So I got a bunch of boards from an eBay auction and had some questions. I've got moderate experience at this point and an EE background, plenty of test equipment and MTH parts on hand.
So, problem one is that out of 3 protosound 32 steam upgrade boards, 2 in that pile seam dead in my testing thus far. I've had the sad experience of seeing a PS3 board die from a 5V short to frame so I kind of know the symptoms and expectations and also, while I do surface mount rework, this is just another level on these boards. Point being, the systems are- perfectly normal power draw, nothing is getting hot, but no sounds, I don't have a test bench light harness with LEDs yet, and my DCS TIU and remote cannot find the board. I also tried seeing if the TIU using DCS loader can flash the standard files but it errors in not being the board. I know the test bench setup (wiring, power supply, TIU) works as one of the 3 boards works, runs the motor, senses speed, chufs and full sounds, runs the smoke unit and fully responds to DCS. Again, one board seems 100%, the other 2 seem dead, but hoping there is chance.....
So, is there some sort of boot loader or other low level code or program or jumper on these boards, should I send them to a certified tech and do they have tools to revive them if possible, and what does something like that cost? I completely understand this may be a lost cause. I have no idea what happened before I got them, bu they don't have obvious failures, burn damage, heating up, excessive power draw typical in my short experience of what could happen on a PS3 based board.
Second problem, I have at least 2 PS2 5V boards, that even with a good 9V battery or a BCR, the boards work and function normally, and can be found by DCS, however, if they are power cycled, the previous stored entry in the remote no longer works, the engine can be found and assigns a new number in DCS? Is this another dead failed board, is this something like a diode or FET in the battery circuit? Just reaching for ideas. They work but they don't work if you get what I mean. It seems to me to be a memory issue, but could be a known problem and just means they are in the dead pile.
I was lucky and the cost of the lot has already been recovered in that at least 3, maybe 4 boards work, one of them being a ps32 board and one ps2 3V, one 5V PS2 already installed into an engine.
Last question: Is it possible to change the name and road number when repurposing a used board? I've tried searching for this answer, and it appears that maybe factory service techs might be able to, as in my mind, this is just data in an EEPROM or Flash, but the tool and how to do this are elusive. By this, I mean that when DCS finds the engine, I populates an engine name. I know that I can program in my remote a name, but this just seems to be a substitute mask for displayed name- not actually making the board store the new name. Again, this seems like something I would hope I could just edit, but so far I'm failing to find the how or magic tool that does this.
