Jason_Atari Posted April 5, 2018 Share Posted April 5, 2018 Picked up a copy of commando, game plays great, has sound effects but there is no music. I assume the pokey chip has died, has this happened to anyone before? Either with Commando or Ballblazer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinMos3 Posted April 5, 2018 Share Posted April 5, 2018 Hasn't happened to me with Commando, but there could be a couple of things wrong, possibly easily fixable. If you can heat the label and remove it without damaging it, you may want to take a look at the board inside. It's possible there is just a bad solder connection or trace that can be re-touched or repaired. I had a "James Buster Douglas" cart for the Sega Master System that never worked since the day I got it back in 1995. I just assumed it was defective. A few years ago I decided to take it apart to use the cartridge case to replace a cracked case of another game. Once I got the cart open, I saw there was a leg of the PROM that wasn't properly soldered (came that way from the factory). I touched it up with my soldering iron and it worked great after. I then discovered that the game I had almost used for parts was worth ~$300. It's also possible (maybe less likely) that a previous owner removed the Pokey chip. Or the Pokey could just be bad, in which case you could remove it and replace it with another. Pokeys are still affordable last I knew and IMO worth fixing a Commando cart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atarifever Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 I have a loose Ballblazer cart like this. Don't know what's wrong with it, but I'm always meaning to set aside the time to learn to solder (had a couple false starts over the last couple years), so maybe Kevin's little repair project suggestion will be a good early goal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPUWIZ Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 Could be a cold solder joint, or a bad resistor. I doubt the POKEY is dead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason_Atari Posted April 9, 2018 Author Share Posted April 9, 2018 Will open it up and have a look, i just hate damaging labels Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinMos3 Posted April 9, 2018 Share Posted April 9, 2018 Will open it up and have a look, i just hate damaging labels If you're careful, you can use a blow dryer to heat up the label and peel it back without damaging it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nosweargamer Posted April 23, 2018 Share Posted April 23, 2018 Is yours modded by chance? This happened to me on my system with an AV mod. Sometimes modded systems need fine tuning for Commando, as I think it happened to Janitor Sean too. However, I had not problem playing it on a standard system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted April 23, 2018 Share Posted April 23, 2018 Is yours modded by chance? This happened to me on my system with an AV mod. Sometimes modded systems need fine tuning for Commando, as I think it happened to Janitor Sean too. However, I had not problem playing it on a standard system. That's because a lot of the earlier modders were grabbing the audio from the wrong place on the board which, would cause the TIA to completely overpower the Pokey. BallBlazer isn't effected as much since that entire game with through the Pokey and so someone would just make it louder through their receiver. But in the case of Commando it can cause distortion and make the Pokey almost seem as if it isn't there. Grab the Audio from the right spot on the north legs of R5 and R6 towards the back of the console with a 10uf cap on there, or use one of Bryan's UAC boards. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason_Atari Posted April 24, 2018 Author Share Posted April 24, 2018 Console is modded, but that's not the issue as other pokey chip carts work fine. I opened it and there is nothing out of the ordinary wrong, i might replace a few of the caps and see if that helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariBrian Posted April 24, 2018 Share Posted April 24, 2018 Console is modded, but that's not the issue as other pokey chip carts work fine That is the issue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted April 24, 2018 Share Posted April 24, 2018 If you opened it up, then take a pic of the area near the red audio adjustment coil. There are two resistors to the left of that coil and those are the ones I'm talking about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason_Atari Posted April 24, 2018 Author Share Posted April 24, 2018 That is the issue It's not, i have another commando cart and that works fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason_Atari Posted April 24, 2018 Author Share Posted April 24, 2018 If you opened it up, then take a pic of the area near the red audio adjustment coil. There are two resistors to the left of that coil and those are the ones I'm talking about. I have another commando cart and that works fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted April 24, 2018 Share Posted April 24, 2018 I have another commando cart and that works fine. You failed to mention that in the beginning. Would have been nice to know... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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