Dragon's Lair Fans - Arcade Lifestyle

General Chat => Technical Area => Topic started by: Belike on July 13, 2015, 01:11:59 PM

Title: Star Wars pcb issue
Post by: Belike on July 13, 2015, 01:11:59 PM
I just tested my spare Star Wars pcb bought from Archer Mclean, looks like it has some issues.
You can start a game, hear the sounds, but the whole screen is oriented to the left and very dissorted.
My first thought was to ask, if somebody can repair it, but the double post + repair costs would be pretty high.
It would be great, if somebody can guide me what to check, maybe I can repair it myself. :)
If I wont succeed, it will be for sale.
Pic shows this:
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wp9EfyHlD3w/VaObaVX5toI/AAAAAAAAJXc/-J2V8HlpeQY/s512-Ic42/WP_20150709_11_20_02_Pro.jpg)
Title: Re: Star Wars pcb issue
Post by: level42 on July 13, 2015, 03:32:15 PM
Step nr. 1: put game in test mode and run tests.
Step nr. 2: report results here.



 ;D
Title: Re: Star Wars pcb issue
Post by: Q*ris on July 13, 2015, 05:20:27 PM
Looks like another lesson has just started today.
I'm writing that down  ;D
Title: Re: Star Wars pcb issue
Post by: Laszo on July 14, 2015, 12:51:45 AM
I just tested my spare Star Wars pcb bought from Archer Mclean, looks like it has some issues.
You can start a game, hear the sounds, but the whole screen is oriented to the left and very dissorted.
My first thought was to ask, if somebody can repair it, but the double post + repair costs would be pretty high.
It would be great, if somebody can guide me what to check, maybe I can repair it myself. :)
If I wont succeed, it will be for sale.
Pic shows this:
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wp9EfyHlD3w/VaObaVX5toI/AAAAAAAAJXc/-J2V8HlpeQY/s512-Ic42/WP_20150709_11_20_02_Pro.jpg)

So first you gonna F.... the board up an then you gonna sell it to us  ;D just joking off course. Lets fix it by forum 👍
Title: Re: Star Wars pcb issue
Post by: Belike on July 14, 2015, 11:27:56 AM
 ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Star Wars pcb issue
Post by: Belike on July 14, 2015, 03:56:39 PM
Step nr. 1: put game in test mode and run tests.
Step nr. 2: report results here.



 ;D
;)
In test mode, there is a continous "beep" sound and some vectors on left side, vid here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ed3WwY-H7lI&feature=youtu.be
Title: Re: Star Wars pcb issue
Post by: level42 on July 14, 2015, 04:42:11 PM
Mmmm, 16 high tone beeps means a lot is OK.....but you can't see a lot...do you have another board set that does work OK with that monitor ? so we can rule out the monitor at least ?
Title: Re: Star Wars pcb issue
Post by: Belike on July 14, 2015, 05:38:40 PM
The cab works fine with another pcb, I made a 2 hour test last weekend. ;)
Title: Re: Star Wars pcb issue
Post by: smarty on July 15, 2015, 02:09:49 PM
I created a 'similar' issue on a tempest board after switching from viewing the game on a scope to putting it back on with a 6100. Monitor. One of the 'centering' VR's on the board was turned to far one way that the monitor couldn't cope and the image folded over and was squashed to one side. I'd have a quick check of those to rule it out.
Title: Re: Star Wars pcb issue
Post by: Belike on July 16, 2015, 05:07:04 PM
Noob question alert! :D
What is VR and where is it located? :oops:
Title: Re: Star Wars pcb issue
Post by: level42 on July 16, 2015, 05:15:22 PM
VR stands for Voltage Regulator and that means.....pots. :)


Title: Re: Star Wars pcb issue
Post by: smarty on July 16, 2015, 06:58:48 PM
Bad terminology on my behalf, should have said potentiometer's. 'Variable Resistors' (VR) only have two legs, which have a changeable overall resistance, pots have three legs and the 'wiper' leg is what makes the resistance different between wiper and an outer leg.

Blue square blocks with cross adjusters in the photo below (my Tempest board). If yours are original they may be black and circular.

