New member - New machine - help needed

[eccs19]

As you can see, I'm a new member here. I'm not a complete newbe in the home arcade sceen, but close. I just got a 4 slot at an auction yesterday, and looking for some help with what I hope is minor troubleshooting.

First, when I was at the auction, I was one of the first there, and when I tried the machine, the only thing that seem off, was the sound. I couldn't hear any sound. Once I got it home, I did notice that there was very slight amount of sound coming from the right speaker. It appears that the volume is up all the way. It was suggested that I plug in a set of computer speakers into the headphone jack and see if I get anything. I have not yet tried it yet, but I plan on trying today. (it's out in the garage, and it's a little cold out there)

The other issue is this. When I tried switching games at the auction, it worked great, but as I mentioned I was the first to try it out. Now that I have it home, it only seems to work with the game that is in slot one. Not being familiar with this system, I don't know if there is a setting somewhere that you can play with and set it up so you can't switch slots. Perhaps someone did this so that others would thing the game wasn't working right..?? Also noticed the games were not in the same slots that they were when I looked at it, so I do know someone was messing about.

Otherwise it's not in bad shape. It does need work, but nothing I can't handle. (I think)

Any help with my 2 items would be appreciated.

Oh, and one last thing, what do you recommend for cart cleaning?

 

[wiseman9986]

sorry i cant help you much with those problems but check out www.hardmvs.com they have alot of useful info and a section on cart cleaning

 

[Witchboard]

Make sure the carts are plugged in the right way. If they've been moved, then it's possible that somebody plugged them in backwards. The arrow on the cart should face the front of the cab if your motherboard is mounted like mine. It's also possible that if you didn't remove the games during transport they could have jiggled loose. If you're thinking of sabotage, then you could also check to make sure that the button hasn't been disconnected under the control panel. If you hit the game change button and the one game that working reboots, then it's good.

I use alcohol and Mr. Clean Magic Erasers on my cart edge connectors for cleaning. Makes 'em nice and shiney.

As for your sound, plugging in headphones into the headphone jack will pretty much let you know if it's your speakers that are bad or if maybe you need to clean your volume sliding thing. Sorry, I'm not too savvy with board repair so forgive me with my technical terminology.

Oh! And welcome to the boards.

 

[eccs19]

Make sure the carts are plugged in the right way. If they've been moved, then it's possible that somebody plugged them in backwards. The arrow on the cart should face the front of the cab if your motherboard is mounted like mine. It's also possible that if you didn't remove the games during transport they could have jiggled loose. If you're thinking of sabotage, then you could also check to make sure that the button hasn't been disconnected under the control panel. If you hit the game change button and the one game that working reboots, then it's good.

I use alcohol and Mr. Clean Magic Erasers on my cart edge connectors for cleaning. Makes 'em nice and shiney.

As for your sound, plugging in headphones into the headphone jack will pretty much let you know if it's your speakers that are bad or if maybe you need to clean your volume sliding thing. Sorry, I'm not too savvy with board repair so forgive me with my technical terminology.

Oh! And welcome to the boards.

Magic Eraser, good idea. We have those here at home.

I don't think the carts are in backwards. They are detected when I go into the setup area, it just doesn't seem to change from one to the other, and Iknow they are not loose. I pulled them, and put them back in. Perhaps a good cleaning will fix the problem. I think the button passed the check in the setup area, but I will double check. Nothing re-booted when I pressed the game change button.

 

[SpamYouToDeath]

With the carts, did you try switching when you had credits in or when you didn't?

 

[NGT]

With the carts, did you try switching when you had credits in or when you didn't?

You may have a mobo with a dead or close to dead battery. You can go into the options and select an option that allows game switch to be free instead of every 30 seconds/when credited. If the battery was low, when they turned off the cab it could have gone back to "every 30 seconds or when credited" One of my 4 slots does this if I don't play it for a while. If your battery was not REALLY LOW, you may want to try leaving it on for a long time (many hours) and the battery may recharge. At least this is what I read...and it seems to work for a while on my cab.

