Need help with Joust...

Syngefinger

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I borrowed this Joust from a friend in town. It's been in storage for many years but he did say he played it this past winter a bit and it worked fine then. Now all we get when plugging it in is some vertical wavy lines on the monitor and the player 1 and 2 buttons light up and that's it.

I've attached a picture. Any idea as to what is causing this. Is it possibly a voltage problem as we did notice that the connector from the transformer to the bottom board appeared to have a loose connection and evidence of a jurywrigging at one time? Any advice would be appreciated greatly.

Steve
 

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Two even easier questions, do all three lights on the power supply light up (assuming original) and is the little led display flashing any codes? I would think these would be the first steps before even touching a multimeter.
 
Two even easier questions, do all three lights on the power supply light up (assuming original) and is the little led display flashing any codes? I would think these would be the first steps before even touching a multimeter.

I dont use LED's to verify power. Even if they are lit it doesnt mean they are correct.
 
Two even easier questions, do all three lights on the power supply light up (assuming original) and is the little led display flashing any codes? I would think these would be the first steps before even touching a multimeter.


You have got a point, so many of the basics I just assume a reasonable tech would observe and report if observed. It is not realistic to expect everyone reporting a problem here to be a 'reasonable tech'. We need a Williams FAQ.

Saltbreez
 
Let's break it down to basics then...
  1. Does the LED on the ROM board show a 0? If not, what code does it show?
  2. Does it have the original linear power supply?
  3. If it has the original linear power supply, are all 3 of the LED's lit?
  4. Regardless of what power supply it has, what are the voltages reading?
Just because the LED's on the original linear power supply are lit, doesn't mean that the voltages are correct. The key to checking the 3 LED's is... are they all lit? If one is not lit, it gives you a pretty good idea that you have a missing voltage.
 
How about:
  1. On boot does the LED on the ROM board go straight to a 0? If not, what code does it show while booting?
  2. Does it have the original linear power supply and if so are all 3 of the LED's lit?
  3. Regardless of what power supply it has, what are the voltages reading at the 4 courners of 2 of the RAM chips?
Maybe we should start a Williams FAQ thread...

Saltbreez
 
New question on Joust...

How about:
  1. On boot does the LED on the ROM board go straight to a 0? If not, what code does it show while booting?
  2. Does it have the original linear power supply and if so are all 3 of the LED's lit?
  3. Regardless of what power supply it has, what are the voltages reading at the 4 courners of 2 of the RAM chips?
Maybe we should start a Williams FAQ thread...

Saltbreez

Thanks to all who contributed. It ended up to indeed be the jurywrigged connector after all. We found a newer 5 pin connector harness and a little bit of soldering later it seems to be running like a champ. With one exception.

The player 2 flap button doesn't seem to function at all. We cleaned the contacts, checked all the connectors but that didn't seem to make any difference. Also on occasion the player 2 start button when pressed to start a dual game, seems to freeze the game completely. Anything that can be easily checked or anyone experience anything similar?

Steve

PS I'm having an 80"s theme party this Saturday night and opening up my basement arcade to the party goers. After all what goes more perfect than arcade games for an 80's party. I'll be sure to post some pictures. (Especially of the hotties)
 
The player 2 flap button doesn't seem to function at all. We cleaned the contacts, checked all the connectors but that didn't seem to make any difference. Also on occasion the player 2 start button when pressed to start a dual game, seems to freeze the game completely. Anything that can be easily checked or anyone experience anything similar?

Place the game in switch test mode. Remove the CP harness connector from the Widget [I/O] PCB. Take a ground wire and connect to each post in turn. Did you find the player 2 flap? Did you find Palyer 2 start?

I suspect a grounding problem in your control panel near the player 2 button.

Freeze up sound like power supply [12V and/or +5V]

Saltbreez
 
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