Magic Sword button issue, S.C.I. power/monitor issue, sorry SuburuBrat I suck.

[Leathco]

I really need to stop pestering you. I'll try to take my next questions over to KLOV, lol.

Lets start with Magic Sword. I pulled out and reseated all the ROM chips (which got scary when I realized how easy those pins get bent, lol), still get that weird artifacting. I'm gonna try to order new ROMS for the board. Where do I do that at?

Next up, play 1 jump button isn't working (the blue one in the pics). I switched the connectors for attack and jump around to verify that the button itself worked, which it does when the connectors are switched (that means blue works when switched for attack, and red does nothing). I switched the connectors to their original spots, and than cut the wire and put a new connector on the end. Still not working. Should I cut the wire back further, or is it possibly an issue with the JAMMA connector? Or could it be another problem related to the glitchy ROM ships?

http://media.use.com/images/s_1/529f456cbd99cf001f75.jpg (http://www.use.com/529f456cbd99cf001f75)

I also included a pic of the board so you can see if its something obvious I messed up.

http://media.use.com/images/s_1/58bc963231f760e97aa9.jpg (http://www.use.com/58bc963231f760e97aa9)

Next up, S.C.I., which seems to not even power on after transporting it. There's a small board on the side of the cab, which wire is disconnected, but I can't locate where it would plug in at. Pic Below.

http://media.use.com/images/s_1/0a3f4bda58350dfc2d96.jpg (http://www.use.com/0a3f4bda58350dfc2d96)
http://media.use.com/images/s_1/37397dbb9f1549c660e1.jpg (http://www.use.com/37397dbb9f1549c660e1)


From the markings on the board, I am guessing this is meant to be monitor controls? Here's a pic of the base of the monitor, but I don't see an obvious area where it would plug in.

http://media.use.com/images/s_1/241b71c9e2f6e2284190.jpg (http://www.use.com/241b71c9e2f6e2284190)

Another area is a board on the bottom of the cab. There's what looks like a 110 outlet that has two fuses beside it, with nothing plugged into it, and no obvious wires that end with anything that could plug in there. Also, I know the box in the upper right hand part of the board is the power supply, but have no clue about the other two, which seem to have some kind of large coil on each of them.

http://media.use.com/images/s_1/c19066019a265d5508fe.jpg (http://www.use.com/c19066019a265d5508fe)

Finally, here's a pic of the S.C.I. board itself. Above are two boards which are labeled AUX Power Supply, and another board that I'm not sure what the function is.

http://media.use.com/images/s_1/0c309e9db935edd02290.jpg (http://www.use.com/0c309e9db935edd02290)

So, is this still something I can do, or am I too dense to figure this out? Sorry if I am pestering you too much....

[SubaruBrat]

I really need to stop pestering you.

That is what were here for, the more of this stuff in the forums the better so that other listeners can see what this stuff is about.

You can get ROMs from http://www.hobbyroms.com/ but also check into finding a working board set, depending on how many ROMs you have that can often be as cheap and you end up with allot of spare components.

For your jump button, check out this diagram (http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2006/11/jamma_pinout_engadget_howto.jpg) get a multimeter that has a continuity function and place the probes on the connector side and press the button to verify you have a connection all the way to the connector. If not just replace the wires. If so, your looking at some kind of board problem.

As for the SCI connector of mystery the photo is a bit blurry but I believe that is the remote adjustment for the monitor as you said. As you can see from the pic of the monitor PCB those controls are already on the monitor. Some monitors have remotes and some don't. What happened here is that the original chassis or perhaps the whole monitor was replaced with a different one and the remote was just left in the cab, so you can disregard that.

The outlet is pretty common in games, it is referred to as the service outlet for you to plug in a light or soldering iron, etc. The coils are transformers. Most older monitors must have an isolation transformer or POW they go. Some newer ones do not need isolation transformers.

