Does this Shinobi PCB have a suicide chip?

JonM

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I've attached a picture of my Shinobi without sound. It looks like it has an unencrypted Z80B in C43. However, I'm not sure if the ROM was ever replaced. 11287 looks just as old as the rest of them. Was this thing half-way fixed or what? Just looking for an opinion from someone who has fixed suicide the chip on a Shinobi or Sega System 16.

Thanks!

Jon
 

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That board no longer has a suicide chip on it, and it may never have had. There was a version of Shinobi that wasn't encrypted.

As to wether the ROM has been reburned or not, I often use an Exacto knife and carefully lift the labels off of EPROMs on the boards I repair. That way it can still look original. Sometimes the labels tear (especially those lousy paper ones that SEGA used) and I have to replace it, but not too often.

Brian
 
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Wow! You move the original label, that's dedication. I'm not sure what to try next on the sound. Could the Z80B just be dead? I'm thinking of buying Bob Robert's kit with the cpu and ROM for $15. Even if it doesn't work at least I'll know whether or not it is the ROM/Z80. Any other ideas?
 
Wow! You move the original label, that's dedication.

I don't move the label to a new EPROM. I remove the label, erase and burn the new code on the old chip and then replace the label.

I'm not sure what to try next on the sound. Could the Z80B just be dead? I'm thinking of buying Bob Robert's kit with the cpu and ROM for $15. Even if it doesn't work at least I'll know whether or not it is the ROM/Z80. Any other ideas?

Hang on before you do that. There are a few other things you should check before you just start spending money for something that most likely isn't needed.

First look at all the traces on the bottom board at the corners, where the screw holes are. Sega had the audio traces travel along the edge of the PCB and actually make a zig-zag shape around those corners. Here is a picture of one of my boards that has that type of damage :

imag0976r.jpg


The traces can be easily repaired across the bottom of the board :

imag0977b.jpg


If that all checks out OK, then go on to the sound CPU. Check the Z-80 by swapping it with a spare from another board if you have one avaliable.

Brian.
 
I'll check those traces. Thanks for the pictures, that helps a lot. Is there a schematic for this board? I've got the old Shinobi manual but it doesn't have any schematics.

Thanks,

Jon
 
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