TroubleshootingMidway8080basedGames

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PhilJ.Stracke
AlexYeckley
JohnRobertson
RodgerBoots
JamesMarous
BrendanKeith
EPROMs
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YourMidway8080PCBmayhave9316PROMs,2716EPROMs,TMS2716EPROMs,or
2732EPROMs.Quiteconfusingreally,asMidwayfailedtodocumentmostof
theirrevisionsandEPROMstrappinginformation.
SpaceInvadersboardshaveJumper2("J2")whichcanselecteitherground,
AD10,or5v.ItdirectsoneofthesesignalstoallROM'satpin21.
Iamunsurewhatpositionthejumpershouldbetodothisasthe
documentationisfairlycrappy,andtherewerelastminuteparts
missing/substitutedintheaddressbuffercircuits.Thecorrectlinkpoint
forJ2isthatwhichdirectsADIOfromF2pin8toallROMSatpin21.
Onregular2716'spin21istiedto+5.Ifyourboardshave2716EPROMs,
thenthatpinmightnotbeconnectedinternallyandthusnotcarewhatis
connectedtopin21.
Ifyouwanttousea2716inplaceofa9316,youshouldprogramitasa
2716(notTMS2716),thenconnectpin21topin12(ground).Bendpin21
upsothatitdoesn'tmatewiththesocketanymore.Doublecheckthe
voltagesatpins24,21(both+5VDC),20and18tobesurethatnoneof
thosearehookeduptoeither5or+12VDC.Youcouldalsorestrapthe
boardsothisisn'tnecessaryatall.Thestrappinginforamtionis
documentedintheMidwayschematics(althoughtheymightbemisleading?).
Ifthegameiscurrentlystrappedforthe9316'sor2716's(notTMS2716),
a2732isjustadropin(aslongasthe2732'shaveadualimageofthe
programdata).
Iftheboardrevisan000L,youcanalsoremovetheHsocketandinstall
a28pinsocket,addthreeaddressjumpersandhavethewholethingrun
fromasingle2764.Muchmoretediousandnotpracticalunlessyouhave
a000L.
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Shuffleboard/SpaceInvadersPC080009000H&KMotherboards
Hisstrappedfor2716'sOnly.
Kcanbealteredfor2716'sor9316's.
fromBulletin10/9/78
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Anormal(nonTMS)2716versusaTMS2716pinsoutlikethis:

<normal2716><TMS2716pinredefinitions>
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A7|1++24|VCC<Vcc/PE(PEisProgramEnable)
A6|223|A8
A5|322|A9
A4|421|VPP<Vbb(5volts)
A3|520|/OE<A10
A2|619|A10<Vdd(+12volts)
A1|7271618|/CE<S/PGM(chipselect/program)
A0|817|D7
D0|916|D6
D1|1015|D5
D2|1114|D4
GND|1213|D3
++
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SpaceInvadersmultigame(byBrendanKeith)

Anotherfunwayistoburnall4or5imagesintoa27128orlargerand
simplyadd4leadsorsototheaddressjumpers.Nocutsneeded.
IstartedwithaBallySpaceInvadersboard.S6ROMjumpersweresetto
AD11>a,AD12>b,AD14>c
Ithentooka27256andburnedinboththeSpaceInvaderssetandSpace
InvadersDeluxe.IcandothisbecauseIownbothboardssodon'tanyone
trytogetsmart.TheROMsethastobemergedandburnedinwiththeHROM
lowestandthehighersegmentsfilledwithwhatevertomakeuptwofull16K
blocks.
ThisnewROMcanbepluggedintoanyoftheROMsocketsbutsocketsFand
Gareclosesttothejumpersthatweneedtoconnectto.Plugitinwith
bottompinslinedup.Thetop4pinshangout.
Nowforthejumpers.Theyarereallyquitesimple.Iuseda28pinsocket,
bentoutthefollowingpinsandsolderedwirewrapwiretothelegs.The
socketitselfcanthenbepluggedintotheexistingROMsockets.
Pin1toGND
Pin2toAD12>bjumper.
Pin20toGND
Pin22toGND
Pin23toAD11>ajumper
Pin24toAD14>cjumper
Pin27tothecenterpoleofaswitchbetweenGNDand+5toswitchgames.
Pin28to+5
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VIDEO
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Oneofthemostcommonfailuresonthissystemwasjerkymotion/garbled
video(butthegamewasstillworking)andwascausedbydirty
motherboard/daughterboardconnectors.Yousee,the8080justdidn'thave
enoughspeedtoshiftanimageandwriteittotheRAM.Sotheysentthe