For your last photo, the two boards on the left are filter boards. Often when games are tested (Galaga for example) they are found to have too much noise output that can travel down the wiring and cause other devices to glitch. This happens allot with import games that have to meet the FCC standards. I can't really see what the board on the right is from the pic.


Think of the games like this, it is a totally new thing that you are learning. Have you ever bought a device or car that has allot of options and thought how will you ever navigate it all and a few weeks later you wonder how it was ever hard? Same here. 99% of the population never heard of an isolation transformer or a filter board so there is some learning curve but these games just aren't that complicated after you know what is what.

[Leathco]

Gotcha......so just to clarify I need to do the following?

Magic Sword: Buy a multimeter, connect probe. Change wires if it has a connection, start looking for a new board if no connecter. (looks like they are around 50 bucks on KLOV from old threads?) Might as well solve this one first, no point in ordering new ROMS if I need a whole new board, right?

SCI: No light in marquee at power up or in coin door, I'm assuming a power supply issue. Saw new power supplies at groovygamegear for around 20 bucks, is that the way to go?

[SubaruBrat]

Just put one probe on ground and the other on the pin for that button and have someone press it, you should get a tone. Look for a meter with the CONT setting, no need to buy a fancy one. If there is no continuity with the button closed and the button works just run a new wire. If you can get a working board for $50 at this stage in your "career" why not. And then you have the other one to work on. But that said, you almost never really need a new board because almost all board problems can be fixed once you get up to that level.


SCI: No light in marquee at power up or in coin door, I'm assuming a power supply issue. Saw new power supplies at groovygamegear for around 20 bucks, is that the way to go?

Testing is the way to go. The marquee and coin door lights don't mean much as they are often dead. Get your meter and set it to ACV (AC volts) and place a probe on each of the AC terminal on the power supply (PS) to see if it is getting input power, polarity does not matter. If not work back from there. If it is seeing input power switch your meter to DVC (DC voltage) and put the black probe on the ground terminal which is usually maked GND, and then place the probe on each output. You should see 5v, 12v etc, they are all labeled with what they should output.

[Leathco]

Gotcha. So I gotta a multimeter on my shopping list for Tuesday. Any specific online recommendations?

[SubaruBrat]

Most meters in the $20 range will have the functions you need. These days you can get a meter like this (http://www.amazon.com/Mastech-Auto-Ranging-Digital-Multimeter-MY68/dp/B000J40T3U/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1298688408&sr=8-9) for $30 that will do almost anything you could ever need to do with vids/pins. Something like that was hundreds of dollars not so long ago. Radioshack will sell you a $20 meter for $30 but if your having trouble finding a meter in your area something like this (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103176#) will do. Auto parts stores, hardware stores, home improvement, and some discount stores also sell them. Prices vary from a good deal to terrible, if you spot a few you can always post pics here.

[Leathco]

OK. I think I may get the one from Amazon you showed me. There's only a couple of Radio Shacks here, one I refuse to shop at due to the store owner talking shit about me to try to get people to take their computers to him for repair instead of me (something I'm rather good at), and the other I try to stay away from due to rude employees. That leaves Advanced Auto Parts, Autozone, and O'Reillys, all of which are rather overpriced. If I'm gonna pay 30 bucks, I want to get the unit that will be reliable and do the job.

So, I guess I'll revive this thread when it comes in. I'll be ordering it on Tuesday.

Should I still go ahead and order that 60-in-1 board? I'm still working on putting it in the Magic Sword cab anyway, using one of the multi-PCB boards. Or should I wait until I resolve the problem at hand?

[SubaruBrat]

I would.

[Leathco]

I picked up the Multimeter at Wal-Mart today. None of them mentioned continuity on the back of the packaging, so I just got the most expensive one (26 dollars). Fortunately, the manual says theres a continuity function.

http://img847.imageshack.us/img847/645/img00039201103062021.jpg (http://img847.imageshack.us/i/img00039201103062021.jpg/)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)

Good to go?

[Leathco]

Double posted, sorry.

Anyway, I also plan on picking up that 60 in 1 board next week.