Wizard of Wor trouble...yellow lines

Digger

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I have a Wizard of Wor that started acting up just before a party this weekend and I was hoping to find some help. I pulled all the boards and cleaned the edge connectors as well as reseating all the chips but with no luck. The game has yellow lines all over the screen but plays just fine. I took a video with my phone and put it on youtube to help better show the problem. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgDhDW9JSvw Anyone have any ideas as to what would cause this and how I might fix it.
Thanks for any help,
Scott
 
You can try swapping the two RAM cards around in the cage and see if the problem changes.

In the video, I can't see if the player dies or not because of the lines but I'm taking your "plays fine" to mean that the lines don't kill the player. If that's the case, I'll throw my guess at the pattern generator card then. ;)
 
I switched the two cards around and now the lines have switched from yellow to blue. When my player hits a line he doesn't die. I looked at ionpool.net and I am not sure that I know what I am looking for:) If it is just a chip that needs replaced I will be able to do that...I just need to find the bad one...correct? Do I just start replacing them or is there a way to tell the bad one? Thanks for all of the replies. If all games had a self-test the world would be a better place!
Scott
 
To find the bad chip, download the RAM test utility and burn it to an EPROM, and swap it into the X1 position on the ROM board. It was written for Gorf, but I'm pretty sure it runs on Wizard of Wor - it's the same hardware. That program will test your RAM and tell you which chip is bad. Then you just have to replace it. They're soldered to the boards, but not too hard to desolder/replace.

I just finished fixing a few dud Gorf RAM cards. If you really get stuck, let me know, I can fix your RAM cards.

-Ian
 
I don't have a EPROM burner but do have a PayPal account...anyone out there want to give me a price to burn and ship a EPROM to me? I have replaced chips before but once you start talking about burning EPROMS I know I am over my head. I love this stuff...I just don't always understand it.
Scott
 
Is there an EPROM programer out there that is simple to use and works on what I would need for these older games? Maybe something on eBay? Thanks again for all the help.
Scott
 
Is there an EPROM programer out there that is simple to use and works on what I would need for these older games? Maybe something on eBay? Thanks again for all the help.
Scott

I just picked up a cheap Willem GQ-4 off ebay for a backup. It works just as good as my more expensive unit.
If you just want the test rom send me a pm and I can burn it for you. If you need some replacement ram chips I have those also.
 
To find the bad chip, download the RAM test utility and burn it to an EPROM, and swap it into the X1 position on the ROM board. It was written for Gorf, but I'm pretty sure it runs on Wizard of Wor - it's the same hardware. That program will test your RAM and tell you which chip is bad.

There's actually one written for Wizard Of Wor.

Edward
 
Yes, there is, but look at the one that Mark S. wrote first and see if it is made for either and use it if it does (it should note it in the documentation). The one that I wrote for Wizard of Wor does not always catch every RAM error due to a deficiency in the test routine.

One of these days I need to go in and fix that...

-Commander Dave


There's actually one written for Wizard Of Wor.

Edward
 
First I want to thank everyone for their help. It ended up being U4 on one of the RAM boards. If you have the yellow lines I think it is on the 5th board and if you have blue lines I believe it is U4 on the 6th board. I had switched the boards so many times that I do not remember what color the lines were when I replaced U4. Once again thanks for all the help. The game would not have been fixed if it wasn't for this group.
 
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