Arcade Otaku Wiki - User contributions [en-gb]

File:SigmaFantasia 14.jpg

2023-05-08T21:46:00Z

Davewellington: Sigma Game Fantasia Candy Cabinet. Photos via Yaton.

== Summary ==
[[Sigma Game Fantasia]] Candy Cabinet. Photos via Yaton.

File:SigmaFantasia 13.jpg

2023-05-08T21:45:53Z

Davewellington: Sigma Game Fantasia Candy Cabinet. Photos via Yaton.

== Summary ==
[[Sigma Game Fantasia]] Candy Cabinet. Photos via Yaton.

File:SigmaFantasia 12.jpg

2023-05-08T21:45:46Z

Davewellington: Sigma Game Fantasia Candy Cabinet. Photos via Yaton.

== Summary ==
[[Sigma Game Fantasia]] Candy Cabinet. Photos via Yaton.

File:SigmaFantasia 11.jpg

2023-05-08T21:45:38Z

Davewellington: Sigma Game Fantasia Candy Cabinet. Photos via Yaton.

== Summary ==
[[Sigma Game Fantasia]] Candy Cabinet. Photos via Yaton.

File:SigmaFantasia 10.jpg

2023-05-08T21:45:28Z

Davewellington: Sigma Game Fantasia Candy Cabinet. Photos via Yaton.

== Summary ==
[[Sigma Game Fantasia]] Candy Cabinet. Photos via Yaton.

File:SigmaFantasia 09.jpg

2023-05-08T21:45:21Z

Davewellington: Sigma Game Fantasia Candy Cabinet. Photos via Yaton.

== Summary ==
[[Sigma Game Fantasia]] Candy Cabinet. Photos via Yaton.

File:SigmaFantasia 08.jpg

2023-05-08T21:45:14Z

Davewellington: Sigma Game Fantasia Candy Cabinet. Photos via Yaton.

== Summary ==
[[Sigma Game Fantasia]] Candy Cabinet. Photos via Yaton.

File:SigmaFantasia 07.jpg

2023-05-08T21:45:08Z

Davewellington: Sigma Game Fantasia Candy Cabinet. Photos via Yaton.

== Summary ==
[[Sigma Game Fantasia]] Candy Cabinet. Photos via Yaton.

File:SigmaFantasia 06.jpg

2023-05-08T21:45:04Z

Davewellington: Sigma Game Fantasia Candy Cabinet. Photos via Yaton.

== Summary ==
[[Sigma Game Fantasia]] Candy Cabinet. Photos via Yaton.

File:SigmaFantasia 05.jpg

2023-05-08T21:44:53Z

Davewellington: Sigma Game Fantasia Candy Cabinet. Photos via Yaton.

== Summary ==
[[Sigma Game Fantasia]] Candy Cabinet. Photos via Yaton.

File:SigmaFantasia 04.jpg

2023-05-08T21:44:38Z

Davewellington: Sigma Game Fantasia Candy Cabinet. Photos via Yaton.

== Summary ==
[[Sigma Game Fantasia]] Candy Cabinet. Photos via Yaton.

File:SigmaFantasia 03.jpg

2023-05-08T21:44:28Z

Davewellington: Sigma Game Fantasia Candy Cabinet. Photos via Yaton.

== Summary ==
[[Sigma Game Fantasia]] Candy Cabinet. Photos via Yaton.

File:SigmaFantasia 02.jpg

2023-05-08T21:44:17Z

Davewellington: Sigma Game Fantasia Candy Cabinet. Photos via Yaton.

== Summary ==
[[Sigma Game Fantasia]] Candy Cabinet. Photos via Yaton.

File:SigmaFantasia 01.jpg

2023-05-08T21:44:06Z

Davewellington: Sigma Game Fantasia Candy Cabinet. Photos via Yaton.

== Summary ==
[[Sigma Game Fantasia]] Candy Cabinet. Photos via Yaton.

