Need for Speed E-Brake Issue - Resolved

WAGDAG

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Hi,

Bought a NFS sit down and it's been a pain. Would really appreciate any pointers to sort this out.

- Complete game, needed motherboard. Replaced with identical mobo and used same ram, vid card, processor, and I/O card. Boots fine and goes to attract mode and game play mode.

Problem is I cannot turn the E-brake off. Hard to race with the brakes on :-/
Steering wheel, gas, dash buttons, and brake pedal work fine. All the buttons work in operator test except E-brake.

Tested the e brake switch in the shifter handle and it's good. Tested e brake wire for continuity from the switch all the way through to where the ribbon cable plugs into the I/O card and it reads about 2 ohms. Common ground shows 2ohms also.

I/O was made by NYTRIC is PCI slot card with a USB-type B port and a DB25 connector.

Anyone ever had this issue and resolved it?
Am I missing something silly?
Anyone have one of these cards they are willing to sell?

This machine has fought me the whole way and I would really like to fix it.

Thanks for any info...much appreciated.
 
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There are buffer IC's on the Nytric IO boards which fail and cause
shorted switch symptoms.

JD


I would first unplug the controls to verify it's not a wiring fault.
Hi,

Bought a NFS sit down and it's been a pain. Would really appreciate any pointers to sort this out.

- Complete game, needed motherboard. Replaced with identical mobo and used same ram, vid card, processor, and I/O card. Boots fine and goes to attract mode and game play mode.

Problem is I cannot turn the E-brake off. Hard to race with the brakes on :-/
Steering wheel, gas, dash buttons, and brake pedal work fine. All the buttons work in operator test except E-brake.

Tested the e brake switch in the shifter handle and it's good. Tested e brake wire for continuity from the switch all the way through to where the ribbon cable plugs into the I/O card and it reads about 2 ohms. Common ground shows 2ohms also.

I/O was made by NYTRIC is PCI slot card with a USB-type B port and a DB25 connector.

Anyone ever had this issue and resolved it?
Am I missing something silly?
Anyone have one of these cards they are willing to sell?

This machine has fought me the whole way and I would really like to fix it.

Thanks for any info...much appreciated.
 
Thank you guys for the replies.

I did thoroughly check the wiring from the microswitch back to the IO card header and it's not at fault. The E brake is a simple N.O. circuit sharing a common with the up shift and down shift switches that are working properly.

It is interesting and makes sense that an IC chip could partially fail and cause this. I will look at the card and see what I can find.

Thanks again and good day.
 
Many thanks to pcjohn for the pointer regarding the potential for buffer chip failure. I would gladly buy you a bucket of beer for the bump in the right direction!

I followed the trace from the I/O card header pin that supported the e brake input wire and followed it through the circuit. I found two 74AC373's (octal transparent latch) and one 74HC4051 (8 channel analog multiplexer) that were my best guess at being the culprit.

Three chips shipped were $12 or so from Mouser. More for shipping than the parts.

I replaced the IC's last night and now every input works properly. Next step is to find out what fried in the monitor chassis and then clean and assemble the game.

Thank again and good day!
 
Congrats. I worked on multiple NFS cabinets. Total pieces of crap. If the nytric boards didn't fail then the pc boards would. Switching anything on a limited OS version is like pulling teeth. Global is really good at trying to sell you outrageously priced parts.
 
Congrats. I worked on multiple NFS cabinets. Total pieces of crap. If the nytric boards didn't fail then the pc boards would. Switching anything on a limited OS version is like pulling teeth. Global is really good at trying to sell you outrageously priced parts.

Thank you for the congrats...I really appreciate it! Little victories like that are great. I can't agree more about this game being crapola. I am almost to the point that I hate it. Been dicking around with this thing on and off all summer. Everytime I progress one step forward, the great arcade Gods knock me back another. As a matter of fact, a few hours ago I was desoldering caps on the motherboard (P35-BL) searching for the culprit why it just decided to do nothing instead of booting up. Sometimes I just have to walk away for a few days...grrrr.

Global and Nytric were no help. I didn't really expect them to be given the age of the game.
 
Is that before or after? What tools did you use?

