Block Block repair log

 PCB Repair Logs, Repair Logs  Comments Off on Block Block repair log
Aug 282011
 

Had this board for ages and never bothered with it.
A guy recently asked me to check out the PAL dumps for Block Block but due to my board being broken Ive never been able to test so I thought id try and repair mine.

As you can see, the board looks a state

There is a suicide battery on these boards that is certainly dead. I removed this and went over to The Dead Battery Society and downloaded the desuicided ROMs.
After burning the two 27c020’s and a 27c512 and following the guide steps I got nothing but a black screen.
I removed the Kabuki CPU and replaced it with a standard Z80.
Now I get the RAM tests and they all pass OK then goes to a blank screen.

After a bit of head stratching I relised that the 27c020 is JEDEC compliant yet the 27c301’s that the board expects are not.
Time for a bit of modding.

I lifted pins 2, 24 and 30 on both 020’s and pins 1 and 22 on the 27c512.
I ran a link from pin 21 of the Z80 pin 24 of both 020’s and pin 22 of the 512. This is the /OE line.
I ran a link from pin 60 of the DL-020F-108U custom IC to pin 2 of both 020’s. This is the A16 line.
Link pin 30 from both 020’s to pin 1 of the 512 then link them all to pin 27 of the Z80 CPU. This is the A17 line.

That should not be complete and the game should boot.
I was able to test both the PAL dumps I have made now and they both work.

There is no sound on my board and it looks as though most of the sound circuit is rotton so wont be trying to repair that. Its a nice game but I have no interest in it at all.

 Posted by at 11:27 am

Block Block PALs

 PAL Updates  Comments Off on Block Block PALs
Aug 272011
 

A guy emailed me to let me know the Block Block PALs I had didnt actually work.
I do however have a non working board so I spent the day repairing it and then dumped mine and tested. These now work fine for me.
They are labelled
CHR-CW
CW-P

Repair log to follow

 Posted by at 4:15 pm

Golden Axe PLS153 dump

 Downloads, PAL Updates  Comments Off on Golden Axe PLS153 dump
Aug 242011
 

I dumped the PLS153 off Golden Axe tonight with the view of converting it to a GAL.
Due to the PLS have a higher number of output pins than a GAL it is not possible to fit this onto a 16v8 device so ive just uploaded the PLS JEDEC file.

It is probably possible to fit this onto a GAL22V10 device and make up an adapter for it but for now this will have to do.

EDIT: I have now made this adapter and can confirm it works no problem. Download and instructions are available.

 Posted by at 7:32 pm

Rainbow Islands PALs

 PAL Updates  Comments Off on Rainbow Islands PALs
Aug 212011
 

Added 2 RI ones.
B22-05 – this one is available from Macro’s site
B22-06 – dumped by me this morning.
According to the MAME source, these are the same for Rainbow Islands Extra too.

I think ive just about come to the end of PALs I have available to dump and test.
Feel free to get in touch if you have any I can add to the collection. Credit will be given.

 Posted by at 2:09 pm

Robocop, Irem and Time Pilot PALs

 PAL Updates  Comments Off on Robocop, Irem and Time Pilot PALs
Aug 202011
 

Its been another fun day of PAL goodness.

Added:
Robocop PY-0 and PY-1
Irem M81 PALs
X-Multiply PAL (M81 version)

Tested:
Bomberman PALs

Also, a user called MrDo very kindly sent me his dump of a Time Pilot PLS153 IC. With this file you can replace the PLS with a GAL16v8. Thanks go to him.

All the downloads can now be found in the Download section and are located in a new searchable table.

 Posted by at 3:12 pm