Williams Defender Arcade Prototype

[motox]

Hello,

i have found this very nice Defender prototype, but it does not run. The borads are prototype too, serial numbers engraved by hands.
The power is fine 5, -5, 12 and so on. I changed the RAM, repaired the reset and watchdog circuit, changed the ribbon cable.
Now i have a sound when powered up. On the screen different patterns. Sometimes very big blue stripes, sometimes very colourful small dots, sometimes grey dots.
The LEDs on the ROM Boards vary. Most of the times all are light. Sometimes they light up only by start and then they are off. Sometimes i have different leds on and different of.
I am not a pro in fixing. I am more a pinball guy. So i give up and searching for someone who can repair my boards.
So that is my question, is there someone out there who can help me fix my boards? Would be nice to find someone in Europe.
Thanks a lot
Dennis

 

[mecha]

are all the roms installed correctly? I can't make out all the U-shaped notches denoting which side is pin 1.

I ran Defender white label for the first time ever in MAME. the rug pattern boot part apparently takes forever. I wish MAME had a way to emulate the rom board LEDs. can you post a video of what it's doing?

also the lack of solder mask that's definitely a prototype MPU. where did you get the game?

 

[motox]

All roms have the right alignment.
There was a big Arcade distributor in the 80s near my city. He died a year ago. His son was selling the left storage. There were some arcades and this proto defender. There was a second proto marquee without the "TM" on it. I grabbed it too. So he seems to had two proto Defenders.
I have made a video, but i can not load it up directly, only pictures allowed. i try to create a link

 

[motox]

https://www.swisstransfer.com/d/ce1ae2ba-56a7-4995-912b-9950262398e8

 

[64B1T]

Just gotta say, wow. That's so incredibly cool. Congratulations

 

[Onji]

@braedel could most likely give some pointers. I originally suggested sending the boardset to him until I saw in another post you're in Germany

Also, very cool find!

 

[motox]

Yes, i hope to find someone in europe who can fix the boards

 

[mecha]

Yes, i hope to find someone in europe who can fix the boards

oh, you're missing rom 4, that could be a problem

that's one of the 2716 roms (Defender's roms 1-3 are 2532)

 

[HudsonArcade]

oh, you're missing rom 4, that could be a problem

that's one of the 2716 roms (Defender's roms 1-3 are 2532)

Wrong.
White label Defender ROMs don't have a ROM4.

(And missing 4-12 wouldn't prevent self-test from running anyway)

 

[mecha]

Wrong.
White label Defender ROMs don't have a ROM4.

(And missing 4-12 wouldn't prevent self-test from running anyway)

I considered that after the fact, yes. I've never come across white label roms before.

 

[motox]

But rom 3 has one broken leg, it is repaired. But maybe it couses problems.Till now i did not find someone who can make me a new one

 

[motox]

And sometimes there is a different code with the LEDs. sometimes only 3 and 4 are light, sometimes 1 and 4, but most of the times all 4 are on or all are off

 

[mecha]

And sometimes there is a different code with the LEDs. sometimes only 3 and 4 are light, sometimes 1 and 4, but most of the times all 4 are on or all are off

yes rom 3 is in fact needed for self test. your LEDs will be wrong because it's not running the game code right. I would venture that was a gold contact rom, cause it's one of the 2532s lol they're prone to the legs just breaking off.

did fixing the leg change anything? you should've gotten blue or purple jailbars if rom 3 wasn't working, which sounds like what you described.

 

[motox]

Yes it is a gold contact rom. i am not shure my fix worked. there is no difference on the screen. mostly this colourful dots all over, see picture. and sometimes really big blue pattern, about 6 inch wide

 

[gwarble]

awesome cabinet find!

 

[braedel]

Wow! That is the lowest know serial number for a MPU out there! I have 438838. Looks like the ROM board serial is only 8 away.
Dave Langley could fix it up for you. He runs the Robotron-2084 site out of the UK HERE

I would be happy to sort the boards out too, but shipping wouldn't be cheap...

Check the manual for the 'Bodge' on the MPU fix (looks like yours is not installed).

~Brad

 

[motox]

Oh, thanks. i will contact Dave.
The cabinet got the same number

 

[VectorCollector]

Just putting this here for further consideration ...
Please keep us informed of the fix.

 

[McHale]

Hello,

i have found this very nice Defender prototype, but it does not run. The borads are prototype too, serial numbers engraved by hands.
The power is fine 5, -5, 12 and so on. I changed the RAM, repaired the reset and watchdog circuit, changed the ribbon cable.
Now i have a sound when powered up. On the screen different patterns. Sometimes very big blue stripes, sometimes very colourful small dots, sometimes grey dots.
The LEDs on the ROM Boards vary. Most of the times all are light. Sometimes they light up only by start and then they are off. Sometimes i have different leds on and different of.
I am not a pro in fixing. I am more a pinball guy. So i give up and searching for someone who can repair my boards.
So that is my question, is there someone out there who can help me fix my boards? Would be nice to find someone in Europe.
Thanks a lot
Dennis

My hunch is these are standard White label ROMS but it would be worth running a romident against the set to verify. You'll be able to find out what set they are and if any fail any checksums. If so, you'll know which roms you need burned.

 

[rhombus]

nice find. I was in Germany in the early 80's and I played Defender almost every day. Couldn't get onto Asteroids because the older kid were always on it. So I got really good on Defender.

As for your problem:
Your last picture shows the normal test patter (rug test). On the green set (1st ver) it would sweep about 7 or 8 times (can't remember the exact times). I'm guessing the white ver is the same. If it doesn't get out of doing the sweep test, reach through the coin door and watch the screen as you press on the ribbon cable for any changes. It looks like the original ribbon cable may need to be replaced.

Another thing to check, if ROM #7 and/or #10 are bad it will just be stuck in an endless rug test pattern. Try reseating those ROM chips. I can't see the notch on ROM #10 in your picture, is it in correctly? The notches should all be pointing to the left in your picture (to the power connector side of the board). Don't go by the stickers.