TECH: Cine vs. Rockola Armor Attack

OK, I've got a bit of mystery on my hands here.

First, this full-size upright Armor Attack I'm fixing is a Rockola.
It says it on screen in play mode and the test mode is just an
octagon around the word "Rockola" (maybe a date, too).

The board is etched with :
                MFG'D UNDER LICENSE
                FROM CINEMATRONICS
                C 1979
On the back it is etched with "REV. K".

And it uses 4 2716s. Yes, 2716s, where a real Cinematronics Armor
Attack
uses 2732s. I have read them and can upload them if there is interest,
and JPGs
of the boards.

I've read the Cinematronics mailing list archive and there is talk about
a "old K" and
a "modified K". This one has pins 20 and 21 on the EPROMs not tied
together so I guess
it will be able to use 2732s. It doesn't appear to have been 'modified'
but was manufactured
this way.

The 2732s are getting erased right now and I'll burn in the 16KB Cine
code, pop 'em
in the board and see what happens.

I have another board that looks identical but it has pins 20 and 21 tied
to ground.
It's currently running Star Castle, although the graphics are a little
screwed up.
The EPROM contents are the same as those that run on cinemu, not a
special
Rockola version.

I don't mind hacking the board, either by cutting traces or reversibly
with that
daughterboard at J10. Is there any more authoritative archive or
document
available about hacking these boards? I could make a multi-game out
of one of these two.

I also have a Cinematronics Rev. B Space Wars (not working, 2 masked
program ROMs)
and a 1978 Vectorbeam StarHawk (working, 2 socketed masked program
ROMs).

... Welp, I've had this posting open for the last 4 hours. I just
installed the
Cine AA ROMs and the board booted up alright (single RESET flash) but
the vectors
are all mashed into a horizontal line at the bottom left of the screen.

It's very late, I'll deal with it tomorrow.

Brendan Keith
brendan.keith@wilcom.com
Received on Fri Nov 6 01:01:20 1998