File:Sigma-Game-Fantasia.jpg

2023-05-08T21:40:30Z

Davewellington: Sigma Game Fantasia

== Summary ==
Sigma Game Fantasia

List of Candy Cabinets

2023-05-08T21:38:32Z

Davewellington: adding game fantasia

{| border="0" width="100%"
! align="center" colspan="4" |
|- valign="top"
|
{| cellpadding="5" style="border: 0px; float: center; margin: 0 0 1em 1em; width: 100%; height: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%; background:white"
| align="center" colspan=2 bgcolor="#E8E8E8" style="font-size:110%; border: 0px;" | [[Image:capcom_thumb.png|link=Capcom]]
|-
| {{multicol}}
[[Capcom CAV System 60|CAV System 60]] 
[[Capcom CAVII OOB 60|CAVII OOB 60]] 
[[Capcom Captain IV|Captain IV]] 
[[Capcom Cute|Cute]] 
[[Capcom Impress|Impress]] 
[[Capcom New Concept II|New Concept II]] 
{{multicol-break}}
[[Capcom OOB 50|OOB 50]] 
[[Capcom Playzass|Playzass]] 
[[Capcom Q GrandAm 25|Q GrandAm 25]] 
[[Capcom Status 18|Status 18]] 
[[Capcom Status 25|Status 25]] 
{{multicol-end}}
|}
{| cellpadding="5" style="border: 0px; float: center; margin: 0 0 1em 1em; width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%; background:white"
| align="center" colspan=2 bgcolor="#E8E8E8" style="font-size:110%; border: 0px;" | [[Image:irem_thumb.png|link=irem]]
|-
| {{multicol}}
[[Irem Madonna|Madonna]] 
{{multicol-break}}
[[Irem Madonna 33|Madonna 33]] 
{{multicol-end}}
|}
{| cellpadding="5" style="border: 0px; float: center; margin: 0 0 1em 1em; width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%; background:white"
| align="center" colspan=2 bgcolor="#E8E8E8" style="font-size:110%; border: 0px;" | [[Image:jaleco_thumb.png|link=Jaleco]]
|-
| {{multicol}}
[[Jaleco Lo-Pro|Lo-Pro]] 
[[Jaleco Pony 29|Pony 29]] 
[[Jaleco Pony 40|Pony 40]] 
[[Jaleco Pony Mark II|Pony Mark II]] 
[[Jaleco Pony Mark II 28|Pony Mark II 28]] 
[[Jaleco Pony Mark III 25|Pony Mark III 25]] 
{{multicol-break}}
[[Jaleco Pony Mark IV|Pony Mark IV]] 
[[Jaleco Pony Video Game|Pony Video Game]] 
[[Jaleco Table Pony|Table Pony]] 
[[Jaleco Table Pony 25|Table Pony 25]] 
[[Jaleco Table Pony 25 VH|Table Pony 25 VH]] 
{{multicol-end}}
|}
{| cellpadding="5" style="border: 0px; float: center; margin: 0 0 1em 1em; width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%; background:white"
| align="center" colspan=2 bgcolor="#E8E8E8" style="font-size:110%; border: 0px;" | [[Image:konami_thumb.png|link=Konami]]
|-
| {{multicol}}
[[Konami Domy H.V|Domy H.V]] 
[[Konami Domy Jr|Domy Jr]] 
[[Konami Domy Theater|Domy Theater]] 
[[Konami Domy Theater 50|Domy Theater 50]] 
[[Konami Game Zone One|Game Zone One]] 
{{multicol-break}}
[[Konami Plasma Display|Plasma Display]] 
[[Konami Sauroid|Sauroid]] 
[[Konami Windy|Windy]] 
[[Konami Windy II|Windy II]] 
{{multicol-end}}
|}
|style="width: 25%"|
{| cellpadding="5" style="border: 0px; float: center; margin: 0 0 1em 1em; width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%; background:white"
| align="center" colspan=2 bgcolor="#E8E8E8" style="font-size:110%; border: 0px;" | [[Image:namco_thumb.png|link=Namco]]
|-
| {{multicol}}
[[Namco Arena Sight|Arena Sight]] 
[[Namco Consolette 18|Consolette 18]] 
[[Namco Consolette 26|Consolette 26]] 
[[Namco Cyber Lead|Cyber Lead]] 
[[Namco Cyber Lead II|Cyber Lead II]] 
{{multicol-break}}
[[Namco Dynalive|Dynalive]] 
[[Namco Excelcabinet|Excelcabinet]] 
[[Namco Exceleena|Exceleena]] 
[[Namco Exceleena II|Exceleena II]] 
[[Namco Noir|Noir]] 
{{multicol-end}}
|}
{| cellpadding="5" style="border: 0px; float: center; margin: 0 0 1em 1em; width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%; background:white"
| align="center" colspan=2 bgcolor="#E8E8E8" style="font-size:110%; border: 0px;" | [[Image:snk_thumb.png|link=SNK]]
|-
| {{multicol}}
[[SNK Candy 18|Candy 18]] 
[[SNK Candy 25|Candy 25]] 
[[SNK Candy 26|Candy 26]] 
[[SNK MV19SC-0|MV19SC-0]] 
[[SNK MV25TA-0|MV25TA-0]] 
[[SNK MV25U4-0|MV25U4-0]] 
[[SNK MV25U6-0|MV25U6-0]] 
[[SNK MV25UP-0|MV25UP-0]] 
[[SNK MVS-U1/25|MVS-U1/25]] 
[[SNK MVS-U1/33|MVS-U1/33]] 
[[SNK MVS-U2|MVS-U2]] 
[[SNK MVS-U2/25|MVS-U2/25]] 
[[SNK MVS-U2/29|MVS-U2/29]] 
[[SNK MVS-U2/33|MVS-U2/33]] 
[[SNK MVS-U4|MVS-U4]] 
[[SNK MVS-U4/29|MVS-U4/29]] 
[[SNK MVS-U4/33|MVS-U4/33]] 
[[SNK Neo 19|Neo 19]] 
{{multicol-break}}
[[SNK Neo 25|Neo 25]] 
[[SNK Neo 29|Neo 29]] 
[[SNK Neo 50|Neo 50]] 
[[SNK Neo 50 II|Neo 50 II]] 
[[SNK Neo 50 III|Neo 50 III]] 
[[SNK Neo Candy 25|Neo Candy 25]] 
[[SNK Neo Candy 29|Neo Candy 29]] 
[[SNK Neo Print|Neo Print]] 
[[SNK SC14-2|SC14-2]] 
[[SNK SC19-4|SC19-4]] 
[[SNK SC25-4|SC25-4]] 
[[SNK SCB-U4|SBC-U4]] 
[[SNK Super Neo 29|Super Neo 29]] 
[[SNK Super Neo 29 Candy|Super Neo 29 Candy]] 
[[SNK Super Neo 29 Type II|Super Neo 29 Type II]] 
[[SNK Video Game|Video Game]] 
{{multicol-end}}
|}
{| cellpadding="5" style="border: 0px; float: center; margin: 0 0 1em 1em; width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%; background:white"
