Kee (Atari) Sprint 2 Damaged ROM Help

SpeedwayArcade

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Donor 2012, 2023
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Hi,

I was troubleshooting a garbled screen on my newly acquired Sprint 2 and, while trying to test the chip seating, I damaged a ROM to the point of breaking of 2 pins. I would like to reprogram a new one but I'm having trouble determining the replacement chip because all of the markings are worn off are faded beyond repair.

From the schematic, I damaged ROM 006290 (SPRINT II Race Track ROM 1). My board has 4 ROMS on it signifying it's a version 3 board and I've downloaded the 006290 B1 file that fits this chip/position.

Problem is, I can't figure out what kind of chip it was or would be. It's 24 pins and it looks just like those purple ceramic (with gold plating) 2708 or 2716 EPROM chips on eBay. But, let's just say that I really don't know how to classify chips and that I really have no idea what I'm doing. Can someone help me figure out what chip I should be using and what programmer can dump the file? I'd at least like to get the board back to the way it was before I messed it up.
 
Sprint 2 Won't Start a Game

Before I messed up one of my ROM chips, these were my symptoms:

1) Sprint 2 Powers on but is frozen on the track screen.
2) Control Panel is non-responsive. Won't start game or change tracks.
3) Game does not go into attract mode.
4) Game does not appear to go into test mode when moving test switch back and forth.
5) When powering on and off the switch, sometimes Control Panel cone lights for 1p and 2p come on, sometimes they don't.

I found an old thread about the coin door mechs and DID go in and fix two bad connectors but that didn't solve the issue. Game acts like it coins up (moves the physical counter) but won't fire off a game. Board issue? Harness issue? Board was recently shopped at El Dorado but the game traveled 1700+ miles so, who knows what else could have jostled?

I think I have someone in-state to work on the board but any other obvious ideas that I'm missing as a newbie (other than the board)? Thanks in advance!
 
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Time for a yeeeeoutchie...

I did some digging through an old data book from 1977.

It's a Signetics 16kb Static MOS ROM (2048 x 8) part number 2600 or 2600-1 and it has a VERY unique pinout.

Code:
Gnd - 1     24 - OE1
 A0 - 2     23 - D0
 A1 - 3     22 - D1
 A2 - 4     21 - D2
 A3 - 5     20 - D3
 A4 - 6     19 - D4
 A5 - 7     18 - D5
 A9 - 8     17 - D6
+5v - 9     16 - D7
 A8 - 10    15 - A10
 A7 - 11    14 - OE2
 A6 - 12    13 - AR

AR is Address Read and is used for clocked mode. Luckily it's simply tied high through resistor R1 so this chip isn't being used in clocked mode. Whew.

+5 and Ground are on non-standard pins as are all the address and data lines AND control lines. That isn't too bad as they can be rerouted.

Output Enable 1 and 2 are logic high for enabling. EPROMs are logic low on the /CE and /OE lines. They are tied together on the PROM so you can tie /CE to low and toggle /OE using the ROM1 signal IF you invert it.

OK... You just need an adapter and a single inverter gate to flip the ROM1 signal.

Or you cross fingers that the damaged PROM can have its legs fixed.
 
Channel M,

Holy cow. I was just hoping to get it back to the way it was before possibly sending it to you for further inspection/repair. I'm still trying to swap the other board I have into it once I figure out the weird wiring that was done in the other machine. That way I'll know for sure if it's the board that's acting up or maybe something else instead.

I'm not sure I quite understand everything yet but there's no EPPROM that would be compatible, right? Is there a PROM that can be programmed one time but it's going to be hard to find? Reading the data on this chip, it's programmed in production of the chip? So many questions...

I think legs could be soldered back on but it would we'd want a "do not remove" sticker on that ROM LOL. I'm going to have to grab it and take a pic.

Time for a yeeeeoutchie...

I did some digging through an old data book from 1977.

It's a Signetics 16kb Static MOS ROM (2048 x 8) part number 2600 or 2600-1 and it has a VERY unique pinout.

Code:
Gnd - 1     24 - OE1
 A0 - 2     23 - D0
 A1 - 3     22 - D1
 A2 - 4     21 - D2
 A3 - 5     20 - D3
 A4 - 6     19 - D4
 A5 - 7     18 - D5
 A9 - 8     17 - D6
+5v - 9     16 - D7
 A8 - 10    15 - A10
 A7 - 11    14 - OE2
 A6 - 12    13 - AR

AR is Address Read and is used for clocked mode. Luckily it's simply tied high through resistor R1 so this chip isn't being used in clocked mode. Whew.

+5 and Ground are on non-standard pins as are all the address and data lines AND control lines. That isn't too bad as they can be rerouted.

Output Enable 1 and 2 are logic high for enabling. EPROMs are logic low on the /CE and /OE lines. They are tied together on the PROM so you can tie /CE to low and toggle /OE using the ROM1 signal IF you invert it.

OK... You just need an adapter and a single inverter gate to flip the ROM1 signal.

Or you cross fingers that the damaged PROM can have its legs fixed.
 
