Asteroids help!

flippined

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Hi all, I'm new here, but been lurking. I picked up an Asteroids machine in ok shape, but of course it doesn't work. Marquee comes on, Player buttons flash, speaker hums, but no action on the screen.
I'm guessing the power supply is poo. I have found replacement power supplies for sale, but I don't know if they would work. Should I just replace caps on mine and see what I get?
I also flipped the self test switch and it does sounds some tones. where to get Roms and things?
Thanks for the help!
 
does it coin up and play blind ? Do you have +5 volts at the motherboard ? Any blown fuses in the bottom of the game or on the monitor ? is the red light on the monitor staying on ?
 
Does not coin up. I gotta check the +5v again. Where does it have to be? I did check all the fuses and they are good. What red light on the monitor do you speak of?
 
Hi all, I'm new here, but been lurking. I picked up an Asteroids machine in ok shape, but of course it doesn't work. Marquee comes on, Player buttons flash, speaker hums, but no action on the screen.
I'm guessing the power supply is poo. I have found replacement power supplies for sale, but I don't know if they would work. Should I just replace caps on mine and see what I get?
I also flipped the self test switch and it does sounds some tones. where to get Roms and things?
Thanks for the help!

Marquee comes on: means very little...other than the AC power line and interlocks are wired OK.

Player buttons flash: means the PCB is getting power, and that the watchdog timer isn't being reset; essentially the code is NOT running properly.

Speaker hums: doesn't really matter at this point.

No action on screen: related to the cause of "player buttons flash" above.

Tones in self test mode: these have meaning. Start by getting and reading the owners manual:http://arcarc.xmission.com/PDF_Arcade_Atari_Kee/Asteroids/Asteroids_TM-143_7th_Printing.pdf There's a page in there that explains the self-test beeps.

There's also: http://www.ionpool.net/arcade/asteroidtech/asteroidsrepair.html

Unless you have a known-working B&W vector PCB, or a known-working vector monitor (or an oscilloscope), getting a totally DOA Asteroids fixed might prove tricky.

What test tools to you have? (DMM? logic probe? scope?) Do you any have soldering/de-soldering equipment? Pin crimpers? Unless you get lucky and a new "big blue" or fuse fixes it... machines this old typically need a fair amount of of TLC to be reliable; reflowed headers, re-pinned connectors, cleaned/replaced fuse holders, new capacitors, new sockets, etc. (in addition to identifying and replacing any faulty ICs).

PS- once you fix the bad RAM it would seem you have, a kit like this one http://www.brasington.org/arcade/products/hs/asteroids/ can replace all of the EPROMs, as well as serve as a high-score saving kit.
 
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red light on monitor will be on the circuit board on the right side looking at the back of the monitor from the back side of the game with the back door off. There is a tiny red light on it. It should stay on for a couple seconds and then go out.
 
could be any number of things or any combination of things,why you think its power without checking things first is way beyond me.your monitor not coming on could be monitor related,it could be something major or minor but,you should realy work from the ground up.checking each part of the cab and looking for faults.

buying a replacement power supply without knowing whether the one you have is right or not seems a bit overboard,when you put the replacement in what are you going to do when it still dont work,buy a replacement transformer,if that dont work then what?

if you have bad voltages at the power supply its for a reason,perhaps a recap kit would solve that sistuation out.so you buy a replacement,if the voltages are bad on that you back to square one,try to fix what you currently have rather than trying to replace it.

all atari ar boards are marked with the voltages on the actual board itself,just use a multimeter on them to see what the voltages are at each.dont even think about replacing the game board or sending it for repair unless you know its faulty,its just another elemant of the cab you will have to diagnose when you get to it.

like i say check from the ground up.

we were all new and lurking (or a lot of us) and took the head long plunge into the hobby,you are certainly not alone,just like most you will have to learn.can be good and interesting hobby (be it expensive,especialy here in uk) or it can be a right royal pain in the butt.
;)
 
Marquee comes on: means very little...other than the AC power line and interlocks are wired OK.

Player buttons flash: means the PCB is getting power, and that the watchdog timer isn't being reset; essentially the code is NOT running properly.

