Colecovision going down fast, help!

[Atari the Jedi]

So I bougt (rescued) a Coleco vision from being mothballed. However, I discovered one of the DB9 pins was missing off the first port. Could not be able to go down. So I tried to see if I could locate the pin without sucesess. its long gone. The second player was fine and operated well enough. I am a 5200 fanboy so controller issues are common to me but now both controllers when plugged in only move left and right. the second player automaticly goes down and I can only scroll left and right. The second controller is the only one able to even start the game. It would appear as if it was posessed :0. Is there a poky like the 5200? Can I have a new DB-9 soddered? Now the second player is also acting funny.

I am scared the machine may be dying any advise?

Thanks,

[playazclub]

A male right angle DB9 connector should replace that first port nicely and cheaply and logic chip 74LS541n for both connectors (total of 2) would fix the directional issues. Both easy to do and cost is probably under $10. BTW, clean the controllers too before the IC swap just to be sure.

Edited April 27, 2013 by playazclub

[+nanochess]

playazclub is right about with his advice.

 

The good thing is that apparently everything else works fine.

 

Also I would suggest to clean all the Colecovision PCB with alcohol and a toothbrush, it will dry after a few minutes.

 

Do not disconnect controllers while Colecovision is turned on, because that is known to damage 74LS541.

 

And of course, welcome to the Colecovision world!

Edited April 27, 2013 by nanochess