Galaga DIP switch & reboot problem

irobot

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If i keep all the dip switches on my Galaga PCB on "off", the game runs fine.

When I set some of the switches to "on" it starts running weird, does the endless reboot on startup thing.

I'm not quite sure which switch settings are the culprit yet.

Any ideas?

Thanks
 
Could be... but there really is a dipswitch combination that will cause the boardset to be stuck in a reboot loop. I've run into that before and it's a frustrating thing.

Don't recall which switch it was though.
 
It was 3, 4, or 5 on one of the banks... and since the switch banks are independent of each other there are only 512 combinations.
 
Could be... but there really is a dipswitch combination that will cause the boardset to be stuck in a reboot loop. I've run into that before and it's a frustrating thing.

Don't recall which switch it was though.

+1 and I can't remember which either but as long as you set the switches properly as indicated in the manual, no problem.

Bill
 
I just played with it in MAME. It didn't even take a combination. If the "freeze" dip was on at power on, it would cycle the boot-up test constantly. After booting, setting the "freeze" dip freezes the screen, as expected.
 
yeah, I checked the dip switch settings in the manual very carefully.

The board is screwy.

if I set the switches, it works fine on the first boot.

then when i start tyhe game again, it does the endless reboot thing.

with all the switches in "off" position, it works fine.

the freeze screen switch isn't the problem, i'm playing the game with all the switches off.

it's just some weird problem

I've been dicking around with these boards for months.

Frustrating.
 
Yeah, there's definitely one switch that causes that. I was trying to set one at a local classic arcade to TG settings once, and when I set it, the thing did the endless reboot. Check either SW5 or SW7 on 6J. SW7 isn't documented on the Galaga dipswitch listing at mikesarcade.com and crazykong.com, and I think that was the one that was causing it.
 
yeah, I checked the dip switch settings in the manual very carefully.

The board is screwy.

if I set the switches, it works fine on the first boot.

then when i start tyhe game again, it does the endless reboot thing.

with all the switches in "off" position, it works fine.

the freeze screen switch isn't the problem, i'm playing the game with all the switches off.

it's just some weird problem

I've been dicking around with these boards for months.

Frustrating.

Did anyone ever figure this out? I'm having the exact same problem. With all dip switches set to off, the game will boot and play normally. If I set it to free play (switches 1, 2, and 3 on 6k set to on) the game endlessly reboots.

So far I've replaced the three CPU sockets, all the custom chip sockets on the CPU board, as well as a bunch of resistor packs, including the ones near the dip switches. None of this has helped at all.
 
some time ago I had a similar problem with a dip I can not remember what the dip was but I think I know where that thread or post is. It has been some time but let me look. Here it is behind a cob web on here and a bit dusty, This is from when I first joined and this is the first board set I got working....Here it is and hope it helps you....

http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showpost.php?p=1686903&postcount=31
 
Did anyone ever figure this out? I'm having the exact same problem. With all dip switches set to off, the game will boot and play normally. If I set it to free play (switches 1, 2, and 3 on 6k set to on) the game endlessly reboots.

So far I've replaced the three CPU sockets, all the custom chip sockets on the CPU board, as well as a bunch of resistor packs, including the ones near the dip switches. None of this has helped at all.

The other thing you might replace is the actual dip switches or at the very least make sure that they are turning on and off.
 
I'm bumping this thread as I think I might be having the same issue. After changing my machine from 4 ships to 3 ships it started rebooting. If I cycle it on and off it'll usually start.

I guess the biggest question for this thread is what in the dip switch circuit would cause reboots. Resistor packs? Dip switches themselves doesn't seem logical because if a switch wasn't working it's inability to turn on or off would just make a unwanted but acceptable combo no?
 
Well it's official, if I return the game to the dip settings from when I got it, it boots up without issue. If I make any settings changes ie 4 ships to 3 or take away free play it boot cycles over and over.

Anyone know if the dip switch assemblies themselves could be causing this. Maybe they're making no contact when switched to another spot due to corrosion or something. Maybe if there's no on or off signal maybe that can cause boot issues?
 
Yep I was all prepared to get a new set of roms when bammo it didn't boot again with the what I thought were working settings.

I messed with 3J #5 which is the one that causes it to boot loop or something and then it worked again for a bit but alas that didn't last either.

Every time I mess with the dip switches it starts just fine for a number of times, then it stops. I dunno... a tad frustrated really.
 
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