PowerPutt Nighthawk issues: IO Board troubleshooting

mongoosetoo

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Picked up "working" PP (if only I had a dollar for every time someone said its a working arcade! lol). It's a Nighthawk system v9.11 in an old Fore cab, and of course it did not start up on first attempt. Troubleshot and found a bad mobo, so I replaced it with same model Intel DG41TY, got it to boot, and receives all GREEN OKs throughout bootup, and eventually gets to the Insert Coin screen. But I am receiving error messages like "Coin 1 is stuck or wiring is incorrect" and none of the buttons on the CP react, nor do any of the service area buttons. I've already disconnected the wires from the microswitches to rule out bad switches. Other times I get the same message about a bad Coin 2, and one time it listed bad Vol Up, down, Test, service switches all bad, but realized the square 4 pin power connector was disconnected from the IO board. Plugged it back in and the Vol/Service button messages went away, but still do not work. Inspected and double checked everything, but cannot get the game to start - even though it is set for FreePlay. During boot, it does identify the CID, IO, and the mobo match, and harness looks clean and in good shape, and I have 3 green lights on the IO board. But with the butons not working, and error messages, does this indicate my IO board is junk?
 
Double check the power supply feed between the Nighthawk PC and the I/O board. I suspect something is loose or not making good contact. The I/O board will and partially function on USB 5v only in some cases, but not all. When you don't have PC-supported 5v (more amps than what USB provides) and 12v supply, you're going to have all kinds of weird problems when the game boots.

Short answer: power supply issue.
 
Double check the power supply feed between the Nighthawk PC and the I/O board. I suspect something is loose or not making good contact. The I/O board will and partially function on USB 5v only in some cases, but not all. When you don't have PC-supported 5v (more amps than what USB provides) and 12v supply, you're going to have all kinds of weird problems when the game boots.

Short answer: power supply issue.
Awesome suggestion. Will dig into that tonight|!
 
Double check the power supply feed between the Nighthawk PC and the I/O board. I suspect something is loose or not making good contact. The I/O board will and partially function on USB 5v only in some cases, but not all. When you don't have PC-supported 5v (more amps than what USB provides) and 12v supply, you're going to have all kinds of weird problems when the game boots.

Short answer: power supply issue.
Checked voltage at one of the loose connectors at the IO board. Saw 5.14v and 12.25v. Machine will completely boot and get right up to the Leader Board. when I press the start button, nothing happens for a long time, and sometimes nothing at at all. Occasionally, it will take me to the next screen after a long pause, and ask how many players. One time it allowed me to roll the trackball, and select 2 player, and then locked at the next screen and went blank, then rebooted. I'm going to swap the memory next. Not sure what else to try. But I do have another Nighthawk machine here I can swap parts back and forth from. Any further thoughts beyond the power supply? I also changed the USB cable to a new one, Same results.
 
Checked voltage at one of the loose connectors at the IO board. Saw 5.14v and 12.25v. Machine will completely boot and get right up to the Leader Board. when I press the start button, nothing happens for a long time, and sometimes nothing at at all. Occasionally, it will take me to the next screen after a long pause, and ask how many players. One time it allowed me to roll the trackball, and select 2 player, and then locked at the next screen and went blank, then rebooted. I'm going to swap the memory next. Not sure what else to try. But I do have another Nighthawk machine here I can swap parts back and forth from. Any further thoughts beyond the power supply? I also changed the USB cable to a new one, Same results.

I can supply a replacement hard drive if you need it. PM me for details.
 
Reading other threads- I am leaning towards removing/inspecting/resoldering the USB connector on the IO board. Not that its affecting this, but the RCA jack are known to crack solder joints too.
 
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