TRON taking longer and longer to boot up.

vintagegamer

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I'm just finally getting around to checking this out- If I leave the game on for about 20 min, the attract mode will finally start up. But prior to that, it's just got garble on the screen. On the days when I would turn that game on every day, sometimes it would boot right up, other times it might take a minute or 2, but not bad. But the longer the interval is between when I last powered it up, the longer you have to wait for it to come online.

It's sounding to me like a cap issue, but I wanted to run it by you guys. I have not yet rebuilt the power supply on this game, and I am pretty sure I have never swapped out the big blues on it. Once it gets enough juice in the system everything works fine. I've also never had to do the purple wire snip.

Is the popular vote big blues first?
 
Is the popular vote big blues first?
There's nothing to guess about. Use your DMM on AC setting to measure the unregulated transformer output, then the +5/+12 power supply lines. If you have significant AC (>100mv to 150mV) then the big blue capacitors might be worth replacing. If the power is smooth then those capacitors are not the problem.

Once it gets enough juice in the system everything works fine. I've also never had to do the purple wire snip.
Check +5/+12 on the PCB, the voltages might be low. Check the reset line -- perhaps the power-on reset circuit is holding your game in reset because it thinks the power is bad.
 
There's nothing to guess about. Use your DMM on AC setting to measure the unregulated transformer output, then the +5/+12 power supply lines. If you have significant AC (>100mv to 150mV) then the big blue capacitors might be worth replacing. If the power is smooth then those capacitors are not the problem.


Check +5/+12 on the PCB, the voltages might be low. Check the reset line -- perhaps the power-on reset circuit is holding your game in reset because it thinks the power is bad.

Thanks guys- I was thinking about snipping ole purple (the reset) just to see if it kicks on faster, but wanted to consult the Council before I just started getting nutty. :D
 
I was thinking about snipping ole purple (the reset) just to see if it kicks on faster, but wanted to consult the Council before I just started getting nutty. :D
That seems like a poor choice. If the power-on reset is holding the game in reset, that's a warning sign and you should fix the underlying cause. That's like getting a check-engine light on your car and removing the bulb instead of fixing the problem.

Again, there's no guessing involved. Check the line with your DMM. If uRESETn is low then the power-on reset is asserted. If it's high then it's not holding your game in reset and it's not your problem.
 
Kind of an obvious observation, but from your description I would suspect it's thermal-related (e.g. a joint or pin making connection after thermal expansion). I would just start at the beginning as others suggested - power rails, CPU clock / power / reset, etc - and try to narrow down where the failure is coming from. You might try cold spray or pressing with your fingers if you narrow it down enough to isolate to a component or connection.

I also agree with Joey about the 'guessing game' approach. These games aren't that complicated, so there's no reason not to use a systematic approach when debugging them.

LeChuck
 
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I fixed a couple Tron's a few months ago and figured out WHAT THE DEAL WAS with them.

Personally, I've never been a 'big blue' guy. I always thought it was bullshit. I rebuilt both power supplies, and still had problems. Although the voltage coming from the power brick was right, the power supplies would just barely get 5 volts to the board, after being on a while it'd drop down to like 4.6 and they'd start resetting.

The Big Blues are expensive, but they not only fixed mine and made it really reliable, but it also got rid of all the garbage that was on the screen. And you know what I'm talking about.

It's a pain in the ass to swap them. The new ones don't have the same connections.

As for the 'reset' wire issue, the people that say to cut that are crazy. Here's the deal.

If you cut the wire, you are now running the 'reset' section of the gameboard off of the BATTERY section of the power supply. Don't believe me? Try cutting the reset wire off of a game that the battery's been removed on the power supply. It won't boot. It's a half-assed work around when what really needs to be done is the big blues replaced and the power supply rebuilt.

Good luck!
 
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