MVS Froze to death... I think.

The sound on my MVS-4 is screwed up. It makes sounds at the appropriate times but the noise is makes is TERRIBLE. I don't know how to explain it. Here is the timeline of events:

Hooked it up in my basement – everything is groovy.
1 month later...
Moved to garage and hooked it up – everything is groovy.
Had a party – possible spillage
Turned machine off
Went to bed
The temp in my garage dropped to 10 degrees Fahrenheit
Moved the MVS back to the basement (requires sliding the unit 30 feet)
Waited a day
Plugged machine in, turned it on… and the sound is all screwed up.

Any insight? Ideas? Where should I start?


On a side note: I know that slot 4 had a high pitched squeal for any game but it still sounded good.

Madcow-BSE said:

The sound on my MVS-4 is screwed up. It makes sounds at the appropriate times but the noise is makes is TERRIBLE. I don't know how to explain it. Here is the timeline of events:

Hooked it up in my basement – everything is groovy.
1 month later...
Moved to garage and hooked it up – everything is groovy.
Had a party – possible spillage
Turned machine off
Went to bed
The temp in my garage dropped to 10 degrees Fahrenheit
Moved the MVS back to the basement (requires sliding the unit 30 feet)
Waited a day
Plugged machine in, turned it on… and the sound is all screwed up.

Any insight? Ideas? Where should I start?


On a side note: I know that slot 4 had a high pitched squeal for any game but it still sounded good.

Click to expand...

Just a note that the high pitched squal you describe is almost definately your marquee lights.

Some more details:
The initial music is fine when booting up. When I'm playing Samurai Showdown or any other game (I tried a couple) the music and "background" noises work just fine but voices and sound effects are like "digital static".

The EL Panel is creating that noise? Cool, one problem solved.

If spillage DID occur, find the place where you think it happened and make sure the area is clean. Check and clean all connectors, boards and carts. Try the carts in a different slot and see if the same thing still happens...

I pulled the motherboard out and it looks like a chip on the bottom board has browned the board slightly. What chip is located at 1,2 M and is the Z80A chip?

z80???

doesn't sound good... that's your sound chip....

Sounds (ba dump dump) like you found your problem. ("Sounds"..sorry couldn't help the pun).