Troubleshooting with a logic probe

A logic probe, such as the TTL Logic Probe is a step up from a voltmeter and give you more insight of what is going on in your RC2014. It does not give as much information as an oscilloscope, but is a lot cheaper and easier to use, and will often point you towards the right area if something isn’t working as expected.

A good place to start is to probe each signal on the backplane. Depending on which RC2014 you have, and what is on the ROM you will get different results. Find the system and ROM image below that most closely matches your setup and compare each pin on the backplane. Note that these readings should be taken after power has been applied and after the reset button has been pushed. Remove all expansion modules, just leaving the CPU, ROM, RAM, Serial and Clock.

Any signals shown as high should be high. Any shown as low should be low. Any shown as activity should have some activity, although the variation between high/low duty cycle is only a rough guide, and can be open to interpretation.

Any deviation from these will suggest where you need to focus your attention. For example, if Data D4 is constantly high, refer to the schematic and check the solder joint on each pin on each chip that connects to D4. If the /Reset pin is showing activity and you are not pushing the reset button, check every pin that is connected to the reset line. Of course it is impossible to give an exhaustive list of every possible error, but hopefully you will see something unexpected and know where to look closer.

Microsoft BASIC 4.7 32k

As shipped with RC2014 Micro, RC2014 Micro+, RC2014 Mini, RC2014 Mini II, RC2014 Classic, RC2014 Classic II

PinSignalValueLED
1A15Act (50/50)Alt 5050
2A14LowLOW
3A13LowLOW
4A12LowLOW
5A11LowLOW
6A10LowLOW
7A9LowLOW
8A8LowLOW
9A7LowLOW
10A6Act (mostly High)Mostly High
11A5Act (mostly High)Mostly High
12A4Act (mostly High)Mostly High
13A3Act (50/50)Alt 5050
14A2Act (50/50)Alt 5050
15A1Act (50/50)Alt 5050
16A0Act (50/50)Alt 5050
17GndLowLOW
185VHighHIGH
19M1Act (mostly High)Mostly High
20/ResetHighHIGH
21Clock1Act (mostly High)Mostly High
22/IntHighHIGH
23/MREQAct (50/50)Alt 5050
24/WRHighHIGH
25/RDAct (50/50)Alt 5050
26/IORQHighHIGH
27D0Act (50/50)Alt 5050
28D1Act (50/50)Alt 5050
29D2Act (50/50)Alt 5050
30D3Act (50/50)Alt 5050
31D4Act (50/50)Alt 5050
32D5Act (50/50)Alt 5050
33D6Act (50/50)Alt 5050
34D7Act (50/50)Alt 5050
35/TX1HighHIGH
36/RX1HighHIGH
37
38
39
40

SCM v1.0.0

As shipped with RC2014 Micro, RC2014 Micro+, RC2014 Mini, RC2014 Mini II, RC2014 Classic, RC2014 Classic II, RC2014 Pro

PinSignalValueLED
1A15Act (50/50)Alt 5050
2A14Act (50/50)Alt 5050
3A13Act (50/50)Alt 5050
4A12Act (50/50)Alt 5050
5A11Act (50/50)Alt 5050
6A10Act (50/50)Alt 5050
7A9Act (50/50)Alt 5050
8A8Act (50/50)Alt 5050
9A7Act (50/50)Alt 5050
10A6Act (50/50)Alt 5050
11A5Act (50/50)Alt 5050
12A4Act (50/50)Alt 5050
13A3Act (50/50)Alt 5050
14A2Act (50/50)Alt 5050
15A1Act (50/50)Alt 5050
16A0Act (50/50)Alt 5050
17GndLowLOW
185VHighHIGH
19M1Act (mostly High)Mostly High
20/ResetHighHIGH
21Clock1Act (mostly High)Mostly High
22/IntHighHIGH
23/MREQAct (50/50)Alt 5050
24/WRAct (mostly High)Mostly High
25/RDAct (50/50)Alt 5050
26/IORQAct (mostly High)Mostly High
27D0Act (50/50)Alt 5050
28D1Act (50/50)Alt 5050
29D2Act (50/50)Alt 5050
30D3Act (50/50)Alt 5050
31D4Act (50/50)Alt 5050
32D5Act (50/50)Alt 5050
33D6Act (50/50)Alt 5050
34D7Act (50/50)Alt 5050
35/TX1HighHIGH
36/RX1HighHIGH
37
38
39
40

