chopperthedog Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 About a year ago I did a cap job for a friend and on his vectrex my vecmulti looked like the pic above and didn't work, but worked perfectly on my vectrex. I'd lean towards the cart being fine. good day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooshue Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 Didnt consider caps as everything else I throw at it works perfectly fine, just the to vecmulti carts. I did pull out my other system and they load up perfectly. Its definitely something with the system or cart slot. Acts like it's not making contact properly on all pins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chopperthedog Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 The vecmulti didn't work in his unit even after the caps, but my other multicarts did work with his unit. I almost wonder if something wrong in the rom area on the vectrex is being exploited. My friends unit still works like a champ, it just didn't like my vecmulti. good day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malban Posted May 30, 2019 Share Posted May 30, 2019 (edited) It might be interesting to you guys, during some beta tests for my new game "vectorblade" we had similar troubles on one specific vectrex. If you care to read about it, please look at the Thread: http://vide.malban.de/forums/topic/peer-testing-notes-findings-suggestion-etc (starting from topic 5) Our current conclusion is, that in very few Vectrex the VIA (6522) can not hold a stable (enough) voltage level on the PB6 pin, if that happens "wild" bankswitching can occur, which usually crashes the machine. We were able to remedy a "faulty" vectrex by inserting a new VIA (which are still availble and not too expensive). Also on all (to me) known Vectrex, the VIA chip is socketed. Regards Malban Edited May 30, 2019 by Malban 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooshue Posted May 31, 2019 Share Posted May 31, 2019 (edited) Thank you Malban. I'll go through your post to learn more. Just ordered a set of the Rockwell VIA someone in your dev thread was using. Probably slow boat from China so will get to it when they arrive. Edited May 31, 2019 by mooshue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atarilovesyou Posted June 1, 2019 Share Posted June 1, 2019 I'm waiting for my Vecmulti to arrive. Sure hope my Vectrex likes it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malban Posted June 1, 2019 Share Posted June 1, 2019 Followup on my VIA examinations: http://vide.malban.de/1st-of-june-faulty-via-vs-inc That also includes a test program whether your Vectrex might contain a "strange" VIA. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooshue Posted June 1, 2019 Share Posted June 1, 2019 Fantastic work Malban. Just read through your troubleshooting/dev post. I'm eagerly awaiting my new VIA chips from China via slow boat. I'll play with your sample bin and see if it tells me it's "wierd" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard H. Posted June 2, 2019 Share Posted June 2, 2019 I wonder if it's just SYNERTEK VIA's that are 'weird'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redrumh2o Posted June 3, 2019 Share Posted June 3, 2019 This happened to me with my first system. VecMulti just kept crashing so I had to sell it. My new one works great on my new system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atarilovesyou Posted June 6, 2019 Share Posted June 6, 2019 Woohoo, mine arrived the other day. I have yet to try it out. Is there anybody here who has one that might want to help me setting it up? I'd very much appreciate it. I take it it should be no more difficult than an everdrive type of thing? Thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Everett1954 Posted June 6, 2019 Share Posted June 6, 2019 I also have a Vectrex that did not work with the VecMulti, we tried a couple cartridges and when they were sent back to Richard, they worked fine on his Vectrex. He ended up replacing it with a VecFlash that works great with my Vectrex. He would need to have hands on with a "non-compatible" unit...for me, that would be shipping it across the pond....expensive and getting it back working is a gamble. I am just posting this as a heads up that there is a possibility the VecMulti may not work with your Vectrex. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eisengrim Posted June 6, 2019 Share Posted June 6, 2019 I'm going through a similar process. My VecMulti didn't work on my Vectrex but does work on Richard's. I've ordered an alternate VIA chip; once that arrives and I get the VecMulti back I'll give an update on whether that combination works better. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Everett1954 Posted June 6, 2019 Share Posted June 6, 2019 yep would love to know if that fixes the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooshue Posted June 10, 2019 Share Posted June 10, 2019 Received the new VIA chips, same results unfortunately. Ran Malbam's weirdtest.bin, splash screen for test appears then black screen so it appears fine. Used the menu builder again on the vecmulti just in case something was strange on the cart but still same result. Seems there are some vectrex out there that simply will not run the multicart. Pics of original and new via below 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sions_papa Posted June 13, 2019 Share Posted June 13, 2019 I tried replacing the 6522 or giving 5V in DEV mode, but I could not improve my condition. DEV mode is now working. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
