X-men 4-player 5J ram error

Jedidentist

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Hey guys,
I picked this up the other day and just got around to putting it into my NBA Jam cab with a switcher. I powered it up and was greeted by this:

E934BDA8-6401-47FD-B7E0-5123501B8C40-352-00000020E7911BC1.jpg


I don't see any obvious cold-solder joints, but I also didn't try to reflow any of the pins. I've powered it up several times a few hours apart with the same result. I also put it into different slots with different harnesses in my switcher, with the same result...and both of the harnesses and slots have been tested with other games. I also went through the reboot by holding down the test button, just for fun, and I got the EEPROM ok message. Thoughts? Should I try reflowing the solder on the pins of the ram? Should I be looking elsewhere? If I need new ram, where should I get it? Thanks!

Derek
 
Look to see what is written on that chip and we'll be able to tell you where to pick one up...

Most likely either I'll have it or Riptor will.

RJ
 
Thanks. The seller said it worked for him before I got it, so I'm going to try to reflow the solder on the pins and see if there's anything else that looks grossly off. I didn't have a lot of time to look it over yesterday...just some cursory trouble-shooting in-between running out and about with the kids yesterday. Hopefully, I'll have a little more time today to look at it.
 
There's really no point reflowing the solder, unless you can see something wrong with it, the chances of it fixing your issue are about as good as winning the lottery.
 
There's really no point reflowing the solder, unless you can see something wrong with it, the chances of it fixing your issue are about as good as winning the lottery.

^^^ This. It's true.

Replace the SRAM.
 
I understand that it's probably a hopeless cause, but I've got nothing to lose. It was packed well and was only in transit a few days and I don't believe that it was so severely cold outside that it could've done anything to the board, but maybe some jostling could've done something. It could just have been a matter of bad timing from the RAMs standpoint. I already knew that I was going to have to do some work on it replacing the caps for the sound chip, but was told the sound was good on his end.

The numbers on the 5J slot are SR64KSL10 and the chip itself has Panasonic 92125E033 and MN4464M-08LL on the second line. It has 14 legs/side for a total of 28. Not sure what I need.
 
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Well, I'm bummed. I put in an order with Bob Roberts for some other things and listed all of the above info for the RAM. He sent me a CY7C185 chip.

030DF038-3C96-4C64-9107-3B10E359CE4B-1520-00000299DC4498CC.jpg


I removed the old ram (what a PITA) and attached the new...making sure that I had the little indentation in the correct orientation, and reflowed the solder twice. I plugged it in, powered it up...and still got the "5J Bad" error message. I pushed the reset button again at power up and not surprisingly, still got the same error.

I don't see any obvious broken traces near the chip, and it worked when the seller shipped it. Anything else I should consider?
 
Ok, great...that makes sense. I sort of know what that is, but wouldn't know how to track that down. I know how to measure voltages, do simple cap kits and some soldering, but that's the extent of my electronics knowledge. I've tried to look through the schematics, but can't really track down where the IC would be. How do I do that? FWIW, here's the direct link to the manual/schematics:

http://arcarc.xmission.com/PDF_Arcade_Manuals_and_Schematics/X-Men_4_Player_Instruction_Manual.pdf
 
Pin 20 should be connected to ground and Pin 22 should be connected to probably an LS32. Both RAMs should both be connected on pin 22.
 
Well, after checking the traces on the back of the board, it looks like both the 5J and 6J RAM connect to these guys:

photo.jpg


The socket number reads ALS245 and on the chips themselves, they read 20937TKD(?)S and SN74ALS245AN. So, I guess the next step would be to try to replace both of those?
 
I tried to, but I honestly couldn't figure out where the pin numbering started. In the 2 or 3 pages in that manual that show any sort of schematic or drawing or whatever, I couldn't find where pin 1 was, so I couldn't figure out where 20 or 22 were. Additionally, i couldnt find anything labeled like the RAM or those chips incircled. On the back of the board, I tried to follow where all of the little trace lines ran to and I saw that both 5J and 6J were connected. I couldn't find anything that looked like an interconnect (my only experience being those I've done on an ARII rebuild) and the only things I saw the 5J and 6J RAMs connect to were those chips I circled...and I don't know what they are, but I ordered 2 new ones from Mouser in addition to the caps I need to bulletproof the sound module/chip.
 
Have you tested the traces between 6J and 7J? That scratch looks pretty suspect.

Brian.

Well, after checking the traces on the back of the board, it looks like both the 5J and 6J RAM connect to these guys:

photo.jpg


The socket number reads ALS245 and on the chips themselves, they read 20937TKD(?)S and SN74ALS245AN. So, I guess the next step would be to try to replace both of those?
 
It's not as bad as it looks honestly. I can't remember if that was there originally, or I did it replacing the ram. In either case, the traces are still intact.
 
It's not as bad as it looks honestly. I can't remember if that was there originally, or I did it replacing the ram. In either case, the traces are still intact.

Are you checking with a multimeter or by eye?

Also the pin numbering starts from the dot on the chip from left to right then flip to the other side right to left so the last pin is right above the first pin.
 
So I ordered SN74ALS245AN chips from Mouser, labeled Bus Tranceivers. I replaced both of them in the 6G and 5G positions. I reflowed all of my solder twice, and still the same 5J error. I checked continuity around that scratch with my meter (as suggested), and there are no broken traces...even then, those were between 7J and 6J and those are all testing fine. Could it be that the new Ram I got fom BR was bad too? The Ram he sent had completely different numbers from what was removed (it had the exact numbers as the ram in the 6J position)...is that okay...is it the correct ram?
 
CS line? What can/should I test when the game is running? The monitor shows the same screen as pictured above. It'll stay that way for 15 seconds or so and then recycle and show the same thing. I left it on for 5 min to see if anything changes and it didn't.
 
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