That pic was after I replaced them. I have a cheap hot air rework station that I bought off Ebay a few years ago. It works great for what I need it for.

- hot air and tweezers to remove SMD chip
- fine tip solder gun and braid to clean up pads
- flux pen
- place new chip
- tiny amounts of solder on each leg (don't overheat the new chip....get in and out swiftly)
- inspect for bridging between legs

I feel most comfortable with this method. Some people run solder up and down the legs and then pull off the excess with braid or a sucker. Whatever works for you. I would suggest practicing on a parts board to get the feel for it.
 
Thank you for the congrats...I really appreciate it! Little victories like that are great. I can't agree more about this game being crapola. I am almost to the point that I hate it. Been dicking around with this thing on and off all summer. Everytime I progress one step forward, the great arcade Gods knock me back another. As a matter of fact, a few hours ago I was desoldering caps on the motherboard (P35-BL) searching for the culprit why it just decided to do nothing instead of booting up. Sometimes I just have to walk away for a few days...grrrr.

Global and Nytric were no help. I didn't really expect them to be given the age of the game.

Yup. Almost all the motherboards in mine (had 3 on location) failed. Mostly caps. That said, hardware can be changed, it does not need to be identical. if the chips on the motherboard are the same it is a mostly painless swap, but the OS has no indexing, requiring you to point out every driver file.
 
when I started at a location 3.5 years ago, I asked the owner what the deal was with the NFS Underground. I was told they had to ship the PC out to Global VR. so I said ok. about 2 months go by and I start inquiring about why the PC hasn't been sent back yet. a phone call to Global VR revealed some nonsense about how they didn't get any "drop shipping" information. as I scraped a little deeper I found that the PC went to American Vending, then to Global VR. why Global VR couldn't merely send it back to where it came from, who knows.

the reason they weren't able to fix it however was because "it's not our hardware" they said. that's right, the man up the street at the computer shop basically rebuilt it with aftermarket hardware, and then scrapped the original machine. fair enough. I was then supplied a bit of information from Global VR about how it's a "special Windows" and there's "no driver support" (given it's the Windows XP Embedded version) ... this comes into play later.

so now I have to get drivers for the video and audio. after about 2 days of research, I pulled it off. I was able to replicate a fully working NFS Underground using aftermarket hardware. I never told Global VR this. I probably should deserve a medal for my accomplishments.

I subsequently told the owner to get rid of those fucking piece of shit NFS Undergrounds. my stress level was reduced dramatically. fuck Global VR and their hackjob PC games. I hope to never work on their garbage ever again.

EDIT: these have one of the most annoying attract modes ever. I know they're saying "everybody body rock" but it still sounds like "biddy boom bop bop" to me and I hate it for that reason alone. in addition to the automatic respawning of cars if you happen to go in reverse. as a fan of the Need For Speed series, I was extremely disgusted with their shift to the ricer revolution. my angry rant is done now.
 
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Yup. Almost all the motherboards in mine (had 3 on location) failed. Mostly caps. That said, hardware can be changed, it does not need to be identical. if the chips on the motherboard are the same it is a mostly painless swap, but the OS has no indexing, requiring you to point out every driver file.

I made it halfway through the board so far and have not found any caps that were way off value or ESR as of yet. I ordered a different motherboard with the same chipset yesterday. If i can get this one back, great. If not, I will attempt the board swap. Thanks for the info regarding the drivers!
 
when I started at a location 3.5 years ago, I asked the owner what the deal was with the NFS Underground. I was told they had to ship the PC out to Global VR. so I said ok. about 2 months go by and I start inquiring about why the PC hasn't been sent back yet. a phone call to Global VR revealed some nonsense about how they didn't get any "drop shipping" information. as I scraped a little deeper I found that the PC went to American Vending, then to Global VR. why Global VR couldn't merely send it back to where it came from, who knows.

the reason they weren't able to fix it however was because "it's not our hardware" they said. that's right, the man up the street at the computer shop basically rebuilt it with aftermarket hardware, and then scrapped the original machine. fair enough. I was then supplied a bit of information from Global VR about how it's a "special Windows" and there's "no driver support" (given it's the Windows XP Embedded version) ... this comes into play later.

so now I have to get drivers for the video and audio. after about 2 days of research, I pulled it off. I was able to replicate a fully working NFS Underground using aftermarket hardware. I never told Global VR this. I probably should deserve a medal for my accomplishments.

