Re: WPC Tech: TZ CPU

John Wart, jr wrote:
This one is a bit challenging since I don't have physical access to the machine and my customer is not a techie.

I have a customer with a TZ. He doesn't know what ROM it had in it when he started. I've asked on the phone, but when he calls he is never with the machine I guess. He wanted the 9.4H Rom, so I sent him one. He installed it, played a few games and it locked up and would not restart. Everything went dead. If he reinstalled his original ROM, the problem went away.

So, I figure he has a bad burn or something, and sent him a new chip. For reference, the chip was a -12 TI 27c040 the first time, the 2nd time it was a -10 AMD 27c040

The second time around, he wanted to try 9.2 instead, so I sent that. Same results.

At this point, I guess I am deemed incompetant and he orders a chip from a different source. Has the same result.

He's taken the game into a local shop with all the chips, and the shop had the same problem. I guess they didn't troubleshoot any further.

Does anyone know what the issue could be here? Have tried different chips with different speeds, all of which should work. But the original chip *does* work..


It could be a cold solder joint, RAM or ASIC issue, John. Have him pull the batteries to wipe the RAM first in case it's a spurious bit-set issue in memory and then retry. If he wasn't observing static handling (ESD) precautions when he was swapping ROMs, he may have damaged the RAM or ASIC, both of which are CMOS, by merely handling the board. Alternatively, he may have flexed the board and caused a cracked/cold-solder joint (not really his fault as bad solder joints are common on WPC CPU boards).

Clive
--
Board repairs, EPROMs, servicing...

The Coin-Op Cauldron
103 Armistead Lane
Easley, SC 29642
(864)238-1707
http://www.coinopcauldron.com

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