STV not working

[Mad Mage]

Ordered the version of arcade Radiant Silvergun from a trusted member here. My JAMMA cabinet works with other boards but the STV board that came with the game won't give me any video or audio input with Radiant Silvergun. There's an LED light on the board that goes on so I guess it's at least getting power.

I don't know much about arcade setups, so it could well be that I'm doing something stupid. Any suggestions of things I can try would be greatly appreciated.

 

[madman]

Some JAMMA boards are picky about the voltage sent to them. Check your +5 line.

 

[Mad Mage]

I'm grateful for any help, but I'm afraid I don't know what my +5 line is or what I would check for if I did know.

Edit: found my +5 line if it's the line that runs from my power to the jamma harness. Still don't know what to check for though.

 

[SpamYouToDeath]

Check, with a voltmeter, the voltage from the +5V JAMMA pins to the GND JAMMA pins.

 

[Mad Mage]

Hmmm, I really should get a cheap voltmeter. At any rate, I have three cabinets and I tried it in another and got the same results. So I'm pretty sure it's a problem with the board or the cartridge.

If you still think I should check, I'll look into getting a voltmeter. There's a nice electronics store not too far from here.

 

[madman]

If it happens in another cab, I'd lean towards the STV mobo in that case. I'm not sure where you'd start troubleshooting, but it sounds like it's getting power since the LED lights up.

 

[chris1]

Yea I heard that the STV boards are power hungry..Try booting it with no cart in it though it most likely won't matter..

I had three-four STV boards and none of them would work in my Candy cab,not even after raising the 5+
The Cab is not wired Jamma though..it's wired MVS..Not sure if that matters

I don't think STV needs a negative 5..-5 line right?

All 4 STV boards worked in=My 4 Slot Big Red Cab,Two Slot MVS,Tekken 3 cab and Small jamma cab.
Something with the Candy cab just won't play these boards..The first board I got once turned on in the cab but not again after flipping the power on and off.(boy did that suck)

The only thing I could see different in my Candy cab is that the 12 volt wire is on the opposite side of the harness compaired to my US cabs.

The Candy cab will play every other Jamma.MVS etc board..

Make sure the Edge connector is clean and that your harness is going fully on..

I had an issue once where a pin in the harness wasn't touching the edge connector.
The edge connector on the board was made thinner and the harness slid on loose.

 

[RamonG]

I am the one that sold the board to Mad Mage.

I tested the board and game before shipping them to him. I tried it on a regular MVS cab (big red one) and on a CPS2 machine. It worked fine on both.

Please help us figure the problem out.

 

[Mad Mage]

Hey Chris. Thanks for your help!

I tried booting the board up without cartridge, and still didn't get any output. I take it when you boot up an STV board without a cartridge normally you at least get a screen of some sort? If that's the case then that's good info as it tells us it's not the cartridge.

Also, I'm not hooking it up to an MVS cabinet. I have a standard JAMMA cabinet, which I would imagine has a harness wired for JAMMA (as all the JAMMA boards I have work fine in it).

The connection to the harness seems tight and clean, and I've tried it in two separate cabinets. But I'll fiddle with it some more later.

Here's something I've discovered though. I know nothing about circuit boards so you guys will have to tell me if it could matter

Also, should I check the bios? The board has a modded bios with a switch for regions. But Ramon was nice enough to include an extra U.S. bios. Should I try and swap them? If so, is the best way to get the old one of to pry it with a screw driver (it's on there tight I don't wish to mess with it unless it could be the problem)?

I really appreciate your help guys. It's so incredibly valuable to have a site where people help you out with stuff like this, as it's hardly common knowledge. I once got a job at my local Tilt to learn more about arcade maintenance. But as anyone else who's worked there knows, you don't learn much unless you're the manager

 

[lawnspic]

I have a ST-V and Radiant Silvergun running on my super gun. What exactly happens when you power it up with and without the cart?

Ok

Check the bios chip for any loose soldering, and reinsert it (if thats possible)

You getting power if the light comes on, also it should got to test without a cart.

I would start with that bios

Also that boards audio is not compatible with MVS (you could damage the audio circuit or worse)

 

[Mad Mage]

The same thing that happens when I power it up with the cart: nothing. The LED on the board goes on and the lights on my cabinet marque go on. The monitor and speakers turn on too, but I get no sound or video whatsoever.

That's what leads me to think something may be wrong with the board itself.

You make it sound as if it really is a problem with the bios. I will try and switch the bios.

 

[madman]

Yep, put the US BIOS in there and try that. You'll get some sort of screen without a cart in there, I can't remember exactly what it is. Maybe the test mode. Don't worry about what's in that pic, it's just a crystal (I think) glued down.

 

[lawnspic]

The same thing that happens when I power it up with the cart: nothing. The LED on the board goes on and the lights on my cabinet marque go on. The monitor and speakers turn on too, but I get no sound or video whatsoever.

That's what leads me to think something may be wrong with the board itself.

You make it sound as if it really is a problem with the bios. I will try and switch the bios.

