Marble Madness help

[shilmover]

So I have these 2 MM boards that have ROM errors (have had them for a while). Now that I have a System I cab, I decided to fix at least one of them. Tracing the ROM errors, I reburned new ROMs and was able to get the ROM errors to go away. Now I can pass all tests (video/sounds/controls/etc), but when I switch it to game mode, I get the following error:

"Software Exception Error"

I cannot find that error anywhere in the manual. Any ideas where to start?

 

[shilmover]

Just had a thought. Could this be an incompatibility with the System I Main board that was in the roadblasters?

 

[mspaeth]

Sounds like it could be a Slapstick failure...

 

[shilmover]

Sounds like it could be a Slapstick failure...

Mark,

Can you please clarify?

 

[dmbj]

Yes, Incompatible main board. I believe you can burn a bunch of roms and make it work. I think the info is out there some place. or of course in marks head.

 

[shilmover]

thanks!

I have the Main board that came with the MM boards, so I will try that board out.

 

[shilmover]

I found a bit of information about "a "SLAPSTIC" copy protection chip". Which chip is it?

 

[dmbj]

I did not take the time to review it but i think there is a lot of info here
http://awalden.tripod.com/

 

[mspaeth]

Yes, Incompatible main board. I believe you can burn a bunch of roms and make it work. I think the info is out there some place. or of course in marks head.

there's no such thing as an incompatible main board... there's TTL and LSI main boards, but they both work for MM. Some main boards didn't have LETAs, so they can't interface to the trackball, but the game should still boot up.

 

[dmbj]

the LETAs, are what i was thinking of, And like I thought, the answer could be found in your brain

 

[Phetishboy]

there's no such thing as an incompatible main board... there's TTL and LSI main boards, but they both work for MM. Some main boards didn't have LETAs, so they can't interface to the trackball, but the game should still boot up.

Where is the LETA chip located, and what does it say on it? LETA?

 

[mspaeth]

Where is the LETA chip located, and what does it say on it? LETA?

It usually has a big fancy V on it, and an atari-looking part number

 

[Dokert]

Where is the LETA chip located, and what does it say on it? LETA?

No it does NOT say LETA on it, and good luck finding one. JROK made a work around that is posted on his site.

 

[DustyBri]

Where is the LETA chip located, and what does it say on it? LETA?

Here are a couple of photos that cartouche posted back in may:​

http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=88629​

 

[shilmover]

So I confirmed that the board I had in there does not have the LETA chip, the other one does. Problem is that it isn't working. Having trouble syncing and random characters on the screen.

Any ideas where to start troubleshooting it?

 

[shilmover]

there's no such thing as an incompatible main board... there's TTL and LSI main boards, but they both work for MM. Some main boards didn't have LETAs, so they can't interface to the trackball, but the game should still boot up.

Thanks Mark.

How do I fix the SLAPSTIC issue just so that I can confirm that the MM board is working? In doing some research, it appears that [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]136033-107 and 136033-108 are the chips?[/FONT]

 

[shilmover]

So I swapped the Slapstic chip from one MM board to the other... same error (I guess they could both be bad?)

I did burn some of the bad ROMs from MAME, would that make a difference?

 

[shilmover]

Can someone post a hi-res, close up picture of a MM board? I found this one:

That board looks like my Indiana Jones and Roadblasters, but NOTHING like my marble madness (it has 2 rows of EPROMs on the bottom).

This are the ones I have:

 

[brotherhay]

http://www.crazykong.com/pcbs/G - O/MarbleMadness.pcb.html

 

[shilmover]

http://www.crazykong.com/pcbs/G%20-%20O/MarbleMadness.pcb.html

Thanks. that validates the board I have...

Anyone have a map of which ROM goes where? I was moving them around, the phone rang, and now I am lost... Should have taken a picture!