Currently I am doing some Tasc testing with

x3 Tasc R30 operator units, one shows as Smartboard I on the System Information and two as Smartboard II, program versions v2.2 and v2.5.
x3 SB30 boards
x1 SB20 board
x2 of the boards work with Piece Type 1 (see Vitali's thread TASC SmartBoard Ersatzfiguren)
x2 of the boards work with Piece Type 2

I have been trying to work out which components are compatible. Of course the SB20 does not work with v2.2. The sets of Type 1 pieces are interchangeable, as are the Type 2 sets. I cannot get a Type 2 board or the pieces to work with a Type 1, or vice versa.

To my surprise my v2.2 eproms (bought with a Tasc in 1994) do not work with the two SB30s which use Piece Type 1. The R30 comes up the correct version information but does not react correctly with the SB30 when v2.2 is installed. There is no problem using v2.2 with the SB30 which uses Piece Type 2.

Does anybody know if v2.2 only works with the earlier Smartboards/R30s?

It is surprising that Tasc built in so many compatibility problems so if I have got this wrong can this knowledgeable forum please let me know.

All the best from the UK
Mike Watters

Hi,
due Tasc the only way to use a SB20 is to use Software version 2.5! The 2.2 version should only work with the SB30 board.

This seems logical because the SB30 board was the first board from Tasc ... the SB20 came nearly one year later ... and at that point the 2.5 version was already released.

Kind Regards,
Sascha

__________________
This post may not be reproduced without prior written permission.
Copyright (c) 1967-2025. All rights reserved to make me feel special. :-)

Dear Mike,Correct, these are two different technical solutions - you connot mix them!
I will test this, I am not sure about it - this seems to be logical; piece type 1 is the recent technology and v2.2 is the older software version - apparently v2.5 and piece type 1 appeared on the market at the same time. Possibly there are different v2.2 versions?

Regards, Michael

__________________
Es ist besser, die Steine seines Gegners zu opfern. (S.G. Tartakower)

Hello Michael

I will be very interested to hear what you discover.

One SB30 which I bought six years ago with a PC Interface had never worked for me. Christian (Endspielgott) tried to help me and provided another PC Interface but it still did not work. This board suddenly started to work with a Type I R30 which I got recently. It was a pleasant surprise. But then v2.2 refused to work properly with this R30 and either Type I SB30.

Perhaps not many people know that the Tasc machines have these compatibility issues and think they have defective R30 units, Smartboards or chess pieces if they do not work?

All the best
Mike

Dear Mike,

in my case, the SB30 board with type 1 chess pieces works with v2.2, the SB20 with type 2 pieces doesn't - with the v2.5 both boards work fine.

Regards, Michael

__________________
Es ist besser, die Steine seines Gegners zu opfern. (S.G. Tartakower)

I have R30 v. 2.5 and and it does not recognize my board SB20. Following the diagram in the wiki, I've done 3 cables, and unfortunately R30 doesn't recognize the SB20. Have any suggestions?
Regards
Oswaldo

Ich glaube nicht, dass es verschiedene Versionen von V2.2 gibt.

Begründung:

Bisher sind schon eine ganze Reihe von R30 durch meinen Stall gelaufen, einschließlich eines R30 Prototypen mit V2.2. Das Programm von V2.2 war immer identisch, auch beim Prototypen. Ich habe nie eine andere Version vorgefunden. Das ist streng genommen kein Beweis, dass es keine andere Programmversion gibt, aber doch ein starkes Indiz.

Andererseits mag die Hardware des Prototypen nicht mit Gideon oder mit V2.23 laufen, obwohl diese normalerweise auf der Plattform von V2.2 laufen. Das dürfte aber ein reines Hardware-Thema sein.

Walter