Clean all contacts with alcohol (cart, Jamma edge, jamma harness ect.

just to rule that out.

Make sure all contacts are seated properly (use flashlight)

Examine that bios chip close (it is not factory, and maybe has a bad contact in the slot or one of the wires is loose, also check the DPT switch on the chip)

Something could have got knocked around during shipment, those boards are tougher than they look.

I got my money on that bios

 

[Mad Mage]

damn. I had really hoped it would be the bios. I put the extra U.S. bios in and I still don't see anything. Does it matter which direction I put the bios in? There was no indication.

I'll be gone tonight. I'll continue to work on this tomorrow. Glad I got this before the weekend so I'll have time to work on it. Thanks again for all the help!

 

[lawnspic]

direction is important, i will look at my board and see

 

[Mad Mage]

Tried the other direction. No luck. I will clean all the contacts tomorrow as you suggested.

 

[channelmaniac]

Tried the other direction. No luck. I will clean all the contacts tomorrow as you suggested.

Chips don't like to be plugged in backwards. Many will fry doing that.

 

[chris1]

Hey,make sure that the STV Key is properly/fully all the way in..If that thing is out or not in right you'll get nothing..


Look at the picture of the board in this link
It's the rectangle pcb thing to the center left.

http://www.vidgame.net/arcade/stv.htm

http://www.system16.com/hardware.php?id=711

 

[Mad Mage]

Okay, so I've tried both BIOSes (inserted the correct direction). Tried the board in all three of my cabinets, and made sure the connection pins are good and clean. I also made sure the STV key is in good. And I'm still getting nothing out of this board.

I have no idea what else to do. Maybe both my BIOSes are bad? What about the pic I posted above? No one responded that that. Could that solidified fluid that looks as though it leaked out be an indication of damage? Or is it just glue or something stupid?

Assuming people don't have any more suggestions of things I can test, what would my next logical step be?

 

[madman]

I responded about your picture. It's glue holding the crystal down. Mine has it as well. The likelihood of both BIOSes being bad is minimal. Since it doesn't work in any of your cabs, I'd lean towards a problem with the board. I doubt the seller knowingly sold you a bad board, perhaps something happened to it in transit. You can either work with the seller, or if you want I'd be happy to test it in my cab for you as my ST-V works without problem. The cost of shipping both ways might prohibit that, though.

 

[mainman]

Ordered the version of arcade Radiant Silvergun from a trusted member here. My JAMMA cabinet works with other boards but the STV board that came with the game won't give me any video or audio input with Radiant Silvergun. There's an LED light on the board that goes on so I guess it's at least getting power.

I don't know much about arcade setups, so it could well be that I'm doing something stupid. Any suggestions of things I can try would be greatly appreciated.

Ok I help you out, I hope your good at surface mount soldering. These board where manufactered improperly as they tend to have solder joints break randomly, I had one sold to me as working and when I got it it was dead, I retouched the soldering and it booted just fine and still works. I then applied this procedure to a box of dead stv boards I wrote off and guess what, I got 9 out of ten back up. You are going to have to take a dental pick and gentlly brush it against all the surface mount chips on the board and see if any of the legs move, I would start FIRST with the twin hitachi cpu near cn13 and cn17

 

[Mad Mage]

Oh man, sorry I didn't see that. I saw the first part of your post about trying the U.S. Bios and I must have went off and did that without reading the rest. You're right, it's glue. I can see glue on the board there, in pictures online as well (I should have checked).

At any rate, thanks for the offer to test my board. We'll see if it comes to that.

Edit: Mainman: I'm going to check right now.

 

[madman]

Cool tip, mainman! I'll have to keep my eye open for dead ST-V boards on forums

 

[Mad Mage]

Went over the chips you suggested with a pin. Don't think any of them would move but it's hard to tell because it's so damn tiny plus I'm worried I'll break the connection myself. I went over a few more chips as well, but I must wonder, will the untrained eye really be able to tell if there's a break? I'll go over the whole board if you think I can spot the break, but might I be better off paying an expert?

I say this because even if I do spot the problem, I doubt my poor soldering skills/cheap soldering equipment would be able to fix it.

 

[mainman]

Went over the chips you suggested with a pin. Don't think any of them would move but it's hard to tell because it's so damn tiny plus I'm worried I'll break the connection myself. I went over a few more chips as well, but I must wonder, will the untrained eye really be able to tell if there's a break? I'll go over the whole board if you think I can spot the break, but might I be better off paying an expert?

I say this because even if I do spot the problem, I doubt my poor soldering skills/cheap soldering equipment would be able to fix it.

If your scared of the board why you are looking for solder breaks you are more focused on not damaging the board more than actually trying to find the problem


Well like i said in my personal dealing with these boards and I have owned somewhere around 30 0f them, if the board just ups and magically dies for no reason then you have a soldering problem. The vast majority of the time the break is on the hitachi cpu but they occur all over the place. If you have no soldering experience and poor equipment at your disposal I suggest you do not try to reflow the pins on the hitachi as you will make a mesh in the form of lifted pads and solder bridges.