the second chip how ever is playing on me, the RX data is high and the data bus is high, TX and RX CLK is high,and a couple more weird things
That doesn't sound good, but don't throw it away yet. The other chip is probably OK, so use it first and when you get it going you can try this one in the same circuit.
I bought a re-marked
AY-3-8910 which had about 150uA pullup current on all the data lines and a peculiar signal coming out of the 'test' pin. I thought it was either faulty or fake, but then I bought a bunch more
genuine chips which did the same thing. Turns out that early AY-3-8910's have pullups on the data bus, but the later 'A' version doesn't. This change appears to be undocumented (I cannot find any reference to it in the datasheets).
The attached photo shows my current stash of AY-3-8910's bought from various eBay sellers. You can clearly see differences between those that have been re-marked and the 'genuine' chips which still have their original markings. The originals have dull markings, clear injection marks, and some scuffing and scratches. The two re-marked chips have suspiciously bright markings, and the injection marks are almost invisible because the surface has been sanded down and 'blacktopped'. Also notice that the two 'new' chips have the General Instrument logo, but visibly
older chips have the Microchip Logo - which is not possible unless the 'new' chips have been re-marked because GI spun off their IC production to Microchip in 1987.
However despite their dodgy history all these chips work perfectly (as do the 6 others that are in use) which proves that they
are actually genuine! The latest batch I purchased all had original markings. This suggests that at least some suppliers may be rethinking their strategy. A beat-up old chip might not look so nice, but inspires more confidence than one which has had the original markings filed off.
Many of these old chips are now 'vintage' and so may be worth more if they still have the original markings. Note the RAD38910 at the bottom right of the photo. This was the Radofin 'in-house' version that was used in the
Mattel Aquarius. Apart from the label it's actually identical to a normal AY-3-8910.