| align="center" colspan=2 bgcolor="#E8E8E8" style="font-size:110%; border: 0px;" | [[Image:sammy_thumb.png|link=Sammy]]
|-
| {{multicol}}
[[Sammy Atomiswave SD|Atomiswave SD]] 
[[Sammy Lunaria|Lunaria]] 
{{multicol-break}}
[[Sammy Seychelles|Seychelles]] 
[[Sammy Tosh|Tosh]] 
{{multicol-end}}
|}
{| cellpadding="5" style="border: 0px; float: center; margin: 0 0 1em 1em; width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%; background:white"
| align="center" colspan=2 bgcolor="#E8E8E8" style="font-size:110%; border: 0px;" | [[Image:sigma_thumb.png|link=Sigma]]
|-
| {{multicol}}
[[Sigma Game Fantasia|Game Fantasia]] 
{{multicol-break}}
{{multicol-end}}
|}
|style="width: 25%"|
{| cellpadding="5" style="border: 0px; float: center; margin: 0 0 1em 1em; width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%; background:white"
| align="center" colspan=2 bgcolor="#E8E8E8" style="font-size:110%; border: 0px;" | [[Image:sega_thumb.png|link=Sega]]
|-
| {{multicol}}
[[Sega Aero City|Aero City]] 
[[Sega Aero Table|Aero Table]] 
[[Sega Aero Table T-26|Aero Table T-26]] 
[[Sega Astro City|Astro City]] 
[[Sega Astro City 2|Astro City 2]] 
[[Sega Blast City|Blast City]] 
[[Sega City|City]] 
[[Sega Dino King|Dinosaur King]] 
[[Sega Lindbergh Universal|Lindbergh Universal]] 
[[Sega Love and Berry|Love & Berry]] 
[[Sega Megalo 410|Megalo 410]] 
[[Sega Megalo 50|Megalo 50]] 
[[Sega Mushi King|Mushi King]] 
{{multicol-break}}
[[Sega Naomi 50 Universal|Naomi 50 Universal]] 
[[Sega Naomi Deluxe Universal|Naomi Deluxe Universal]] 
[[Sega Naomi Universal|Naomi Universal]] 
[[Sega Net City|Net City]] 
[[Sega New Astro City|New Astro City]] 
[[Sega New Net City|New Net City]] 
[[Sega New Versus City|New Versus City]] 
[[Sega Super Megalo|Super Megalo]] 
[[Sega Super Megalo 2|Super Megalo 2]] 
[[Sega Swing|Swing]] 
[[Sega T-13 Table|T-13 Table]] 
[[Sega Versus City|Versus City]] 
[[Sega ALL.Net P-ras MULTI version 3|P-ras v3]] 
{{multicol-end}}
|}
{| cellpadding="5" style="border: 0px; float: center; margin: 0 0 1em 1em; width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%; background:white"
| align="center" colspan=2 bgcolor="#E8E8E8" style="font-size:110%; border: 0px;" | [[Image:sunsoft_thumb.png|link=Sunsoft]]
|-
| {{multicol}}
[[Sunsoft Laana|Laana]] 
{{multicol-break}}
{{multicol-end}}
|}
{| cellpadding="5" style="border: 0px; float: center; margin: 0 0 1em 1em; width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%; background:white"
| align="center" colspan=2 bgcolor="#E8E8E8" style="font-size:110%; border: 0px;" | [[Image:taito_thumb.png|link=Taito]]
|-
| {{multicol}}
[[Taito Canary|Canary]] 
[[Taito Egret 29|Egret 29]] 
[[Taito Egret 3|Egret 3]] 
[[Taito Egret II|Egret II]] 
[[Taito Idya|Idya]] 
[[Taito Idya 2|Idya 2]] 
[[Taito MB|MB]] 
[[Taito ML-5|ML-5]] 
[[Taito MM-5|MM-5]] 
[[Taito MT-2|MT-2]] 
{{multicol-break}}
[[Taito MT-5|MT-5]] 
[[Taito MT-8|MT-8]] 
[[Taito Nesys TP|Nesys TP]] 
[[Taito Teatro 37|Teatro 37]] 
[[Taito Teatro 50|Teatro 50]] 
[[Taito Teatro 50 EX|Teatro 50 EX]] 
[[Taito Vewlix|Vewlix]] 
[[Taito Vewlix C|Vewlix C]] 
[[Taito Vewlix Diamond|Vewlix Diamond]] 
[[Taito Vewlix VS|Vewlix VS]] 
[[Taito Video Game|Video Game]] 
[[Taito VS|Taito VS]] 
{{multicol-end}}
|}
|style="width: 25%"|
{| cellpadding="5" style="border: 0px; float: center; margin: 0 0 1em 1em; width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%; background:white"
| align="center" colspan=2 bgcolor="#E8E8E8" style="font-size:110%; border: 0px;" | [[Image:tecmo_thumb.png|link=Tecmo]]
|-
| {{multicol}}
[[Tecmo Kyotaro 29|Kyotaro 29]] 
[[Tecmo Kyotaro Deluxe|Kyotaro Deluxe]] 
[[Tecmo Kyotaro Excellent|Kyotaro Excellent]] 
{{multicol-break}}
[[Tecmo Urban|Urban]] 
[[Tecmo Sound Lava|Sound Lava]] 
{{multicol-end}}
|}
{| cellpadding="5" style="border: 0px; float: center; margin: 0 0 1em 1em; width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%; background:white"
| align="center" colspan=3 bgcolor="#E8E8E8" style="font-size:110%; border: 0px;" | '''Clones'''
|-
| {{multicol}}
[[AMBO]] 
[[All Star]] 
[[Arbitrariness]] 
[[Big Century 20]] 
[[Big Century 29]] 
[[Big Century 38]] 
[[Bingo]] 
[[CWC-201]] 
[[CWC-202]] 
[[CWC-203]] 
[[Champ]] 
[[Cyclone]] 
[[Delta 32]] 
[[Disport]] 
[[Exciting]] 
[[G-Balance]] 
[[Grand Master 50]] 
[[Hi-Tech]] 
[[Joy-Ro 21]] 
[[Joy-Ro 29]] 
[[MAS-18]] 
[[MAS-25]] 
[[MAS-29]] 
[[MSP Joymax]] 
[[Magalo]] 
[[Sega Megalo City 29|Megalo City 29]] 
{{multicol-break}}
[[Pearl Baby]] 
[[Rainbow]] 
[[Rock II Playtime]] 
[[Shijia]] 
[[Storm City]] 
[[Super King]] 
[[Super King 2]] 
[[Super LS 17-21]] 
[[Super LS 21-25]] 
[[Super LS 25-29]] 
[[Super Megalo 3]] 
[[Super Red Magic]] 
[[Super Star]] 
[[Super Star 2]] 
[[Super Wooden Case]] 
[[Universal City]] 
[[WeChe Mini Baby]] 
[[WeChe OK Baby]] 
[[WeChe OK Jumbo]] 
[[WeChe Q Baby]] 
[[With Me]] 
[[Xiongba KT003]] 
[[Xiongba KT008]] 
{{multicol-end}}
|}

