two bad wolf units with same symptoms

lvlwitdadevil

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Have two wolf units that power but will not go into the rom check screen, I also do not get the "ding" prior to the rom check. Black screen w/ no sound.

I get one red led that comes on (the two that are next to each other). It is the far right LED when looking top down at the board w/ the heatsink in the top right hand corner.

I have made sure there are no crossing prongs or cuts. I do not see any burned or bulging capacitors.

If anyone knows what the problem may be or if they have had a board with similar symptoms please let me know.

Thanks.
 
it lies in the U45 and U47 chips. I too picked up a couple of bad Wolf boards last week, one I got 2 red lights, the other I got a very dim light and the U47 chip felt like it was going to erupt into a ball of flames lol.

I got some big cajones and pulled those graphics chips off my one good UMK3 board and was able to get the 2 light board to actually boot up, but then it threw up a sound error and wouldn't progress any further. the second board didn't do shit even after putting the good graphics chips in.

so if anyone has something to lend to this, let us know. both boards look to be in decent physical condition, except the board that actually booted for me does have a noticeable warp in it, I'd have to inspect it again, it may or may not have popped a U1 chip leg for the sound CPU... I didn't notice anything obvious like a gouged trace or touching pins. the second board actually looked immaculate. it's weird. I got voltages to the roms on both of them, so I can only assume they're getting power in.
 
I wonder if this is a common problem as both of my bad wolf units look good physically.

All of the game roms on mine are good when put into a different wolf unit. I have not tampered with u35, u45, u47 or u57 to confirm those though.

I'd like to get these running, otherwise they are going to be used for target practice.
 
I wonder if this is a common problem as both of my bad wolf units look good physically.

All of the game roms on mine are good when put into a different wolf unit. I have not tampered with u35, u45, u47 or u57 to confirm those though.

I'd like to get these running, otherwise they are going to be used for target practice.

based on some repair vids that zenomorp posted, black screen is symptomatic of the U45 and U47 graphics processors being bad. however I was under the impression that if they were no good, the game should still make sound and run. my one half-ass okay board did not, but then again, I just realized that there's something wrong with the sound hardware on it too...

the second board, which I received completely stripped of every rom and security chip, didn't do anything at all until I popped a couple of the better looking graphics processors and the U54/U63/U64 chips I amassed from the two boards in it, then for whatever reason despite not doing anything, the far left light blinked a couple times and it played the end round music from the Subway stage. I did this with no video roms installed, and strange as it sounds, I think I did it with no sound roms installed either. this one definitely scared the shit out of me. when I put my good UMK3 graphics processors in, it went back to the one dim light and not doing anything at all.

between the two boards, I'm kind of thinking that the U1 chip needs to be resoldered on the first board and there might be something wrong with the CPU on the second one.
 
is there somewhere the u45 and u47 graphics processors can be purchased or are they burned specifically for the unit its in?

I'm willing to buy some new ones and drop them in to test if the price is fair.
 
Unfortunately Midway never included Schematics for any of the wolf units IIRC. :(
 
so using them for trap shooting is the only type of play time I will get from them?
 
It would help to have a good working board to start with checking the socketed chips for functionality when working on totally dead boards with no schematics.

If it's not appearing to start up I begin by checking the CPU - clocks, reset signals, address/data busses, control lines (read/write, etc...), etc... then check the program ROMs for address/data lines and signals on the control lines.

RJ
 
so I need a logic probe in other words? lol and the knowledge on what it means when stuff's low/high. :)
 
Yup... get one with audio capabilities AND go download "the book" by Atari. It has a good logic primer in it.
 
The board I have with the U1 error actually has a noticeable warp in it, wondering if it popped a leg or something. I'll have to look at it again.
 
I dont even get a screen to see rom errors. Its completely black w/ no sounds on both.
 
I recently picked up a Rampage World Tour board (WWF Unit...) and had boot/flashing solid color screen issues but you could hear the game trying to run in the background (iirc). It would reset after about 60 seconds. after checking everything and powering it up again i started pressing on all the chips until i came across the socketed one below the Amp heat sink. i found that if i would tap on it the picture would correct itself but it wasn't until i pulled the chip and re-socketed it that it has worked perfectly since.

Not sure if that helps but that's my experience thus far.

I've got a Hangtime board on it's way (might be max hangtime not sure yet), wonder if it will have any of these issues we've discussed so far.
 
you could use em for trap shooting, but PULL THE CHIPS FIRST.

Seems like alot of folks are having issue with those, i never toss a board unless i absoultely have to, in which case off come all the chips soldered or not.. never know when you may save yourself some time and money later by hoarding....err.. i mean saving the parts for a rainy day.
 
you could use em for trap shooting, but PULL THE CHIPS FIRST.

Seems like alot of folks are having issue with those, i never toss a board unless i absoultely have to, in which case off come all the chips soldered or not.. never know when you may save yourself some time and money later by hoarding....err.. i mean saving the parts for a rainy day.

I already pulled the eproms they are all good. (except for the u47/u45) I dont have a chip puller for them.
 
I already pulled the eproms they are all good. (except for the u47/u45) I dont have a chip puller for them.

need a PLCC puller for those. I wanna say Radio Shack carries those, but I'm thinking I snuck one in on one of my Happ orders for the business. if you do happen to get one, be careful you don't "slip" at all, you can wind up bending the pins nearest to the corners. you'll have to use some creativity then to bend them back.

with everything in the board, what kind of activity are you seeing on the 2 LEDs?
 
Black screen w/ no sound.

I get one led that comes on (the two that are next to each other). It is the far right LED when looking top down at the board w/ the heatsink in the top right hand corner.
 
Black screen w/ no sound.

I get one led that comes on (the two that are next to each other). It is the far right LED when looking top down at the board w/ the heatsink in the top right hand corner.

I get the opposite on my board that does nothing. I wanna say those tie in to the U45 and U47. but then again... the other board lights them both up and still does nothing! go figure.

if I get around to it in a few days I'll mess with mine some more and let you know.
 
Sounds good. Let me know what you find out. I was hoping it would be something simple like a capacitor replacement, but most likely its something beyond my electronics level.
 
Hangtime arrived yesterday, went over it today. Cleaned the edge connector, fixed a ton of bent solder legs, and made sure everything was socketed well.

Threw power to it, and got nothing but a black screen and the sound of the monitor trying to sync up. tapped on some stuff, only got signs of life from tapping on U45 (the screen when a bluish shade of white). powered down pulled and resocketed all the PLCC chips. powered back up and bones told me "she's dead jim" (at least for now). Only led that lights is the one close to the edge connector/amp heat sink.

Going to pull all the chips later and clean all the legs to see if that helps at all but i seriously doubt it will.
 
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