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DE SW Help. Finally Solved :)

Dazza73

Dazza73

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Jun 19, 2013
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Hi all I'm having a problem with my SW. I purchased the machine as a non worker. (Paid a good price for it which leaves me a few £ to spend on it.)

It needed a new power supply as there wasn't enough voltage on the pwr supply going to the main board so I've purchased a new rottendog pwr supply as I didn't fancy repairing the original. (Eventually I'll send it to Phil at Pinball Heaven for repair hopefully)

So the problem is. When I switch the machine on I get sound saying may the force be with you & the DMD says open the door. I get no GI lights until I open it then the back box lights turn on but nothing on the playfield. (See Video)


I've replaced the batteries with new and still get the same.

Also it had quite a few coils burnt out so I've replaced them all but 2 which I am waiting for. These are disconnected.

Another problem is the left kick back coil locks on when the machine is turned on so Ive disconnected that also so it don't burn it out.

Basically nothing happens apart from the open door message as seen in the video.

I'm also getting a reading of 4.84v on the CPU board. Is that to low ?

Any help would be appreciated
 
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Another problem is the left kick back coil locks on when the machine is turned on so Ive disconnected that also so it don't burn it out.
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Check the relevant transistor on the driver board, probably shorted which is causing the coil to lock on. If so then you'll need to replace it.
 
The "Open The Door" message appears when the values stored in the RAM are not correct, and the game code wants to attempt to reset them to default values, but it can't alter the values when the door is closed (due to the memory protect switch on the door)

If it just keeps doing that each time then the game is unable to initialise. Possibly a bad ram, adress or dataline buffers.

You could also measure the voltage on the ram chip power and ground pins to check that the batteries are actually powering it ok (4-4.2v on battery) and when the game is powered on you should be seeing slightly more voltage on the ram (4.5-4.7v)



4.8 on the cpu board should be ok. If you want to raise it a touch more, clean the power header pins on the cpu board and potentially re-pin the power connector in the wiring loom
 
lukewells said:
You could also measure the voltage on the ram chip power and ground pins to check that the batteries are actually powering it ok (4-4.2v on battery) and when the game is powered on you should be seeing slightly more voltage on the ram (4.5-4.7v)
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All good with the voltages . I've also tried the ram out of my hook and still the same.

chris b said:
might be a silly answer but is the coin door switch there and connected
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Yes its there. When I open the coin door the BB lights come on
 
Yep, the coin door memory protect switch has been by passed. There's normally another switch for power hence the BB lights come on. :cool:

You can either see which colour wires are in use and find them near the coin door or follow them from the MPU through the cabinet to where they terminate near the coin door.
 
Moonraker said:
Yep, the coin door memory protect switch has been by passed. There's normally another switch for power hence the BB lights come on. :cool:

You can either see which colour wires are in use and find them near the coin door or follow them from the MPU through the cabinet to where they terminate near the coin door.
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Good old operator botches you can't fault them for their ingenuity
 
Moonraker said:
Yep, the coin door memory protect switch has been by passed. There's normally another switch for power hence the BB lights come on. :cool:

You can either see which colour wires are in use and find them near the coin door or follow them from the MPU through the cabinet to where they terminate near the coin door.
Click to expand...

I've noticed these 3 wires behind the coin door. Will have to trace them back.

IMG_1979.JPG

Also when I switch on with the coin door open the first thing shown on the screen is the display code version but the CPU code version is not displayed and the dmd goes blank.
 
There is not (or at least _should not_ be) any sort of power interlock in a DE Star Wars. The only standard swtich is the memory protect (but who knows what the f*ckwitt operator did to it at some point in it's life)

Use your meter on the dedicated switch connector on the cpu board and check to see if the memory protect line is being toggled as you open and close the coin door.
 
Thanks for your continued help guys.

When you say the dedicated switch connector would that be the DIAG,CMOS,SWITCH on cn14 ? If so how do I test this with my meter.

Thanks
 
Dazza73 said:
Thanks for your continued help guys.

When you say the dedicated switch connector would that be the DIAG,CMOS,SWITCH on cn14 ? If so how do I test this with my meter.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Yes sir, Memory protect may also be labelled as CMOS.

