HunterZero

Checking the power supply and 5 pin ribbon cable is always a good start. From my experience, the power board itself is usually good (there's just AC to DC bridge rectifier conversion, and 7805/7812 voltage regulators), it's the ribbon cable that disintegrates. Do you get a flash on the screen when you press reset? The Intellivision's cartridge connects directly to the main bus, so problems with the cartridge contacts eg dirt can cause black screen. A good clean with Deoxit is always a good idea. Also check the 2 transistors Q1 and Q2 on the main board, as these drive the clock lines on the CPU. Lastly, logic issues with the STIC, RA-3-9600 RAM or even the CPU can cause black screen. Carefully cleaning the legs and resocketing might help, otherwise replacement is the only option. At least you have a couple of other units, so you could swap ICs between them to troubleshoot (although this means cracking open the shielding on a working system). - J

I successfully restored a peeling disc controller by removing the old clear plastic layer and the adhesive with a bit of WD40 and some isopropyl alcohol, and applying new clear book cover plastic. Not perfect, but a lot better than it was.

These part numbers should work. The brand is Multicomp, MC34 series, but any other similar spec brand should work too. 90 degree header: http://au.element14.com/multicomp/mc34647/header-r-a-sq-pin-2-54mm-5way/dp/1675776?st=wire-to-board%20connector%202.54%20mm%20connector Straight header: http://au.element14.com/multicomp/mc34655/header-square-pin-2-54mm-5way/dp/1675767?st=wire-to-board%20connector%202.54%20mm%20connector Plug: http://au.element14.com/multicomp/mc34503/crimp-housing-2-54mm-5way/dp/1675757?st=wire-to-board%20connector%202.54%20mm%20connector Crimp pins: http://au.element14.com/multicomp/2218t/product-range-2218-series/dp/1675781?st=multicomp%202218t I scored the bits I used from eBay.

Strictly speaking, while Swords & Serpents has a 'boss', there isn't a battle... - J

Well if you swapped in another motherboard and it works, then the power supply is probably good, but it's worthwhile checking the voltages coming out of the 5 pin ribbon connector all the same. I replace the blue capacitors and 3 pin 5V and 12V regulators on these with modern equivalents as a matter of course for preventative maintenance. Does the console flash when you press reset? Check the 5 pin ribbon cable and the blue wire from the 2 pin connector for continuity and verify that both are making good connection. Breaks in the 5 pin flat cable are common and can result in black screen. To go further you will need to desolder the RF shielding. Inspect the board for any obviously burnt or broken components, eg the little glass capacitors and black diodes. Carefully remove socketed chips, clean the sockets and chip legs with deoxit, and place them back in. Do them one at a time, and take note of the direction. Easy thing to check first are the two 2N3906 transistors Q1 and Q2 next to the CPU, or just replace them as they are a cheap part. Otherwise if you have a known working board, you can try swapping the STIC, SRAM and CPU chips to rule out faults with these commonly failing logic chips. - J

Please put this Aussie down for one copy please! - James

If your TV has a fine tuning option for the analogue RF signal, try adjusting that to see if you can make the tearing go away. Sometimes auto tuning on modern TVs can not quite get the tuning right. Otherwise as mentioned above, try with another TV. - J

LOL! Wouldn't want the murder of an innocent Intellivision on my hands But the mod is one of the easier ones, surprisingly - getting the logic board RF cage off is the hardest part. The mod is replacing an IC and reworking 2 solder joints to swap a crystal.

I modified my model 3668 PAL Intellivision for PAL60 and Dreadnaught Factor runs on it just fine. Runs other games at proper NTSC speeds too, about 12% faster. Details: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/257939-intellivision-model-3668-pal60-mod/

Wow great find, even if it's not working it's a museum piece! There is no HV in the master component power supply board with the blue caps. That power board takes the 9V/18V AC input from the transformer output, and generates the DC voltages needed by the main logic board, it's just filter caps, regulators and rectifiers. Not sure about the power board within the Keyboard Component?

