seeing this, I think its no wonder the card stopped working.


Paolo Fpm_paolo
(Needs Verification)
Posts 30/ 1
25 Dec 2020 20:07


Try to search my previous posts.
I had several problems in the past with this board.
I had it fixed by Arana, and it worked for a while.
If it has broken again...well, I will thrash it.


Gunnar von Boehn
(Apollo Team Member)
Posts 6207
25 Dec 2020 20:14


Paolo fpm_paolo wrote:

  I had several problems in the past with this board.

The picture looks like the PCB has had many damage done to it.
How did this happen?


Igor Majstorovic
(Apollo Team Member)
Posts 406
25 Dec 2020 20:34


Only thing here I could think of is when someone tried to replace PLCC socked put large temperature on that space using hot air, or used hot air gun too close to the PCB. Who knows what's damaged there including things that we don't see in inner layers. 


Paolo Fpm_paolo
(Needs Verification)
Posts 30/ 1
25 Dec 2020 21:47


You can read my rants here.

CLICK HERE 
Edu Arana fixed it. But now, it has stopped working againg.
I paid 75 eur + shipment back in june.
After 6 months the board is again partially broken.
I mean. It can be flashed but doesn't boot.
What should I do NOW?
Pay again for another fix?


Gunnar von Boehn
(Apollo Team Member)
Posts 6207
25 Dec 2020 21:53


Paolo fpm_paolo wrote:

After 6 months the board is again partially broken.

Honestly the picture of the board that you posted looks bad, very bad. I'm not surprised that a board in this shape not works.

How did you get the board in such bad shape?



Paolo Fpm_paolo
(Needs Verification)
Posts 30/ 1
25 Dec 2020 22:12


Forget that picture.
Arana fixed it. There was a post on his blog, but it changed address.


Gunnar von Boehn
(Apollo Team Member)
Posts 6207
25 Dec 2020 22:31


Paolo fpm_paolo wrote:

Forget that picture.
Arana fixed it.

   
Seriously, the PCB looks like your drove with your car over it.
I'm not surprised that a PCB in this bad shape stops working.
What did you do to it to make it look to bad?
 
Honestly your post is a little bit like posting this picture
and then saying "Suddenly my Bike stopped working, I wonder why?"

 
Come on.


Paolo Fpm_paolo
(Needs Verification)
Posts 30/ 1
25 Dec 2020 22:38


As written before, I had my socket changed by a so-called technician.
But he ruined my board.
I sent it to Arana and he fixed that. Or at least, it has worked for some months. I don't know where its blog has finished, but he made a really great job. You can see the video here

EXTERNAL LINK


Paolo Fpm_paolo
(Needs Verification)
Posts 30/ 1
25 Dec 2020 22:45


Gunnar von Boehn wrote:

  Honestly your post is a little bit like posting this picture
  and then saying "Suddenly my Bike stopped working, I wonder why?"
 
  Come on.

Or a little bit like trying to ask for help in a so-called "community", and reading some stupid answers like that from mr. dickhead.
I had never thought you could be such an asshole.




Gunnar von Boehn
(Apollo Team Member)
Posts 6207
25 Dec 2020 22:45


Paolo fpm_paolo wrote:

  But he ruined my board.
 

   
Yes we can see this.
   
You need to know the PCB has several layers with wires inside them.
Here is a picture to show you have a PCB looks internally.
Maybe this makes it more clear:

We can clearly see the damage that the PCB took on the outside, but you can not easily see the damage that were caused inside the layers.
There are internal wires in the PCB which might have been damaged by force or heat.
Its a miracle that Aranet got it working again for a while but its absolutely no surprise at all, that such a badly damaged PCB will stop working after some time - or after you touched it, or moved it, or after it got heated up many times by turning it ON and OFF.
 
 


Gunnar von Boehn
(Apollo Team Member)
Posts 6207
25 Dec 2020 22:58


Your language is not acceptable here.
Your forum access is denied.


Sean Sk

Posts 488
26 Dec 2020 02:25


If it is indeed true that the first repairer damaged his V600 trying to remove the PLCC socket from the board, I don't know why he didn't act swiftly to seek compensation from the repairer for the cost of the Vampire, rather than blaming Kipper2K as he did in his other thread. Can't work out some people sometimes.


Andrew Miller

Posts 352
28 Dec 2020 12:56


Its physically broken, it was not a manufacturing issue, there is nothing anyone can do for you.
Edit: It worked from the 23rd of June. Over six months, send it back to who you got to repair it if its got a guarantee.


Allan Versaevel

Posts 111
29 Dec 2020 05:27


This was an odd situation. Since the card was not diagnosed by the manufacturer, the repair attempt, botched or not, would naturally void the warranty.

It's madness I tell you!


Gunnar von Boehn
(Apollo Team Member)
Posts 6207
29 Dec 2020 07:44


Allan Versaevel wrote:

It's madness I tell you!

 
   
1) If you believe to have a HW problem then always contact the manufacturer. In this case this would have been Kipper.
   
2) Please don't just solder stuff yourself.
   
3) If you solder yourself please do it carefully.
Please only do solder jobs if you are experienced doing this.
Computer chips and computer PCB are delicate parts.
Don't use brute force on them.
   
4) If your card after your soldering looks like your card:

Then please don't expect that the Apollo-Team can fix it for you.
The broken wires, ripped out VIAs and physical damage to the PCB are clearly visible

I saw that you offer your card in broken state as 2nd hand for sale for for about the same price the Vampire cost new.
Do you find this morally?
And how can you post here several post about the Vampire not running stable after breaking it with brute force?
 
 
PCB are not just "plastic". A PCB is a sandwich of very thin layers with electric wires in it.  If you put so much force to it then this can break the wires and this is like dropping your vase:

 
 
 
 

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