[[Category:Cabinets]]

File:Sigma thumb.png

2023-05-08T21:36:57Z

Davewellington:

Spinal Breakers Repair Logs

2022-01-26T10:16:28Z

Davewellington:

'''Repairer:''' Apocalypse 
'''Source:''' [https://web.archive.org/web/20191230200740/http://arcadefixer.blogspot.com/2017/09/ Spinal Breakers - Video System 1990 (repair log)] 

Game worked fine but graphics were blocky. 
[[File:ApocSB_01.JPG]]

Board was in good condition so I started to probe chips. I identified the function of each RAM but didn't find any obvious fault. 
I inspected the board for a second time very thoroughly and found a broken trace. The cut was so small it only needed a bit of solder to be fixed. 
[[File:ApocSB 02.JPG]]

Game fixed.
[[Category:Repair Logs]]

File:ApocSC 02.JPG

2022-01-26T10:15:31Z

Davewellington: Davewellington moved page File:ApocSC 02.JPG to File:ApocSB 02.JPG

#REDIRECT [[File:ApocSB 02.JPG]]

File:ApocSB 02.JPG

2022-01-26T10:15:31Z

Davewellington: Davewellington moved page File:ApocSC 02.JPG to File:ApocSB 02.JPG

File:ApocSB 01.JPG

2022-01-26T10:13:26Z

Davewellington:

Sky Soldiers Repair Logs

2022-01-06T23:54:56Z

Davewellington: Created page with "'''Repairer:''' Apocalypse '''Source:''' [https://web.archive.org/web/20191230201018/http://arcadefixer.blogspot.com/2018/01/ Sky Soldiers - SNK 1988 (repair log)] Af..."

'''Repairer:''' Apocalypse 
'''Source:''' [https://web.archive.org/web/20191230201018/http://arcadefixer.blogspot.com/2018/01/ Sky Soldiers - SNK 1988 (repair log)] 

After a first visual inspection I noticed someone previously worked on the board: 2 capacitors have been replaced and 2 resistors have been reflowed. Was it part of a previous repair or an attempt to repair the current problem? I will never know. 
Anyway, I also found a cut trace I patched. 
[[File:ApocSS_01.JPG]]

I powered the game, it was stuck on the initial screen (the one before the game starts its RAM/ROM tests): 
[[File:ApocSS_02.JPG]]

I probed the main CPU, reset signal was toggling between high and low: again game was stuck in a reset loop, watchog was barking, no valid code was executed. With the help of my logic probe I found 4 data lines were behaving weirdly. I identified few chips on the data bus: two 8 bit RAMs (LSB/MSB), 4 ROMs, few TTLs (mainly LS245 Hitachi brand, i.e. rock solid) and two weird SIL custom chips used for inputs (29 pins). ROMs turned out to be good. I pulled the RAM connected to the 4 suspicious data lines but it was OK too. The remaining TTLs on the data bus were all Hitachi brand so I was pretty confident they were good too. I was left with the two big SIL29 custom chips marked "ALPHA INPUT 87". I pulled them, few pins were broken on each. As often I tried to run the game without them looking for any change: the game booted! Obviously I couldn't play it because of the missing controls. Quite weird the game doesn't boot with the chips in place with missing pins but plays fine with them removed. I repaired the broken pins with resistor legs and game was fully functional: 
[[File:ApocSS_03.JPG]]

Game fixed. 

