robotron problems

[Chunky]

the game worked fine when we got it. played it a bit, back and forth between a few people for about and hour and no problems.

then one of the girls didn;t know how to turn it on and her friends tilted the damn thing forward looking for and ON switch on the bottom. ha.

so anyways now the next time we got it up and running, it would not get past level 3, then level 2, now half of 1, it will reboot itself on and on but not in attract, after you start playing.

it passes all the tests when run but when you turn it on it says it clears all the recordkeeping and scores and makes you restart by the coin mech button. i don't get this since it passes all the internal tests you can preform.....well that i see in the manual.

[Arcade Antics]

Possible tilt switch / watchdog issue?

Normally, if you boot it up with the door open, it will give you the "factory settings restored," "hiscore tables reset" message.

One thing though, before you do anything else: if there are batteries on the mother board TAKE THEM OUT ASAP! If they're old and corroded, they can get into and destroy the pcb traces. If you *have* to save your high scores and settings, buy some brand new alakaline batteries to install. Better yet, order the lithium battery kit from Bob Roberts and replace the AA setup altogether.

[Chunky]

Possible tilt switch / watchdog issue?

Normally, if you boot it up with the door open, it will give you the "factory settings restored," "hiscore tables reset" message.

One thing though, before you do anything else: if there are batteries on the mother board TAKE THEM OUT ASAP! If they're old and corroded, they can get into and destroy the pcb traces. If you *have* to save your high scores and settings, buy some brand new alakaline batteries to install. Better yet, order the lithium battery kit from Bob Roberts and replace the AA setup altogether.

oh i gonna check that switch with a meter and see if bad or that it's closing or opening or whatever is needed. we changed the batteries already. will check everything out however, thanks.

[portnoyd]

ham

[Chunky]

so i thought the batteries were changed, nope. done.

note sure if that worked because now it won't even get that far. i got to do one test gave errores 23 24 29, blah blah, somethings wrong. the more i left it on the worse the arfiacts got or the screen went 1 color, until it just repeatedly reboots.

so if you wait a few hours, turn it on, it will let you play for a level or 2, but the longer it 's on the worse it gets with just rebooting and running it's own tests.

[Arcade Antics]

Found this bit of info on arcaderestoration.com, sounds like the same issue you're having.


If you have a Williams game and are having intermittent problems with the game resetting, then it wouldn't hurt to get one of Bob's Get Well Kits and re-solder the connectors.

You can find Bob Roberts' page at http://homearcade.org - click on "Big Bear's Bulletin Board."

[shawnbo42]

One thign I have done with all my Old-Style Williams cabinets (and it avoids a lot of power supply issues), is to take the original p/s board with those two HUGE caps on it, rip it out, and throw it away. What I did is take a computer style p/s (not mini-ATX, but p/s for a Megatouch Gold or Platinum style), and install that. I used the service outlet inside the cabinet to plug in the new p/s, mounted it to the floor, and wired it straight in. The old-computer style p/s gives you all the necesary voltages, and once it is in, you avoid all the problems you had with the pcb p/s. Takes a little work/time, and after you are done, the interlock switch on the back door does't cut off the entire thing anymore. I though the sacrifice was worth it. (If you shouldn't be in the back of the game, then you should get whacked ;) ). Just thought I'd post it, so everyone would know it is possible to do such a thing. Cheers!!