Don't know about the sound part, unless you have the headphone sound up and not the speaker sound,lol....but you said you weren't a complete newb so I figure that's not the case.

 

[eccs19]

With the carts, did you try switching when you had credits in or when you didn't?

Both, same results.

 

[eccs19]

You may have a mobo with a dead or close to dead battery. You can go into the options and select an option that allows game switch to be free instead of every 30 seconds/when credited. If the battery was low, when they turned off the cab it could have gone back to "every 30 seconds or when credited" One of my 4 slots does this if I don't play it for a while. If your battery was not REALLY LOW, you may want to try leaving it on for a long time (many hours) and the battery may recharge. At least this is what I read...and it seems to work for a while on my cab.

Can this battery be changed, or is it more a rechargable battery? (therefore needing to leave it on)

 

[ttooddddyy]

Can this battery be changed, or is it more a rechargable battery? (therefore needing to leave it on)

Its a 3.6 volt NiCd rechargable, if it is the original it will probably be fkd by now.
Good idea to replace it before it leaks and causes corrosion of the pcb tracks.

 

[eccs19]

Small update. I played around a bit with it today. I could be wrong, but I think the volume in the 1 speaker thats working, is getting a bit louder. I tried headphones, but didn't hear anything, but I don't know if the headphones I tried were good or not, plus where the headphone jacks are has been painted, so they may not be making contact.

As for the game select issue, I went into the system area, and it seemed it wasn't detecting the switch being pushed. I changed it with another switch, then it worked. I tried it again later, and it wasn't working again. I found that if I tried it with the CP opened, I had better luck. I'm figuring either a bad wire, or ground. Is that switch grounded with the other switches? All others seem OK when that one's acting funny.

 

[eccs19]

Its a 3.6 volt NiCd rechargable, if it is the original it will probably be fkd by now.
Good idea to replace it before it leaks and causes corrosion of the pcb tracks.

Is it difficult to get to, or just pull the cover off, and it's there? Is it a stardard type battery that can be bought at Radio Shack, or something special? If special, where can I get one?

 

[ttooddddyy]

Is it difficult to get to, or just pull the cover off, and it's there? Is it a stardard type battery that can be bought at Radio Shack, or something special? If special, where can I get one?

You will have to split the two boards (the battery is mounted on the bottom board) see bottom RHS below.

You could use a 3.6 volt portable phone rechargable battery and mount it remotely if not able to source the original type. If you do a search there are several threads on battery options.
If you end up using anything but the original type and mount it on the board, make sure there is no shorting to the underside of the top pcb.

 

[eccs19]

You will have to split the two boards (the battery is mounted on the bottom board) see bottom RHS below.

You could use a 3.6 volt portable phone rechargable battery and mount it remotely if not able to source the original type. If you do a search there are several threads on battery options.
If you end up using anything but the original type and mount it on the board, make sure there is no shorting to the underside of the top pcb.

Great, thanks for the tips. I'm hoping to get it in the house tomorrow, then I can get working on it a bit more. It's to darn cold out in the garage to spend to much time playing with it now.

 

[El Castigador]

I had a similar problem with mine. I found out that the sound takes a while to "warm up". Even when the volume is cranked all the way up, you can barely hear it when you first turn it on. After 15 minutes or so, the volume is VERY loud.

When I first got my 4-slot, my right speaker was not working either. It turns out my wires were backwards. I switched positive and negative and it turned on. I was lucky it was a simple fix.

While I was troubleshooting, I replaced the originals with some car speakers to see if I got any sound...that way I knew I was getting some juice through. They were a different impedance but you can still hear them.

Remember that you have a separate volume slider for your headphone jack, toward the left side of the board when you try out the 'phones.

Small update. I played around a bit with it today. I could be wrong, but I think the volume in the 1 speaker thats working, is getting a bit louder. I tried headphones, but didn't hear anything, but I don't know if the headphones I tried were good or not, plus where the headphone jacks are has been painted, so they may not be making contact.