+Psycho Stormtrooper- Rog Posted March 30, 2022 Share Posted March 30, 2022 52 minutes ago, 1980gamer said: My SPIKER looks like the right one. The board is cracked and the game does not work..... The only reason I know what it looks like! Hankster might know. He has many pcb board examples Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Psycho Stormtrooper- Rog Posted March 30, 2022 Share Posted March 30, 2022 52 minutes ago, 1980gamer said: My SPIKER looks like the right one. The board is cracked and the game does not work..... The only reason I know what it looks like! Hankster might know. He has many pcb board examples Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
decle Posted March 30, 2022 Share Posted March 30, 2022 (edited) 4 hours ago, Lathe26 said: Found the generic datasheet for the Pinball ROM chip. I suspect that the above board's Pinball game is either the release version or close to it since the word "PINBALL" is professionally printed on it (rather than hand-written as would be during development). Thought this was kind of neat to share. Intellivision ROM - Solid State Scientific SCM23C120.pdf 199.5 kB · 2 downloads LOL, dweebs seldom differ. My first thought... "Ooo, the ceramic IC in the ZIF socket looks interesting! " Thanks for the link to the SSS datasheet. It's interesting that it supports bank-switching. I wonder if WSMLB uses a couple of these, I've never opened my copy to look. For those that don't know, the sequence of tech associated with development was... Test harnesses like the Magus or Datawidget were used during development for debugging games. EPROMs in T-cards were used by QA to evaluate games (and other interesting things like TV POWWW). ROM ICs in ceramic packages are likely to be samples of the production ROMs used to confirm the correctness of manufacturing. I would expect these also to be used when bringing a new ROM supplier onboard or possibly a new ROM technology (e.g. a smaller process or bigger ROM). There had been a couple of 12K games released before Pinball (e.g. B17 Bomber), however I notice this is a Solid State Scientific device, rather than a GI one, so perhaps this was part of their being assessed as a supplier? Interestingly, the two ceramic chips in @Rev's images might be from a different manufacturer, perhaps American Microsystems Inc (AMI), although I can't find an example of the particular logo shown here, and according to their 1982 catalog, they didn't manufacture 10-bit ROMs. I guess AMI (or whoever it is) being trialed might explain a SNAFU ROM in a ceramic package with a production date of 1982 week 33, well after the game was released in the fall of 1981. Frog Bog's chip date of 1982 week 12 looks to be more relevant to its release date in May 1982. ROMs in plastic packages and later on chip-on-card "glob tops" were volume production units as they were cheaper than ceramic packages. Edited March 30, 2022 by decle can't spell gmaes 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr_me Posted March 30, 2022 Share Posted March 30, 2022 It's hard to see what's in the cartridges after 1983, they're hard to open. Prior to that Mattel used in production cartridges, roms from AMI, Toshiba, National Semiconductor. The 12k cartridges in 1982 used three 4k rom chips. Apparently, in 1983, Mattel bought a controlling interest in Solid State Scientific with a commitment to buy $20M worth of ICs. https://www.nytimes.com/1983/03/04/business/pact-gives-mattel-solid-state-control.html 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1980gamer Posted March 30, 2022 Share Posted March 30, 2022 4 hours ago, Rev said: I wonder if it could repaired! Pic? I had someone take a shot at it, no luck. But it could still have open traces? Can I safely pull the "blob" off? I don't think so really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+fdr4prez Posted March 30, 2022 Share Posted March 30, 2022 1 minute ago, 1980gamer said: I had someone take a shot at it, no luck. But it could still have open traces? it's possible 1 minute ago, 1980gamer said: Can I safely pull the "blob" off? I don't think so really. this is not possible Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DZ-Jay Posted March 30, 2022 Share Posted March 30, 2022 On 3/29/2022 at 6:58 AM, DZ-Jay said: I call fake! They were handmade by Rev ... So obvious ... You know, I think it would be more appropriate to remove a post, than altering it without notice, which is a bit unsavory. It was a bad joke anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+fdr4prez Posted March 31, 2022 Share Posted March 31, 2022 i liked it... so that counts for something... not much, but something he's plastering REV on many of the circuit boards i look at... that guy just likes to see his name in print Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Psycho Stormtrooper- Rog Posted March 31, 2022 Share Posted March 31, 2022 2 hours ago, fdr4prez said: it's possible this is not possible Fdr is correct... Dont pull blob off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edintv Posted March 31, 2022 Share Posted March 31, 2022 2 hours ago, 1980gamer said: I had someone take a shot at it, no luck. But it could still have open traces? Can I safely pull the "blob" off? I don't think so really. All he non Function Intv Carts that not work (jus one exepcion by severe rust) have this famous Blob. My theory is that the chip is very delicate and more easy to fail, the tracks and conectos of the cart were in perfect state. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1980gamer Posted March 31, 2022 Share Posted March 31, 2022 5 minutes ago, edintv said: All he non Function Intv Carts that not work (jus one exepcion by severe rust) have this famous Blob. My theory is that the chip is very delicate and more easy to fail, the tracks and conectos of the cart were in perfect state. Not my cart, it is clearly cracked. I will have to dig it out and take a picture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IMBerzerk Posted March 31, 2022 Share Posted March 31, 2022 11 minutes ago, Psycho Stormtrooper- Rog said: Fdr is correct... Dont pull blob off. Did you just call me ... Blob?? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Lathe26 Posted March 31, 2022 Share Posted March 31, 2022 3 hours ago, mr_me said: It's hard to see what's in the cartridges after 1983, they're hard to open. Prior to that Mattel used in production cartridges, roms from AMI, Toshiba, National Semiconductor. The 12k cartridges in 1982 used three 4k rom chips. Apparently, in 1983, Mattel bought a controlling interest in Solid State Scientific with a commitment to buy $20M worth of ICs. https://www.nytimes.com/1983/03/04/business/pact-gives-mattel-solid-state-control.html This does bring up the question of who manufactured the blob chips. Perhaps they are SSS chips given the above deal? Not sure when Mattel started using blob chips, maybe they started before the deal and just let SSS handle it. Then again, it is possible that these are unrelated activities (blob chips and the anove deal), but I lean towards that they likely are. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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