RE: Performing Hardware Diagnostics Tests on Star Wars, f ixed matrix errors

I believe you are supposed to have the test switch on when you turn the
machine on.

JB

-----Original Message-----
From: Marc Alexander [mailto:marcwolf123@yahoo.com]
Sent: Thursday, April 04, 2002 5:13 PM
To: vectorlist@synthcom.com
Subject: VECTOR: Performing Hardware Diagnostics Tests on Star Wars,
fixed matrix errors

Well first thing I must say is I fixed the one I was working on last night,
thanks everyone who helped!

The Matrix errors were caused by a faulty 74LS153 at location 6F on the main
board,
replaced it and now have stars, ships and no hanging.
Once I worked out the DIP switch order correctly :) I got test 15 up (the
first faulty test displayed in normal self test) and started testing
IC's and signals in the matrix section, sheets 10B and 11A.
I used a CRO and HP 10529A Logic comparator mainly, the Logic comparator
helped the
most as the LS153 had a 'normal' looking output waveform on pin 7 but the
logic
was wrong.
It's great to have these detailed tests that exercise continuously a faulty
pathway.

Other faults on this set were,
    No sound, replaced one of the TL084's on the sound board
    Sound self test error, replaced 6532A
    Bad ARII, replaced 7905 regulator (was about -10V out!), jumpered -/+
sense lines
    Tarnished edge connector strips on boards, rubbed and cleaned with
abrasive pencil eraser
    Pin bent back in one of the main pcb prom sockets, replaced socket.

Something that had me going for a little while - I replaced the LS153 but
then found in normal
gameplay mode the board would start up and appear normal but then freeze
after a few
seconds. Of course I had left the DIP switches in the test positions! So I
put them to normal,
and it works great.

If the LED's are flashing with DIAGN grounded and Self Test switch on, then
the switches SW2
at 10D aren't in the right order or position.
On my switches (blue case, white rocker, red writing) the lined side of the
switch must
be pushed down for 'On'.

Have a good read through the Troubleshooting guide section first either
online here, some sections
are a bit head-scratching at first without continuous referral to the block
diagrams and schematics,
(or just try the test first and read the specific tests section :-0, match
the DIP switch combination
 to the test number to find the description)
http://www.gamearchive.com/video/manufacturer/atari/vector/tech/starwars_tro
ublshooting/starwars_troubleshooting.html
or more info and schems here too
http://www.gamearchive.com/video/manufacturer/atari/vector/html/starwars.htm
l

Douglas, I found the basic test procedure is:
    Run the normal self test, (power up with self test switch on), press Aux
Coin until
     you get to the screen where it has the divider and matrix errors, and
note the
     screen contents down.
    For the matrix errors I saw, it shows the SW2 DIP switch positions
required for the
     Hardware Diagnostics Tests (HDT) to exercise that faulty area for
testing.
     'N' is On, 'F' is Off, switch order on screen is 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1.
Ignore
     the four digit data shown (eg, AAAA or 0000, etc) (see manual for info)
    So then you set Self Test switch on, SW2 at 10D to the first switch
order seen,
     ground the DIAGN test point, briefly ground RESET and release, and the
     specific test that failed will be run continuously so you can inspect
the board
     for faulty behaviour in that section.

If you have a spare board, you can swap all the socketed chips over,
especially the PROMs and
RAMs, to see if you get lucky finding a socketed chip dead. If you don't
know which
board piece may have the fault, you can swap entire board pieces in
temporarily to see if the
fault disappears.
Look at all the socket pins with the IC's out and see that they look ok and
especially
are not bent back inside the hole and not making good pressure contact.

I made up a test loom for my workbench, and powered the boardset from a PC
power supply
(+5 -5 +12 -12) and put the output to a CRO in XY mode. Beats sitting down
in the garage
behind the machine! I only hooked up the self test switch, aux coin, and one
trigger.
The board runs fine for testing if you connect the +10.3V, +12V and +22V
inputs all together
to the +12 from the power supply, and connect the -22V to the -12V from the
power supply.
On a real monitor the picture may be smaller (I'm not 100% sure, haven't
tried that)
but everything still works.

Anyway good luck!

Best regards,

Marc

----- Original Message -----
From: "Douglas Gauck" <0k64dgau@gte.net>
To: <vectorlist@synthcom.com>
Sent: Friday, April 05, 2002 10:04 AM
Subject: Re: VECTOR: Hardware Diagnostics Tests on a Star Wars board,
howdoes it work?

