TMNT RAM ROM check

H

Humdinga

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Hello

I recently got my hands on a cheap JAMMA cab with the intention of getting back into the NEO GEO . it came with a TMNT PCB it doesnt work it runs a RAM ROM check and a number of them are BAD?

Can any one help??
 

chaoticjelly

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Got a picture of the check having run?

Try gently but firmly pushing on the top of socketed chips.

If it's corrupt ROMs you can verify using MAME set.

TMNT is a quality game. If you decide to get rid of it let me know.
 

Toby

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Im Humdinga havent been on these forums for a while and forgot my usernameand password. not sure how to post a pic. Im happy to swap or part ex for any MVS stuff
 

chaoticjelly

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If you want to post a pic you can just upload it to somewhere like http://www.imageshack.us

Just go on there.. click "Browse...", then point it to where the image is stored on your computer, and then click "host it!".

When it is done it will show the picture with links to it underneath, you want the one that is marked "thumbnail for forums (1)"

Just copy and paste that into a post in this thread and it should show the picture.

I don't have much MVS stuff at the moment; were you looking for anything in particular?
 

Toby

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http://img143.imageshack.us/my.php?image=tmnt002qb2.jpg]
tmnt002qb2.th.jpg
[/URL] [/IMG]
 

Hewitson

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I find it hard to believe all those ROMs and RAMs have gone bad, but try replacing one of the bad RAM chips and see if it comes up good.

If it doesn't you know you've got a logic problem somewhere.
 

Xian Xi

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If all the ram chips listed go in sequence it could be just the first one that is bad.
 

Toby

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To be honest i wouldnt know where to start with replacing the ROMs. The guy i got the board from said it was working but it had been sitting in his garage for years it was quite dusty. I may have ago at poping all the socketed chips out and give the sockets a good clean?
 

68k

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Before jumping to the most complicated solution, try the easiest solution first. This is basic troubleshooting.

Find those ROMs on the motherboard (J15 will be labelled J15 on the motherboard), and resocket and/or reflow the solder on those pins.
 

chaoticjelly

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It is common for socketed chips to work their way out so that may well be the problem - hence the first thing you should try :)

I have a spare Konami board here that needs fixing - likely very similar to the TMNT one with regards to ICs, parts etc, so the board you have would be useful to me even if it was totally FUBAR'ed.

TMNT is one of my favourite arcade games, on a part with The Simpsons Arcade which I already own :mr_t:
 

Neo Alec

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Here's an even simpler solution for you to check first: Try just shuffling the sockets that the roms are in. It may be just that someone took them out and replaced them in the wrong socket. It's happened to me -- I spent a bunch of time trying to replace a rom only later to discover it wasn't bad at all, just in the wrong socket.

I agree with Hewitson, it's ridiculous how many are showing up bad, hard to believe all those RAMs are broke.
 

68k

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Shuffling the chips around just to see what happens is a terrible idea. This is how you damage something.

The ROMs are all labelled (J15 for example), so make sure the ROM matches what is on the PCB next to it ("J15" will be silkscreened onto the PCB itself next to chip J15).
 

Toby

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The chips and the screen printing on the board dont match there are 5 socketed chips K21 K22 K23 K24 and E30 and the printing on the board in the same order goes J15 K15 I17 K17 and G13 !?/

im way out my depth with this!
 

Xian Xi

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Usually ram isn't socketed. Not to mention it's in hex code. You have to find out which is which. It's never that easy.
 

Neo Alec

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Shuffling the chips around just to see what happens is a terrible idea. This is how you damage something.

The ROMs are all labelled (J15 for example), so make sure the ROM matches what is on the PCB next to it ("J15" will be silkscreened onto the PCB itself next to chip J15).
How is that going to damage something? As long as the roms are all the same size and type, I don't think putting the wrong one in is going to hurt anything. I would just be worried about breaking them by not lifting them out carefully.

Take it from someone who has messed up a lot of roms with his EPROM programmer. I've reburned one of these TMNT boards from 2 to 4 players.
 

68k

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Usually ram isn't socketed. Not to mention it's in hex code. You have to find out which is which. It's never that easy.

Konami made it pretty easy to identify the problem ICs. They are clearly labelled and coincide with the name of the bad chip on startup.

How is that going to damage something? As long as the roms are all the same size and type, I don't think putting the wrong one in is going to hurt anything. I would just be worried about breaking them by not lifting them out carefully.

Take it from someone who has messed up a lot of roms with his EPROM programmer. I've reburned one of these TMNT boards from 2 to 4 players.

ROMs yes, but if he doesn't know what is a ROM and what is, say, a Z80, he may swap something he should not.
 

Neo Alec

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ROMs yes, but if he doesn't know what is a ROM and what is, say, a Z80, he may swap something he should not.
Definitely not. Is there a board out there with a socketed Z80 and roms that are the same number of pins? I've never seen such a thing.

In any case, the TMNT situation is very simple. There should be four main roms and one smaller sound rom.
 

68k

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Z80 is most commonly seen as a 40 pin DIP, and most higher-capacity ROMs commonly used on these boards are 40 pin DIPs with the same footprint. Nevertheless, this is just an example since I have not seen the board and do not know what is socketed and what isn't.

I realize I am preaching to the chior though, obviously.
 

Xian Xi

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Snap a pick of the back of the board and if that's carpet, get your board off of it.
 

Toby

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my.php
[/URL] [/IMG]


Its not carpet just on its end on my sofa so ive got a hand free to take the picture.

Whats the best way to store these PCB's if they have no feet?
 

chaoticjelly

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To check if the socketed ICs are in the correct locations, just look on eBay / internet for a picture of "TMNT PCB" in a decent resolution, and compare to your PCB. Probably the easiest way tbh, that's what I've done with a couple of boards before.

Storage wise I keep a fully working board in a large antistatic bag, and then that goes into a large bubble bag - pretty good way to keep safe?
 
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