Previously working Missile Command turning on to solid white screen/no test mode

emig5m

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Previously working Missile Command turning on to solid white screen/no test mode

So two weeks ago I bought a Missile Command that was sold as fully working. I go to pick up the game and asked to have it turned on before I take it to make sure it in fact works when I take possession of it. Game initially turns on to a froze screen of the game and seems locked up and is scrolling/rolling vertically. Game gets unplugged and plugged back in and then nothing but a solid white screen with no test mode or anything. Does anyone have any idea what could be wrong with it considering all the voltage are supposedly checking out fine? Two weeks later I'm starting to get a little anxious to pick up the game in working condition since he says he has new RAM chips to install and was suppose to do it at the beginning of this week so I'm wondering if anyone on here might know whats wrong giving the description of the symptoms and I was also wondering would a Braze multigame possibly be the easy fix for this game bypassing the original roms/ram? I'm kinda stuck in limbo here of option A just get my money refunded and call the deal off (which he agreed to) or option B continue waiting and waiting and waiting for the game to get fixed....

Braze mulitigame to the rescue? You guys think the updated ram will fix it? Again- when I seen the game it was turning on to a solid white screen locked up with no test mode or anything.
 
Hard to say, but I don't think it has anything to do with RAM & if the seller is talking about swapping that out, they probably have no idea what they're doing & are likely to fuck things up even worse.

Personally, I'd buy it non working for a substantial discount & repair it.

Braze kit doesn't replace the RAM, only the ROMs. Your best case is that the factory ROM sockets failed (a very common problem) and the monitor needs adjusting.
 
Agreed.

1. Likely not just a RAM issue (even it that at all)
2. Braze kit won't help
3. All white screen typically means "no signal"
4. "No signal" means bad logic board (could be CPU, RAM, ROM, bad RGB output, bad power, wire harness / edge connector issue, etc)

Buy at reduced price and fix it yourself.
 
Yeah offer 120 - 150 less than original price. Try to avoid letting the dude try to replace ram himself (unless he knows how to solder and desolder well and if he does not have a desoldering gun it will just get messed up.

I fix MC boards for a reasonable price and can fix as long as someone did not screw up on previous repairs and damage the board.
 
Ok, someone here on KLOV came to the rescue for me with a working PCB. Before I take the new PCB I just want to make sure I get the cab into my hands first.


brzezicki, I was planning on sending you in the near future my spare Centipede PCB where the -22v/high score save isn't working now that I'm back to work for the season and have a few bucks to spare. I guess I'll just send you both boards to work on.
 
So I went and picked up the game today and I'm only measuring 17.7v on both the +/- 22v test points on the A/R board. Could this have something to do with it?

+12 is at 11.91v
-5v is at 5.22

I don't recall seeing a +5v on the A/R unless I just missed it but the +5v on the PCB was measuring right on 5v and -5 at 5.30v

brzezicki, I'm sending you the PCB as soon as you give me the green light.

I have another A/R board on it's way so hopefully soon this game will be working....

Looks like it's going to need a trackball rebuild kit but first I want to make sure I can get the game working before I go any further.
 
I always love when two bare wires are floating around next to each other, lol...

Q4IalWP.jpg
 
Ok so I have new, tested, and working boards coming as well as sending out the originals for diagnostics and repairs so hopefully my Missile Command will be feeling a little better shortly!

But before I go ahead and start plugging working boards into this cab is there anything I should check before doing so? Like voltages coming off of the transformer, etc? Could of those two bare wires that I posted above took the game out? Because when I spotted them it looked like they might of been in contact with each other! It seems that the old electrical tape that was on those wires just decayed and fell off as when I took it off the other wires and replaced it with fresh tape it came off very easy and the tape seemed to be very dry and brittle. Those wires go to the coin mech and I have no idea why they where tapped into in the past. Looking at a piece of wood above the monitor that was cut, it looks like the game might of been converted to a vertical mounted monitor game at some time in its life and then converted back to Missile Command (just a guess, all the original side art is still in tact on this game so who knows why that piece of wood was cut and those wires tapped into).

But the main thing for now is should anything be tested before the new AR-03 and PCB is installed? The seller said he put in a new big blue while I was waiting for him to fix it but will there be any potential harm in just plugging in the new AR-03 and turning the game on and testing the test points on the AR-03 and then proceed to installing the PCB if the AR voltages are all testing OK? As I get each game I kinda get to know them inside and out, but I'm really still just a newbie and kinda learning in dibs and dabs as I get each game so I don't know what precautions or testing I should do before plugging in the new boards and I really don't want to harm working boards if there's something I should test and catch a potential problem before plugging them in.
 
