Midway Wolf Unit: Ram Failure (WWF WrestleMania)

Broodwich

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I've been having some pretty bad luck lately with boards i've bought. The most recent is this WWF WrestleMania i picked up, it works but unfortunately it has a U14 Ram error which causes graphical glitches and bars.

6831767930_e20ac6f072_z.jpg


There is no real visible damage at all, and the onlything i've been able to see is in certain light (especially with camera flash you can see a line across the traces around the ram chips on the solder side)

6976964449_bf11eae5e2_z.jpg


Once i saw this line i decided to beep test the traces it went across and found none with breaks. I also made sure to press down on the chip with the game running and while it was doing a boot test to see if possibly it was a bad solder point.

6976419077_6d7f433895_z.jpg


Now i don't really see myself being able to replace this myself but if easy enough i might just try.

Does anyone have any hints or idea's of what i should try next, maybe someone know's how i could go about removing and resoldering that ram chip in. looks like the tc528128bj-80 is available online. If it didn't cost an arm and a leg i'd also entertain sending it out to have done if anyone is up for the task or knows someplace qualified and willing to do the job.

I've checked the solder legs for touching points/traces and the voltage to this machine is good so those aren't an issue here.

Man i was really excited to play this game in all it's glory, i'm not a big wrestling fan but i've heard lots of good things about this game.
 
Crap those traces look pretty scuffed up! Did you do a continunity test on all of them? You might want to repair it with a bunch of jumper wires. I wonder if the ROM is bad at all.

I would suggest you also ask Ian (RetroHacker)
 
Crap those traces look pretty scuffed up! Did you do a continunity test on all of them? You might want to repair it with a bunch of jumper wires. I wonder if the ROM is bad at all.

I would suggest you also ask Ian (RetroHacker)

Once i saw this line i decided to beep test the traces it went across and found none with breaks. I also made sure to press down on the chip with the game running and while it was doing a boot test to see if possibly it was a bad solder point.

yup sent him a PM and a link :D and you can only see that skuff in a couple photo's i took, i could barely see it with my glasses...
 


I've been having some pretty bad luck lately with boards i've bought. The most recent is this WWF WrestleMania i picked up, it works but unfortunately it has a U14 Ram error which causes graphical glitches and bars.

6831767930_e20ac6f072_z.jpg


There is no real visible damage at all, and the onlything i've been able to see is in certain light (especially with camera flash you can see a line across the traces around the ram chips on the solder side)

6976964449_bf11eae5e2_z.jpg


Once i saw this line i decided to beep test the traces it went across and found none with breaks. I also made sure to press down on the chip with the game running and while it was doing a boot test to see if possibly it was a bad solder point.

6976419077_6d7f433895_z.jpg


Now i don't really see myself being able to replace this myself but if easy enough i might just try.

Does anyone have any hints or idea's of what i should try next, maybe someone know's how i could go about removing and resoldering that ram chip in. looks like the tc528128bj-80 is available online. If it didn't cost an arm and a leg i'd also entertain sending it out to have done if anyone is up for the task or knows someplace qualified and willing to do the job.

I've checked the solder legs for touching points/traces and the voltage to this machine is good so those aren't an issue here.

Man i was really excited to play this game in all it's glory, i'm not a big wrestling fan but i've heard lots of good things about this game.

The Undertaker fucking rules in this game lol
 
When I remove a surface-mount part, I use a heat gun and an x-acto knife. Slowly wave the gun around, don't keep it focused on one spot or it'll be too much heat. Have the blade of the knife under the chip (do not pry it up, you want to just barely lift it). When all the solder reflows, the chip will come right off. Then clean the all the pads by removing the old solder.
 
You can find those chips on some cheap Sun Micro frame buffer cards for their old pizza box Unix systems.

They aren't too hard to replace.

Run solder down all the legs to make 'em 1 big glob at the bottom of the legs. Use very fine tip snips or an X-acto knife to cut the legs from the body being VERY careful to not slip and cut traces like butter. The solder blob adds strength and helps keep you from lifting traces.

Once the body is cut away use the soldering iron to wipe the legs and excess solder away. Use some solder braid or preferably a suction desoldering iron (not a spring loaded solder sucker!) to clean the pads before you try to lay down the new chip.

Use a thin layer of liquid solder flux on the board. Lay the chip down and orient it properly on the pads making sure it is centered and pin 1 is in the right place. Tack down the 4 corners of the chip with a bit of solder on your iron. Put more liquid flux down on the pins and pads then use a small ball of solder on your iron, hold the board up at an angle, and flow the joints using the ball of solder while just drawing the iron tip down the sides of the legs - making contact with the pads and legs at the same time. Do this WITHOUT putting pressure on the joint as you want the ball of solder to do the work and you do not want to lift pads.

If you bridge pins dab a bit of extra solder on the joint and draw off the excess solder with the iron.

It's not hard. It just takes practice.

Me? I use hot air or a tweezer type soldering iron to lift those chips in one swoop. Then I use my Pace desoldering iron to clean the pads and a regular Pace soldering iron with a small ball of solder on the tip to lay down the replacement chip.

If you need, I can work on that board, swapping out the chip for you.

RJ
 
I have found that with the twisting of the boards over the years, the feet can come off the pads. Try pressing down on the chip with a little force and see if the glitches clear up. This has worked for me on more than one occasion. I found the leg that lifted off the pad, re-soldered it, and presto! No more glitches.

Just my offering.
 
I have found that with the twisting of the boards over the years, the feet can come off the pads. Try pressing down on the chip with a little force and see if the glitches clear up. This has worked for me on more than one occasion. I found the leg that lifted off the pad, re-soldered it, and presto! No more glitches.

Just my offering.

did this work on the 2 recent ones you got with this issue? as i stated in the OP i did push on the chip and got no change.


Channel i'll probably take you up on your offer.
 
did this work on the 2 recent ones you got with this issue? as i stated in the OP i did push on the chip and got no change.


Channel i'll probably take you up on your offer.


No, it was on an original MK3 I had. It had the same issue as your Wrestlemania and pressing on the chip actually cleared up the issue. I found one of the legs lifted off the solder pad.
 
No, it was on an original MK3 I had. It had the same issue as your Wrestlemania and pressing on the chip actually cleared up the issue. I found one of the legs lifted off the solder pad.

Yea I tried that no change, I thought in one of your latest vids you had 2 w. ram failures
 
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