Anyone using AI for arcade repairs?

KazooBR

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Is anyone using AI to help troubleshoot arcade stuff? I'm using it for a few things and have been pretty impressed, although it definitely gets some things wrong. Mostly, it doesn't get spefic chip locations or pin assignments right without some back and forth. But for ideas on where to start with a troubleshooting process, it's pretty helpful. I'm using ChatGPT in this case. Here's the conversation I just had with it ... this took about 3 minutes to do. Sure, I could have found the info myself via searching but it sure makes it convenient.

Seems lazy but I have a friend who is a new programmer and he's using AI to generate a lot of his code. That scares me that he may not understand what's really happening but ... if AI is gonna take over the world I guess I'll play along.
I'm wondering if anyone else is finding it useful.

I hope this comes through OK ... I had some trouble with cutting and pasting the text so reverted to screenshots to show the conversation.

I asked it to help create a custom script on the Fluke 9010a for Missile Command.




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Then I said it had the memory ranges wrong and gave it the proper ones (I cut and pasted from a mame memory map).

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Unfortunately, that script won't compile. Lots of syntax errors, missing sections such as PROGRAM xxx, etc..

There are some other issues with it as well such as the bus test being last, that should probably be first.

It does the writes and then read tests, but never verifies the results.

You don't want to do a LONG RAM test unless it's absolutely necessary as the LONG part in the RAM test is an understatement...

Depending on the Compiler you are using, the ; is not a valid comment character. ! is the character for comments.

Not sure what they are doing with the SIGNATURE command since it doesn't exist... Maybe it was trying to do something with the PROBE?

RESET doesn't exist.

Language Reference is here:
 
So there you go, AI isn't taking over the world anytime soon! I had told it to move the bus test to the first test. Just didn't share that.

I put your comments as is into it and it spit this out. That's the sort of back and forth I'm finding I have to do with it. So you do need to understand things or it could very well steer you wrong. I'm not looking for you to debug … just sharing how it adjusts. I find interesting in any case.
PROGRAM MISSILE_COMMAND_V3

! ==== ADDRESS BUS TEST (First Test) ====
BUS 0000 03FF ! Verify address bus integrity

! ==== DATA BUS TEST ====
DBUS 0000 ! Check data bus functionality

! ==== ROM CHECKSUM VALIDATION ====
ROM 5000 57FF F25A ! Verify 035820-02.h1 at 0x5000-0x57FF (Fluke Checksum: F25A)
ROM 5800 5FFF 3977 ! Verify 035821-02.jk1 at 0x5800-0x5FFF (Fluke Checksum: 3977)
ROM 6000 67FF 1A2F ! Verify 035822-03e.kl1 at 0x6000-0x67FF (Fluke Checksum: 1A2F)
ROM 6800 6FFF EF62 ! Verify 035823-02.ln1 at 0x6800-0x6FFF (Fluke Checksum: EF62)
ROM 7000 77FF B25D ! Verify 035824-02.np1 at 0x7000-0x77FF (Fluke Checksum: B25D)
ROM 7800 7FFF B888 ! Verify 035825-02.r1 at 0x7800-0x7FFF (Fluke Checksum: B888)

! ==== RAM TEST ====
WR 0000 55 ! Write 0x55 to RAM start
RD 0000 55 ! Read back (should be 0x55)
WR 0000 AA ! Write 0xAA to same location
RD 0000 AA ! Read back (should be 0xAA)

RAM 0000 03FF ! Test standard RAM range 0x0000 - 0x03FF

! ==== END OF TEST ====
END


Changes & Fixes





✅ BUS test moved to the beginning


✅ DATA BUS test follows the address test


✅ Explicit read/write verification for RAM


✅ No LONG RAM test to keep execution efficient


✅ Uses ! for comments (Fluke 9010A standard)


✅ No RESET or SIGNATURE commands
 
Another change given that it didn't include verifications.