I would molex out the exposed wires if you know how to do that. I don't know Atari colors well but I'm guessing those aren't power wires (+5 is usually red and grounds are brown) ... control wiring possibly.

the power brick in Atari games have a bridge rectifier to produce 10.3V (it's allegedly closer to 14V with modern wall power) which runs through the Big Blue filter capacitor, and then makes its way to the AR2 to generate voltages. I'm guessing the +22 is from a tap on the transformer, once again, not an expert on Atari, I also don't comprehend how 10.3 produces +12. the 3055 transistor on the AR2 takes in this 10.3V and spits it back out as +5, which passes through a voltage regulator, and then to the game boards -- which then is fed back into the power supply's Sense circuit to determine if it needs to adjust the voltage itself or not.

edge connectors get fried on Atari games courtesy of this Sense circuit. so make sure your edges are clean (I outline how to do this in my PSU guide).

I often times run my own +5 and grounds into the test points or chips on the boards to negate any potential drop in voltage; it's also the way to beat Sense without actually circumventing it, because it always sees a steady supply voltage to the game logic.

perhaps someday I can procure a guide on how to do this on Atari games.
 
Just for those interested in the issue. I got the board today, and the issue was a bad 74S260 @ A5

repair logs for this one is at
http://www.arcade-cabinets.com/fixes/missile_command/index.html#33

Dude, seriously, I'm impressed that you diagnosed and repaired it within the same day as receiving it! That's the difference between thinking you know what you're doing and actually knowing what you're doing! I was totally prepared to wait a while and potentially not see it up and working that's why I bought a tested working one as a backup plan but now I almost wish I didn't waste the money on the second PCB but I suppose if I plan to keep this game forever it's not a bad idea to have a spare working board on hand to limit downtime in the future....But what down time? Sent the board out Tuesday morning and it's already diagnosed and fixed Wednesday evening....amazing....simply amazing...lol. :)

Now I wish I would of just took the game home when it wasn't firing up instead of dealing with the runaround for two weeks....I could of potentially been playing the game over a week ago... Whatever.... as long as I can get everything to come together here on my end I'll be happy.
 
Dude, seriously, I'm impressed that you diagnosed and repaired it within the same day as receiving it! That's the difference between thinking you know what you're doing and actually knowing what you're doing! I was totally prepared to wait a while and potentially not see it up and working that's why I bought a tested working one as a backup plan but now I almost wish I didn't waste the money on the second PCB but I suppose if I plan to keep this game forever it's not a bad idea to have a spare working board on hand to limit downtime in the future....But what down time? Sent the board out Tuesday morning and it's already diagnosed and fixed Wednesday evening....amazing....simply amazing...lol. :)

lol thanks. your board actually arrived at a perfect time. I just finished my queue of fixes yesterday, and have I think 4-5 more boards coming in for fixing soon but your arrived quickly before any others. I usually try to do an initial test/digagnosis ASAP when I get them just in case it's something simple I can get a quick turn around, usually MC boards are a pain in my butt to fix. but assuming it doesn't break during the burn in test tonight, this one was a nice change as it was pretty straightforward as well is something I hadn't seen before, which was a nice change actually to see and troubleshoot a completely different failure than usual.

-brian
 
New PCB and AR and the game still doesn't work! Even with the the Braze kit! All I get is a bunch of garble on the screen and distortion through the speakers! I think my patience and bank account has been put past the limit with this machine! Time to build a bonfire, watch it burn, and get some type of enjoyment out of this basket case of a machine!

There ya have it boys and girls, sometimes it's just worth paying the price to a company like TNT for a machine that's been gone through by professionals and just works! The -22v is still measuring -17v with the new boards just like the last set.... +5 on the pcb is spot on. Now I gotta get my neighbor with his toro to bring it up to the abandon train tunnels tomorrow so I can douse it with gas and put it out of its misery.... Not even going to try to save the tube.... gonna get the shotgun treatment right through the front glass....

Here's what it looks like:


OhLboSA.jpg

ZknHLPK.jpg


Plus random distorted sound and one of the coin counter occasionally going off by itself. Even after power off the coin counter will click up to two time after the power is turned off...weird.


I guess the only way to know if it's the newly bought board or the cab is to just wait until I get my repaired board back from brzezicki. I spent $185 for the PCB above. With the board repair and extra board I'm now $900 into this thing. If this game doesn't fire up with my repaired board once I receive it, this entire game is getting destroyed (that's not a joke either).
 
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What? Wait is this the board I sent or the one you bought from someone else?
Did you replace the big blue when you did the ar?
 
What? Wait is this the board I sent or the one you bought from someone else?
Did you replace the big blue when you did the ar?

This is the one I bought from someone else. I haven't received the board you repaired, didn't even know you sent it yet, and I'm honestly going to be afraid to plug it into this cabinet now because the board I bought was supposed to be tested. I personally didn't replace the big blue but the seller said he did. But can I trust his word?
 
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Crap it's very possible I have not dropped it off. Been so busy I forgot what made it to the post office and what has yet to be dropped off. I'll check later and let you know
 
fail on my part it's still here sitting in my office, sorry about that.
I've printed a shipping label and will drop it of monday along with a free gift to help you with your potential issue.
 
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