Asteroids - Fast blink

morphis72

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I recently picked up an Asteroids and it seemed to boot and play at first but the screen would draw draw some lines that were not supposed to be there. The spot killer would blink when that happened.

I started poking around and found that someone hacked in the wires from straight J8 connector on the AR board into the square J8 connector that comes on the later revisions.

One of the two wires just popped out while I was looking at it and now the two start buttons flash rapidly, I can't get the game to start, coin up, or go into test mode. The monitor flashes off and on as well and you can see it trying to draw images from the game for a second.

Any idea what is going on here? J8 is the hookup for sound so I thought the game would start even if the sound wasn't working.
 
- Check all of your voltages.

- What does the test mode screen show? (Assuming it will go into test mode).

Also, reseat all socketed chips.


You are correct that J8 is just the speaker signal, and that alone won't cause the issues you're seeing, but if someone mucked with the harness wiring, all bets are off, and you could have other wiring-related issues.
 
The game board is running at 5.4v and the LED indicator on the PCB lights and stays on. I can't get it to go into test mode. The monitor tries to come on for a second and then blinks off and repeats. On the AR board the voltages look pretty good. The 10v test point is measuring pretty spot on.


- Check all of your voltages.

- What does the test mode screen show? (Assuming it will go into test mode).

Also, reseat all socketed chips.


You are correct that J8 is just the speaker signal, and that alone won't cause the issues you're seeing, but if someone mucked with the harness wiring, all bets are off, and you could have other wiring-related issues.
 
5.4 is on the high side. Dial it back and see if that changes anything.

You want it around 5.00-5.05V, measured on the game PCB (which will result in it being a little higher if measured on the AR, but it's the voltage on the game board test points that matters.)
 
Also, the 10.3V point on the AR should be between 13-14V DC. If it's actually reading 10V, then something isn't right.

Measure the AC voltages on the 10.3V DC test point on the AR, as well as on the 5V DC test point on the game board.
 
The board is watchdogging. It's in a reset loop because the code is not running correctly, and the watchdog (which is a circuit that will automatically reset the board if the circuit is not periodically reset, (or 'fed') by the code, hence we say the 'watchdog is barking') is kicking in and resetting it.

This can be caused by many things. Bad ROMs, bad RAM, or problems with the logic on either the CPU or vector side of the board. Basically the CPU isn't happy, due to some other part of the system.

You can ground the WDDIS test point on the board to temporarily disable the watchdog, but that isn't going to do much in your case. You need to root around and try to narrow down what's causing the issue.

The first red flag IMO is that 10V input to the AR. I've never seen one that low. My first guess is that your big blue is bad, and there's too much AC on the DC input. So let's test that theory. The first step in any troubleshooting is to verify that the power is ok.

Measure the AC ripple on the 10.3V test point. If you are unfamiliar with this, ask for help.
 
I haven't measured for ripple before, but I assume it's one of the two settings on my meter, V Hz or A Hz.

As for big blue - the guy I picked it up from dropped a brand new cap into the power brick. That's not to say it's working - just to say it was replaced recently.



The board is watchdogging. It's in a reset loop because the code is not running correctly, and the watchdog (which is a circuit that will automatically reset the board if the circuit is not periodically reset, (or 'fed') by the code, hence we say the 'watchdog is barking') is kicking in and resetting it.

This can be caused by many things. Bad ROMs, bad RAM, or problems with the logic on either the CPU or vector side of the board. Basically the CPU isn't happy, due to some other part of the system.

You can ground the WDDIS test point on the board to temporarily disable the watchdog, but that isn't going to do much in your case. You need to root around and try to narrow down what's causing the issue.

The first red flag IMO is that 10V input to the AR. I've never seen one that low. My first guess is that your big blue is bad, and there's too much AC on the DC input. So let's test that theory. The first step in any troubleshooting is to verify that the power is ok.

Measure the AC ripple on the 10.3V test point. If you are unfamiliar with this, ask for help.
 
I haven't measured for ripple before, but I assume it's one of the two settings on my meter, V Hz or A Hz.

As for big blue - the guy I picked it up from dropped a brand new cap into the power brick. That's not to say it's working - just to say it was replaced recently.



No, you want to put the meter on AC volts (or millivolts, if you don't have an autoranging meter). Then measure the AC voltage on the 10.3V test point, relative to ground on the AR.

Then do the same on the game board, with the 5V test point and ground.


If someone else worked on the brick, all the more reason to be suspicious. What are the uF and voltage ratings on the big blue?
 
When my old meter died my new one just has the one setting for AC or DC and no voltage ranges.

I see the 20.3 test point in the AR board and there is a ground point right next to it. That is the two points I measured across and was getting the bounce between 10.5 and 10.6. Was there somewhere else I need to measure?

Or did you mean to measure test point in the game PCB using ground on the AR?

No, you want to put the meter on AC volts (or millivolts, if you don't have an autoranging meter). Then measure the AC voltage on the 10.3V test point, relative to ground on the AR.

Then do the same on the game board, with the 5V test point and ground.


