koolmoecraig Posted December 28, 2017 Share Posted December 28, 2017 I dug out my old original Star Trek cartridge and it's DOA. I know it might not be worth the effort but the cartridge means a lot to me. It was the last gift that my uncle gave to me before he passed away. I'd really love to revive it. I cleaned the edge connector thoroughly with no change. All I am getting is either a blue screen or the Self Test screen upon power up. Is there anyone that can help me? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted December 28, 2017 Share Posted December 28, 2017 (edited) leave plugged in and on for a day then reset a few times... plug it in and out a few times too... You may have a layer you can not see on the contacts... de oxit is the answer... if not.. then you may have to carefully open the cart and make sure all joints are good and chips seated... try it in other machines as well... if it still fails I am certain it can be fixed, you may have to ship it to someone to do so... as it is a point of contact with a lost loved one it makes perfect sense to do so... Edited December 28, 2017 by _The Doctor__ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Level42 Posted December 29, 2017 Share Posted December 29, 2017 How did you clean the contacts ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koolmoecraig Posted December 29, 2017 Author Share Posted December 29, 2017 I used some 99.99% pure alcohol meant for electronics along with a fiberglass scratch brush. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koolmoecraig Posted December 29, 2017 Author Share Posted December 29, 2017 (edited) I opened it up. Are the two scored traces that way on purpose? I dont see any other obvious flaws. Edited December 29, 2017 by koolmoecraig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osgeld Posted December 29, 2017 Share Posted December 29, 2017 well, they didnt cut themselves 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1050 Posted December 29, 2017 Share Posted December 29, 2017 Not obvious flaws at all here, you can't fix what is wrong by restoring those cut traces either. That board is multi-talented for use with other ROM type chips. The different chips used required these cuts in order for this one size fits all board to work with 24 pin and 8K chips which are an anomaly as replacement standard eproms of 8K size will have 28 pins. The PROMS have gone bad and no fix for that other than replacement with working eproms. Because the board would require some detailed configuration, and we can't see under the rom where the hole is to know what that trace is or why it was cut too, it probably would be much easier to just get a 16k Eprom board from http://www.myatari.com/atarixlh.txt Near the bottom of that page find this PRA062 PCB CART board 16K for EPROMs W/SOCK 8.00 2-2764s and get one to see if that board will fit in this case. If so, get two 27c64 eproms in 120-150ns speed and burn them with the SEGA rom code and enclose the board in your case. Fixed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted December 29, 2017 Share Posted December 29, 2017 (edited) Just wondering what's the flaky stuff on the 0145 chip? Additionally I see a trace of two that should be tested and ohm'd out just to be sure. Edited December 29, 2017 by Keatah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted December 29, 2017 Share Posted December 29, 2017 (edited) True, Clean the grunge off the board, including the bug nest (or qtip lint)... looking at the solder on this board there are a ton of holes and around chip pins no less... I would re-flow the joints. clean the card edge better, a trace near the cart case peg hole at the center of the board may have high resistance as it appears dis-colored (it may need to be jumped)... If you are absolutely certain you didn't pry against the pcb and chop out those traces and no pieces were laying around in the cart or where you disassembled it then the fellows are probably correct that it was that way from the factory.. If all else fails, the idea to replace the pcb with eproms burned with image would be plausible. The card edge isn't scrubbed to the point the metal is gone and only bonding it left I hope... An ohm meter to ensure there are no cracked traces and the card edge is still conducting properly is in order. Edited December 29, 2017 by _The Doctor__ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+orpheuswaking Posted December 29, 2017 Share Posted December 29, 2017 All good things to check... however before you do that take a pencil eraser and use it on the cart fingers. Ive resurected 75% of dead carts that way - even ones that looked brand new 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted December 29, 2017 Share Posted December 29, 2017 Yes. Oxidation can actually be only a few hundred atoms thick. Thick enough to cause high resistance. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nezgar Posted December 29, 2017 Share Posted December 29, 2017 (edited) I wonder if the ROM is at least partially readable. Would be interesting to see if anything shows up and if so, how corrupted it is if you can dump it using the method in this video: Edited December 29, 2017 by Nezgar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Level42 Posted December 29, 2017 Share Posted December 29, 2017 (edited) One of the worst solder jobs I've ever seen. I see craters, holes etc. etc. Looks to have been done with poor tools, poor solder, poor temperature or poor personnel or any combination of those.... Remove all old solder one by one. Get the old solder flowing by adding flux original up don't have that simply add a bit of new solder. Remove as much of the old solder as you can. Then renew the soldering with new solder and do a proper job. If you do this pin by pin you should end up with an OK result. Desoldering everything at one time, removing the ROMs, removing all old solder p, cleaning the board with alcohol completely and resoldering on the ROMs would be the royal way.... Edited December 29, 2017 by Level42 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koolmoecraig Posted December 31, 2017 Author Share Posted December 31, 2017 Thank you all for the advice. I'll reflow all of the solder tomorrow along with cleaning the pins with an eraser. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koolmoecraig Posted February 12, 2018 Author Share Posted February 12, 2018 I reflowed everything and still get nothing. Is there any one that could repair this cart for me and install new ROMS if needed? I know it's silly but with the emotional attachment I'm having a hard time just pitching it and buying another. PM me if you can help! Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koolmoecraig Posted February 12, 2018 Author Share Posted February 12, 2018 Can anyone help? Even just burning and sending me new ROMS? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+bob1200xl Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 Normally, you can't burn and EPROM with the same pinouts as a ROM (which is what you have there) Can you wait a few months while I get my stuff back in operation? Bob 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nezgar Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 Looks like 16KB ROM according to AtariMania. http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-400-800-xl-xe-star-trek_5001.html Those would be 2 8KB ROM's. Those two chip locations may have all the pins wired in parallel, doing the chip selection within the chips themselves. Might be able to remove both and replace with a single 16KB EPROM, with some circuit changes. For example, with guidance and examples I was recently able to resurrect an XEGS necromancer cart: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/271777-bad-necromancer-xegs-cart-fixable/ In the mean time I'm still curious what you see with the Jjindroush cart dumper utility. https://archive.org/search.php?query=jindroush Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nezgar Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 Well.. Got a new (to me) brown shell 1983 "E.T. Phone Home" cart today, cleaned up the contacts and played it for a few minutes 'out of the shell'. Then a darned static zap from my fingers fried it due to the dry/cold weather here lately... only black screen now on powerup. 16KB game, 2x8KB 24 pin chips. 27C64 EPROM is 28 pins, so that won't fit. Is this board for all practical purposes a throwaway or is there a potential way to wire in an EPROM? Does this PCB from B&C fit in an Atari brown-shell cart case? PRA062 PCB CART board 16K for EPROMs W/SOCK 8.00 2-2764s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillC Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 Well.. Got a new (to me) brown shell 1983 "E.T. Phone Home" cart today, cleaned up the contacts and played it for a few minutes 'out of the shell'. Then a darned static zap from my fingers fried it due to the dry/cold weather here lately... only black screen now on powerup. 16KB game, 2x8KB 24 pin chips. 27C64 EPROM is 28 pins, so that won't fit. Is this board for all practical purposes a throwaway or is there a potential way to wire in an EPROM? Does this PCB from B&C fit in an Atari brown-shell cart case? PRA062 PCB CART board 16K for EPROMs W/SOCK 8.00 2-2764s That PCB does fit the brown shell, they can also be modified to act as an 8k PCB with a single 2764 if desired. http://atariage.com/forums/topic/178027-memtop-issue-with-cartridge/page-1?do=findComment&comment=2223087 The other 3 at the very bottom of the list are the ones that don't fit the brown Atari cartridge shells. Atarimania does have a downloadable ROM file for this game, it would necessary to be split it into 8k blocks for burning to 2764s. http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-400-800-xl-xe-et-phone-home_1881.html 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nezgar Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 Cool thanks, I'll add a couple of those to my wish list from B&C... Still kicking myself for not 'discharging' myself on something grounded first... live and learn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclaneinc Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 (edited) Those track cuts don't look like your usual more precise cutting, its like its been open before and had damage? I'd also get a meter on the J1 jumper, it looks pretty grotty.. Lastly, the chips look like they have had fluid or something like it on them, if it got moisture on the PCB and was plugged in there's a good chance something popped. Edited February 23, 2018 by Mclaneinc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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