[[Category:Repair Logs]]

File:ApocSS 01.JPG

2022-01-06T23:54:09Z

Davewellington:

File:ApocSS 02.JPG

2022-01-06T23:54:00Z

Davewellington:

File:ApocSS 03.JPG

2022-01-06T23:53:42Z

Davewellington:

Chelnov Repair Logs

2022-01-06T23:50:23Z

Davewellington: Created page with "'''Repairer:''' Apocalypse '''Source:''' [https://web.archive.org/web/20191230200638/http://arcadefixer.blogspot.com/2017/12/ Chelnov/Atomic Runner - Data East 1988 (repai..."

'''Repairer:''' Apocalypse 
'''Source:''' [https://web.archive.org/web/20191230200638/http://arcadefixer.blogspot.com/2017/12/ Chelnov/Atomic Runner - Data East 1988 (repair log)] 

Some repairers have what they call a "too hard to repair" pile. I don't understand this concept, to me boards are either repairable or not. 
Not repairable means a custom chip is faulty (so far I've always found a solution to circumvent faulty security chips). 
Instead I have a "too long to repair" pile. In this pile you find boards I know I can repair but requiring a lot of time. 
This Chelnov board was one of them. 
[[File:ApocCAR_01.JPG]] 
[[File:ApocCAR_02.JPG]] 

First I swapped all the ROMs, PROMs and security chip on a Karnov board to confirm they were ok. Test was sucessful (meaning all ROMs, PROMs and security chip were good). 

Then I started to repair the bottom board as it contains the only custom chip of the boardset, possibly being a repair killer. 
The game was victim of the Fujitsu plague: I removed and replaced all Fujitsu TTL chips of the bottom board (only 5 of them) and then tested the board with the Karnov top board: it was now fully working. 

This is where I left the repair for one year and a half. At this point I knew I could fix the board as all the ROMs, PROMs and security chip were tested OK, so as the only custom chip on the bottom board. I was left with a top board heavily populated with Fujitsu TTL chips and by probing few of them I could tell the damage was extensive... 

When I got back to it I moved on the top board with the same treatment: I pulled all the Fujitsu TTL chips (probably 80+). 
This took me several hours... (remember "too long to repair"). 
Out of curiosity I tested them on my programmer and 52 turned out to be bad... 

Ok, after that game was still dead, showing only a garbage screen. 
I found reset signal of the main CPU was too low to be considered as being a high level (below 3V): 68k was faulty and probably partially grounding/dragging down the signal. 
I installed a new 68k, reset signal was now healthy but behaviour of the game didn't changed. 

So I started to probe the data signal of the main CPU and found there was activity only for a fraction of second after power up. 
To me this was a problem with code execution. All the TTL on buses were new now so I checked traces between the program ROMs and RAMs but they were all OK. 
Last probable culprits in line were the work RAMs, unfortunately activity didn't last long enough to see anything on my old analog scope. 
So I pulled them and both revealed bad on my programmer. Once replaced the game booted! 
[[File:ApocCAR_03.jpeg]] 
[[File:ApocCAR_04.JPG]] 

With sound, controls, texts and background but sprites were totally absent. 
Probing TTL chips I found the outputs of the only 7425 (Texas Instruments) on the board were floating: sure enough it was bad. 
I replaced it and finally obtained a fully working game. 

[[File:ApocCAR_05.JPG]] 

Game fixed. 
[[File:ApocCAR_06.JPG]] 

- 1 * CPU 68000 
- 2 * work RAMs (6264 type) 
- 1 * LS08 (Fujitsu) 
- 2 * LS10 (Fujitsu) 
- 1 * LS30 (Fujitsu) 
- 3 * LS32 (Fujitsu) 
- 6 * LS74 (Fujitsu) 
- 1 * LS125 (Fujitsu) 
- 1 * LS138 (Fujitsu) 
- 9 * LS153 (Fujitsu) 
- 7 * LS157 (Fujitsu) 
- 1 * LS174 (Fujitsu) 
- 3 * LS194 (Fujitsu) 
- 11 * LS245 (Fujitsu) 
- 4 * LS283 (Fujitsu) 
- 2 * LS374 (Fujitsu) 
- 1 * 7425 (Texas Instruments) 
[[Category:Repair Logs]]

File:ApocCAR 01.JPG

2022-01-06T23:48:41Z

Davewellington:

File:ApocCAR 02.JPG

2022-01-06T23:48:32Z

Davewellington:

File:ApocCAR 03.jpeg

2022-01-06T23:48:21Z

Davewellington:

File:ApocCAR 04.JPG

2022-01-06T23:47:58Z

Davewellington:

File:ApocCAR 05.JPG

2022-01-06T23:47:48Z

Davewellington:

File:ApocCAR 06.JPG

2022-01-06T23:47:39Z

Davewellington:

Twin Cobra Repair Logs

2022-01-06T23:35:24Z

Davewellington:

'''Repairer:''' Asayuki

'''Symptom:''' Random tearing and shifting of the background and text layer; foreground layer and sprites are fine.

Strikingly similar to the original, as usual with bootlegs the layout has been modified to accomodate the extra circuitry replacing custom chips. Specifically the T.T-1 have been replaced with glue logic on board and the T.TC-4 (TMS320 DSP used for protection) has been replaced with an off-the-shelf part and its internal ROM contents have been brought outside into some EPROMs. The replacement of T.T-2 chips has required an additional board due to space constraints.

