Ms. Pacman repair

KCW

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Hello everyone,

Complete amateur here. I own an original Ms. Pacman, a favorite game of mine from when I was a kid. I know absolutely nothing about vintage arcade games beyond playing them, but am also pretty handy at fixing things. Before I go messing with this machine though I figured I'd ask the experts for some guidance.

My game, as far as I know, has never been worked on. It seems to be in pretty good shape physically and nothing has been altered. It's worked well for years. It was set up so that when you held the player two button down it would speed it (Ms. Pacman that is). Some years back this feature stopped working.

As of lately, it will boot up, but then I get a frozen red ghost in the left upper screen. I'm attaching a still and also a movie, which shows something running across the screen.

Any advice on where to begin? Again, I'm am pretty handy but inexperienced. Not afraid to get my hands dirty but also don't want to damage anything. I saw a youtube video on a guy that removed and then reseated all the board chips and then his machine worked. Any advice? THANK YOU!

KCW

PS. Looks like the video won't upload. Will just still with the still.
 

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Literally just tried this - I opened up the back and gently pressed on the chips to make sure they were seated. Now it boots up! Now my question is, how do I get the speed chip working? Like I mentioned, it used to be that if I held down the two player button then Ms. Pacman would go really fast. Would love to get that working again if possible. Thank you in advance for any advice!
 
I used the Pac-Man free play rom at 6E and the fast rom at 6F on Ms. Pac-Mans at work

you'll have to reprogram the roms at those locations, Ms. Pac should have EPROMs. the board I fixed yesterday did not except the ones I replaced. 2532s
 
I did a little more trouble shooting. I tried starting a two player game to see if the button even worked. It didn't! The single player button works fine. I opened up the front of the cabinet and tried cleaning the player two contacts. No luck! I'm guessing I need to replace the button? When I push it the two contact touch just fine.

Do I need a new button? If so, where do I get one?

If so, how does one install it? It looks like I might need to do some soldering.

Are there any other connections I should be checking?

Everything else seems ok though! Progress! Thank you in advance for any advice!

KCW
 
Always start with power and connections.

With Pac-Man & Ms. Pac-Man, make sure you replace the original terrible fuse blocks.

 
Since the player two button isn't function, would it make sense to just replace it? Where could I get a replacement? How do I go about swapping it out? THANK YOU! :)
 
Since the player two button isn't function, would it make sense to just replace it? Where could I get a replacement? How do I go about swapping it out? THANK YOU! :)

The button itself is unlikely the issue. It's probably the switch or the wiring connected to the button. Or possibly a logic issue. Buttons typically only need to be replaced when they're physically damaged.
 
The button itself is unlikely the issue. It's probably the switch or the wiring connected to the button. Or possibly a logic issue. Buttons typically only need to be replaced when they're physically damaged.
CHECK OUT THE BIG BRAIN ON CHUCKIE GREEN

sidenote: these games are at an advanced age now that capping the main board is becoming increasingly more essential. this in addition to replacing the fuse holders.

if you're a novice collector and don't understand why you can probably peruse the mecha library of many posts why it's needed.
 
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