need help: games in garage don't work pt II

Will76

New member
Joined
May 17, 2010
Messages
6
Reaction score
0
Location
Ohio
Ok, so I got most of my games working in my garage (thanks to KenLayton). Found and turned on all the on-off switches, and one back panel was loose on the NARC, which affected an interlock switch.

However, Off Road still does not come on at all. The on-off switch doesn't turn it on and nothing lights up. I haven't checked inside yet to see if anything is loose. If anyone could tell me what to look for, I'd really appreciate it. (It worked perfectly before I bought it, so I'm guessing something got loose in transport.)

Also, the Operation Wolf powers up (coin door lights come on) and a voice says "operation wolf" but then nothing happens. The monitor doesn't come on and there is no further sound. I took a look inside, but I wasn't sure what I was looking for. Again, it worked perfectly before I bought it, so I'm thinking something got loose.

Punch Out works, but there is no start button, and none of the play buttons start the game (does this mean it's in coin op mode? If so, how do I change it to free play?)

Same goes with my Zaxxon. It's stuck in attract mode, so I think I need to change it to free play. If anyone can guide me, that would be great.

Lastly, NARC is great visually, but sometimes the sound doesn't work. Sometimes I'll turn it on and get a continuous buzzing noise from one of the speakers, and sometimes I'll turn it on and the sound will be great.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I'm having a party next Saturday and don't want to disappoint my guests. Please note that I have very little gaming, electrical or electronic experience. Thanks!
 
Operation Wolf: your monitor sounds like it's not turning on. if you're lucky, it might just be a loose connection. if you're not lucky, the monitor's going to need service. I haven't seen the inside of one of these in about 20 years, but as you know the monitor's mounted on the bottom of the cab and reflects upward with a mirror. if you can see the monitor chassis, make sure that you have an AC power connector hooked up to it and that the RGB signal connector is plugged in. if you're having difficulty finding the AC header on the chassis, look for a fuse, it's right by that.

alternatively, make sure your game is working too, try coining it up and pressing start, if you hear the level select music, at least you can rule that out. more than likely the AC connector's unplugged OR the monitor has other issues. open your ears and listen to hear if the monitor is turning on, it could also be that the video signal (the RGB signal) is unplugged, but I doubt it. if the monitor's on, try turning the brightness/contrast up, see if that makes a difference.

Punch Out: to enable free play, I'm assuming you have to make some dipswitch adjustments on the game board. that more than likely entails pulling the board out of the metal cage, though I've seen some cages have like a cutout for dipswitch adjustments. I don't know Punch Out, you might have 2 harnesses to unplug, one kind of resembles a JAMMA harness (but it's not, of course :)) slide that one off, and then there should be another smaller black one, release the 2 clips on it and it should slide right out. then, the main board is held in with those plastic white push pins. go around the outer parts of the tray (that's going to slide out) and pull out each of the push pins. you might need to give it a slight tug (don't go ripping it out, sometimes you can see which pin is still stuck in), but the game board should then slide out.

of course, make sure you have a diagram of the dipswitch settings before attempting this. then make your adjustments as necessary, and simply reverse all the steps. (make sure the game board is lined up in the correct slits in the wood)

Zaxxon I have no clue about, but it's also a dipswitch setting I'm sure. I don't have that information either. :)

you can check http://arcarc.xmission.com for game manuals, they're in PDF so you need Adobe Reader.

NARC: I'm not familiar with this one either, but I'm willing to bet it's caused be the same problems that all of its cousins and brothers and great uncles have and it's probably just a loose connection or the rom chips need to be pushed back in. you've probably observed that it's comprised of a ton of different boards (I actually was never aware that this wasn't JAMMA, lol) but the ones you should be concerned with are the big rom board (the one that's seriously got like 358275 roms in it) and the sound board (the smaller board with the grey ribbon cable plugged into it)

unplug all attached cables, the rom board is interlocked with the CPU board, (you'll have to kind of wiggle that one forward and backward while pulling the rom board off and it should slide right off.) make note of your connections, there's a lot of them. the I/O board (the one with the joystick and button wiring plugged in) shouldn't be touched, really. the sound board has a power harness, and the ribbon cable. make note of the ribbon cable's orientation, the side with the red stripe. the connectors the ribbon cable goes to should be labeled with numbers, one side saying a 1,2 and the other like 19/20 if I'm not mistaken. if the red stripe is on 1,2 on the CPU board, then it needs to also be on 1,2 on the sound board. make sense? if you plug this in backwards, it won't be the end of the world, but it won't help your sound problem any. :)

if you didn't figure this out yet, these boards need to be unscrewed out of the cabinet for the next step.

I only recommend doing this if the boards are in relatively clean condition, cause if you have smaller foreign objects floating about, they can fall into the rom sockets and damage them. if they're dirty you can use a can of compressed air (always remember to never shake the can, always hold it upright, and always spray away to clean the nozzle of that liquid nitrogen looking shit -- you never want to spray anything with that!) I typically use the bubble wrap from previous PCB purchases and lay that down first, and put the game boards on top for this next step. simply take your 2 thumbs and press down on each rom. if you hear a painful crackling-crunchy sound when you do it, that's good, that means the rom wasn't seated in all the way. repeat this process on EVERY rom chip on both the rom board and sound board.

reverse the steps, especially making sure your sound board wiring is plugged into the same pins on both boards, screw everything back in, the rom board you plug in like a Nintendo cartridge, kind of, wiggling forward and back while pushing it back in, and hopefully if all goes to plan, you just had an intermittent rom issue and your game sound works.

you'll be happy to know if you want free play on this one, you can do it inside the Test menu. unless it's set for dip switch coinage. doh!

good luck sir. feel free to PM me with any other questions you have.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom