Help Please, Arctic Thunder problems...

Guru-420

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Recently picked up the pair of Arctic Thunder machines from the FS section. I was able to get one working "mostly" out of the two. I would eventually like to get both of them running if I can. I do know the monitor is bad on one of the units, and until I know more about the PC issues it seems to be having, I'll try to focus on the one working one...

So the issue with the working unit is the game always is pulling to the left (hard). Figured this would be a simple adjustment in the test menu. Opened the coin door, and attempted to enter into the test menu, but it doesn't really register anything. I can hit the first button (switch 4), and it goes into a sub-menu, but I am stuck there until I reboot the machine (will not "enter" or move selection up/down).

I did try to swap out the test switch board with the one from the other machine, no difference. I tried to jumper the switches on the back of the switches, didn't register. Thinking I might try swapping out the IO board, but figured I'd see if anyone has anything else I should check. I am pretty new to this type of machine (but I do work in IT).

Thanks in advance for any help!
 
Try Swapping the ram or put different ram in the pc sounds like it it may be hanging up. That was my problem , it keep crashing and rebooting.
 
Swap the I/O board with your working one and see if the problem goes away. Also be sure you have a good Serial cable and that the PC has the Serial port set properly. (Right address)

If that fails you "may" have the start of file corruption on the HHD. All of the Commands for test and pricing ect... are in the files on the Drive if these get wonkey it will react badly.
 
Thanks. This one is the working one, just doesn't work 100%, and I'm trying to figure out where the issue is and happen to have a 2nd machine with possible spare parts. Once the game loads, I need to go in and calibrate the steering. It is pulling left to the point where when you turn the handlebars to select a character, you can't even get to the 6th person.

Swapped out the IO with the IO from the non-working machine, same results. I can use the manual credit button, and enter the diagnostics menu, but nothing responds once I am actually IN the diagnostics menu. Swapping the serial cables hasn't changed anything either, nor has swapping the test boards or manually grounding the input for the up/down on the IO board itself. Pretty lost on this one. Luckily, having the 2nd machine, I'm not ordering a bunch of expensive parts only to find its not the issue.
 
I will pop in and say if you need a PC for one of these, I have 3 now. I can get a good working one set up if you ever need one.

And I may take you up on that, as I think the mobo might be bad on the parts one (and the monitor). I can likely get the monitor going, but if the mobo/processor are shot I am kind of SOL. So far, it seems like all of the other parts are working, just not the super important stuff.
 
Here is another thought, Just spitballing here, Maybe the Force feedback board or driver board has a issue? If you disconnect the I/O board from the feedback board does the Steering loosen up? Something is telling the motor to power left all the time, upon start it should be centered and not trying to force it any direction. You "can" disconnect the feedback motor and see if your steering pot is smooth responding.

I have tested several PC's by not having anything connected BUT the I/O board. (Unhook every wire from The I/O board but Power and the Serial cable to the PC) You can look at the Schematics and just jump the pins on the I/O board to enter test Menu ect... If that works then you have a issue in the harness or some other board.
The pins needed are the Far left and the 2 right after the Empty Key slot on IIRC JP18?? Far left is Ground and the right of Key is Test and the next over to the right is Vol + Next Right is Vol - Thats all you need to test the PC and I/O
 

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Here is another thought, Just spitballing here, Maybe the Force feedback board or driver board has a issue? If you disconnect the I/O board from the feedback board does the Steering loosen up? Something is telling the motor to power left all the time, upon start it should be centered and not trying to force it any direction. You "can" disconnect the feedback motor and see if your steering pot is smooth responding.

I have tested several PC's by not having anything connected BUT the I/O board. (Unhook every wire from The I/O board but Power and the Serial cable to the PC) You can look at the Schematics and just jump the pins on the I/O board to enter test Menu ect... If that works then you have a issue in the harness or some other board.
The pins needed are the Far left and the 2 right after the Empty Key slot on IIRC JP18?? Far left is Ground and the right of Key is Test and the next over to the right is Vol + Next Right is Vol - Thats all you need to test the PC and I/O

Thanks for all the good info here. I'll have to do some additional testing to see if the steering is goofed up. I was pretty focused on trying to access the test menu and testing the 2nd computer. I actually did test jumping the required pins on JP18, running a jumper from ground to each of the IO inputs, and nothing changed. I may try switching the hard drives around and see if it helps, maybe the HD is starting to go like you had specualted (it had a few bouts of "unusual" behavior on startup).

As far as the 2nd non-working unit, I did go through and test the RAM and Video Card, and plugged in a known good PS. No Dice. As I see it, it looks as if the motherboard has significant corrosion. Even tripping the 2 pins to get the computer to turn on was completely unsuccessful. Looks like that unit will require a new PC and Monitor. :(

Oh, and the force feedback actually quit for a bit on its own on the working unit, and the steering in-game still pulled hard left. Wow, these things are kind of a nightmare to work on...lol
 
Unfortunately, you can not "Just swap" the Hard drives. They are coded to the motherboard there attached to, so if you swap the game will not load at all. When you get a "new" hard drive there in sysprep mode and are set for each environment. It does some "final" setup before loading the games. Then of course your in the boat of needing to calibrate the system so if your force feedback is not working "The game will not load" LOL as it HAS to be calibrated to ensure the game will act properly. Viscous circle aint it.

As for the Steering there could be a few things, but until you get into test mode you can not preform any of the tests......... One you can do is power off machine, unhook the steering pot, use a Meter and on say 10K scale, go from the center pin to one of the outside pins, you "Should" get a smooth 0.0 to around 5K reading as you progress from left to right on the steering. If you connect it backwards Center to the other Pin you will see around 5K to 0.00 they flip readings. If your Steering reads about 2.5K centered +- a bit you should be fine with the "hard" adjustment on the steering shaft..... Also look for Jumps in readings while moving the steering, if your meter reads 2.5K then a small movement it Jumps to 0.0 or 30K ect... (Does not follow a smooth step progression in readings) Your Steering pot is failing. replace it.
 
not exactly the most sterling era of arcade gaming. when they went PC they made a catastrophic mistake.

what's incredible is it got worse after this.
 
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