Joust Help - Spurious 2P Controls?

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.video.arcade.collecting (More info?)

I've got a Joust that I just completed and brought indoors. I had to
rebuild the power supply but otherwise it was a slam dunk...or so I
thought.

I refurbed the CP (new overlay, buttons) and was doing a switch test
when I discovered that the 2P controls are extremely flaky.

That is, sometimes pressing the second player's left, right or flap
will cause all 3 switches to activate. If none of those 3 controls are
activated, none of them will fire.

The problem seems to come and go, but it's never gone enough to play a
proper 2p game.

The CP wiring and harness are original and unhacked. In fact, all the
boards and wiring in the game appear to be original and unhacked.
There don't appear to be any physical problems with the switches that I
can see. Nothing is shorting out.

I am concerned this may be a board-level problem.

Can someone who understands this stuff better than me provide some
troubleshooting suggestions?

I do have a logic probe, so if there are specific pins that should be
pulsing (or not) I can check that.

Thanks in advance for anyone who takes pity on me!

Derek

PS - Similar issue on my Stargate, it is showing a constant left coin
switch. That problem is benign to gameplay though, so I am inclined to
ignore it.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.video.arcade.collecting (More info?)

Try cleaning the leaf shitch contacts with a business card.

 

[Rich]

Archived from groups: rec.games.video.arcade.collecting (More info?)

Do you have another interface board to try?
Rich
"Derek Stutsman" <derekstutsman@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:2005042121581016807%derekstutsman@gmailcom...
> I've got a Joust that I just completed and brought indoors. I had to
> rebuild the power supply but otherwise it was a slam dunk...or so I
> thought.
>
> I refurbed the CP (new overlay, buttons) and was doing a switch test
> when I discovered that the 2P controls are extremely flaky.
>
> That is, sometimes pressing the second player's left, right or flap
> will cause all 3 switches to activate. If none of those 3 controls are
> activated, none of them will fire.
>
> The problem seems to come and go, but it's never gone enough to play a
> proper 2p game.
>
> The CP wiring and harness are original and unhacked. In fact, all the
> boards and wiring in the game appear to be original and unhacked.
> There don't appear to be any physical problems with the switches that I
> can see. Nothing is shorting out.
>
> I am concerned this may be a board-level problem.
>
> Can someone who understands this stuff better than me provide some
> troubleshooting suggestions?
>
> I do have a logic probe, so if there are specific pins that should be
> pulsing (or not) I can check that.
>
> Thanks in advance for anyone who takes pity on me!
>
> Derek
>
> PS - Similar issue on my Stargate, it is showing a constant left coin
> switch. That problem is benign to gameplay though, so I am inclined to
> ignore it.
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.video.arcade.collecting (More info?)

My guess is that IC7 on the interface board has gone bad.

Check pins 7, 11 and 14 with your logic probe. Those are the inputs from the
controls and should all be high by default. If they are flaking low then you
have a short in your wiring. Pins 6, 12 and 13 are your outputs. If the
inputs are high, these all should be low. If they are flaking high, then IC7
is bad.

If IC7 appears good, then IC3 is the culprit.

Good luck!
-roy-


"Derek Stutsman" <derekstutsman@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:2005042121581016807%derekstutsman@gmailcom...
> I've got a Joust that I just completed and brought indoors. I had to
> rebuild the power supply but otherwise it was a slam dunk...or so I
> thought.
>
> I refurbed the CP (new overlay, buttons) and was doing a switch test when
> I discovered that the 2P controls are extremely flaky.
>
> That is, sometimes pressing the second player's left, right or flap will
> cause all 3 switches to activate. If none of those 3 controls are
> activated, none of them will fire.
>
> The problem seems to come and go, but it's never gone enough to play a
> proper 2p game.
>
> The CP wiring and harness are original and unhacked. In fact, all the
> boards and wiring in the game appear to be original and unhacked. There
> don't appear to be any physical problems with the switches that I can see.
> Nothing is shorting out.
>
> I am concerned this may be a board-level problem.
>
> Can someone who understands this stuff better than me provide some
> troubleshooting suggestions?
>
> I do have a logic probe, so if there are specific pins that should be
> pulsing (or not) I can check that.
>
> Thanks in advance for anyone who takes pity on me!
>
> Derek
>
> PS - Similar issue on my Stargate, it is showing a constant left coin
> switch. That problem is benign to gameplay though, so I am inclined to
> ignore it.
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.video.arcade.collecting (More info?)

I had a very similar problem on my Joust, and it turned out to be a bad
interface board. I got a replacement for $20 plus my old board.

-Dave Ellis
http://www.davesclassicarcade.com

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.video.arcade.collecting (More info?)

Thanks very much for the detailed help - I'll post back with my results!