Speaker hums: doesn't really matter at this point.

No action on screen: related to the cause of "player buttons flash" above.

Tones in self test mode: these have meaning. Start by getting and reading the owners manual:http://arcarc.xmission.com/PDF_Arcade_Atari_Kee/Asteroids/Asteroids_TM-143_7th_Printing.pdf There's a page in there that explains the self-test beeps.

There's also: http://www.ionpool.net/arcade/asteroidtech/asteroidsrepair.html

Unless you have a known-working B&W vector PCB, or a known-working vector monitor (or an oscilloscope), getting a totally DOA Asteroids fixed might prove tricky.

What test tools to you have? (DMM? logic probe? scope?) Do you any have soldering/de-soldering equipment? Pin crimpers? Unless you get lucky and a new "big blue" or fuse fixes it... machines this old typically need a fair amount of of TLC to be reliable; reflowed headers, re-pinned connectors, cleaned/replaced fuse holders, new capacitors, new sockets, etc. (in addition to identifying and replacing any faulty ICs).

PS- once you fix the bad RAM it would seem you have, a kit like this one http://www.brasington.org/arcade/products/hs/asteroids/ can replace all of the EPROMs, as well as serve as a high-score saving kit.

DarrenF has made some excellent recommendations and points here, I would take it on-board. You need to do ALOT of reading to get familiar with Asteroids and its components. This cab is one of the trickiest to troubleshoot.
 
I have a background in car electronics, and restore old cars for a living, so I can work on this thing once I know which way to go. I have a VOM and soldering tools, but no logic probe or scope.

I was told the game worked not long ago, but that doesn't mean much. Twice I powered it on and got a diagonal zip across the screen, but that was it.

I tested for +5v and +12v on the main PCB, and found power, but not the correct value, I don't remember what I read. I did check all the fuses and removed and cleaned the volt select plug. I also got the manual. Test tones one high then one low. So that means I have at least one bad ROM? How do I know which one to change? I don't know the locations. I also pulled the chips off and re-seated them to see if that would help.

I was looking at the power supply because I had read about a lot of other problems stemming from improper voltage, so Start at the bottom, right? I wanted to make sure I was getting the power I need where I need it before chasing my tail

My goal was to install a 60 in 1 JAMMA board, harness, monitor, joysticks, etc. but I thought it would be cool to play the Asteroids for a while first. Maybe I should just change it now?

Thank you for all your help!
 
Oh, yeah. I checked the red LEDs in the cab tonight. There is one on the main PCB and one on the PCB by the monitor. The both stay lit the whole time.
 
Oh, yeah. I checked the red LEDs in the cab tonight. There is one on the main PCB and one on the PCB by the monitor. The both stay lit the whole time.
It sounds like a board failure, but as others have suggested, you should test some other things first, namely the voltages at the pcb. There are test lugs on the board labeled for +5 and ground which easy places to check and see what you've got.

On a side note, you may be better off trading or selling that cabinet for a better candidate to make a multi-game out of. There is virtually nothing in that Asteroids that can be used to convert to a 60 in 1 and honestly a lot of people here would hate to see you take a complete Asteroids and convert it.
 
I didn't really want to take it apart either. I prefer things to be as they were intended too. I really like the look of the cab, shape, classic side art, it just looks good. I know I can't use anything in it.

Anybody nearby want to trade something? Doesn't have to work!
 
Game board Red LED means that it's getting +5v

Monitor board Red LED means spot killer is on. This means that the monitor is not getting signal and is shutting down so that you don't burn off the phosphers in the middle of the screen. This is most likely a board problem. Very small chance that the spot killer circuit is bad.

Turn up the monitor brightness and see if you get a bright spot in the middle (then turn it back down right away). If so, then your monitor is getting HV and is likely working (or close to it).
 
I was told the game worked not long ago, but that doesn't mean much.

Correct

I also got the manual. Test tones one high then one low. So that means I have at least one bad ROM? How do I know which one to change?

