Armor Attack ribbon cable backwards, now pcb won't play

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Armor Attack ribbon cable backwards, now pcb won't play

I've been trying to get this Armor Attack working for ages, and after working extensively the power supply, and then on the monitor and replacing all the components on the monitor board according to Bill's StarCastle restoration posts, I plugged it all in, fired it up, and the breaker blew.

I then realized that I plugged the ribbon cable in backwards from the pcb to the monitor board. I unplugged the HV cable and the yoke and yoke connector, and the game no longer plays blind like it used to. When powering on, the light on the pcb flashes for a second like it should, but I get no sounds when coining up and starting the game, so either the sound board is now hosed, or the game itself is not booting on the pcb.

If I plug in the HV and yoke and power it on, I get neck glow for a moment, and I can hear a rapid sound of deflection like a machine gun from the yoke, but after a few seconds the breaker trips.

I'm assuming that by plugging in the ribbon cable backwards I fried some chip on the PCB and it is not booting to the game properly and that is why the breaker is tripping.

Has anyone else been this stupid and hosed their board, and if so, what might have been the remedy? Does anyone have any troubleshooting steps for an Armor Attack PCB itself?
 
So you plugged J2 (on the monitor board) in backwards? If so, then there could be many issues. However, I'd assume that switching the X & Y DAC bits wouldn't be so bad, leaving the following that could have downed the CCPU:
YDAC Bit 10 (Pin 11, from S2-6)-> GND (Pin 24)
YDAC Bit 11 (Pin 13, from S2-2) -> GND (Pin 22)
GND (Pin 17)->Initialize Switch (Pin 18, from H8-13)

The other lines you crossed were TTL level voltage, so I'd assume they are OK (but may not be). I'd start with the two ICs above (S2, H8), but you sent TTL level voltage down the GNDs, so I would also check the ICs physically closest to those GND pins on the CCPU (if different than the above ICs). You may have also done some damage to the monitor board, but I'd fix the CCPU first.
 
my 2 cents.... i86time nailed it with S2 (74ls377) and look at J2 (74ls32) if you have chatter with no picture.
 
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