HunterZero

Yes that definitely looks like a version of the composite kit produced by retro_mood (eBay name) in Turkey. Good reliable kit, compatible with PAL and NTSC. As for other options for composite kits, here are the ones that come to mind... Has anyone tried the Retrofixes kit? Here: https://store.retrofixes.com/products/intellivision-composite-upgrade-amp-kit-coming-soon Otherwise, there are schematics by Solarfox for a simple AV mod, I've heard varying results with this mod (from good results, to jailbars/dark picture). It wouldn't be too difficult to lay out PCB's and have them printed for this mod. Here: http://solarfox.triluminary.net/hwh_intvav_p4.php - J

One of the membrane keypad buttons might be stuck down. When this happens, it can "lock out" the disc control and other key pad buttons. As suggested, disconnecting one or the other controller can help check this. - J

Bubbly looking traces on the Intellivision main board are completely normal. The GI chipset is known to be susceptible to thermal faults. I would try swapping the ICs out with known good ones one by one, starting with the RA-3-9600 SRAM, then the AY-3-8900-1 STiC, then the CP-1610 CPU, then the AY-3-8914 sound chip. - J

The Intellivision uses a STIC chip to generate the picture, and a supporting chip/circuit to generate the required colour signal. Old analogue TV signals were compatible with both black and white and colour TVs. The STIC chip comes in NTSC and CCIR variants. NTSC Intellivisions use the PAL STIC for 60Hz timings, and an AY-3-8915 IC to generate the colour signals. PAL Intellivisions use the CCIR STIC for the 50Hz timings, instead of an AY-3-8915 color PROM, a discrete circuit is used to generate the PAL colours. There must have been some frequency tolerance reason why the AY-3-8915 was deleted and replaced for PAL systems. - J

The disc controller itself is decent. It's the side action buttons and number pad that are not great. - J

You do usually have intrinsic rights to claim a trademark, if you were using that trademark in business first. Eg, if two parties apply for the same trademark, the group that can demonstrate officially using that name for longer will usually win. Trademarks usually apply to company/brand names, but in some cases can apply to unique (not generic) product names (eg Liquid Paper is a trademark, correction fluid is not, and cannot be a trademark), unique logos (like the Coca-Cola dynamic ribbon device), icons (such as the Mickey Mouse head), mascot characters or even some 3D shapes that would normally come under design patent (again the Coca-Cola hobble skirt bottle). Some of these areas overlap into copyright and design patent laws. You are correct that the name/title of a book, video game etc cannot be copyrighted, but if you have a series of books, video games etc that come under the same title, then that name can be trademarked. Eg, Nintendo's Super Mario Bros, or Harry Potter series of books. Also, a unique lettered logo design based on the title could be considered an artwork, and falls into that area of both being covered by copyright, and eligible for trademark. Application of copyright laws are almost subjective for some scenarios... - J

The game name, code and original art from it would be covered by copyright, but unless BBWW has actively applied for a TM for the video game name "Piggy Bank" and had it registered, it won't be protected as a trademark. BBWW, have you applied for a trademark? - J

Very likely there's either a poor/oxidised connection, power issue, controller issue or possibly a logic board issue. First, I would not recommend cleaning electrical contacts with window cleaner, as these often contain soaps or fragrances or ammonia that could contaminate or corrode the contacts. Get some >90% isopropyl alcohol and clean the contacts again. The controllers are a common point of failure. If one of the buttons is shorted, ie, permanently pressed, then it prevents the unit from starting. If you do disassemble the unit to disconnect the controllers or test the power supply and disconnect the ribbon cable, DO SO WITH EXTREME CARE. The ribbon cable that connects the power supply board to the logic board is fragile, and can easily disintegrate or go bad. Missing power rails can cause black screen. Testing the power supply requires a volt/multimeter. You can rule out the controllers without opening the main unit by opening each controller, and removing the mylar insert (again treat these with care), which has a similar effect to disconnecting them at the logic board. There are a number of common logic board faults that can cause black screen too. Getting to the logic board requires soldering skills to desolder the shielding encasing the logic board (breaking the casing off is not recommended). Most common parts that go bad are the RA-3-9600 RAM chip, AY-3-8900-1 STIC chip, AY-3-8914 audio chip, or transistors Q1/Q2. If you're not comfortable with troubleshooting 70's electronics, you might find someone here why is nearby, and able to take a look for you. - J