Re-read the manual, and pay particular attention to the top part of Figure 6. The beeps in test mode indicate bad RAM (not ROM). They also identify the location of the (first) bad IC. For example, your first "low" tone is the second, which according to the table implicates the RAM chip at location E2. Letters and numbers are printed along the edges of the PCB. Find where the "E" row intersects the "2" column, and you'll have found it. It's a 2114, even if it's identified with an Atari P/N. Recommend soldering in a socket rather than soldering in the new IC. Note that it's possible you have more than one bad RAM chip. It only "beeps" to ID the first bad one it finds. You may replace it, only to find that another one (farther in the test) is also bad. It's also possible that the RAM is fine, and the problem is in the address decoding logic, but let's not go there yet--we'll assume that the RAM is in fact bad for now...

I was looking at the power supply because I had read about a lot of other problems stemming from improper voltage, so Start at the bottom, right? I wanted to make sure I was getting the power I need where I need it before chasing my tail

Excellent approach. To do this ground up, P5/J5 at the power brick. Check the schematic of the power supply: http://arcarc.xmission.com/PDF_Arcade_Atari_Kee/Asteroids/Asteroids_DP-143-7th-01A.pdf
to see what you should read as outputs at P5 (e.g. 10.3VDC at pins 1, 2 & 3, with respect to GND in pin 4 or 5; 36VAC between pins 6 & 7, 6.3VAC between pins 8 & 9, and 65 VAC between pins 11 & 13). Of those, the 10.3VDC is the most important to having the PCB run ; the 6.3VAC lights the coin door and provides filiment voltage to the CRT; the 36VAC is used by the PCB for audio and video signal amplification; and the 65VAC powers the monitor.

If all the checks out, plug in P5/J5 to the power brick and move to the A/R board. Unplug its outputs (P7/J7 & P8/J8). Again use the schematic diagram to check for proper output voltage (regulated 5VDC in this case). While here, look for crispy resistors on this board. Visually inspect all of your PCB mounted connector pins, and the mating connector housing pins. Replace anything gnarly-looking (burnt, corroded, badly deformed, etc.) If every thing is good this far, your power supply is minimally functional (haven't check the audio-amp side of the A/R board, but we know it's OK if you got beeps).

For that matter, I'm pretty sure you've got a good 5V and 36VAC to the PCB, and that the clock & CPU are working, because all of that is required to run the RAM test and give you the beeps you've heard.

My goal was to install a 60 in 1 JAMMA board, harness, monitor, joysticks, etc.

You're killing me.
 
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If I can get this game to work, I probably won't convert it. You're right, the only thing I can use is the cabinet, but that is why I bought it! I don't have the room to build an arcade, so a multi game works for me. I can find a better donor.

Thanks for all the help people! I'll bring some tools home this weekend and do some testing. What do you mean by P5/J5? And A/R board? Sorry, I don't know the lingo.
 
What do you mean by P5/J5? And A/R board? Sorry, I don't know the lingo.

By "P5/J5" I mean "plug 5 / jack 5." This terminology is consistent with the way the schematic I linked was labeled. Every plug/jack combo has a number, and of course P5 is intended to plug in to J5, so I refered to the connection of the two, in general, as "P5/J5."

Sorry about the "A/R board" lingo. Atari, in their manual, refered to it as the "Regulator/Audio PCB," so I guess it properly should be the "R/A" board. But you may see it commonly referred to as the "A/R" or "AR" board. See the manual (Figures 1, 10, 12, and 13). It does two things: provides regulated 5VDC to the game board, and amplifies the audio.

Also, I made reference to a "power brick." This, too, is lingo for what Atari called simply "power supply." "Power brick" is sometimes used to avoid ambiguity, as the A/R board could also be considered part of the "power supply" in general usage. It's also known as the "transformer assembly" or "power block." You'll find it identified in Figures 1 & 12, with detailed views in Figure 18. The power brick does a number of things: provides connections for world voltage selection and safety interlocks, steps down the line voltage to several other AC levels needed, rectifies & filters one of those to provide unregulated DC to the A/R (R/A) board. Oh, and it provides circuit protection with an array of fuses.
 
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