Taito F3 (PCB version) PAL update

 PAL Updates  Comments Off on Taito F3 (PCB version) PAL update
Dec 152016
 

In the past days I got two working Taito F3 boards (PCB version) : Grid Seeker and Super Cup Finals).So I could test the dumps we had from Arabian Magic (thanks to ‘luiskiko’).Some dumps were from PALCE devices so I could successfully test them on GAL without any conversion, the remaining where from PAL devices so I first converted them in GAL format.PAL location and marking are the same between Arabian Magic and Grid Seeker since boards have same layout while Super Cup Finals has a slighty different one but it shares all the PALs (at different location) except for one which is unique and one with different label but same contents.

 Posted by at 7:56 pm

Commodore 64 Game Killer cartridge

 Technical Info  Comments Off on Commodore 64 Game Killer cartridge
Dec 152016
 

Found this oddity on eBay not too long ago.

Its a crude device that attempts to disable collision detection for games that used hardware sprites.
It device itself wasn’t too successful but it was cheap and love my C64 so here it is.
I spend half an hour drawing up a schematic for the device and also dumped the ROM which is in the downloads section.

Cant imagine anyone ever needing to use the schematic for anything. Its very simple and any fault finding could be done in moments and who in the right mind would want to create more of these things but it was a small side project.

 Posted by at 1:26 pm

Crystal Castles (two layer PCB revision) PAL dumps added

 PAL Updates  Comments Off on Crystal Castles (two layer PCB revision) PAL dumps added
Dec 142016
 

In the past days I dumped the PALs from an unusual two layers Crystal Castles PCB (with Atari EPROM strickers)

PALs were two PAL16L8 and three PAL10L8, all were unsecured.Then I converted them to GAL16V8 fusemap and Andrew Welburn successfully tested them on his board, thanks to him for the feedback.

 Posted by at 5:55 pm

Super Spacefortress Macross and DoDonPachi repair log

 PCB Repair Logs  Comments Off on Super Spacefortress Macross and DoDonPachi repair log
Dec 142016
 

Although issues were different in these two repairs (well, quick fix more than repair), the cause was the same.

Here’s the first board, a Super Spacefortress Macross :

Board had issue on some backgrounds which showed colored blocks :

A visual inspection revealed a lift pin on a QFP custom ASIC:

Reflowing the pin fixed the game:

Second  PCB was a DoDonPachi :

with wrong music and sound FXs:

Also here the culprit was a lilfed pin (an address line, specifically) of the Yamaha YMZ280B-F (PCM/ADMPCM decoder)

Promptly fixed and sound 100% restored :

So, the bottom line is that you must always keep attention when you troubleshoot PCBs that use SMT devices, always check these for first…

 Posted by at 4:39 pm

DoDonPachi and Sonic Wings Limited PAL dumps added

 PAL Updates  Comments Off on DoDonPachi and Sonic Wings Limited PAL dumps added
Dec 122016
 

Today we have some new PAL dumps.

Coolmod sent in dump from a Sonic Wings Limited PCB, device was an unsecured PALCE16V8 @IC1 (on the ROM board) labeled ‘SonyMo’.Thanks to him.

I dumped the PALs (two unsecured and unmarked PALCE16V8) from a DoDonPachi PCB.

All dumps have been successfully tested in a GAL16V8 or PALCE16V8

 Posted by at 11:11 pm
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