There can be several reasons for black screen. Does the screen flash when pressing reset? Is it an original brown Intellivision 1, or grey Intellivision 2? As said above, clean the cartridge slot (isopropyl alcohol or Deoxit are best to use), try a different cartridge, or try backing out the cart a touch instead of pushing it all the way in. Failing that, it's time to open the unit. If you have a multimeter, assuming it's a brown Intellivision 1, check the ribbon cable for continuity, and power supply board output voltages. Try disconnecting one hand controller and seeing if it works, then disconnect the other. If it still black screens, you may have a logic board issue.

I have 1 working brown ECS (no box), and 2 IntelliVoice modules.

What ever became of an official box/manual/overlays upgrade for Piggy Bank? Are the boxed copies currently around all the "unofficial" one? - J

My copy of DKJr arrived downunder about a week ago. Great game! - J

I seem to remember B17 Bomber also says: "That was not a target" (if you bomb England) "That was close" "Good shot" "Check target it's close" - edit: after looking at "beeslife", I think the one I remember is "Check point close"

Visually inspect the cartridge port for bent pins. Next, get some Deoxit contact cleaner (or isopropyl alcohol will work) and clean the cartridge slot. Apply it to a folded piece of paper or piece of thick cardboard, then insert and remove from the cartridge slot a few times. If it's still flaky then you may have some bad/cracked solder joints at the motherboard, you may need to open the unit and reflow them. - J

If the mylar button matrix can be ruled out (eg, by shorting the appropriate pins on the mylar connector), is there a list of discrete parts on the Lynx 2 motherboard power circuit that commonly go bad, with associated symptoms, and ways to diagnose? Eg, test points? Any Lynx experts compiled information like this? - J

Usual amount of care that would be required desoldering a DIP IC, since you don't want to damage the ICs or the PCB. Adding flux/solder and using DIP tweezers or hot air rework is the preferred way. If you use a desoldering gun, be careful not to lift the traces/pads. It's unusual for non-electrolytic caps to be in cap kits. The 0.1uf caps are non polarized, and either glass or ceramic. - J

If you don't have a replacement, you could swap the two RAM chips over (socket them after desoldering and removing them) and see if the graphics problem changes. You could also check the logic gate on the chip select logic chip for the two GRAM chips. Most commonly this is driven by U17, a 74LS86 quad logic chip, using an XOR gate on pins 11/12/13 (output/intput/+5v). Chip select input comes from ADDR8 bit line, pin 14 on U5 (GROM), and other address lines and ENABLE and READ/WRITE comes from the same chip, so you could try swapping that chip too. And check both GRAM chips are getting a solid 5V at pin 22 (inspect 0.1uf caps C7 and C18).

There are no high voltage parts in the Intellivision power supply board. The transformer is the only HV part, it steps down the mains AC to 18V AC with 9V AC center tap. The power supply board rectifies these AC inputs into DC and regulates to the needed DC voltages, smoothed by two large power capacitors. The voltage regulators on the power supply board have heatsinks, and can get rather warm. I replace these with modern parts on my units, applying new thermal compound. From the outside, you can feel the area of the casing over these regulators gets warm. The RAM and STIC and CPU all run reasonably warm and do come with heatsinks as a result. They are enclosed within RF shielding in most consoles, so it's possible that heat can accumulate and one of these ICs overheating caused the lockups over time. Active cooling with an external fan or an active cooling mod wouldn't be a bad idea for extended play. - J

Closest Intellivision game that I can think of that resembles the description is Masters of the Universe: Power of He-Man... - J

The old 7805 and 7812 voltage regulators are worth checking and replacing with newer parts too. These can get quite warm. - J

And Tomusto sauce.

So was the only faulty chip the CP1610 CPU? It's not too difficult to get a spare for this.

Received my copy a little while ago - what an amazing game, technically very impressive, very fast - and most importantly, great fun!

I was disappointed that Carl's DK Jr was never finished. The fact that Carl reverse engineered the original code was part of what made DK Arcade and D2K so good. The gameplay was reproduced exceptionally well. This new port of DK Jr looks really good too though! - J

For reference... There are some differences between board versions, but the large ICs are all in the same location.