Road Blasters Troubles

Sirius

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I have a Road Blasters cockpit that I picked up at a garage sale. Told the guy if he still had it at the end of his sale I would give him a $100. I was mostly just interested in the cabinet. I've since decided to try and get it working first. The issue seems to be with the video display, not the monitor. I've recapped the monitor (WG K4600) since I was recapping the monitor for my Defender. The game seems to be working fine (coins up and plays music) except for the display. I've learned a lot about my Defender over the last few weeks, but there don't seem to be the kind of info available for Road Blasters like there is for other games. I've posted a video of whats happening. I'm hoping that someone will see the issue and know the problem. Please take a look, any suggestions on where to begin with this would be greatly appreciated.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNbwijCeLI4
 
I'd say there is a problem with the video part on the PCB and not the monitor. Looks like there is issues in the graphics section. I would turn it off and then carefully reseat all the chips in the graphics section. I know Roadblasters is a System 1 so maybe it is just a problem with the Roadblasters game board or the System 1 board itself. Too bad you didn't have another System 1 game to isolate the problem.

First thing I would check would be your voltages. My Roadblasters was pretty picky about it's 5volts. Check to see how many volts the game board is getting on the test points. I'd say 5.1- 5.2V is safe. If you have the correct voltages, then I'd start reseating the chips.
 
I have a Road Blasters cockpit that I picked up at a garage sale. Told the guy if he still had it at the end of his sale I would give him a $100. I was mostly just interested in the cabinet. I've since decided to try and get it working first. The issue seems to be with the video display, not the monitor. I've recapped the monitor (WG K4600) since I was recapping the monitor for my Defender. The game seems to be working fine (coins up and plays music) except for the display. I've learned a lot about my Defender over the last few weeks, but there don't seem to be the kind of info available for Road Blasters like there is for other games. I've posted a video of whats happening. I'm hoping that someone will see the issue and know the problem. Please take a look, any suggestions on where to begin with this would be greatly appreciated.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNbwijCeLI4

Maybe something wrong with the PCB? Try to reseat the RoadBlasters board to the Atari SYstem 1 board. I know the screws holding my RB board to my System 1 board had worked its way loose and game had some garbage on screen from not getting a good connection. After reseating the two and hold it in place with new screws fixed the problem. Thats board comes out real easy do to orientation in the cabinet.

Also try running game in test mode. Should be a switch right on upper left hand side of front door on cabinet.
 
Maybe something wrong with the PCB? Try to reseat the RoadBlasters board to the Atari SYstem 1 board. I know the screws holding my RB board to my System 1 board had worked its way loose and game had some garbage on screen from not getting a good connection. After reseating the two and hold it in place with new screws fixed the problem. Thats board comes out real easy do to orientation in the cabinet.

Also try running game in test mode. Should be a switch right on upper left hand side of front door on cabinet.

I tested the voltages and the +5 was low (4.7), so I bumped it up to 5.2. That seemed to clear up the video some, but not much. +12 is @ +15.3. I've tried to run the game in test mode but it wont. The switch in the coin compartment doesn't have the wires connected to it, so I twisted the wires (brown) together and turned on the machine, but it starts as normal. Cant test mode be activated directly from the pcb? I have re-seated some of the chips , but I'm not sure which are specific to the video.
One thing that I find about Road Blasters is that it seems there's a lack of documentation as compared to say... Defender? I have the manual and schematics that came with it and that's it.
What is the 2nd led on the main pcb? The 1st led on top comes on but the 2nd (lower) just flickers when the power is turned on. Is it a malfunction? Does it only operate in test mode? Is it always supposed to be on? Sorry...this is my first system 1 and I'm still learning the nuances. Are there any sites that can help brush me up on the Atari System 1 boards? Any help is appreciated.
 
The switch in the coin compartment doesn't have the wires connected to it, so I twisted the wires (brown) together and turned on the machine, but it starts as normal. Cant test mode be activated directly from the pcb?

I have the manual and schematics that came with it and that's it.

Are you activating the switch shown in Figure 1-1 of the manual? It shows a switch on the Audio II board... not a remote mounted switch. Or perhaps yours was a conversion, not in a native cabinet.
 
My Bad

What is the 2nd led on the main pcb? The 1st led on top comes on but the 2nd (lower) just flickers when the power is turned on. Is it a malfunction? Does it only operate in test mode? Is it always supposed to be on? Sorry...this is my first system 1 and I'm still learning the nuances.

Ok...my bad! Musta head my head cocked the wrong way? Its the led on the top of the board (CR5) that only flickers when powered on. The led on the bottom CR1, lights and stays on (see pic). The flash on the camera put a glow to the led, so CR5 (top) is really off.

Now as far as the test switch. Whats up with this? In the coin compartment I have a 6 pole slide switch that is not connected with any wires. Then I have 2 brown (gray? 1 w/blk stripe) wires that I assumed were supposed to be connected to it. I twisted the wires together and powered on the machine. It started as normal in the attract mode. In a previous post DarrenF mentioned the switch shown in fig 1-1. My fig 1-1 shows the audio ll board, and the coin switch, nothing about the audio board switch (see pic). I took a closer look and did see a switch on the audio board. I moved the switch and powered on the game but nope...still started in the attract mode. I even tried twisting the wires and moving the switch.
 

