AtengaGames Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 I have just got a 4 switch woody and I am having an issue were cartridges are hard to get working on the system (takes a lot of removing and replacing to get video), the picture is snowy, and half the sprites on screen don't show up at all (for example in missile command only the left half of the bases show up and the missile explosion doesn't show up at all, and for crystal castles the title screen has missing portions and the enemies don't show up.). Any response would be appreciated thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DrVenkman Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 It sounds to me like you've got a sick system! It could be any number of things: a bad 6532 RIOT chip (which provides system memory), a bad 6507 cpu chip, a bad TIA chip (which generates the TV signal and does sprites and collision detection. On top of that, you may or may not have an issue with the cartridge connector, though that is probably secondary. Most of the time in an otherwise health system with a bad cart connector once the game actually loads things are fine unless the cartridge is jostled. Anyway, if you have a donor system to pull chips, you could try swapping them one at a time to see if that fixes the issue. Of course, it may just be cheaper and easier to get another system entirely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtengaGames Posted July 28, 2015 Author Share Posted July 28, 2015 It sounds to me like you've got a sick system! It could be any number of things: a bad 6532 RIOT chip (which provides system memory), a bad 6507 cpu chip, a bad TIA chip (which generates the TV signal and does sprites and collision detection. On top of that, you may or may not have an issue with the cartridge connector, though that is probably secondary. Most of the time in an otherwise health system with a bad cart connector once the game actually loads things are fine unless the cartridge is jostled. Anyway, if you have a donor system to pull chips, you could try swapping them one at a time to see if that fixes the issue. Of course, it may just be cheaper and easier to get another system entirely. Thanks for the reply but that's what I was afraid of. Luckily I a have sears video arcade 2 on the way so hopefully that will work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 I would try to thoroughly clean the cart and slot connectors first, before you assume a problem with the chips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DrVenkman Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 But would a dirty connector cause issues with half the sprites not appearing and such? That seems to indicate a TIA or ram (RIOT), no? I guess we could refer the OP to the Atari Field Service Manual ... It's available online and has quite comprehensive troubleshooting flowcharts. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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