Hard Drivin' - Zeropower RAM and brake pedal

Dan

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Hi guys

I recently found myself a Hard Drivin' cockpit after much searching (not many of them left in the UK).

There are a couple of problems with it that I'd like to get sorted out though:

1) The zeropower and timekeeper SRAM chips are dead. I read Jed Margolin's procedure for replacing the battery cells embedded in them and decided that sounded a bit too complicated, but he also says you can get away with removing both chips and replacing with new zeropower chips (you do lose the clock/calendar function of the timekeeper, but that doesn't bother me). Is there a particular chip that's recommended as a replacement, which is still easily available? And are the original chips socketed or will I have to desolder them (I haven't looked closely at the PCB yet).

2) The brake pedal is faulty - brake sometimes kicks in even when you're not touching it, and tends to stick on after you press and release it. I'm going to remove the pedal assembly over the weekend to have a better look at it, but is there any common or obvious things I should be looking for with this?

thanks

Danny
 
Here's the link to the Zero Power RAM you need:
http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/STMicroelectronics/M48Z02-150PC1/?qs=Yc96klrMi5KuFTgFq6AWxw==

Strangely enough, when I ordered mine earlier this year, the timekeeper version was cheaper than the regular one, so I went ahead and got one of each like is normally in there.
I don't really think the clock adds much other than the ability to check the audits to see when the games is played.

As for the brake pedal, that is a complicated beast with a strain guage or some sort of magical thing I don't understand. Check the troubleshooting guide in the manual, it's pretty detailed.

Good luck, Race Drivin' is a GREAT game when it's fully working.
 
It must be Hard Drivin week. I picked up one of those last weekend. The power supply was blown. I ordered a new one and a manual. I am going to put it in Saturday and see what happens.
 
Here's the link to the Zero Power RAM you need:
http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/STMicroelectronics/M48Z02-150PC1/?qs=Yc96klrMi5KuFTgFq6AWxw==

Strangely enough, when I ordered mine earlier this year, the timekeeper version was cheaper than the regular one, so I went ahead and got one of each like is normally in there.
I don't really think the clock adds much other than the ability to check the audits to see when the games is played.

As for the brake pedal, that is a complicated beast with a strain guage or some sort of magical thing I don't understand. Check the troubleshooting guide in the manual, it's pretty detailed.

Good luck, Race Drivin' is a GREAT game when it's fully working.

Thanks. I guess I'll do the same and get one of each then. I looked at the PCB last night, it looks like none of the chips are socketed so I guess it's a desoldering job to remove the two in question?

Yeah I was reading about the brake in the manual, the strain gauge sounds like a nightmare. It says to contact Atari (great!) in the event of problems as they used 'specialist bonding techniques' to assemble it.
 
Sure is. As with Hard Drivin the conversions always left a hell of a lot to be desired but the original game is great.

Yeah it saddens me when I see kids slating HD/RD when they've only played it on a console or 8-bit computer. It has to be the real thing with a game like this, nothing else comes close :)
 
Thanks. I guess I'll do the same and get one of each then. I looked at the PCB last night, it looks like none of the chips are socketed so I guess it's a desoldering job to remove the two in question?

They should be socketed. I have a RD and HD pcb and they are socketed on both. In fact, I don't think I've seen a RD/HD board where the zero power ram chips are not socketed. Double check that you are looking in the right location, and on the correct board in the stack.
 
They should be socketed. I have a RD and HD pcb and they are socketed on both. In fact, I don't think I've seen a RD/HD board where the zero power ram chips are not socketed. Double check that you are looking in the right location, and on the correct board in the stack.

That's a relief. I'm sure mine must be socketed too as I can't think why they'd be different, so I'm likely just looking in the wrong place. I'm going to remove the main PCB's later so will have a better look then.

Sorry, one more question on the timekeeper ram chips too. Just to be clear, is the link you gave me for the standard (non-timekeeper) version?

thanks :)


edit: just answered my own question actually, having checked Jed Margolin's page again. I'm gonna go for two of the standard Z02 chips as they're half the price of the T02's in the UK.
 
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Got the chips yesterday - I went for the timekeeper in the end as there was a minimum order charge from the company I used (Farnell), but they were still cheaper than Mouser in the UK.

Removing the PCB and the two ZRAM chips was surprisingly easy, I thought it was gonna be more difficult than that. Took lots of photos first to make sure I connect it all back up correctly.

Here are the little critters.

http://s1176.photobucket.com/albums/x322/dannyboyy75/Hard Drivin/?action=view&current=IMG_0856.jpg

I've installed the new chips but not put the PCB back in yet, as I want to clean it with compressed air first (and hoover all the dust out of the area where the PCB goes, as it's pretty nasty in there). Hopefully it all works ok when I fire it up again :-O
 
I was just checking out your photos. It's interesting that the UK roms have the gear shift indicator on the right side. Is the actual shifter on the right side of the cabinet as well? Did they change the tracks to place you in the proper lane?

