Date   : Sat, 20 Nov 2010 21:56:44 +0000 (GMT)
From   : ajg@... (Alan Griffin)
Subject: bbc-micro Digest, Vol 50, Issue 20

On 10 Nov, <bbc-micro-request@...> wrote:
> If you get everything plugged in and still works, booting to
> Basic, you can type things in, then that suggests something
> wrong with one of the ROMs or ROM sockets.

> Still only keeping MOS and BASIC, move BASIC sequentially
> into each of the other three ROM sockets. If the computer
> fails to start, hanging saying "Language?", that indicates
> that the socket you're testing is faulty.

> If all four ROM sockets work, it suggests a faulty ROM.

> Put BASIC back in its original socket. Go through your
> other ROMs one at a time. For each ROM plug it into each
> of the three remaining sockets and see what happens.

> That is, you will be testing something like:
> empty empty empty BASIC
> empty empty BASIC empty
> empty BASIC empty BASIC
> BASIC empty empty empty

> empty empty WWISE BASIC
> empty WWISE empty BASIC
> WWISE empty empty BASIC

> empty empty WDFS BASIC
> empty WDFS empty BASIC
> WDFS empty empty BASIC

> That should have identified a faulty ROM or socket by now.

> -- 
> J.G.Harston - jgh@...

Thank you to everyone who has replied.
I am back safely from France!

With all the computer chips in, and the OS and BASIC ROMs it seemed to
be working fine, and I could type in and run a program.

I moved the BASIC chip to socket 2,3&4 and it continued to behave
itself.

Socket 5 contained a Solidisc sideways RAM, which I took out, and
replaced with the BASIC chip - still O.K.

However, if I put any other ROM into sockets 2,3&4 it wasn't seen at
all! The computer denied all knowledge of it.

I then put the sideways RAM back into socket 5 and when I put any of
other ROMS in, the computer worked faultlessly.

The Watford DFS worked, and my ringing program worked.

I guessed that there must have been a dry joint in the sideways RAM,
but I walloped it, and all the other chips on the board, and the thing
was steady as a rock - BRILLIANT!

Thank you so much for all your help.

Alan Griffin