Dreadnaught Factor works on a PAL60 modded PAL system. - J

Thunder Castle and the AD&D games are worth tracking down, although Thunder Castle and Tower of Doom can be on the pricey side. Thunder Castle Lock 'n' Chase Beauty and the Beast Locomotion Happy Trails If you can track down the homebrew games Christmas Carol, Donkey Kong/D2K and Ms Pacman, they are amazing. Here's the top games list as voted by AtariAge users: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/226879-top-50-intellivision-games-as-determined-by-you/?hl=+top%20+20 - J

https://console5.com/techwiki/images/e/e1/Intellivision_Hand-Controller_Service_Flyer.pdf

Does spinning the disc change the location where the disc gets stuck? Best idea is probably to take the controller apart, check for broken pieces or spilled sticky drink, and give the plastic parts a good clean. Check the mylar insert with conductive printing for damage/wear. If you clean the mylar contacts, give them a gentle clean with a damp cloth or small amount of isopropyl alcohol (be very careful as you could damage the printed material on the mylar). Ensure that the disc spring and the white plastic washer are intact and correctly assembled. If the disc movement isn't smooth, use a non-conductive dry lube like white graphitic BN where the disc pivots in the back housing.

Awesome! Glad I could be of help to get it going again. Just as well you had the tools and the skills

Q1 and Q2 are the two 2N3906 PNP transistors; again, cheap part to replace.

That looks suspicious. The chip U11 is a HD7407P logic gate, you should be getting 5V at pin 14. I assume it is, since the output on pin 4 is pulsing. Logically, it's just a buffer, I would guess it's to ensure that the voltage of theta 2 is at the correct 5V value, the voltage of the clock signal may drop off a bit of passed through multiple chips. The input on pin 1 should match the output on pin 2. Pin 1 input comes from pin 11 on the STIC, as you say. No harm to try replacing the logic gate chip U11, it's an inexpensive easy to get part. - J

Hmm the clock input pins theta-1 38 and theta-2 37 on the CPU should pulse corresponding to outputs at pins 10 and 11 on the STIC respectively. Theta-2 also clocks the SRAM theta-2 on pin 8. So the SRAM could indeed be faulty, and affecting the theta-2 clock. You should be seeing the 1.79545 clock on pin 8 of the SRAM. It's feasible that the CPU/STIC system has crashed/halted, due to a damaged SRAM, causing the weird locked state. The SRAM uses 12V for Vdd on line 10, make sure that is correct before swapping in the new SRAM. I have a hunch that Intellivision SRAM chips are prone to damage from power surges... Good luck with the new SRAM! - J

Do you have a pic of the mod? Does the console still have an RF output that you can test with? There may be an issue with a decoupling cap that was intended to be used as a sound filter cap, or some other short in the mod. - J

By process of elimination, the RA-3-9600 SRAM does seem the most likely candidate. Does the screen flash when you press reset? I am guessing it does. An oscilloscope or logic probe or logic analyzer will confirm if the CPU is pulsing/running, and the rest of the logic is getting a clock, or if data buses are pulsing. Probing the SRAM will quickly show if it's working or not. Apart from the SRAM RA-3-9600, other things I can suggest: 1. Check the 12V jumper line, and the small caps/diodes around the STIC and SRAM. Eg, STIC locality: C9/CR7 (pin 20), C26 (NP) (pin 14), C11 (pin 40). SRAM locality: C15/CR6, C19 2. Check the 2 2N3906 transistors that drive the CPU. 3. Make sure you're getting the right power at the CPU, RAM, STIC. SRAM: Pin 9 +5V, pin 11 -3V, pin 10 +12V STIC: Pin 20 +5V, pin 40 -3V, pin 14 is reset line so will respond to reset key (I think resetting pulls this low), CLK in is 15 - J

Did you help him out? You're a fine gentleman if you did. Yes the conductive material on that mylar insert looks to have been worn through. I'd be interested to see if conductive pen could fix it. - J

Be VERY careful if you open the controller to attempt to clean the mylar. The printed traces are very fragile, and rubbing too hard with isopropyl alcohol can take sections of the traces off the mylar. More than likely, the left-right area of the traces are worn on the mylar inset, and replacing it will be the best option. The hand controllers are very easy to disassemble, just 4 screws on the back of each, but when you take the front off be careful to note which way everything goes back together, including how the mylar is folded. I tried conductive pen to attempt to repair traces on an Atari Lynx mylar controller insert, but had no luck. Anyone actually tried this on an Intellivision mylar insert with positive result? - J

So did you sort everything out and get the mod working? Please post a pic of your main board if you can.

Reference diagram for IC locations. Note this is for a model 2609, but all the main chips are in the same location.

For reference, here is the motherboard that came out of the model 3668 Intellivision that I modded, with close up of the PAL video D to A section, and the XTAL2 that was replaced. Note that this revision does not have a daughterboard, instead it uses a LM1886N video matrix digital to analogue converter, and LM1889N video modulator.