Kuddy Posted April 8, 2004 Share Posted April 8, 2004 I recently got copies of Joust and Ms. Pac-Man in the mail. Joust apparently locks up whenever it tries to put a second enemy on the screen, and Ms. Pac-Man locks up when the red ghost touches a wall while going left, or tries to face downward, or something... no way I can pinpoint the exact cause.. I'm using a four port console, and have tried cleaning both games and my system. Has anyone else had this problem? Are the carts dead? Or is something wrong with my system? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuddy Posted April 8, 2004 Author Share Posted April 8, 2004 Ignore this post, I merged it with the first one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuddy Posted April 8, 2004 Author Share Posted April 8, 2004 I would really appreciate if someone replied to this. =| Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christophero Sly Posted April 8, 2004 Share Posted April 8, 2004 A while back, I had several strange problems with Ms. Pac-Man and Kangaroo on my 2-port. Ms. Pac-Man would play the intro music and then immediately report "Game Over" and Kangaroo would randomly fall of the platforms for no reason. Kangaroo would do strange things on my 4-port too. Moreover, the problem occured with two different copies of Kangaroo. I cleaned the console and games the best I could, but the problems persisted and they were consistent. I don't play those two games much on the 5200, so I just let it go. However, I've never taken the console apart and cleaned the contacts from the inside. I'm almost certain that is the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mitch Posted April 9, 2004 Share Posted April 9, 2004 One of the chips in the console is probably bad. Hard to say which without running diagnostics. Mitch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPUWIZ Posted April 9, 2004 Share Posted April 9, 2004 Yep, probably one of the RAM chips is flaky, pain in the neck to figure out which one as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuddy Posted April 9, 2004 Author Share Posted April 9, 2004 Every other game I have works fine, though. Why is it only these two that lock up? =| Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mitch Posted April 9, 2004 Share Posted April 9, 2004 Yeah, it's probably the RAM and yes, it can be a pain to find. Though on the bright side, usually the RAM is socketed. As to why it only happens on two games; they probably are the only two games that use that particular section of memory in a certain way. Mitch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuddy Posted April 9, 2004 Author Share Posted April 9, 2004 Hard to say which without running diagnostics. Mitch Running diagnostics? Does that mean the Diagnostic Cart can find the problem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted April 9, 2004 Share Posted April 9, 2004 Yep. The BIOS doesn't test RAM, so you need a diagnostic cartridge. -Bry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuddy Posted April 9, 2004 Author Share Posted April 9, 2004 Also, Galaxian's enemies lock up on the third wave. So, I'm gonna buy a Diagnostic Cart next week (money which I was originally going to spend on Marble Craze and a Stelladaptor >) to see what the exact problem is, then I'll reply here to ask about what I should do next. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted April 9, 2004 Share Posted April 9, 2004 You could try just replacing the RAM. After all, old 16x1 RAM is cheap, and it's already socketed. www.bgmicro.com has them for .70 each (you'd need . I think the old Atari 800 16K RAM modules have 8 of them as well (and the ones I've seen were socketed). -Bry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuddy Posted April 9, 2004 Author Share Posted April 9, 2004 What's the product ID for this RAM? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPUWIZ Posted April 9, 2004 Share Posted April 9, 2004 I have real 5200 RAM available as well but I can't beat $0.70. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mitch Posted April 9, 2004 Share Posted April 9, 2004 You probably only need one RAM chip as well. Normally all of them don't go out at the same time. Just swap out a chip and test to see if the games work. If not, then move onto the next chip, keep doing this until it does work. Mitch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted April 9, 2004 Share Posted April 9, 2004 What's the product ID for this RAM? Sorry, I had the part number wrong. The 5200 requires one of the following part numbers: HM4816AP-3 MK4516N MB8118 These are all 5V RAM chips. I was looking up 4116 RAM which requires a triple supply. It looks like 4164 chips might work if you ground pin 9. -Bry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuddy Posted April 9, 2004 Author Share Posted April 9, 2004 What does n.s. stand for, and does it matter which one of these I pick? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted April 9, 2004 Share Posted April 9, 2004 nanosecond (how fast the RAM responds) Don't buy a 4116... they won't work. Get something from the list I posted. -Bry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuddy Posted April 9, 2004 Author Share Posted April 9, 2004 I was referring to the 4164 chips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted April 9, 2004 Share Posted April 9, 2004 Oh... Humm... I know -15 speed works (150ns). -Bry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuddy Posted April 13, 2004 Author Share Posted April 13, 2004 Okay, I finally got that friggin' shield open after a half hour of struggling. Hopefully I won't need to put it back on. Where is the RAM usually located on these boards? I'm suspecting the left side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christophero Sly Posted April 13, 2004 Share Posted April 13, 2004 It's the column of chips on the left side at locations A18-A25. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuddy Posted April 13, 2004 Author Share Posted April 13, 2004 Okay, really dumb question coming up. What's the easiest way to remove socketed chips? I'm still pretty new at this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuddy Posted April 13, 2004 Author Share Posted April 13, 2004 Alright, I tested stupid Joust after switching each of the stupid RAM chips and the stupid game still froze. I guess my stupid RAM wasn't the stupid problem. So, any more suggestions before I just up and order a two-port? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuddy Posted April 14, 2004 Author Share Posted April 14, 2004 =( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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