Mine was the filthiest game I think I've ever seen. It must have been in a laundry mat or something. It was full of lint like dust.

d7fb982c.jpg
 
Mine was the filthiest game I think I've ever seen. It must have been in a laundry mat or something. It was full of lint like dust.

Wow, maybe mine isn't so bad after all. That's a LOT of dust :D

I put mine back together earlier and all seems good, the new zrams are working fine. One funny thing I didn't realise though, is you can't set the clock past 1999. I guess the Y2K bug would kick in.....


I was just checking out your photos. It's interesting that the UK roms have the gear shift indicator on the right side. Is the actual shifter on the right side of the cabinet as well? Did they change the tracks to place you in the proper lane?

I hadn't even noticed that - where is the gear shift indicator out of interest?

Yeah mine's a RHD version that was built by Atari Ireland. The gearstick is on the left, same as it would be in a British car. Is it also on the left on the US version then? You're right that the cars all drive in the left lanes too, so as you crest the first hill to take the speed course, you have to keep left to avoid the green car.

cockpit.jpg
 
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Wow, maybe mine isn't so bad after all. That's a LOT of dust :D
It was so dirty, that it took me a while to figure out there was a plastic bag full of manuals tucked in front of the PCB! You can see it in the picture. Luckily, it was just light fluffy dust that was easily sucked out with the shop vac.

I put mine back together earlier and all seems good, the new zrams are working fine. One funny thing I didn't realise though, is you can't set the clock past 1999. I guess the Y2K bug would kick in.....

Interesting. I think I turned my clock off to save on battery usuage in the RAM, so I never noticed this.

I hadn't even noticed that - where is the gear shift indicator out of interest?
On the screen in one of your pictures, it's on the Left side by the gauges. On the US version, it's on the right side of the screen.

Yeah mine's a RHD version that was built by Atari Ireland. The gearstick is on the left, same as it would be in a British car. Is it also on the left on the US version then? You're right that the cars all drive in the left lanes too, so as you crest the first hill to take the speed course, you have to keep left to avoid the green car.

That's awesome. The US version has the gear shifter on the right hand side, and the oncoming traffic is in the left lane, so you have to keep right. Also, I notice the rear view mirror (on screen) is on the left side on yours and the right side on mine. I love the attention to detail that Atari did on the Hard Drivin/Race Drivin games.
 
I haven't had time for my HD cockpit recently, and the weather was too bad (I can only work on it outside...)

I've been wondering what the hold up is! I check your post over at dragonslairfans.com on occasion hoping to see some progress on your restoration.
 
It was so dirty, that it took me a while to figure out there was a plastic bag full of manuals tucked in front of the PCB! You can see it in the picture. Luckily, it was just light fluffy dust that was easily sucked out with the shop vac.

Yeah mine had the manuals in there too, plus a few spare parts (pots, springs and a cable) which I guess the original op left in there. Spare parts are always useful, but at the same time it's kinda worrying as I'm not sure if they should've been fitted!


On the screen in one of your pictures, it's on the Left side by the gauges. On the US version, it's on the right side of the screen.

Doh, I feel stupid now. I was thinking you were referring to something in the shot of the PCB, like a group of LED's or something :eek:


I love the attention to detail that Atari did on the Hard Drivin/Race Drivin games.

Yeah the attention to detail on these games is epic. The coolest thing for me is that the further back you have the seat, the stronger the force feedback is :cool:
 
Bought mine from RS-online because they have no shipping costs and no minimum order:

Hey,

I recognise that username from ukvac & dlf :) (I'm dannyboy on those sites). Like hatrick I've been following your resto with interest too, and am trying to gradually restore my HD cockpit, although my technical skills are limited.

I'm sure I tried RS UK but couldn't see any T02/Z02's on their site. I did find a site selling them for £3 each, but then I realised why - they had a minimum order quantity of 140 :-/


About the brake: did you run the calibrations ? Else it's probably the pot.


Until I replaced these 2 dead zram chips last night I had to run the calibrations every time I powered the machine up. The brake troubleshooting flowchart does say to check the zram though, so now I've replaced those and done the calibration again I'll monitor it to see if that's made any difference. It did seem better last night but I only played for 10 minutes, so need to do a longer test over the weekend.

I have a feeling it may be the strain gauge though (check my thread on ukvac for more info if you're interested) as the resistance across pins 1 & 2 of the brake harness never changes from 354 ohms, which the manual says is the strain gauge.

I'll check the pot too though, as the game came with a spare pot which could be for the brake pedal if I'm lucky.
 
I just received my Timekeeper and Zeropower this week and just installed them. They worked beautifully after I realized that I did not re-install the fuses after checking them. I also lost the sound, but now the game works great. This thread and the link to Mouser certainly made it easier to fix my first video game. Thanks
 
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