(http://www.ukvac.com/forum/uploads/1056/Tempest_Analog.jpg)
Title: Re: Star Wars pcb issue
Post by: Belike on July 17, 2015, 12:46:34 PM
Thanks for the inputs!  :spaceace:
I tried to set the pots marked as "xctr" and "yctr" on the bottom right side (yellow and blue), but not too much changed, seems like the pic is not just on the left side, but it is dissorted also.Tried to set all the other pots then without any success. :(
This is the pcb:
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-p-TiHH5WDE4/Vaja3s9zt3I/AAAAAAAAJX4/WmwWIlnpg8E/s512-Ic42/WP_20150717_12_20_14_Pro__highres.jpg)
Pic shows this:
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-xBN6gEdZrk8/Vaja3gzIoFI/AAAAAAAAJX0/O-YsgvAW9ts/s512-Ic42/WP_20150717_12_17_48_Pro__highres.jpg)
Vid.:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCZxb0A6-Pk&feature=youtu.be

Title: Re: Star Wars pcb issue
Post by: PaulSwan on August 14, 2015, 02:43:57 AM
It doesn't look too legible at all. Since you have a spare, swap the AVG custom on the AVG board and eliminate that. Mine blew and I got similar symptoms. If that's not the cause, you'll need to be able to get a scope on the board to debug further.
Paul.
Title: Re: Star Wars pcb issue
Post by: Equites on August 18, 2015, 12:32:09 AM
Looks like either a bad AVG chip or one of the DACs has failed.
Title: Re: Star Wars pcb issue
Post by: Belike on August 18, 2015, 09:08:48 AM
Thanks for the inputs, I try to swap the avg custom first.
By the way, what is DAC? :oops:
Title: Re: Star Wars pcb issue
Post by: Etienne MacGyver on August 18, 2015, 09:14:36 AM
Digital Analog Converter  ;)
Title: Re: Star Wars pcb issue
Post by: Equites on August 18, 2015, 08:05:35 PM
There will be two for each axis (x,y).  They will be marked AM6012 or DAC312.
Title: Re: Star Wars pcb issue
Post by: Belike on August 19, 2015, 11:08:14 AM
Swapped the AVG custom, nothing changed. :-\
Try the DACS will be next step, thanks for the tip.
Title: Re: Star Wars pcb issue
Post by: Equites on August 19, 2015, 02:07:14 PM
Swapped the AVG custom, nothing changed. :-\
Try the DACS will be next step, thanks for the tip.

Also check you op-amps (TL082), touch to see if any are burning very hot.  There are a number of these and they fail often.  They are in the final stage by the DACs.
Title: Re: Star Wars pcb issue
Post by: level42 on August 19, 2015, 03:21:37 PM
....and you can still buy these here:

http://www.reichelt.nl/TL-082-DIP/3/index.html?&ACTION=3&LA=446&ARTICLE=21560&artnr=TL+082+DIP&SEARCH=tl082

and also the TL081 (probably also on there ? Not sure, Asteroids does ;))

http://www.reichelt.nl/TL-081-DIP/3/index.html?&ACTION=3&LA=446&ARTICLE=21559&artnr=TL+081+DIP&SEARCH=tl081

Ha, just was in the process of ordering some for my Asteroids PCB. They indeed get red-hot to the touch on my first board...but I fried them accidentally...I hope my DACs are still alive because these are a bit more expensive.

Title: Re: Star Wars pcb issue
Post by: Belike on August 21, 2015, 05:20:12 PM
I swapped the AVG pcb from a working set, it works fine with this, so the problem has to be in this pcb indeed.
Unfortunately the chips you mentioned to check are not socketed and I dont have/cant use a scope. :-\
Replace all of them would be a pita, so I rather leave to the experts.
Title: Re: Star Wars pcb issue
Post by: vernimark on August 22, 2015, 10:43:34 AM
Save the board there. Once i have time to setup a star wars test desk i ll test one of my  boardsets and i can give you a working one and you give me the faulty one. Sorry for my english. It s saturday morning.
Title: Re: Star Wars pcb issue
Post by: PaulSwan on August 22, 2015, 06:41:04 PM
I've just finished building a test rig to fix the boards on my Star Wars - what a pain it was :-|

 - Vector power brick + ARII (I was lucky in that I already had original AC side wiring to use).
 - Board side DC & control wiring to twin edge connectors.
 - JAMMA control box for the input switches (service, test, coin etc).
 - Stereo speakers for the sound.
 - Scope lead adaptors for the X-Y out.
 - Z RGB out mixer & inverter for the scope.
 - Dual track volume control knob

I'm still missing the analog input controls on the control box but it's good enough for now.

(http://www.paulswan.me/temp/StarWarsTestRig.jpg)

Paul.
Title: Re: Star Wars pcb issue
Post by: vernimark on August 22, 2015, 08:47:26 PM
I have sw wiring, ar2,  power btick and controls so i can do something similar :-)
Title: Re: Star Wars pcb issue
Post by: Etienne MacGyver on August 23, 2015, 09:39:59 AM
Nice!

Do i spot a gravis ultrapad in there  ?  ::)
Title: Re: Star Wars pcb issue
Post by: PaulSwan on August 25, 2015, 05:55:03 AM
Hehe, yeah, that's the controls for my normal compact JAMMA rig underneath all that Star Wars stuff.
Paul.