Palamedes (US version) and Alien Storm (bootleg, set 2) PAL dumps added

 PAL Updates  Comments Off on Palamedes (US version) and Alien Storm (bootleg, set 2) PAL dumps added
Jun 152017
 

Today we have some new PAL dumps.Our regular contributor ‘coolmod’ posted on Dumping Union native dump of a PAL20L8 from a Palamedes (US version) PCB.I took care of converting it to GAL20V8 fuse map which he successfully tested on board.Thanks to him.

I dumped two PALs from an Alien Storm (bootleg, set 2 according to MAME).Devices were two secured GAL16V8 , one of them was registered too but with simple logic.A third secured/registered GAL16V8 was present but dumping was not possible due strong feedback used.

 Posted by at 11:27 pm

Data I/O 29A & Unipak2 repair log

 Equipment Repair Logs, Repair Logs  Comments Off on Data I/O 29A & Unipak2 repair log
Jun 072017
 

I bought this setup from a good friend quite a few months ago now. I knew it needed some attention when I bought it.
On power up I got this most of the time
https://youtu.be/tzGoiafa2Wk

No response from any inputs from the keypad.
The keyboard generates an interrupt for the 6802 CPU. Using the scope I could see the /IRQ signal was being asserted.
I checked all of the ROM’s and found no issue and also checked to surrounding logic and found no issue.
Looking around the main PCB I found a couple of problem areas.

As you can see, both of these chips had some corrosion. I replaced them but they made no difference to the problem I had so after a while I came to the conclusion the CPU must be bad.
Searching eBay turned up nothing UK based so I fired off an email to my friend, Purity to see if he had a spare I could buy. He had one and said I could have it.

And now I get this
https://youtu.be/BgGFMV-0hL4

Problem solved.
Next issue was with the Unipak 2 itself.
I could successfully select and read chips but the data being read back was a little wrong.
Reading a few carefully selected addresses of an EPROM I found that bits 2, 3, 4 & 5 were stuck high.
Looking at the schematics I quickly came to a potential problem area.

You can see from the schematic above that the LM339 comparator is responsible for those exact bits.
I removed the chip and tested it out of circuit. The chip failed and I ordered some new ones.

With a new one fitted everything was back to working status.

I’m really happy to finally have this in my collection and working.
Massive thank you to Purity for his generosity. He has been very kind to me recently and also a great help. I hope one day to be able to return the favor.

 Posted by at 5:17 pm

Sega 171-5468 reproduction PCB

 Reproductions  Comments Off on Sega 171-5468 reproduction PCB
Jun 072017
 

A good friend of the site, frsj8112, has reproduced the MCU bypass PCB that Sega used on some of its games and he wanted to share his work.

The PCB’s can be ordered direct from OSHpark HERE

Huge thanks to frsj8112 for creating and sharing this. Im sure it will help many people out.

Terra Cresta bootleg PAL dumps verified and redumped

 PAL Updates  Comments Off on Terra Cresta bootleg PAL dumps verified and redumped
Jun 042017
 

Having a working Terra Cresta bootleg (from Tecfri but they are all the same) gave me the opportunity to verify the PAL dumps we had.I successfully converted from PAL16R4 to GAL16V8 fuse map two of them.The third one was a native dump from a PAL16L8, the fuse map we had was not good so I redumped the device from my board and successfully reversed it in GAL16V8.Most likely, like it often happen for bootlegs that have same layout of original, the dumps should be working also on the Nichibutsu board but a real test is needed and would be appreciated.

 Posted by at 10:57 pm

Money Money PAL dumps added

 PAL Updates  Comments Off on Money Money PAL dumps added
Jun 032017
 

Some days ago I dumped the PALs from a pretty rare board : Money Money by the italian Zaccaria manufacturer.Here’s how board looks like:

Devices were three secured PAL16L8.I reversed two of them in a GAL16V8 while I was able to fit equations of the third one in a GAL22V10 (so tie pin 10 to pin 12 of the IC when installing the replacement in a socket).

 Posted by at 2:57 pm