NoVRAM bug reported (and corrected!!)
Message #1 Posted by Diego Diaz on 21 Aug 2004, 10:34 a.m.
Hi NoVRAM owners (current and future ones... ;-)
On Thursday, Miki Mihajlovic reported a nasty bug in the NoVRAM module power management.
After receiving his .HEX file and checking it in the Test-NoVRAM (Breadboard version of a standard one) it was determined that it was a Software issue.
Symptom: Your batteries go flat in a couple of weeks if you keep the NoVRAM module plugged in while in deep SLEEP (OFF) mode.
Culprit: FM24C256 RAM power line was not properly handled, so it remained alive regardless the 41 power was ON or OFF, draining over 0.5mA thru its data bus bias resistor.
Solution: (Obviously) Turn said RAM off at the end of "every" 41 power cycle.
A new NoVRAM-H.ASM file correcting this bug is available for download, I must keep the file name but you can tell one from another by looking at the time-stamp:
Old file is Jun 29 while the newer one is Aug 21, simply replace the old one with this:
http://www.iespana.es/clonix-41/NoVRAM-H.asm (Right click -> Save Target As... )
The NoVRAM-HEPAX.ZIP has also been updated.
My apologies for the inconveniences and thanks Miki for reporting this bug.
Diego.
123456
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