I subsequently told the owner to get rid of those fucking piece of shit NFS Undergrounds. my stress level was reduced dramatically. fuck Global VR and their hackjob PC games. I hope to never work on their garbage ever again.

EDIT: these have one of the most annoying attract modes ever. I know they're saying "everybody body rock" but it still sounds like "biddy boom bop bop" to me and I hate it for that reason alone. in addition to the automatic respawning of cars if you happen to go in reverse. as a fan of the Need For Speed series, I was extremely disgusted with their shift to the ricer revolution. my angry rant is done now.

My good man....I feel your pain. Your colorful "angry rant" is appreciated and actually helps me understand that I am not alone in thinking what a turd that PC is.

Here is a rundown of the sequence of events that I have enjoyed with this one:

- Found CL ad for 5 games needing work; 4 hour drive (one way) away.

- Of course the weather turned and made things much harder. Oh well, too bad..just do it.

- intitally found PSU was dead. installed a new, quality replacment.

- Game fired up...Joy! Oh wait, video issues. vid card tested fine in another PC. Bad
motherboard. No joy.

- Tried loading software onto a more modern PC (I have the three orginal discs)
That worked great except for the dongle was not recognized. Company that made the
dongle is no more and Global was no help.

- I bought a functioning replacement P35-BL motherboard off Ebay for $180 (ouch). Flew
that sucker in from Latvia.

- Cloned my HDD before assembly

- Fired up the PC with all orignal components and hoped that XP would just adjust for new
hardware and be happy. It did just that and the game went to calibrate mode. Joy!

- Put the PC into the cabinet and got ready for my first "ride". Was a humid day in the
shop. The second I pushed the magic button, the monitor leaked high voltage from
under the anode cup and it rode the dust to ground. Took out the WG PD279200 tri sinc
chassis. Horizontal collapse....no joy.

- Removed the monitor. Will get that going or replaced in the future

- Chin up, stuck a 19" monitor in there to at least get my first game under my belt.
Booted up the PC, calibration completed...game mode begins. JOY! I select my car and
the countdown begins 3-2-1...GO! Wait a second...my car is barely moving and
squealing like crazy...wth? E brake is stuck on at all times. Hard to race with the
brakes on :-/ No joy.

- Tore apart the handle, wiring, and tested everything right back to the i/o card header.

- Nytric i/o board has a problem. pcjohn was kind enough to post that they are known to
have issues. Thanks for that. I traced the circuit back to a couple IC's that I replaced.
Tried again and it worked! Joy! (are you seeing a pattern here?) I went to button test
and confirmed each switch funtioned. Was in a hurry, so no game time, but happy.

- Last week, i went over the chassis and found a toasted MOSFET. two days ago i replaced
that and stuck the chassis back in there to test it. The excitement builds...will there
finally be racing joy? pushed the button and static hits the tube...yes! but wait, nothing
going on. No booting...no music...no nuthin". No joy.

- Walked away...put the matches and gas down.

- Put the PC on the test bench. Nope...that motherboard is no longer playing nice. I
turned it on maybe 5-6 times in the time I owned it.

- So, here is where I am today. 400+ mile trip, hours of troubleshooting, $$ spent on
parts, junk mobo #2, unknown chassis repair status, and zero games on the counter.

Nobody likes a quitter, but I am on the edge of sending this one down the road to some 15 year old MAME expert with a sweet set of Ryobi power tools at his disposal. I'm thinkin' a nice Sony Trinitron sitting in that hole may look pretty good about now :-/

Lol...thanks for the feedback guys and trudging through this silly post.
 
Global VR computers aren't as bad as everyone thinks.

Yes, they used Windows Embedded, but - it's a very loose
install. I've replaced many Global VR computers with off the
shelf replacements over the years

You just need a replacement motherboard with the same chipset.

You then start with the system restore CD for the game, this is
what installs the Windows OS. 9 times out of 10 the install will
work fine. Sometimes the motherboard won't be compatible but
for me it's only happened once or twice.

