SPO-256 AL2 voice synth chip needs tons of resetting to work

[newastrocity]

Hi all,

I have followed the project here to make a voice synthesizer: http://www.instructables.com/id/Arduino-Vintage-Speech-Chip/
(Including having to make my own colpitts oscillator because I didn't have the correct oscillator, just the crystal...)

It is working (except I need to add an amp), but like the instructables says he encountered, I need to reset my project upwards of 20 times rapidly to get the "Hello world" sound to come out, or else it is just static and weird noises.  Is there a component I can add to this project so that it will work everytime on boot?

Thanks and any help greatly appreciated, I assume some sort of capacit-whatsit somewhere could solve this.  I am feeding the chip a solid 5VDC (more than one PSU, and measured at the chip).

[Ian.M]

I'd start by putting the Arduino in control of the SP0256's /Reset (2) and /Sby_Reset (25) pins.  Tie the two SP0256 resets together, connect them to an unused Arduino I/O, and in your sketch's  setup() function, set that I/O as an output and set it low for 100ms then set it back high.   The 100ms is much much longer than the Archer SP0256 datasheet's minimum reset pulse length of 100us because after powerup, you need to be certain the power supply is stable before releasing the SP0256 from reset.   If you want to reset it during operation a 1ms low going reset pulse should be sufficient.

Now you've got me inspired to dig out a SP0256 from the box of bits I got when Tandy UK went under and see what I can get out of it.

[newastrocity]

That answer makes a ton of sense, I will try that when I get home and report back my results.  Thanks!

[newastrocity]

Oh, and if you do get your chip working, post it up, I have a weird obsession with these dedicated 70's/80's chips that can be mimicked with microcontrollers, I have a weird passion for this oldschool stuff.