Outrun Issues

Sunoo

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I picked up an Outrun the other day, and it's making me pull out all of my hair.

When I first got it, the monitor looked fine, but shortly afterwards, the blue disappeared. The monitor is working still, because I connected the red line to the blue jack of the monitor, and got blue to display. The wiring is fine because I tested it with the continuity tester from the monitor connector to the connector on the board, and it was good. So at this point it seems like I've somehow killed the blue on the PCB.

Also, as seems to be common of Sega games of this era, the sound is out. I was getting 15.5 volts at the amplifier, which is far too high (it should be 11-12 volts). I tore out the wiring to it and hooked it up to the 12 volt line off of a switching power supply, and that did no better, so I'm guessing that board is just dead now. I tested the sound on the board with a piezo, and it is working there, so I just need to find a new amplifier for it somehow. Does anyone know where I can find some sort of 12 volt amplifier? Preferably with some way to keep the volume pot.

Also, assuming that my game board isn't ruined, I'd like to convert it back to Outrun from Turbo Outrun. So I need to track down a regular 68k without the suicide battery and someone to help burn me a set of Outrun ROMs (or someone who just has a set or something).

One of the RAM chips is also bad (IC92, a TMM2115BP-10), which seems to be nearly impossible to source a replacement for. I'm starting to wonder if I'd be better off just finding a different board for the machine, though finding any boards with that hardware seems to be rather difficult (seems to just be used by Super Hang-On, Outrun. and Turbo Outrun).

I appreciate any help, I feel like I'm in way over my head on this thing. None of my other cabinets have been anywhere near as much of a pain in the ass as this thing has been.
 
IC92 is a RAM IC on the sound side, specifically the PCM generation. It shouldn't prevent the game, or even the sound CPU, from running, but it may cause issues with sound playback. The exact part number isn't necessary, you simply need 2k x 8 RAM, 120ns or faster (per the schems). Examples of such RAMs are: 6116, TMM2016, TMM2018, and TMM2115.

I wouldn't think 15VDC would hurt the amp. To test your amp, you can feed it a low-level audio signal, such as the unamplified line out from many audio devices, and see if you get audio out of the speakers. If yours is in fact dead, there are many 12VDC amps that could possibly work. You may be able to find another Sega amp from this era of game. Try searching by its part number (printed on it).

Regarding the missing blue... look on the video board (the bottom one). Check for an issue with IC91 (LS125, pin 5 stuck?). Beyond that, check IC94 (HC273), that converts the digtal color signal to an analog level thru a resistor ladder.
 
I was getting 15.5 volts at the amplifier, which is far too high (it should be 11-12 volts). I tore out the wiring to it and hooked it up to the 12 volt line off of a switching power supply, and that did no better, so I'm guessing that board is just dead now.

15.5v is fine, these amp chips are happy up to 18v usually, the 12v rail on arcade PSUs is not regulated so if the current draw of the amp is low then the volts will be higher.
 
I wasn't getting any sound from the amp, even though the sound was working at the board. It also appears the amp ended up getting thrown away when my table got cleaned up. Now I need to track down another amp. I'm temped to just grab the amp out of some 12volt computer speakers or something.
 
Also, I just hunted for those alternative parts you listed for the RAM, and I couldn't find any of them for sale. Well, a few of them were available, but the minimum order was over 100, and I only need 1. Any chance you know where I could find any chip that would work here?
 
I wasn't getting any sound from the amp, even though the sound was working at the board. It also appears the amp ended up getting thrown away when my table got cleaned up. Now I need to track down another amp. I'm temped to just grab the amp out of some 12volt computer speakers or something.

Sure, an amp like that'll work fine. OutRun is stereo, so you'll need a 2-channel amp, of course. One potential gotcha: the Sega amp has a "mute" control line input. I don't know if OutRun actually USES it... but IF it does, a regular amp won't mute.

