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Simpson's arcade not working


Dignasty

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Hi all, 

 

I recently fired up my Simpson's arcade machine after several years of not being used and it isnt working. Any help would be appreciated as to how to fix it. The machine turns on but just repeats this ram rom check. I attached image below. I know nothing about these machines and have no clue as to where to begin.

Thank you all for the help

20211031_131029.jpg

Edited by Dignasty
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You need a diagram of the pcb showing the location of 16C & 17C & there's probably.a cbip there- maybe a Z80 or whatever Konami used- that either needs to be reseated or replaced.

 

Now that I think of it, the pcb itself might say those locations rght on it.

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OK It Looks like those locations are on the upper left (in this diagram) of the pcb.  First you should pull & reseat those chips, BE CAREFUL not to bend or break off the thin pins/"legs" .  You can pull chips with a special tool or use a standard flathead screwdriver to CAREFULLY & EVENLY PRY them up from their sockets.

 

I'm not sure what kind of chips those are, (IDK what the circled S means)...if they're custom Konami chips & they're broken or malfunctioning you may be out of luck.

 

I dont own this game but a similar problem happened to my Xevious a few yrs ago, I replaced a standard Z80 chip & she's run great ever since

Screenshot_20211031-214218_Chrome.jpg

Screenshot_20211031-214446_Gallery.jpg

Screenshot_20211031-214236_Chrome.jpg

Edited by RJ
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Thank you so much for your feedback. I actually stumbled across this in the manual and saw the 17c and 16c and thought I might be on to something but of course was worried it was just a coincidence or something. I looked at the pcb and nothing seemed out of place but of course i didnt know what i was looking for either. I will look into your process and see if i can get something accomplished.

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Yes keep us updated! Also.keep in mind.when I did it, I was super nervous & sweaty but reseating chips is actually a simple process, I just didnt want to break anything (obviously).

 

Any chance you can post pics of that area on the pcb? I'm curious to see the chips.

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EDIT: good news! I was misreading location "15C" as 16C, so the 2 (not 3) chips below (G01 & G02)  are where the problem is.

 

These 2 chips are either loose or damaged & need to be reseated using the process I mentioned above. You may as well do the other 2  if you feel confident enough.

 

Unfortunately IDK what the white label/stickers mean on them, & I cant tell if they're custom Konami chips. They appear  bigger than standard Z80 chips.

 

 

 

Screenshot_20211102-191103_Gallery.jpg

Edited by RJ
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Hey RJ, 

Sadly no progress :(. I followed the video you posted and initially tried to partially remove and reseat. That didnt work so I went ahead and removed them entirely and repeated. I made sure to be very careful and that all the little legs were in the proper spot before reinserting them. Sadly I am still getting thr same error message. Any more thoughts on the issue? Thank you so much for your help

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I want to add one more thing. The initial image I posted of the screen is not always the same. The same 16c and 17c are always the ones that pop up as "Bad". But the 4 digit combination that appears after changes too. There is one sequence of digits that pops up the most but I have noticed it does change. I'm not sure if that means anything, but maybe its significant in diagnosing the true problem.

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Are the chips seated in their sockets firmly? My next guess would be replacing them but again IDK anything about these chips themselves or the 4-digit (error?) codes they're generating besides what you've shown me. At this point you'll need someone with more knowledge. 

 

I'd suggest swapping the "0 & 1" chips with the "2 & 3" chips in the 13C & 15C sockets but IDK if that'd wreck or damage anything- if you do & the error moves to those locations, you'd def. know then those 2 (0 &1) chips are bad.

 

I hope someone with more knowledge sees this topic.

 

Do you have the manual? They're invaluable.

https://archive.org/details/ArcadeGameManualThesimpsons/page/n9/mode/2up

Edited by RJ
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  • 4 weeks later...

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