Once you've done the system restore, you will get prompted for
all the missing drivers. You obviously need the replacement motherboard
CD for this. Once done you install the video card drivers.

If all goes well you can then use your game restore CD and be
back up on running.

I've done this is many games, including America's Army, Aliens, Madden,
Need For Speed GT, NFSU, Nascar, PGA and probably a few others I'm not remembering.

The nice thing about Global VR is that once you do the system install, Windows
just sort of sits there and does nothing allowing you to install drivers for
other hardware. This allows you to use just about any Nvidia based video card
in a Global VR game. Put the card in, do your system restore, install the new
card drivers and finally the game software. You can't do this with Raw Thrills
games.

JD
 
...Nobody likes a quitter, but I am on the edge of sending this one down the road to some 15 year old MAME expert with a sweet set of Ryobi power tools at his disposal. I'm thinkin' a nice Sony Trinitron sitting in that hole may look pretty good about now :-/..

Why not? Throw racermame in it and let someone have a great multi-racer in their home. These newer games with basically non-serviceable electronics deserve an unceremonious death and a resurrection as something that's actually fun to play.

http://pinballmd.com/multi-racer-software-buttoned-up/
 
Hmmm... Glad I've not had a problem with mine. I run all 3 games on the same cabinet (Need for Speed GT, Need for Speed Underground and Need for Speed Carbon).

As for gameplay... NFS GT sucks. 5/10 at best. Booooring. Beautiful to look at though. NFS Underground is quite fun... but yeah, all "Import" ricer-racers is sort of a bummer. NFS Carbon is the best of both (all three?) worlds. It includes Ricer, Muscle, and Exotic cars. Unfortunately it too is based at "night" so the graphics, while nice, aren't as nice as NFS GT's daytime courses.
 
Why not? Throw racermame in it and let someone have a great multi-racer in their home. These newer games with basically non-serviceable electronics deserve an unceremonious death and a resurrection as something that's actually fun to play.

http://pinballmd.com/multi-racer-software-buttoned-up/

Sorry if I came off a bit harsh. I really enjoy it when I can fix something that others have given up on and whatever I'm wrenching on lives again to see another day. It can get frustrating when things push back, but that only makes the hopeful upcoming victory sweeter. This particular project is wearing my patience thin....and that's my own fault for letting it get to me. The thing is what, 15-16 years old and was designed for a service life of 3-5 years? Shouldn't be a big surprise to find that it needs some new parts and pieces.

I try to keep my games stock as possible. Power supplies, CRT's, and all with the exception of new caps, flybacks, and the like. I am not opposed to MAME in general as long as a classic is not cut up for the cab. I would much rather see this game turned into a MAME machine that someone could enjoy as opposed to seeing it junked. I guess I was trying to be funny and laugh at myself a bit for falling short on the repair and the not-so-great-luck. Thanks a lot for the link. I will certainly check out racermame and try and learn a little about it.
 
Global VR computers aren't as bad as everyone thinks.

Yes, they used Windows Embedded, but - it's a very loose
install. I've replaced many Global VR computers with off the
shelf replacements over the years

You just need a replacement motherboard with the same chipset.

You then start with the system restore CD for the game, this is
what installs the Windows OS. 9 times out of 10 the install will
work fine. Sometimes the motherboard won't be compatible but
for me it's only happened once or twice.

Once you've done the system restore, you will get prompted for
all the missing drivers. You obviously need the replacement motherboard
CD for this. Once done you install the video card drivers.

If all goes well you can then use your game restore CD and be
back up on running.

I've done this is many games, including America's Army, Aliens, Madden,
Need For Speed GT, NFSU, Nascar, PGA and probably a few others I'm not remembering.

The nice thing about Global VR is that once you do the system install, Windows
just sort of sits there and does nothing allowing you to install drivers for
other hardware. This allows you to use just about any Nvidia based video card
in a Global VR game. Put the card in, do your system restore, install the new
card drivers and finally the game software. You can't do this with Raw Thrills
games.

JD


Thank you very much for the helpful info. The success that you have had with replacing the OEM Global VR hardware is great to hear! I have a new board coming and will give it a go in the next week or two. I will report back and let everyone know how I made out.

Many thanks to all!
 
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