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Ok...my bad! Musta head my head cocked the wrong way? Its the led on the top of the board (CR5) that only flickers when powered on. The led on the bottom CR1, lights and stays on (see pic). The flash on the camera put a glow to the led, so CR5 (top) is really off.

Now as far as the test switch. Whats up with this? In the coin compartment I have a 6 pole slide switch that is not connected with any wires. Then I have 2 brown (gray? 1 w/blk stripe) wires that I assumed were supposed to be connected to it. I twisted the wires together and powered on the machine. It started as normal in the attract mode. In a previous post DarrenF mentioned the switch shown in fig 1-1. My fig 1-1 shows the audio ll board, and the coin switch, nothing about the audio board switch (see pic). I took a closer look and did see a switch on the audio board. I moved the switch and powered on the game but nope...still started in the attract mode. I even tried twisting the wires and moving the switch.

Yeah the switch in the picture 2 is the test switch. On my cabinet it was on left upper side of door but I suppose could be anywhere. It should go right to test mode. The upper board is the System 1 board. Try to reseat everything real well, like I said be fore the way those boards are attached gravity sometimes wins. Also wouldnt hurt to remove both boards and clean behind them. Could be some interference there, mine was practically glued to the cabinet from years of wear. The foam behind there was almost gone in spots.
 
Ok...my bad! Musta head my head cocked the wrong way? Its the led on the top of the board (CR5) that only flickers when powered on. The led on the bottom CR1, lights and stays on (see pic). The flash on the camera put a glow to the led, so CR5 (top) is really off.

Now as far as the test switch. Whats up with this? In the coin compartment I have a 6 pole slide switch that is not connected with any wires. Then I have 2 brown (gray? 1 w/blk stripe) wires that I assumed were supposed to be connected to it. I twisted the wires together and powered on the machine. It started as normal in the attract mode. In a previous post DarrenF mentioned the switch shown in fig 1-1. My fig 1-1 shows the audio ll board, and the coin switch, nothing about the audio board switch (see pic). I took a closer look and did see a switch on the audio board. I moved the switch and powered on the game but nope...still started in the attract mode. I even tried twisting the wires and moving the switch.

Sorry for the confusion. I was referring to Figure 1-1 in Atari TM-298, found here: http://arcarc.xmission.com/PDF_Arca...rs_TM-298_1st_Printing_for_System_1_Games.pdf

That is different from the Fig 1-1 you posted...

Not sure about the mystery switch you have, nor the 2 mystery wires. Can you trace them to see where they're connected?

EDIT: My mistake! I missed that this is a Cockpit game. There's a different manual for it, of course... and it looks like it had the self test switch mounted seperately. Sorry for the mix-up.
 

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No problem...I took the boards out and reseated every chip. Still no change. One thing I did notice is it appears that it might have 2 missing chips? I posted a picture of the cart board that shows the awol chips? Upper left in picture. The schematics shows the chips and the numbers that they should be.
 

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No problem...I took the boards out and reseated every chip. Still no change. One thing I did notice is it appears that it might have 2 missing chips? I posted a picture of the cart board that shows the awol chips? Upper left in picture. The schematics shows the chips and the numbers that they should be.

I'll check the schematics for the mystery wires. I'm sure they are part of the test circuit.

Here are some pics of mine when I took them out.
 

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1st pic was RB cart second was System 1 but wrong part....

Dont have an upper left pcb pic this is best I have of both boards when it was working.
 

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No problem...I took the boards out and reseated every chip. Still no change. One thing I did notice is it appears that it might have 2 missing chips? I posted a picture of the cart board that shows the awol chips? Upper left in picture. The schematics shows the chips and the numbers that they should be.

I'll check the schematics for the mystery wires. I'm sure they are part of the test circuit.

MAWS: http://maws.mameworld.info/maws/romset/roadblstc
It indicates that the cockpit version does have the 7 & 8 P & R populated, but there's no ROM indicated at locations 7S or 8S...
 
Okay...so then looks like the chips aren't needed? Still baffled as to why it wont enter test mode. Awhile back when I got the machine, I was looking online and found a chip that's used in the video section of the board. Now I'll be damned if I can figure out which chip it was, nor can I find the email. Clues anyone?
 
Nothing...

Still cant get to test mode. I dont understand why there are two switches on the machine. 1 on the sound board and one in the coin compartment. The switch on the sound board does not seem to be connected. According to the schematics pin JAUX 7 is the test lead. There is no wire connected to it in the connector. The wires going to the coin compartment and not connected to the switch. I twisted the wires together and still nothing. What I did find is that if I press the right thumb button on the steering control with the wires twisted together, I hear a small pop from the speakers and the machine resets? 1 note...in the manual on page 5-3, figure 5-1, at the top of the page someone wrote the words "test switches" in parenthesis. Hmmm...make one wonder?

I'm not very familiar with the System 1 boards. If someone could tell me which section and chips are involved in the graphics display that would be of great help. I'm also assuming that its all on the main pcb? Also where the ram is?

Thanks
 
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