Ms.Pac-man Blank Screen

D_Harris

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A friend just notified me that his Ms.Pac-man game is not working, so I'll be heading over to his place to see what I can do.

But before I go I thought I'd ask for idea on what the probable problem may be.

One day he turned the game on and all he got was a black screen. When he turns on the game there is a flash on the monitor like it's about to come on, but then nothing.

I had him turn the game on in the dark and he can see that there is a glow at the monitor's neck.

I forgot to ask him to see if the game played blind, but I had him plug in his known working Pac-man and Jr.Pac-man boards with the same blank screen results.

He had noted nothing out of the ordinary when everything was working fine, except the consistent dimming and brightening of the marquee light every second or so, but that had been happening for a while.

I'll be taking over my multi-meter to check the power supply and fuses, but would appreciate any ideas on what else to look for just in case.

Thanks a lot.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.
 
Obviously - check the fuses.

If you have some alligator jumper wires and a switching power supply, you can use it as an alternate power supply if you suspect a problem with the transformer block.

And it's quite common for the pins in the edge connector to get a bit flattened out causing bad connection. Usually you can tell this is the case by flexing or wiggling it back and forth while watching the screen to see if you get a boot screen...
 
Not the answer to this problem.

Sounds like a fuse issue. Take a couple of new fuse holders with you and change out the fuse holders and fuses.

Ok. I spoke with him and he says that the game does not play blind, regardless of which of the Pac PCBs he has installed. ?!?

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.
 
Last edited:
The answer is the same Darrin.

Yep. Go back to what I said in my answer. Assuming the game is actually getting power (for the monitor to come on and go off), it can only be a couple things...
 
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