RE: Tempest MG menu button don't work.

> I'm starting to think I'm going nuts. I can't get that menu button to do
> anything.
>
(!)
> It's just 2 pins sticking out of the card. Solder wires, attach button,
> push
> button -- no menu. Nothing happens at all.
>
> Check solder. Check continuity on wires. In desperation, check for 5 volts
> at button terminals when not pressed, 0 when pressed. Yup, got it.
>
(!!!)

> Clay -- is the menu button just hooked to reset, or does the program
> actually check it ? I didn't change my DIP switch settings, but
> everything
> else works fine, including Vortex and Aliens. If I understand how it
> works,
> the switches shouldn't effect the menu button.
>
Yep, the menu button is directly connected to the 6502's reset line by way
of a resistor.

The Power on Reset circuit in a couple of my Tempest boards was really
finicky (which is half the reason why the reset adapter uses the little
relay so it's just "wire") but by grounding reset you should still stop that
6502 dead in its tracks.

Some possibilities:

        1) is the Reset pin on the 6502 bent under the socket and not
getting the reset signal from the pin?

        2) is there a spotty soldering job on the reset pin of the CPU or
the .1" header that plugs into the main
          board?

        3) try shorting the reset pin on the 6502 directly to ground with a
piece of wire-- does the menu come up?

        4) try a different 6502. (Maybe the /reset line's bondout wire
inside the chip is open?!?!)

(I don't really remember if I have a series or pullup resistor on that line
on the CPU Expansion board. Basically just checking electrical integrity of
the path to the reset pin on the 6502.)

-Clay
Received on Wed Aug 25 08:14:44 1999