Also, I just hunted for those alternative parts you listed for the RAM, and I couldn't find any of them for sale. Well, a few of them were available, but the minimum order was over 100, and I only need 1. Any chance you know where I could find any chip that would work here?

Should be able to find suitable replacement RAMs at a number of the usual suspects: Bob Roberts, Twisty Wrist Arcade, Jameco, among others. Leave off the letters when searching, other brands will lack the "TMM" but may have the same numbers. Also, take a look at your IC, to see if it's a standard width (0.3") or wide (0.6"). 1k x 8 RAMs are available in both widths. (And the PCB may or may not be able to accept either width).
 
Well, the mute line is run from the amplifier all the way back to the board, so it might be used. If it is used, what would happen if I didn't have that functionality? I can't imagine the mute could have been used too often, the game makes sounds most of the time.

And I just went and measured the RAM, and now I'm concerned that we might be talking about different chips entirely. The RAM chip that is faulty is roughly 1.25" wide. Though I did just notice that you initially said it was 2k x 8, and just now said 1k x 8.
 
I went and took a look at IC91 and IC94 on the bottom board, both look fine, but I don't really know how to test them. Neither seemed to have any bent or damaged pins though.
 
Well, the mute line is run from the amplifier all the way back to the board, so it might be used. If it is used, what would happen if I didn't have that functionality? I can't imagine the mute could have been used too often, the game makes sounds most of the time.

And I just went and measured the RAM, and now I'm concerned that we might be talking about different chips entirely. The RAM chip that is faulty is roughly 1.25" wide. Though I did just notice that you initially said it was 2k x 8, and just now said 1k x 8.

If you didn't have mute functionality, you might hear audio when it's supposed to be quiet.

With regard to RAM IC width, consult the following diagram: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_electronics_package_dimensions#Through_hole The "width" I'm talking about is the "wl" dimension, not the "L" (length).

2k x 8 is correct, I was mistaken when I typed 1k x 8 in the later message. Sorry for any confusion.
 
I went and took a look at IC91 and IC94 on the bottom board, both look fine, but I don't really know how to test them. Neither seemed to have any bent or damaged pins though.

You'll need either a logic probe or an oscilloscope (or logic comparitor, or logic analyzer) to determine if those ICs are working properly.
 
I really appreciate all the help with this, I would have been completely lost without your help.

I figured 2k x 8 was correct, but I didn't want to make an assumptions. I've tracked down a compatible RAM chip (CXK5814-P35L) and I'm getting together with someone who has a desoldering station on Friday to do the swap.

And I guess that means I need to track down someone with a o-scope who can help me out. I knew I should have grabbed that one when I had the chance.
 
Hold on a second. I just looked at the schematics some more, and something caught my eye. I was looking further upstream from the blue video output, and what do I see but a RAM labeled... "IC92". This is different IC92. This one is on the bottom (video) PCB, not on the top (CPU & sound) PCB. It's aweful how Sega labeled ICs numerically on both PCBs, using duplicate numbers... because it makes things ambiguous when test mode shows a bad IC, but doesn't mention which PCB it's on....

In any case, I'm pretty sure that the IC92 listed in test mode is NOT referring to the one we've been talking about so far (the 2k x 8 in the sound circuit). THAT IC92 is right beside an IC91 (which isn't listed in test mode), and furthermore I'm not sure it's even directly accessable to the sound CPU. The IC92 on the BOTTOM PCB is right beside IC95, which IS ALSO listed in test mode. So, I'm like 95% cure THIS IC92 is your bad RAM... and it connects to the blue video output, too.
 
They couldn't make it easy, could they? That does make a ton of sense given your description. Sounds like I need to take my boards apart again and see what this other IC92 is, and track down a replacement for it. Assuming that it is a different kind of RAM.
 
Okay, took the boards apart, and the "other" IC92 is a TMM2063P-10. This one has 28 pins and is a bit wider than the last one, I'm going to see if I have any luck tracking down this chip or a compatible one (though I'm still not fully sure how to find compatible chips short of someone pointing them out).
 
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