[[File:Twin_cobra_bootleg.jpg|800px|frameless|center|The board in its entirety; note the add-on card replacing the T.T-2 chips.]]

The game showed tearing and shifting of the background layer and of the text layer, while the foreground layer and sprites were fine. The audio is good, and the game is playable.

[[File:Twin_cobra_defect.jpg|800px|frameless|center|Defective text layer. Although not visible here, the background was having the same issue.]]

After triggering the scope on the vertical sync, the investigation started. Poking around with the scope showed immediately that the group of EPROMs located on the center of the board hosted the graphic data for the text layer, the background layer and the foreground layer. The addressing of the EPROMs looked regular on the top part of the screen, but at a certain variable raster line it got messed up until the next vertical sync. Looking around further highlighted a very interesting signal which stayed silent most of the time and then made some pulses right when the timing got messed up. Following the signal through several decoding logics brought to the 68000. Using this signal as a qualifier and looking at the address bus bit by bit showed that this signal is the write pulse indicating that the CPU is accessing the registers inside the T.T-2 customs (as confirmed by MAME's source code stating the address).

This pulse comes to pin 20 of the T.T-2 closest to the Z80 (text layer address generator), and is jumping all over the place. The other two T.T-2 (for background and foreground), being identical to the other one, also have a write pulse at pin 20 which is however much more stable in place around the vertical blanking. This made me think the CPU might be writing at the wrong moment to those registers and thereby causing the issue, maybe because it was stuck somewhere waiting. This has been a wrong assumption that brought me completely off-track and has been quite difficult to disprove. I ended up dumping the program ROMs, investigating and dumping the protection DSP EPROMs and even replacing the 68000 until I reluctantly accepted that the write pulse in question was not the issue although the scope was hinting otherwise.

Apart from the MAME source there is not much info around on this board, therefore delving into the logic was the only way out. Completely reverse-engineering the board replacing the three T.T-2 chips was the next step, because all the signals directed to the ROMs and RAMs were coming from there. First of all the pins of the custom T.T-2 were traced to RAMs and ROMs; extracting the netlist allowed me to determine the pinout of the T.T-2 which you can see below.

[[File:Tt2_pinout.jpg|800px|frameless|center|Pinout of the T.T-2 custom chip on the Twin Cobra board.]]

The result of the reverse-engineering effort is the image shown below; this is what really could be inside the T.T-2, or actually it's the way these bootleggers reproduced its functionality.

[[File:Tt2_schematic.jpg|800px|frameless|center|Reverse engineered add-on daughtercard replacing the T.T-2 chips. The card actually hosts three identical versions of this circuitry, as it replaces 3 identical chips.]]

This schematic makes a lot of sense actually. The T.T-2 receives sync, clock and timing information as well as the data bus of the CPU, presents the CPU with registers that can be written to control the scrolling of each layer separately and finally provides pins at the output which drive the address busses of the tilemap RAMs. The data read from the tilemap RAM is then used to address the ROMs which finally provide the graphic data for rendering. The CPU is however also able to drive the outputs of the T.T-2 directly in order to write new tilemap data to the RAM. The T.T-2 has two internal counters for horizontal and vertical scanning, and also has a pin allowing backwards counting and thereby screen flipping.

All registers inside the T.T-2 contain 8 or 9 bit values that can be programmed at any time, because the values in those registers are only loaded into the counters during the vertical blank through a pulse issued by the hardware. Since all inputs to the T.T-2 look stable and coherent except for WRITE# at pin 20, this means the defect is on the board that emulates those T.T-2 chips.

Once the above schematic was available, it was very easy to pinpoint one chip responsible for the issue: one of the 74LS669 counters. This bidirectional loadable counter is fed HSYNC as a clock pulse and reloaded every VSYNC, basically showing a new value at the output with every line and thereby addressing a new row of pixels for the selected tile. The WRITE# pulse does not even reach it, however the traces involved with the operation of the WRITE# pulse run in the proximity of the clock pulse for this counter. Add to it that this board has absolutely no decoupling capacitor and you get the perfect recipe for troubles. Result: the writes of the CPU to the T.T-2 registers couple capacitively to the HSYNC line used as a clock. Ground bounce amplifies the issue and this makes glitches of significant amplitude appear on the latter signal, high enough to induce the counter in advancing one step. It was quite difficult to catch this on the scope, but this demonstrated how the poor (probably automated) routing of this bootleg add-on card actually is the culprit of the problem. To confirm this theory, I have replaced the 74LS669 and also the 74LS175 driving the sync signals at their origin; all to no avail.

As an added information, by the way, the sync signals on this board are generated by the very famous 6845/6545 CRTC controller. Although it has memory refresh and character display addressing functionalities, it has been used because it generates the HSYNC, VSYNC and BLANK signals through a programmable interface. These get then synchronized to the clock domain of the Toaplan design through a 74LS175 quad latch. The funny thing about this is that the 74LS175 finds itself driving a whole lot of logic gates, not only around the Toaplan board but also on the bootleg card replacing the Toaplan customs. I wonder how can the sync signals manage to look so wide in amplitude and so smoothly rising and falling...

I have finally solved the issue by adding a total of 200pF distributed capacitance at the clock input pins of those counters as it can be seen on the photo below. As one of the counters was more problematic than the others, I have also added a 100nF supply decoupling capacitor for good measure.