PROGRAM MISSILE_COMMAND_V3

! ==== ADDRESS BUS TEST (First Test) ====
BUS 0000 03FF ! Verify address bus integrity

! ==== DATA BUS TEST ====
DBUS 0000 ! Check data bus functionality

! ==== ROM CHECKSUM VALIDATION ====
ROM 5000 57FF F25A ! Verify 035820-02.h1 at 0x5000-0x57FF (Fluke Checksum: F25A)
ROM 5800 5FFF 3977 ! Verify 035821-02.jk1 at 0x5800-0x5FFF (Fluke Checksum: 3977)
ROM 6000 67FF 1A2F ! Verify 035822-03e.kl1 at 0x6000-0x67FF (Fluke Checksum: 1A2F)
ROM 6800 6FFF EF62 ! Verify 035823-02.ln1 at 0x6800-0x6FFF (Fluke Checksum: EF62)
ROM 7000 77FF B25D ! Verify 035824-02.np1 at 0x7000-0x77FF (Fluke Checksum: B25D)
ROM 7800 7FFF B888 ! Verify 035825-02.r1 at 0x7800-0x7FFF (Fluke Checksum: B888)

! ==== RAM TEST WITH READ/WRITE VERIFICATION ====
WR 0000 55 ! Write 0x55 to RAM start
RD 0000 ! Read back value
CMP 0000 55 ! Compare expected value 0x55

WR 0000 AA ! Write 0xAA to the same location
RD 0000 ! Read back value
CMP 0000 AA ! Compare expected value 0xAA

RAM 0000 03FF ! Test standard RAM range 0x0000 - 0x03FF

! ==== END OF TEST ====
END
 
Yeah, it has no clue what the real commands are :)

I use AI every day and I deal with this type of thing all the time. It has no clue sometimes so it just makes up shit. This is why AI shouldn't be used by junior programmers as it could get them into a lot of trouble if they don't know what the AI is actually generating.

AI is good at boilerplate stuff, and helping with repetitive tasks, and very narrow and specific things.

Like in the above changes. DBUS isn't a command, CMP is not a command, it doesn't know about the registers, etc...

The normal ROM command should be ROM @<Start>-<End> SIG <sig>

You can shorten it to ROM <start>-<end> SIG <sig>

There are several other variations, but not really that important unless you're using registers.
 
👍😄. I guess it's got a ways to go.

I did use it successfully to build a vacation in South Dakota. It was solid there. 😄
 
I used AI to generate side art for a custom Gun Smoke cabinet. I'm really happy with the end result. I just need to design a CPO which has proven to be much more challenging with AI.
 
it would be cool to build an agent LLM trained on a dataset comprised of KLOV (or beyond?) repair posts. if the dataset was reliable and the agent had the horsepower to run, the potential exists for a fairly helpful arcade repair assistant 🤖 much more powerful than search
 
AI is ok at python. It can't do C or any other low level/obscure languages for shit. It works by pulling shit and learning for the internet. Being that python is one of the most popular languages, it makes sense that it would be good at it.

Remember: AI is tends to want to be people pleasing. Never blindly follow what it tells you as it can give you wrong or potentially dangerous info. I despise the fact that AI is being shoved down my throat, at least in it's current state.
 
"and I say, "your civilization", because as soon as we starting thinking for you it became...our civilization, which is what this is all about...Evolution...like the dinosaurs....look out the window, you had your time....the future is our world, our time" - Agent Smith
 
microsoft co pilot is better forr programming than chatgpt as itt was made more for programming
 
Unfortunately, that script won't compile. Lots of syntax errors, missing sections such as PROGRAM xxx, etc..

There are some other issues with it as well such as the bus test being last, that should probably be first.

It does the writes and then read tests, but never verifies the results.

You don't want to do a LONG RAM test unless it's absolutely necessary as the LONG part in the RAM test is an understatement...

Depending on the Compiler you are using, the ; is not a valid comment character. ! is the character for comments.

Not sure what they are doing with the SIGNATURE command since it doesn't exist... Maybe it was trying to do something with the PROBE?

RESET doesn't exist.

Language Reference is here:
 
The stuff is rad, and getting better everyday. I designed a prompt to analyze the schematics of various monitor chassis, breaking down the role of individual part numbers within each circuit. Using those descriptions, I wrote a program that allows users to input a part number and receive a detailed explanation of its function in the circuit. Here's an example using the K7000 chassis. A potential next step would be expanding the program to cover multiple chassis in one unified system (Sanyo, Sharp, Electrohome etc.). The real challenge? Making sure the descriptions are accurate and not just the AI confidently hallucinating its way through electronics.


Screenshot 2025-03-27 at 8.03.18 AM.png
 
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