CP/M BIOS 1.0 G Searle

As supplied with RC2014 Pro, Mini II CP/M Upgrade and Classic II CP/M Upgrade

PinSignalValueLED
1A15LowLOW
2A14Act (mostly Low)Mostly Low
3A13LowLOW
4A12LowLOW
5A11LowLOW
6A10LowLOW
7A9Act (50/50)Alt 5050
8A8Act (50/50)Alt 5050
9A7Act (50/50)Alt 5050
10A6Act (50/50)Alt 5050
11A5Act (50/50)Alt 5050
12A4Act (50/50)Alt 5050
13A3Act (50/50)Alt 5050
14A2Act (50/50)Alt 5050
15A1Act (50/50)Alt 5050
16A0Act (50/50)Alt 5050
17GndLowLOW
185VHighHIGH
19M1Act (mostly High)Mostly High
20/ResetHighHIGH
21Clock1Act (mostly High)Mostly High
22/IntHighHIGH
23/MREQAct (mostly High)Mostly High
24/WRAct (mostly High)Mostly High
25/RDAct (50/50)Alt 5050
26/IORQHighHIGH
27D0Act (50/50)Alt 5050
28D1Act (50/50)Alt 5050
29D2Act (50/50)Alt 5050
30D3Act (50/50)Alt 5050
31D4Act (50/50)Alt 5050
32D5Act (50/50)Alt 5050
33D6Act (50/50)Alt 5050
34D7Act (50/50)Alt 5050
35/TX1HighHIGH
36/RX1HighHIGH
37
38
39
40
Enhanced Bus
1GndLowLOW
25VHighHIGH
3/RFSHAct (mostly High)Mostly High
4/PageHighHIGH
5Clock2Act (mostly High)Mostly High
6/BUSACKHighHIGH
7/HaltHighHIGH
8/BUSRQHighHIGH
9/WaitHighHIGH
10/NMIHighHIGH
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19/TX2HighHIGH
20/RX2HighHIGH

RomWBW 3.4.0

As supplied with RC2014 Zed and RC2014 Zed Pro

PinSignalValueLED
1A15Act (50/50)Alt 5050
2A14Act (50/50)Alt 5050
3A13Act (50/50)Alt 5050
4A12Act (50/50)Alt 5050
5A11Act (50/50)Alt 5050
6A10Act (50/50)Alt 5050
7A9Act (50/50)Alt 5050
8A8Act (50/50)Alt 5050
9A7Act (50/50)Alt 5050
10A6Act (50/50)Alt 5050
11A5Act (50/50)Alt 5050
12A4Act (50/50)Alt 5050
13A3Act (50/50)Alt 5050
14A2Act (50/50)Alt 5050
15A1Act (50/50)Alt 5050
16A0Act (50/50)Alt 5050
17GndLowLOW
185VHighHIGH
19M1Act (mostly High)Mostly High
20/ResetHighHIGH
21Clock1Act (mostly High)Mostly High
22/IntHighHIGH
23/MREQAct (50/50)Alt 5050
24/WRAct (mostly High)Mostly High
25/RDAct (50/50)Alt 5050
26/IORQAct (mostly High)Mostly High
27D0Act (50/50)Alt 5050
28D1Act (50/50)Alt 5050
29D2Act (50/50)Alt 5050
30D3Act (50/50)Alt 5050
31D4Act (50/50)Alt 5050
32D5Act (50/50)Alt 5050
33D6Act (50/50)Alt 5050
34D7Act (50/50)Alt 5050
35/TX1HighHIGH
36/RX1HighHIGH
37
38
39
40
Enhanced Bus
1GndLowLOW
25VHighHIGH
3/RFSHAct (mostly High)Mostly High
4/PageAct (mostly High)Mostly High
5Clock2Act (mostly High)Mostly High
6/BUSACKHighHIGH
7/HaltHighHIGH
8/BUSRQHighHIGH
9/WaitHighHIGH
10/NMIHighHIGH
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19/TX2HighHIGH
20/RX2HighHIGH

Disclaimer. Whilst every care has been taken to ensure the readings above are correct, it is entirely possible that errors have crept in. If you spot something which you think is wrong, please use the Contact page to let us know and fix any errors.