[[File:Twin_cobra_fix.jpg|800px|frameless|center|Fixed add-on board. Note expecially the SMD capacitors.]]

This mitigates the glitches enough to make them invisible to the clocking circuitry of the counters. This really is a hack, yes; however a proper solution would have required rerouting the entire card and adding all needed 100nF capacitors...

[[File:Twin_cobra_working.jpg|800px|frameless|center|Rock-solid text display.]]

The game now shows a rock-solid picture, as also confirmed by the quite long playing session this awesome shmup deserved ever since the start of this repair. ;)

[[File:Stage_clear.png|332px|frameless|center|Stage clear]]
[[File:LUC--.png|332px|frameless|center|Lucky bonus]]

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'''Repairer:''' Apocalypse 
'''Source:''' [https://web.archive.org/web/20191230201003/http://arcadefixer.blogspot.com/2017/11/ Twin Cobra - Taito 1987 (repair log)] 

Game was completely dead: black screen, no sound. 
[[File:ApocTC_01.JPG]] 
On this hardware many things can lead to this as it seems the self test requires a lot of things to be operational before displaying the RAM/ROM test screen. 

'''1) Getting the board to boot''' 
I started to probe the board and found many signals were absent on the top board. In fact they were present only a fraction of second on start-up. Long story short they were coming from various LS245s, themselves having their enable pin (/E signal) coming directly from address line A16 of the main CPU (68k). I was a bit lost so went back to the basics : RAMs. 
One of them on the top board had all its data pins stuck high. I took the chance to piggyback it and game booted: 
[[File:ApocTC_02.JPG]] 
[[File:ApocTC_03.JPG]] 
But with no sprites at all... 

'''2) Fixing the graphic glitches''' 

The concerned cicuitry is on the top board and probing the six 2148 RAMs I found one had data signals tied low. They were coming from a LS244 which in turn had inputs stuck low. This lead me to a LS74 and finally to a series of LS166 which had their shift/load pins shorted to Vcc. 
Due to the corrosion of the board I wasn't able to determine the point of least resistance so I pulled the chips I identified were connected to this stuck signal: 
- LS166 @ 13E pin 15 
- LS166 @ 14E pin 15 
- LS166 @ 16E pin 15 
- LS166 @ 17E pin 15 
- LS374 @ 23D pin 11 
The last chip I pulled was the LS166 @ 13E and it was indeed the culprit. 
Unfortunately I didn't have any in stock but I powered the board without it in hope for any improvement : sprites were back. Corrupted but back: 
[[File:ApocTC_04.JPG]] 
After I received the replacement part I put it back on the board and: 
[[File:ApocTC_05.JPG]] 
[[File:ApocTC_06.JPG]] 
Game fixed. 
[[File:ApocTC_07.JPG]] 
[[Category:Repair Logs]]

File:ApocTC 01.JPG

2022-01-06T23:31:52Z

Davewellington:

File:ApocTC 02.JPG

2022-01-06T23:31:42Z

Davewellington:

File:ApocTC 03.JPG

2022-01-06T23:31:34Z

Davewellington:

File:ApocTC 04.JPG

2022-01-06T23:31:24Z

Davewellington:

File:ApocTC 05.JPG

2022-01-06T23:31:12Z

Davewellington:

File:ApocTC 06.JPG

2022-01-06T23:31:02Z

Davewellington:

File:ApocTC 07.JPG

2022-01-06T23:30:53Z

Davewellington:

Maju no Okoku Repair Logs

2022-01-06T23:28:35Z

Davewellington: Created page with "'''Repairer:''' Apocalypse '''Source:''' [https://web.archive.org/web/20191230201003/http://arcadefixer.blogspot.com/2017/11/ Maju no Okoku (Devil World/Dark Adventure) -..."

'''Repairer:''' Apocalypse 
'''Source:''' [https://web.archive.org/web/20191230201003/http://arcadefixer.blogspot.com/2017/11/ Maju no Okoku (Devil World/Dark Adventure) - Konami 1987 (repair log)] 

When I started this repair I was a bit anxious, the hardware is complex (Twin 16), composed of two boards (sometimes 3 with an additionnal ROM board) and they were heavily Fujitsu populated... 
After inspection I noticed one capacitor in the sound section was attached by one leg, same for the 640kHz crystal used for voice effects but this shouldn't stop the board from booting. I powered it: board was displaying a garbage screen flickering at fixed interval. 
[[File:ApocNMO_01.JPG]] 
Clearly the game was stuck in a reset loop caused by the watchdog, probably because no valid code was executed. This can have many causes: bad CPU, bad RAMs, bad ROMs, bad TTL in between them, broken traces... I first dumped the program ROMs and my programmer reported the one @ 8S to have loose connections: 
[[File:ApocNMO_02.JPG]] 
I burnt a new one in a W27C512 (EEPROM version of the UVPROM 27C512) to keep the board looking as close as possible as original (I find it most ugly to have only one ceramic ROM in the middle of plastic mask ROMs). This changed nothing... 
It was time to probe the evil Fujitsu chips. I found a LS244 @ 6L on top board with floating outputs. I fitted a good one and... Game died completely: no RGB signals, no sync... Probing the edge connector revealed signals were all stuck low. They were going through a LS07 @ 1K (top board). It had all its outputs floating. Again, I fitted a good one and game booted to the RAM/ROM test: 
[[File:ApocNMO_03.JPG]] 

Everything showed OK: 
[[File:ApocNMO_04.JPG]] 

And game played fine: 
[[File:ApocNMO_05.JPG]] 
[[File:ApocNMO_06.JPG]] 

Except for sound: I fitted a new capacitor (2.2nF) and a new oscillator (640kHz) and things were back to normal. 