If someone else worked on the brick, all the more reason to be suspicious. What are the uF and voltage ratings on the big blue?
 
First you need to understand your meter. All meters have some way of specifying whether you are measuring AC or DC. The range may be automatic, but AC vs DC will not be. Some meters have a different selector switch setting, while for others there is only one volts setting, and then you must push a button to select AC or DC. When you were measuring 10.5-10.6V, the meter was in DC mode. You need to force it to AC mode. Consult the manual if necessary.

You have the correct test points on the AR (10.3V and any GND on the AR, as they are all the same).
 
First you need to understand your meter. All meters have some way of specifying whether you are measuring AC or DC. The range may be automatic, but AC vs DC will not be. Some meters have a different selector switch setting, while for others there is only one volts setting, and then you must push a button to select AC or DC. When you were measuring 10.5-10.6V, the meter was in DC mode. You need to force it to AC mode. Consult the manual if necessary.

You have the correct test points on the AR (10.3V and any GND on the AR, as they are all the same).

Links to me testing 10v and 5v. I figured if I showed you what I did there was not a question if I did it wrong or right.

5v test - This seems to pass the test just fine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IN0MLmZlld0

10.3 test - This shows a reading but I don't know how much it matters. seems to be lower than the ambient EM.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HM3icCx-Rw4
 
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Hmm. Those AC values look ok, but that 10.5V reading is still concerning. It should be higher. It might be a red herring, but still something to keep an eye on.

Measure the DC at the 10.3V test point on the AR with the game board unplugged. I want to see if it's any different without the game board.

Also, plug the game board back in, and disconnect the monitor. (Just unplug it from the harness). Power the game up. Are you still getting the resetting/beeping in test mode, and rapid flashing of the start buttons in game mode?

Next, try reseating all of the socketed chips on the game board, and try powering it all up again normally.

Do you have another AR, from any other Atari game?
 
Alright, I will go test what I can and report back... For the alternate AR: Battlezone and Missile command. I have a tempest too but my boards aren't here for that guy. I assume the battlezone is the best choice to try and swap in. Any risk I'm going to pop it if I hook up the battlezone AR in the Asteroids?

I have already unhooked the monitor. The game still does the quick flash on the start buttons with the display off.

Hmm. Those AC values look ok, but that 10.5V reading is still concerning. It should be higher. It might be a red herring, but still something to keep an eye on.

Measure the DC at the 10.3V test point on the AR with the game board unplugged. I want to see if it's any different without the game board.

Also, plug the game board back in, and disconnect the monitor. (Just unplug it from the harness). Power the game up. Are you still getting the resetting/beeping in test mode, and rapid flashing of the start buttons in game mode?

Next, try reseating all of the socketed chips on the game board, and try powering it all up again normally.

Do you have another AR, from any other Atari game?
 
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Any of those will work. Just grab whichever one is most convenient, and that you know is working.

There's no risk. AR-II's are basically AR-I's with extra stuff, which we aren't going to use, as we just want to use the 5V section of the AR-II to replace the AR-I.

Connect only the J6 (10.3V in) and J7 (5V out) connectors. Leave the J8 speaker connector disconnected, as well as everything on the right side of the AR-II.

However, do the steps in my last message above first, before trying the AR-II.
 
with the game board hooked up it's currently reading 10.7 or 10.8. With the game board unhooked it is reading 13.2. Something on the game board is causing a drain? Shorted component? I am going to try reseating chips next.


Hmm. Those AC values look ok, but that 10.5V reading is still concerning. It should be higher. It might be a red herring, but still something to keep an eye on.

Measure the DC at the 10.3V test point on the AR with the game board unplugged. I want to see if it's any different without the game board.

Also, plug the game board back in, and disconnect the monitor. (Just unplug it from the harness). Power the game up. Are you still getting the resetting/beeping in test mode, and rapid flashing of the start buttons in game mode?

Next, try reseating all of the socketed chips on the game board, and try powering it all up again normally.

Do you have another AR, from any other Atari game?
 
So, I reseated the chips and she boots up. When I checked the 10.3 on the AR it still reads the same low number. Is this a concern? Somehow this doesn't feel like a permanent fix to me but maybe?

Alright, I will go test what I can and report back... For the alternate AR: Battlezone and Missile command. I have a tempest too but my boards aren't here for that guy. I assume the battlezone is the best choice to try and swap in. Any risk I'm going to pop it if I hook up the battlezone AR in the Asteroids?

I have already unhooked the monitor. The game still does the quick flash on the start buttons with the display off.
 
Yep. You have bad sockets. Common problem on these.

You can either clean the chips and sockets, or have the sockets replaced. The cheap option is to buy one of these:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271103840617

And one of these:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/401280029130

And clean the chip legs, and treat the sockets. That might fix it, or it might fix it for a while, depending on how bad they are.

As for the AR, the 2N3055 (big bottlecap transistor in the center) is likely just old and tired. It should be replaced. If not that, then the LM305 regulator next, but try the 2N3055 first.


I can do all of this for you, if you just want to send it all in.
 
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