> After reading Marc's post I found 'A New Hope' to get my own board set
> fixed, as it also has mathbox errors (divider and matrix). I took all the
> notes out there but am stuck at the same spot Marc was. My boardset has
> Clay's ESB kit installed; would that give me the unimplemented lights?
>
> Here's what I did: turned on the game, then flipped the switch into
> self-test and got the on-screen option display. Then I grounded the DIAGN
> and when I ground & release RESET all three lights start blinking. Any
ideas
> for me?
>
> -Douglas
>
> on 4/3/02 9:06 PM, Marc Alexander at marcwolf123@yahoo.com wrote:
>
> >
> > Got it !!!!!!!
> >
> > The DIP switch numbering is reversed to what I had 'expected', the
manual
> > and patterns shown are 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1, but I had read it as 1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8
> > as that is the way I had the board in front of me.
> >
> > Well I feel silly but happy.
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Marc
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Marc Alexander" <marcwolf123@yahoo.com>
> > To: <vectorlist@synthcom.com>
> > Sent: Thursday, April 04, 2002 11:53 AM
> > Subject: Re: VECTOR: Hardware Diagnostics Tests on a Star Wars board,
how does
> > it work?
> >
> >
> >>
> >> Thanks Joe, I have tried it reversed :( still no go. It's one of those
> >> weird things where I'm sure it looks ok, but it's not working even on a
good
> >> board!
> >> I've tried both switch sets, with patterns reversed also, and checked
the
> >> switch
> >> on/off positions with a meter too.
> >> There must be something weird or undocumented that I have messed up...
> >> I get flashing LED's and no number in the centre of the screen...
> >>
> >> Cheers,
> >> Marc
> >>
> >> ----- Original Message -----
> >> From: "Joe Bachmann" <joe.bachmann@newmail.net>
> >> To: <vectorlist@synthcom.com>
> >> Sent: Thursday, April 04, 2002 11:27 AM
> >> Subject: Re: VECTOR: Hardware Diagnostics Tests on a Star Wars board,
how
> >> does it work?
> >>
> >>
> >>> Try this oppisite of the way you are doing now. You probably have
Off/On
> >>> mistaken. (I've done this myself so many times I lost
> >>> count)
> >>>
> >>> Once you have it in the right position, a number should display in the
> >>> center of the screen. ie 15 for test 15.
> >>>
> >>> JB
> >>>
> >>> Marc Alexander wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> I'm repairing a Star Wars board set that has Matrix Errors in the
> >>>> normal self test (amongst other now repaired faults), and I can't
> >>>> seem to get the 'Hardware Diagnostics Tests' via DIP switches working
> >>>> properly via the option switches and grounding of the DIAGN test
point.
> >>>>
> >>>> I am setting the option switches (SW2 at 10D) correctly to the
requested
> >>>> tests 15-20 by the normal self test error screen, and all I get is
the
> >>>> 3 LED's flashing continuously (manual says this is 'unimplemented
> >>>> position')
> >>>> and no test number shown on the display either (which is a CRO in XY
at the
> >>>> moment)
> >>>>
> >>>> I have tried this on a good working board also, and it does the same
thing
> >>>> so I
> >>>> figure I must be doing something wrong or unexpected to get these
test
> >>>> working properly.
> >>>> I've tried the switch positions reversed, and even the other switches
SW3
> >>>> at 10E just in case.
> >>>>
> >>>> The manual says(and I am doing):
> >>>> 1. Set the Self-Test switch to the on (up) position. (I assume this
means
> >>>> Self Test input to GND?)
> >>>> 2. Ground the DIAGN test point on the Main PCB.
> >>>> 3. Set the option switches as indicated in the test procedure and
> >>>> momentarily ground the RESET test point on the Main PCB.
> >>>> If an unimplemented switch position is selected, LED 1, 2, and 3
on the
> >>>> Main PCB will all flash on and off about
> >>>> once per second.
> >>>> Also, the display will show the number of the test for Hardware
> >>>> Diagnostic Tests 10 through 26 (if
> >>>> the AVG PCB and display are working).
> >>>>
> >>>> BTW, the problem on the faulty board is no stars or ships in
gameplay,
> >>>> picture & music hangs
> >>>> once death star is shown, but can still fire and see shots (I assume
matrix
> >>>> errors are hanging it up)
> >>>> When in normal self test, matrix errors listed correspond with tests
15 to
> >>>> 20 in the
> >>>> Troubleshooting manual.
> >>>> Problem is on the Main PCB (Rev A), RAM's are OK, Vector PROM's are
ok,
> >>>> asst. other IC's so far
> >>>> tested in the Matrix section are ok, but not done them all yet.
> >>>>
> >>>> Arrrgghh, what am I doing wrong? ;-)
> >>>>
> >>>> Thanks very much,
> >>>>
> >>>> Marc
> >>>>
> >>>>
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Received on Fri Apr 5 13:16:40 2002