Game fixed. 
[[File:ApocNMO_07.JPG]] 

[[Category:Repair Logs]]

File:ApocNMO 07.JPG

2022-01-06T23:26:19Z

Davewellington:

File:ApocNMO 06.JPG

2022-01-06T23:26:09Z

Davewellington:

File:ApocNMO 05.JPG

2022-01-06T23:26:00Z

Davewellington:

File:ApocNMO 04.JPG

2022-01-06T23:25:44Z

Davewellington:

File:ApocNMO 03.JPG

2022-01-06T23:25:34Z

Davewellington:

File:ApocNMO 02.JPG

2022-01-06T23:25:24Z

Davewellington:

File:ApocNMO 01.JPG

2022-01-06T23:25:12Z

Davewellington:

Beast Busters Repair Logs

2021-12-17T03:25:12Z

Davewellington: Created page with "'''Repairer:''' Apocalypse '''Source:''' [https://web.archive.org/web/20191230200618/http://arcadefixer.blogspot.com/2017/10/ Beast Busters - SNK 1989 (repair log)] A..."

'''Repairer:''' Apocalypse 
'''Source:''' [https://web.archive.org/web/20191230200618/http://arcadefixer.blogspot.com/2017/10/ Beast Busters - SNK 1989 (repair log)] 

A very good game, the last one SNK made before the launch of the Neo Geo. Hardware has a lot of similarities with its successor: 68k for main CPU, Z80 + YM2610 for audio, etc. Even the test menu looks like the one of MVS slots. 

1) Getting the game to boot 

After a first inspection I noticed someone previously worked on the board as two program ROMs have been replaced. Also one of the ribbon cables connecting the top board and the bottom board (there's a middle board too so a total of 3) was missing. I made one with old parts I had in my stock: 
[[File:ApocBB_1.JPG]] 

Then I powered the board and it got stuck on a PROGRAM ROM ERROR. 
[[File:ApocBB_2.JPG]] 

2) Fixing the program ROM error 

Looking carefully at the two program ROMs that have been replaced I discovered they were 27C010 type (JEDEC) when the board needs 27C301 type (non-JEDEC). Out of curiosity I dumped them and they contained the right data. Only pinout was the matter. I burnt two fresh 27C100 ROMs (27C301 compatible pinout) and tried to boot the game again. This time self-test reported everything good: 
[[File:ApocBB_3.JPG]] 

But then got stuck on a black screen: this is typical of a failed gun calibration or corrupted calibration data. 

3) Gun calibration 

I followed the procedure that has been added at the end of the manual you can find online. 
[[File:ApocBB_4.JPG]] 

If you don't have the original positional guns you can hack a joystick. 
For each player there's a 6 pin JST NH connector with the following pinout: 
1 = GND 
2 = X DATA 
3 = +5V 
4 = GND 
5 = Y DATA 
6 = +5V 
Original potentiometers are 5k so depending of the ones in the joystick you plan to use it may not work. 
Gun coordinates depend of the voltage on pins 2 (X DATA) & 5 (Y DATA) : 
0V = most left/up 
2.5V = middle/centre 
5V = most right/bottom 
An other solution is to desolder the 28C04 EEPROM located @ K7 on the top board and burn the file named bbusters-eeprom.bin included in the MAME romset on it. 
After doing a proper calibration game booted: 
[[File:ApocBB_5.JPG]] 

But... Some sprites had jailbars over them and sound was crackling. 
[[File:ApocBB_6.JPG]] 

4) Fixing the sprite issue 

With the help of the test menu I learned only "FONT 1" sprites (probably a misspelling of FRONT 1 by opposition to background) were affected. 
The game shows 4 sprites in a loop, each being stored in a different ROM. So problem was probably downward in the video processing as it seemed unlikely the 4 ROMS were bad with the same jailbars. 
[[File:ApocBB_7.JPG]] 
[[File:ApocBB_8.JPG]] 

According to MAME those sprites are stored in ROMs 11, 12, 13 and 14. They are located on the middle board so I looked carefully at it for broken traces when I noticed a factory defect: RAM @ C14 had its pin 15 not soldered at all. It was probably not a problem when board was new but with oxidisation and dust accumulated over the years connection became poor. 
[[File:ApocBB_9.JPG]] 

I resoldered it and sprites were restored: 
[[File:ApocBB_10.JPG]] 
[[File:ApocBB_11.JPG]] 

5) Fixing the sound issue 

Continuing playing with MAME I was able to reproduce the exact same crackling sound by blanking the sample ROM @ L5. However by using the sound test menu I discovered some samples/tunes were played perfectly while others were totally crappy, and after probing both PCM samples ROMs it revealed sound was perfect when accessing only to the PCM A ROM @ L5. So I burnt a replacement for the PCM B ROM @ L3 in a 27C400 EPROM and tried to piggyback it: that fixed the problem! 
I dumped the faulty ROM and compared its content with the MAME file: 
[[File:ApocBB_12.JPG]] 

As you can see bit 8 is stuck low. 

Game fixed.
[[Category:Repair Logs]]

File:ApocBB 12.jpg

2021-12-17T03:22:40Z

Davewellington: