Hi!

For those of you used to fixing SS.  Can you start a game on a SS if your lamp driver or sound card is broken?  In another word do you have to have everything plugged in in order to get a credit on it and start a game?  In case you wonder................yes I am still working on my 6 mdm.

tks

Have you tried disconnecting all plugs on the lamp driver and on the sound board,
then power-up to see if you can start a game ?

The sound board and lamp driver use some of the busses from the MPU,
and in some failure types might cause some strange issues.

Also, make sure the top unused J5 connector on the MPU have all its pins straight
with none shorting to another one.

To answer your question, no, you do not need the lamp driver nor the
sound board to start/play the game.

- Sylvain.

Your questiong is pretty generic. It would depend on the system. Some systems have to make it through a self test which is reliant on various components reporting back ok. On some systems it will have an internal watchdog circuit to ensure coils aren't locked on and cause an overheat etc. which must indicate a positive status for the game to play.

I believe you have to know the requirements of your system to answer this but as a whole there is no one answer to your question. It is system dependent.

All I am saying is your better off asking the question reference as specific system.

Quoted from sylvain

Have you tried disconnecting all plugs on the lamp driver and on the sound board,
then power-up to see if you can start a game ?

The sound board and lamp driver use some of the busses from the MPU,
and in some failure types might cause some strange issues.

Also, make sure the top unused J5 connector on the MPU have all its pins straight
with none shorting to another one.

To answer your question, no, you do not need the lamp driver nor the
sound board to start/play the game.

- Sylvain.

yes I have disconnected the lamp driver and sound board and tried to load a game but it did not work.  I will check the J5 pins again but I believe they were fine.  tks for the info.  

Gilles

You do not need your lamp driver or sound board installed in order to get a game to boot up on early Bally SS games. The only connectors you need attached to get the game into attract mode are:

- Power supply - J2
- Solenoid driver - J3
- MPU - J4

To start a game, however, and know that you've started a game you'd need the above mentioned connectors installed and MPU J1 and J3. J3 is a switch matrix connector and without it your credit switches and start button won't work and J1 sends information to the displays which will tell you if you're in game mode or attract mode.

For the record, I think the problem you're having with your machine is related to the connector at J3 on the solenoid driver board. I've seen this connector cause all kinds of crazy problems on early Bally and Stern SS games. If you haven't repinned that connector yet, I'd suggest doing so (both header pins and terminals).

Quoted from cooke

You do not need your lamp driver or sound board installed in order to get a game to boot up on early Bally SS games. The only connectors you need attached to get the game into attract mode are:

- Power supply - J2
- Solenoid driver - J3
- MPU - J4

To start a game, however, and know that you've started a game you'd need the above mentioned connectors installed and MPU J1 and J3. J3 is a switch matrix connector and without it your credit switches and start button won't work and J1 sends information to the displays which will tell you if you're in game mode or attract mode.

For the record, I think the problem you're having with your machine is related to the connector at J3 on the solenoid driver board. I've seen this connector cause all kinds of crazy problems on early Bally and Stern SS games. If you haven't repinned that connector yet, I'd suggest doing so (both header pins and terminals).

tks and I tend to agree with you on the solenoid board driver.  The more I test the more it points towards it.  I will do a bit more testing and I have a way ahead.

take care