It's a factory mask programmed ROM. This means it was programmed as it was created and wasn't programmed by using voltage pulses like a traditional chip programmer uses. I'm not aware of any programmable versions of that chip.

Only God and Mark knows when he'll finish that project. He's a smart guy, but has limited cycles like the rest of us so you'll have to decide if you want to wait.

RJ

Channel M,

Holy cow. I was just hoping to get it back to the way it was before possibly sending it to you for further inspection/repair. I'm still trying to swap the other board I have into it once I figure out the weird wiring that was done in the other machine. That way I'll know for sure if it's the board that's acting up or maybe something else instead.

I'm not sure I quite understand everything yet but there's no EPPROM that would be compatible, right? Is there a PROM that can be programmed one time but it's going to be hard to find? Reading the data on this chip, it's programmed in production of the chip? So many questions...

I think legs could be soldered back on but it would we'd want a "do not remove" sticker on that ROM LOL. I'm going to have to grab it and take a pic.
 
CM, thanks for the detailed information. Quite the bummer...I clearly picked the wrong chip to mess with. It may take until next weekend, but I'm going to try to swap the boards and hope it's just a board only issue (excluding my self inflicted ROM error). Again, there is some funky wiring on the other board slowing me down so, it's not just a simple/normal swap. Once I see what happens there, I will reach out to you about bringing up the board or maybe the whole machine if it doesn't appear to be board related. The goal is to have BOTH Sprint II's working so, I don't want to cannibalize the other machine.

HudsonArcade, please keep us posted. Once I resolve my issues, I would be interested in the kit!
 
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I only work on boards, not whole machines.

I'm happy to look at the board, but don't have room or the inclination to work on whole machines.
 
Just my two bits, but it's relatively easy to repair damaged chip legs (IMSHO).

If there's not much left of the old leg you can trim away some of the chip body with a small hobby knife (think exacto).

Next it's very important to clean the surface with abrasion tool (i.e. good fiberglass pen) AND use some liquid solder flux.

Place the chip into a machined pin IC socket, then using either a "donor" leg or some small gauge wire (i.e. wire used for wire wrap), make a mechanical connection with your soldering iron.

Machined IC sockets - https://www.greatplainselectronics.com/products.asp?cat=161

If the ROM is hatched I've also used images from MAME to burn EPROMs, but as channelmanic stated you'll have to invert the "chip select" signal and move around things like VCC/GND. Unless you're really handy with electronics this is more of a last resort method, even finding another board and pulling the chips would probably be easier in the long run for most.

I don't have access to my photos at the moment but just to give you an idea of why you'd want to replace a chip leg if at all possible, I've attached a photo that shows part of a board I made to replace two bad masked ROMS. Shown is only one of the two EPROMs and part of the inverter chip. (This is from an online profile pic which is why it has been cropped.)
 

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Not always... The ceramic body chips with the soldered on gold legs are a real pain to fix... and a lot of the older PROMs tend to be that way.

Just my two bits, but it's relatively easy to repair damaged chip legs (IMSHO).

If there's not much left of the old leg you can trim away some of the chip body with a small hobby knife (think exacto).

Next it's very important to clean the surface with abrasion tool (i.e. good fiberglass pen) AND use some liquid solder flux.

Place the chip into a machined pin IC socket, then using either a "donor" leg or some small gauge wire (i.e. wire used for wire wrap), make a mechanical connection with your soldering iron.

Machined IC sockets - https://www.greatplainselectronics.com/products.asp?cat=161

If the ROM is hatched I've also used images from MAME to burn EPROMs, but as channelmanic stated you'll have to invert the "chip select" signal and move around things like VCC/GND. Unless you're really handy with electronics this is more of a last resort method, even finding another board and pulling the chips would probably be easier in the long run for most.

I don't have access to my photos at the moment but just to give you an idea of why you'd want to replace a chip leg if at all possible, I've attached a photo that shows part of a board I made to replace two bad masked ROMS. Shown is only one of the two EPROMs and part of the inverter chip. (This is from an online profile pic which is why it has been cropped.)
 
Just a follow-up...

A donor leg was soldered to the chip and the bent legs were very carefully straightened. I put it back in the socket and hooked it up to my Kurz Kasch tester and it fired right up and played just fine on the test bench.

Seems there may be more problems with the wire harness or power delivery in the cabinet.

BUT... Alas... the board sits here in safe keeping, boxed and ready to ship, but the flooding in Houston is keeping it here for a bit longer. I'm glad Op hasn't had any damage from flooding. There's an ongoing thread in the Texas section about Harvey and who has/has not been affected.
 
Sorry to zombie this old thread - but thanks to the info posted by @channelmanic I've been able to build this working prototype:
DSC_2310.JPG

All 4 rom regions verify using the fluke:
DSC_2307.JPG

The select doesn't contend with the ram regions, I have a few more tests to do, but if successful I'll be sending the "production" version off to have a few made:
sprint2.png
 
I suggest you use a DIP adapter instead of headers. Headers kill IC sockets with one insertion.
 

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