dataandhowmanybitstoshiftittothedaughterboardwhichhadahardware
barrelshiftercircuitonit.TheshiftedresultwasthenloadedtotheRAM.
Whentheconnectorsgotdirtysomeofthisdatadidn'tmakeitto/fromthe
shiftersandthedatastoredtotheRAM(thatyousawonthescreen)would
getgarbled.Wasn'thardtofixonceyouknewwhatwasgoingon.
ThevideooutofSpaceInvadersisacompositesignal,soyoucan'tjust
connectthevideosignaltooneormorecolorsofthecolormonitor,and
thesynctothesyncbecausethereisnoseparatesyncsignaloffofthe
spaceinvadersPCB.Iwasabletogetthecolormonitortowork,soitis
possible.I'llgiveyouahintpin8offofthe7455locatedatA6isthe
syncsignal.
IfyouhookRGBtogether,yougetblackbackgroundandwhiteforeground.
Yourmonitorlooksb/watthatpoint.
I'veusedcolormonitorsinspaceinvadersmanytimes.Ifyougetthevideo
signaljustbeforeit'sAND'ditworksfine.

TESTING
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BeforeyoudoanytestingonyourMidway8080boards,youshouldreviewthe
Midway8080StandardTestProceduresandanyrelavantschematics.
Whycananewermotherboard(likeSpaceInvaders)beusedwithproperly
strappedROMs,butasoundboardfromaSpaceInvaderswon'tworkwithan
oldermotherboard(like280zzzap)evenwithproperROMsfortesting
purposes?Youwouldthinkitwouldcomeup,butnothavecorrectcontrols
orsounds.
TheSpaceInvaderssoundboardhasawatchdogonit.The280zzzapsoftware
hasnoprovisiontoresetawatchdog,sotheprogramcodewouldrunfora
while(70msIIRC),thentheSIwatchdogwouldkickinandfoulupyour
test.Forcingthewatchdoghigh*probably*won'twork(becauseofallthe
thingsthatdoneedtogetproperlyreset),butYMMV.
Ifit'sjustfortesting,youcouldrestrapthemotherboardtorunSI
codewiththeSIsoundboard,andeverythingwouldbeOK.Lotsofpeople
runintoproblemsrestrappinghowever,becausetheSIschematicsare
"misleading".
YoucannotconvertaregularSIsettoplaySID.Customcircuitry(data
shifter)wasaddedtothesound/IOPCBtopreventthis.Also,anextra
chipwasaddedtotheCPUPCB.
POWERSUPPLYTESTING
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Seethesectiononhttp://www.elektronforge.com
TESTINGRAM
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TofixSpaceInvadersfamilyofgameboards,firstremoveALLthegame
ROMs,thenturnthegameon.Youshouldseearepeatingpatternofathin

andfatlinesacrossthescreen.NextclosetheSlamswitchforamoment,
thispatternshouldchange,butstillbesolidlines(thinorfatdoesn't
matter,buttheyrepeat).Nowifanylinesareflickering,orthereare
dotsonthescreenthataresometimescoveredbylinesbutreappearwhen
you"Slam"theswitch,thenyoudefiantlyhaveRAMproblems.Next,try
momentarilyshortingpin#7ofeachRAMchiptogrounduntilyoufindthe
one(pair)thatwhenshortedeithermakesolidtheflickeringlineorcover
thedots.Nowyoujusthavetwosuspectstoreplace.Suboneatatime,
thenalternate.ItisonlyoneofthetwoRamchipsthatsharethepin#7
outputthatshouldbebad.
AnyofthefollowingaresuitableRAMreplacements:
AM9060,D2107C,UPD411,MM5280,TMS4060
Ifyou'vegotacompletelyblankscreenwithalloftheROMsremoved,
thenyouhaveamorerootcauseofyourproblemthanjustbadRAMs.Check
yourclockgenerationcircuitrywithascopefirst;haveyoucheckedthe
powersupplyyet?Alsotryswappingoutthe8080;itshouldbesocketed.

MISCELLANEOUSFIXES
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[seepage6366ofMidwayServiceBulletin#2onSpies]

REPLACEMENTPARTS
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UnabletofindasourceforD3245orDS3245chips(quadclockdriverchip)?
Youcanusetwo8pindualdriverchipsinstead,onalittleadapterboard
anditshouldworkfine.
HerearesomeICpartnumbersoffofaSpaceInvadersboard.

B3P8216
Schottky4BitParallelBidirectionalNonInvertingBusDriver*breath*
Sameasthe8T26.
C7F9310PC
Alsoa74160;PresettableSynchronousDecadeCounterw/DirectClear
C5D3245(Veryfaded)
LookslikesometypeofdynamicRAMcontroller;don'tknowanythingmore.
TheschematicalsolistssomethinglikeM**4060,butitsdefinitelynota
ramchip(can'tmakeoutwhatthe**is).It'saninvertingMOSclock
driver,usedtodrivethetwophaseclockontheprocessor.
D5F9316PC
Alsoa74161;PresettableSynchronous4BitBinaryCounterw/DirectClear
E5(3Lines)S7549ThenN9316BThen76974
Another9316fersure.
F7F9322PC
AFairchildquad2lineto1linedataselector/multiplexer.Sameasa
74157.