D

> My guess is that IC7 on the interface board has gone bad.
>
> Check pins 7, 11 and 14 with your logic probe. Those are the inputs
> from the controls and should all be high by default. If they are
> flaking low then you have a short in your wiring. Pins 6, 12 and 13 are
> your outputs. If the inputs are high, these all should be low. If they
> are flaking high, then IC7 is bad.
>
> If IC7 appears good, then IC3 is the culprit.
>
> Good luck!
> -roy-
>
>
> "Derek Stutsman" <derekstutsman@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:2005042121581016807%derekstutsman@gmailcom...
>> I've got a Joust that I just completed and brought indoors. I had to
>> rebuild the power supply but otherwise it was a slam dunk...or so I
>> thought.
>>
>> I refurbed the CP (new overlay, buttons) and was doing a switch test
>> when I discovered that the 2P controls are extremely flaky.
>>
>> That is, sometimes pressing the second player's left, right or flap
>> will cause all 3 switches to activate. If none of those 3 controls are
>> activated, none of them will fire.
>>
>> The problem seems to come and go, but it's never gone enough to play a
>> proper 2p game.
>>
>> The CP wiring and harness are original and unhacked. In fact, all the
>> boards and wiring in the game appear to be original and unhacked.
>> There don't appear to be any physical problems with the switches that I
>> can see. Nothing is shorting out.
>>
>> I am concerned this may be a board-level problem.
>>
>> Can someone who understands this stuff better than me provide some
>> troubleshooting suggestions?
>>
>> I do have a logic probe, so if there are specific pins that should be
>> pulsing (or not) I can check that.
>>
>> Thanks in advance for anyone who takes pity on me!
>>
>> Derek
>>
>> PS - Similar issue on my Stargate, it is showing a constant left coin
>> switch. That problem is benign to gameplay though, so I am inclined to
>> ignore it.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.video.arcade.collecting (More info?)

first things to try:

disconnect the interface board and reflow (heat with a soldering gun) the
pin headers. plug everything back in and try again.

if this doesn't help then again unplug the CP connector from the interface
board. take a wire and hold it to pin 1 and check individually each of the
inputs on the board by touching the other end of the wire to the contacts
(you can tell which ones are active by looking at the harness that was
disconnected and the slots with wires are used in the game). You'll
probably need a second person looking at the screen to help you with this
(it'll be a bit tricky to navigate to the right test screen, but certainly
doable).

if you still show errors then your interface board has a problem. (most
likely)

"Derek Stutsman" <derekstutsman@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:2005042121581016807%derekstutsman@gmailcom...
> I've got a Joust that I just completed and brought indoors. I had to
> rebuild the power supply but otherwise it was a slam dunk...or so I
> thought.
>
> I refurbed the CP (new overlay, buttons) and was doing a switch test when
> I discovered that the 2P controls are extremely flaky.
>
> That is, sometimes pressing the second player's left, right or flap will
> cause all 3 switches to activate. If none of those 3 controls are
> activated, none of them will fire.
>
> The problem seems to come and go, but it's never gone enough to play a
> proper 2p game.
>
> The CP wiring and harness are original and unhacked. In fact, all the
> boards and wiring in the game appear to be original and unhacked. There
> don't appear to be any physical problems with the switches that I can see.
> Nothing is shorting out.
>
> I am concerned this may be a board-level problem.
>
> Can someone who understands this stuff better than me provide some
> troubleshooting suggestions?
>
> I do have a logic probe, so if there are specific pins that should be
> pulsing (or not) I can check that.
>
> Thanks in advance for anyone who takes pity on me!
>
> Derek
>
> PS - Similar issue on my Stargate, it is showing a constant left coin
> switch. That problem is benign to gameplay though, so I am inclined to
> ignore it.
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.video.arcade.collecting (More info?)

Inputs and outputs look ok...next step is to swap with the interface
from stargate, I guess.

Any pins I can test on IC3?

Also, do the controls need to be engaged for this test? They were idle
when I tested the pins, and they only register as multiples when one of
them is engaged.

Thanks for helping,

D

> My guess is that IC7 on the interface board has gone bad.
>
> Check pins 7, 11 and 14 with your logic probe. Those are the inputs
> from the controls and should all be high by default. If they are
> flaking low then you have a short in your wiring. Pins 6, 12 and 13 are
> your outputs. If the inputs are high, these all should be low. If they
> are flaking high, then IC7 is bad.
>
> If IC7 appears good, then IC3 is the culprit.
>
> Good luck!
> -roy-
>
>
> "Derek Stutsman" <derekstutsman@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:2005042121581016807%derekstutsman@gmailcom...
>> I've got a Joust that I just completed and brought indoors. I had to
>> rebuild the power supply but otherwise it was a slam dunk...or so I
>> thought.
>>
>> I refurbed the CP (new overlay, buttons) and was doing a switch test
>> when I discovered that the 2P controls are extremely flaky.
>>
>> That is, sometimes pressing the second player's left, right or flap
>> will cause all 3 switches to activate. If none of those 3 controls are
>> activated, none of them will fire.
>>
>> The problem seems to come and go, but it's never gone enough to play a
>> proper 2p game.
>>
>> The CP wiring and harness are original and unhacked. In fact, all the
>> boards and wiring in the game appear to be original and unhacked.
>> There don't appear to be any physical problems with the switches that I
>> can see. Nothing is shorting out.
>>
>> I am concerned this may be a board-level problem.
>>
>> Can someone who understands this stuff better than me provide some
>> troubleshooting suggestions?
>>
>> I do have a logic probe, so if there are specific pins that should be
>> pulsing (or not) I can check that.
>>
>> Thanks in advance for anyone who takes pity on me!
>>
>> Derek
>>
>> PS - Similar issue on my Stargate, it is showing a constant left coin
>> switch. That problem is benign to gameplay though, so I am inclined to
>> ignore it.