e5frog Posted June 15, 2019 Share Posted June 15, 2019 I had a similar issue on a friend's Vectrex. It's older than my "nobuzz" version (I was installing a nobuzz fix). Menu of the VecMulti got trashed after a few pages. It worked just fine on my machine. Guess it needs some probing to figure out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zezba9000 Posted June 15, 2019 Share Posted June 15, 2019 Anyone know where I can buy a "Vecmulti" or other Vectrex flash cart for homebrew purposes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zezba9000 Posted June 15, 2019 Share Posted June 15, 2019 I'm going to start working through the list next week. Obviously, I'll start from those who contacted me first. Thanks Sent you a PM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaozz Posted June 17, 2019 Share Posted June 17, 2019 (edited) On 6/10/2019 at 7:33 PM, mooshue said: Received the new VIA chips, same results unfortunately. Ran Malbam's weirdtest.bin, splash screen for test appears then black screen so it appears fine. Used the menu builder again on the vecmulti just in case something was strange on the cart but still same result. Seems there are some vectrex out there that simply will not run the multicart. Pics of original and new via below [sharedmedia=gallery:images:31168] [sharedmedia=gallery:images:31167] [sharedmedia=gallery:images:31167] [sharedmedia=gallery:images:31168] I am in the exact same spot right now. I ordered the multicard from Richard, but it didn't work in my Vectrex. So I sent it back and it worked fine in Richard's Vectrex. He then alerted me to this topic. So I ordered a spare VIA and Richard sent the Vecmulti back. Sadly, also with the new VIA the multicard will not work. Normal games work fine. Any help is appreciated. EDIT: here's a short clip I shot for Richard, showcasing how it crashes: Edited June 17, 2019 by chaozz 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooshue Posted June 17, 2019 Share Posted June 17, 2019 I'm going to send my vectrex logic board to Richard so he can poke around and see what's different about these specific Vectrex systems. The carts do work, my other system plays them perfectly fine. its definitely the Vectrex system so hang onto your vecmulti while we try to work through this. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mckafka99 Posted June 17, 2019 Share Posted June 17, 2019 I am in a similar boat as others with the VecMulti not working well in my Vectrex. I did learn that one must absolutely not format the SD card using the default functionality in Windows 10 (at least for me, it never worked). As suggested elsewhere, the formatter from sdcard.org seems to work best. For me, I can get the cart to boot into the menu, but the bulk of games either wont load (choosing one leads to a blank screen), work maybe for a few seconds before crashing to either a blank screen or some other garbled screen, load but look/behave oddly or in the case of Scramble, some games start but the ship/controlled item immediately explodes/dies so it's impossible to actually play a game. I'm hoping someone figures out a final solution so I am holding onto my cart for now. In the meantime, I have finally gotten around to starting to install my Vectrex Controller kit into the VecJoy case ( https://atariage.com/forums/topic/240542-new-vectrex-joystick-kit-for-sale/page/10/) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gtoal Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 (Just FYI I had some problems at first with soft reboots not initialising properly, but since I have my vectrex on a voice-activated power switch anyway and it's just as easy to power off and on again, I haven't had any more problems) As much as Richard's 3D printed enclosure is a nice design, I wanted mine in a proper cart ?: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zezba9000 Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 (edited) @gtoal Why you stuck up snot! JK, looks nice but I seem to like the cases that come with these. Makes them stand out as something special. @chaozz I got my multicart yesterday. When I get a chance to test it I'll make sure I don't have any issues as well. Edited June 25, 2019 by zezba9000 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zezba9000 Posted June 27, 2019 Share Posted June 27, 2019 (edited) On 6/17/2019 at 9:10 AM, mooshue said: I'm going to send my vectrex logic board to Richard so he can poke around and see what's different about these specific Vectrex systems. The carts do work, my other system plays them perfectly fine. its definitely the Vectrex system so hang onto your vecmulti while we try to work through this. Just tested my brand new "vecmulti" and I have the exact same issue as you. Title screen loaded fine fist time but games didn't load correctly and after I hit the reset button the title screen had words all offset wrong like a pointer was shifted. Did you get any more info about this yet? Let me know if I can send any info from my Vectrex device that would be useful to figure this out. Glad to help if I can. The internal game and my external official cart work just fine. I'll take a video later today and post it after work for comparison. Also is there an alternative to the "vecmulti" that works if this ends up being a dead end? I wanted this for homebrew testing more than anything else. Edited June 27, 2019 by zezba9000 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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