Nintendo Space Firebird repair

darthi8nt

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Member smalltownguy sent me this boardset to see if I could fix it. With all my work and stuff here is an update to the repair. Symptoms board would freeze up and graphic issues plus sound doesn't work.

-Verified all Eproms and all Eproms tested good.
-Replaced 4 2114 ram on CPU board and fixed a few nicked traces.
-Resocketed 8 unknown ram 1 ram was giving a graphics issue after the resocket. Manual calls for 22pin ram 256x1 but the schematics showed different. Found a hoei boardset and found it contained 5101 ram so I replaced the ram with new 5101 and it cleared up the one problem I was having. Note I tried using 93422 ram but that ram did not help it made it worse.
-Replaced 3 74LS174 on V board using comparator these chip tested faulty.
-Rplaced 1 74LS157 on V board using comparator this chip tested faulty.
-Replaced 2 74LS00 on V board using comparator these chips tested faulty.

Board plays fine with no graphic problems and now to tackle the sound board.
On another note in my video I mentioned the LS00 and then I said LS04 this was an error
so don't hold anything against me I was trying it by memory and the older you get your memory goes lol. And the 04 was a hex inverter but I should have said the LS00 was a quad 2 input nand gate.

here is a link to video

http://youtu.be/dpjjNAkz1r8
 
Last edited:
Update #2
Final repair made after going over the ESS Sound board I check all caps,diodes,transistors and then ic. After one failing cap a flaky transistor and then a whole bunch of cold solder joints and some joints where the solder had almost fallen off the ic pin. Here is the final result... a working Space Firebird.
Video of game running
http://youtu.be/BdxoeKWsDlk
 
:notworthy::notworthy::notworthy::notworthy:


Incredible. I cannot BELIEVE the number of components you changed on these boards. And you socketed everything you changed? Unbelievable!

And as a bonus, you're gonna repair the 2nd boardset as well?

You, sir, are a man among men.

Thank you thank you thank you!!
 
Update: 2nd boardset (3 boards Video, ESS, and CPU) received.
Went over Video board and repaired that board so that everything is back to normal. Ess board no starfield problem is repaired now and once again starfield is now present. Still have to check out the CPU boardset and 2 boardsets will be repaired.
 
Yes, you can power up a space firebird boardset on your test bench if you have a spare DK multi-harness. You'll need the kind with the 9 and 10 pin power wires, not the edge connector kind.

Below is a quote taken from another thread that I posted this on.

I did some more checking on this. The Space Firebird board set is not compatible with the DK power supply, but if you have a spare set of 9 and 10 pin power cables, you can easily make a power harness that will work.

The 9 pin power is a direct match:

Pin 1: Gnd
Pin 2: Gnd
Pin 3: Gnd
Pin 4: +12v
Pin 5: +12v
Pin 6: +5v
Pin 7: +5v
Pin 8: -5v
Pin 9: +24v

The 10 pin power cable, however, does not match. On the DK power supply, it's:

Pin 1: -5v
Pin 2: -5v
Pin 3: -5v
Pin 4: -5v
Pin 5: Gnd
Pin 6: Gnd
Pin 7: Gnd
Pin 8: Gnd
Pin 9: +5v
Pin10: +5v

The Space Firebird 10 pin power needs:

Pin 1: Gnd
Pin 2: Gnd
Pin 3: Gnd
Pin 4: +12v
Pin 5: +12v
Pin 6: +12v
Pin 7: +12v
Pin 8: +5v
Pin 9: +5v
Pin10: -5v

So, by de-pinning the 10 pin power cable, and rearranging wires, I can get Gnd, +5v, and -5v supplied to the 10 pin connector. But the Space Firebird also needs +12v on that connector too. The solution? Borrow one of the 12v wires from the 9 pin power cable, leaving one 12v in the 9 pin, and using the other 12v in the 10 pin.

I tried this arrangement with my DK power supply and my Space Firebird board set and it booted perfectly. Now I have a custom made power harness allowing me to bench test my other Space Firebird board using my DK power supply.

Why do this? Well, two reasons:


  1. DK power supplies are easier to come by
  2. If I ever want to send my Space Firebird boards out for service (which I plan to do), I can now send just the boards and my custom harness, rather than having to mail a 25 pound linear power supply along with the boards.
 
is there a generic name for the type of connector used on the space firebird and early DK harnesses?
a 9 pin ???? or a 10 pin ????
are they available to buy if i wanted to knock up my own harness?
 
is there a generic name for the type of connector used on the space firebird and early DK harnesses?
a 9 pin ???? or a 10 pin ????
are they available to buy if i wanted to knock up my own harness?

Unfortunately, no. Those connectors were custom produced for Nintendo back in the day, and no known replacements exist.

There are other connectors, however, that do fit. They won't lock in like the original ones did, but they do fit the pin size and spacing.

Details on the type of connectors (as well as part numbers and pricing) can be found here:

http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?p=2361038
 
Update: 2nd boardset (3 boards Video, ESS, and CPU) received.
Went over Video board and repaired that board so that everything is back to normal. Ess board no starfield problem is repaired now and once again starfield is now present. Still have to check out the CPU boardset and 2 boardsets will be repaired.

Sorry to necro this thread, but its the only place i can find references to my issue:

I have a board with a missing star field. Any idea how you fixed that problem in particular? What was not working on the ESS?
 
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