I think it is pin 1 on CN14 from memory

Clamp the black lead of your meter onto the earth strap, or wherever is convenience for you to connect it to ground. Poke the red lead of the meter into the back of the relevant pin on CN14 and measure the DC voltage.

When the switch is open, you should see near to 5v and when the door is closed, you should see near to 0v
 
Thanks Luke

Iv'e measured the dc voltage & when the door is closed I get 0.01. Open I get 4.81.

Would it be worth trying the board out of my hook and change the game rom to see if it's the same ?
 
Dazza73 said:
Thanks Luke

Iv'e measured the dc voltage & when the door is closed I get 0.01. Open I get 4.81.

Would it be worth trying the board out of my hook and change the game rom to see if it's the same ?
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Sounds like the memory protect switch is indeed working fine then, so back to my original diagnosis, it sounds like the CPU board is unable to initialise the RAM.

Definitely try swapping the Hook cpu board as it will prove that the fault is localised to the cpu board and not something else.

Both Hook and Star Wars are a Data East Revision 3 board, so it's just a straight single ROM swap
 
TYHO said:
Just have a REALLY good look to see there aint any battery damage at all
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Double checked no damage.

Just turned it on told me open the door so i did and now i have sound but the open the door message is still there :confused:

Turned it off and on again open the door message so i did but no sound this time.
 
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I'm interested to hear the results when you swap the Hook CPU board in.

My magic 8ball remote diagnosis is still :- failure to initialise the RAM due to bad data/address line on the buffered bus side
 
It's ALIVE :rofl:

I've changed the board taken from my Hook and it's booted up :) Going to try the board out of SW in the hook to see what happens.

 
Just need to find out why the GI lights are not working under the slingshots etc. Tested the fuses, checked the connectors they fine. :confused:
 
Dazza73 said:
Just need to find out why the GI lights are not working under the slingshots etc. Tested the fuses, checked the connectors they fine. :confused:
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Assuming you have actually checked the bulbs are good ;)


The PPB board has 4 fuses for GI. It's as simple as power goes in to a fuse and then comes back out on J5

So you need to identify if you have an entire GI circuit out, or if there is a break partway in a chain.

Pull one GI fuse out at a time. You should see some bulbs go out. If you pull fuse out and you don't see a difference, then you know that entire GI circuit is out. Please take the fuse out with the power off unless you are absolutely 100% confident that you can take the fuse out without shorting out anything else. Definitely don't use any metal instruments to do it.

If all 4 fuses result in some bulbs going out then you probably have a break in the chain on one of the circuits. Follow the GI wires under the playfield from where they are not working to the nearest point that they are looking for a break in the wiring.


If you have a whole bad GI circuit, then it is going to most likely be a cracked solder joint under the related fuse holder, or bad solder on J5, or a bad connection to the psu
 
Dazza73 said:
Just need to find out why the GI lights are not working under the slingshots etc. Tested the fuses, checked the connectors they fine. :confused:
Click to expand...

GI connectors on Data East can get pretty toasted-remember when I got my G n R -ya could barely hold the GI connector it was that hot!!
 
lukewells said:
Assuming you have actually checked the bulbs are good ;)


The PPB board has 4 fuses for GI. It's as simple as power goes in to a fuse and then comes back out on J5

So you need to identify if you have an entire GI circuit out, or if there is a break partway in a chain.

Pull one GI fuse out at a time. You should see some bulbs go out. If you pull fuse out and you don't see a difference, then you know that entire GI circuit is out. Please take the fuse out with the power off unless you are absolutely 100% confident that you can take the fuse out without shorting out anything else. Definitely don't use any metal instruments to do it.

If all 4 fuses result in some bulbs going out then you probably have a break in the chain on one of the circuits. Follow the GI wires under the playfield from where they are not working to the nearest point that they are looking for a break in the wiring.


If you have a whole bad GI circuit, then it is going to most likely be a cracked solder joint under the related fuse holder, or bad solder on J5, or a bad connection to the psu
Click to expand...



ah the good old Popcorn Popper Board , as there are the high power resistors on there - one had one of the essential melt due to a locked on flasher
 
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