Centipede Problem

derSturm

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Here is what I'm seeing when I turn on the Centipede I picked up a few months ago (and am just now getting around to messing with). I'm getting this and only this whether the self test switch is on or off. I am NOT getting any sound, including the beeps in test mode that indicate bad RAMs; I have tested the speaker itself and it is in working order. Every time I reset the machine the colors change; the pattern does not. Toggling test mode with the machine on causes no noticeable change whatever.

According to the manual "garbage" on the screen indicates a bad ROM at J1. Beyond this, being that this is old Atari, I know that I need to check the sockets. I was just hoping that someone out there might have seen this screen before and knows exactly what the problem is.

Thanks for the help I'm sure I'll get. You guys are awesome.


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First read the ROMs in an EPROM programmer and compare the checksums with those in MAME. Replace any bad ROMs.

If you don't have a programmer then clean the inside surface of the legs with emery paper on each of the ROMs D1 through J1 then the NVRAM chip as well. Check the inside surface of the legs on the CPU and the POKEY chips too.

If that's not it, try new RAMs at F2/H2

RJ
 
OK. I suppose it IS time to get one. What should I look for in an eprom programmer? What's the major difference between the $50 ones and the $650ones? Will they all work with these old arcade ROMs?
 
The expensive ones will program many more different chips. I have a TopMax which is at the upper end of your price scale and it will do bipolar PROMs and the older EPROMs with no issues.

Stay away... far away from those cheap assed Willem programmers. There are a few threads on the forums as to which programmers are decent on the cheap end of the scale. You should do a quick search.

RJ
 
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