Joust occasionally resetting with Rom Error

futurepinhead

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Every now and then my Joust will reset and go to a Rom error screen and after awhile, boot back up. Getting 5.0v at the board.
 

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the batteries shouldn't have any influence over rom errors.

I just had a customer's set in and while I had no issues before, when I went to do final testing the other night it started producing rom errors. I was able to clear the 2-0-7 and 2-0-5 errors by just pressing on the roms, but the 2-0-3 stuck. I wound up pulling every chip out of the board and taking it to the sink to wash with simple green, hot water, and a toothbrush. I then brought it back to dry with a hair dryer and before reinstalling the chips I looked over the inner legs (the only part that makes contact in these single wipe sockets) and noticed a lot of them were either dull looking or fairly black. you want the legs to have a shiny and silver appearance. the discoloration, whatever it may be, can hinder connectivity between the chip and socket. I wound up sanding all the legs of the chips with 220 grit sandpaper gently until they were shiny again.

reinstalled, and no more rom errors. customer got their boards and will now have to wait awhile to install them again cause their cab is buried. :(

I've had this happen even on Mortal Kombat 2, corrosion doesn't discriminate. :)

the 5.0v is well within tolerance for these boards. I do full service on all the boards if you'd like to ensure they live for a long time. if you're handy with replacing components though I can suggest what to do. drop me a PM sometime.
 
Thank you, I can look at that. Also, when it resets, it goes into boot up for a long period of time. Maybe 5 to 10 mins before it gives me the error. So the sequence of events. Is Game, reset for 5 to 10 mins, error, game. Not sure if that still goesbwith leg corrosion?
 
could be the ribbon crapping out. easy test is to let the game completely boot up and then kinda move it around. if you force it to reset doing so, then it's probably bad.

I've never seen a rom PIA failure before, but I'm led to believe that'll generate random rom errors or the data simply won't make it to the MPU.

regardless, it's pretty unnatural!
 
yes, exactly the same part, 6821. the rom, interface, and sound boards all have them. I explained the rom symptoms, interface will give you wrong controls, and the sound board will get you either wrong sounds or I think also none at all (basing on my horrible Defender experiences years ago)

and conveniently they're soldered in. :)
 
My robotron would do that. I think the headers are making bad connection with the molex connectors. If I reseat them, it usually cures it
 
all the high current stuff (see: power) I replace on all boards. and replace the plugs for added measure.

on my Defender at the crib I apparently took the time to replace all the plugs years ago using needlenose pliers to crimp but didn't bother changing any headers or caps. it's like a mechanics own game, I swear.
 
Sometimes if gives a Rom error number, but they are usually different. So I do suspect the ribbon cable.

I successfully swapped the ribbon cables last night and it fired right up the first time. Sometimes it doesn't screw up until its been on for awhile so I have it on right now and will check in on it later on. I did notice the rom boards had 3 caps total, all 35uf 100v. They all looked like they could use replacing so I plan on ordering those in soon.

Thanks for all your input and I will update when I know something further.
 
I've had a couple rom boards recently throwing random errors and it wound up just being dirty roms and sockets. took the boards to the sink and sanded the gunk off the rom legs and haven't had a problem since.

the stuff's old, it happens.
 
Joust still running solid. I will clean off the ROMs next time I'm in there just for preventative maintenance, but it looks like it was the Ribbon cable for this issue.
 
the wiggle test, as I call it. when you have a "proper" running game, push the rom ribbon around. if it resets, it's got a bad connection in it somewhere; if it holds, then it's good enough, for now. I do the same with the boards I get sent if they include the interface board as well: go into the input test and bounce the input ribbon around. if the game starts making blip and bloop sounds, same thing, bad connection somewhere in the ribbon. obviously it's possible to bend the cables a certain way to make them work. I did that on my Defender for awhile until I got tired of the intermittent problems and replaced both.

I buy them by the set from Quarter Arcade. it's hard to actually find in their store but if you google Williams ribbon cable Quarter Arcade you should land on it.
 
I was always too cheap when I was working on Williams boards. I popped the lid off the rom side of the ribbon cable, and cut a piece of ide cable from a computer and carefully presses it on. Can't remember if the normal ide connector fit the cpu side, but I think it might have. Good times....

Mike
 
I was always too cheap when I was working on Williams boards. I popped the lid off the rom side of the ribbon cable, and cut a piece of ide cable from a computer and carefully presses it on. Can't remember if the normal ide connector fit the cpu side, but I think it might have. Good times....

Mike

yeah they're both 40 pin. I've done the vise thing on a few cables but I'm guessing the wires were just broken in them. I've had some where the covers pop off and the wires pull out where the vise worked very well however!

are you the Ranger Chronicles guy? that was awesome.
 
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