Help me get my Qix working

bongoben

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I happily inherited Jim's (YodainMN) Qix trimline cab. He said he had been having issues with it so I knew I was walking into a project. I also picked up an untested boardset from someone local. It is complete but had "needs chips" written across the top of the Video Processor pcb. I installed the Arcadeshop switcher kit that Jim had picked up but not installed and changed out the entire pcb set to see what I could get out of it.

So, here's try 1 ("new" boardset):
The game boots up but the entire screen was scrambled. I hit the self test button on the video processor pcb and got the 4th LED to light up so the LEDs were 000100. The manual said this indicates a communication issue with the Data pcb. It recommended that I pull P6 to help isolate the issue but I wasn't sure what that was. I ended up swapping out the Data pcb with the one that was in the cab when I got it from Jim as I was concerned about the connectors on the one I had in there. This leads to "try 2"

Try 2:
The game booted to a black screen with flashing white along the sides. It seemed like it was in some sort of reset loop but wouldn't ever boot up. When I hit the self test button there were no LEDs lit up but I actually got something on the monitor. The first pic below was the first power up with this boardset combination. I wanted to try swapping in the original Video Processor pcb that was in the cab when I picked it up from Jim... which leads to "try 3".

Try 3:
The game booted to the same black screen with flashing white along the sides as I mentioned in Try 2. When I hit the self test button I got what you can see in the 2nd pic below.

At no time during any of these tests could I get any coin up or other sounds. In Try 2 and 3, once the game went to the screens pictured I couldn't do anything to get it out of this screen.

Thoughts?
 

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I am no expert in Qix. When I had mine it would sometimes boot. I put in the arcadeshop switcher and nothing. I picked up a known working boardset and nothing. I finally decided to check voltage at the chips and I was missing the -5 on the video board. Turns out one of the pins on the connector was not making connection. Fixed that and it worked. I would check continuity on all the ribbon cables and make sure all the power cables are making proper connection first. I've heard they can be flakey.- Barry
 
I don't know that hardware but it looks to me like a communications problem to/from cpu. Either addressing or data. Check and re check all connections/connector to from the boards and try new ones. Make sure they are going from pin1 to pin1.
 
Thanks guys. That was my thought also. There are so many connections between the boards that if one is off that could be causing this and many other problems. My other question... does anyone know if there's a list of the Test Point voltages anywhere? I didn't see anything in the manual.
 
Thanks guys. That was my thought also. There are so many connections between the boards that if one is off that could be causing this and many other problems. My other question... does anyone know if there's a list of the Test Point voltages anywhere? I didn't see anything in the manual.

I checked the chips themselves. I checked the number of the chip in the manual and did a search to see what voltages were supposed to be there and found the -5 missing. You could check the pins on the backside of the boards though that would be a pain. At least you'd know the boards are getting. When I found the bad connector it was obvious. With it unplugged I could look inside and see one of the pins didn't look like the rest. - Barry
 
I went through several boardsets last year and found a bunch of bad ribbon cables. Symptoms ranged from the game not booting to lockups or minor glitches.
Another problem area on these taito boards are on the cpu board around the battery. If you see any acid damage the board will need to be gone over.
The power supplys are another can of worms. If yours works, great. If not, smash it with a hammer and install a switcher. I think you said you already put a switcher in right?
The original supply seems to be pretty reliable once you get it working and adjusted properly but you follow the directions in the manual closely when adjusting it.
Good luck, Qix is an awesome game to have in your collection.
 
This is definitely one of those games where it really helps to have a working boardset to start with and then test those boards individually as there are some many problems I've seen, ranging from bad ribbon cables, cold solder joints on power pins, corrosion on the video board, reset line issues and other stuff like that.

I've also found replacing all of the tantalum caps on the video board is a good preventative maintenance as well as replacing all of the 4116 rams as they don't cost that much to replace.

Anthony
 
I just can't win. So I plan on sending off the mass of Qix pcbs I have to be tested and in the mean time I wanted to throw in a 60-in-1 just to get the game working until I get a working Qix boardset. So I threw together a Jamma harness with connectors so I could leave the Qix harness as is and just patch in the Jamma harness to the power, monitor & cp. Simple, yes? Yeah, until I realize that getting the 60-in-1 to sync up with the G07 in the cab is going to be damn near impossible. Gah.... :)
 
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