Author Topic: atari superman not working  (Read 589 times)

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Offline michael77

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atari superman not working
« on: December 20, 2011, 01:08:01 PM »
does anyone know what it means when the LED5 flashes?
it doesnt seem to talk about it in the operating manual. I also have the parts catalogue, but havent found the scematics as a free download

Someone sugested to lubricate the score gasket. What is this?

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« Last Edit: December 20, 2011, 01:21:34 PM by michael77 »

Offline humpalot

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Re: atari superman not working
« Reply #1 on: December 20, 2011, 03:00:16 PM »
Pain in the ass to work on, no PIAs just gates and the schematics aren't quiet right.  Little repair information out there.

Good luck trying to find a reputable repairer who is prepared to work on it.

I've been working on one as a favor between jobs for 2 months now.  I will not work on another.  If you don't know what you are doing don't touch the boards, the tracks are easily broken.  I've spent so much time undoing all the previous repair attempts.

Offline Pintoxicated

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Re: atari superman not working
« Reply #2 on: December 20, 2011, 07:02:23 PM »
There are some schematics out there that have been modified which I believe are more accurate.  I am pretty sure that I have some of the re-drawn ones on the other PC.
Addicted to pins.

Offline michael77

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Re: atari superman not working
« Reply #3 on: December 21, 2011, 07:17:44 AM »
after having a closer read of the manual it states that if L4 is ON, this indicates failure of ROM J7 or PROMS F5 and H5. Therefore in my case it should be the ROM J7 chip. It doesnt say in the manual that it would be flashing.

I removed Rom M7, expecting L3 to flash but it didn't, any ideas

who sells replacement roms? any idea how much?
I found this
 http://www.marcospecialties.com/product.asp?ic=EPROM2495
anyone local, i am in sydney


i found some drawings of each of the 3 boards redrawn by Hans Haase. He must not have liked the original ones because he has spent alot of time redoing them. I couldnt find where I found them from. I also couldnt figure out how to upload them on this site.

Offline humpalot

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Re: atari superman not working
« Reply #4 on: December 21, 2011, 07:47:40 AM »
this explains how to mod a 2716 eprom to replace the original rom
http://www.nuatari.com/9316to2716.html

A quick check on an eprom programmer will tell you if your roms are good or bad.

I'll say it again.  If you don't know what you are doing, don't work on the boards. 

If you stuff the board up working cpu boards are around the $600 mark.

Does the driver board have the sense failure LED on to?  Common for these boards to fail as well, hope the flipper relay is OK, these are very expensive and prone to failure.

Joey will work on cpu boards, so you send it there for repair.
http://www.jomac.net.au/index.htm


Offline michael77

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Re: atari superman not working
« Reply #5 on: December 29, 2011, 08:54:21 PM »
i managed to buy the 3 roms for $10 each with some other stuff. I didn't say earlier, but the top rom chip that is missing is due to me breaking off all the legs (whoops!).  They should be here in a week


the left flashing led states that the bottom rom is at fault. I pulled the other roms out and put them back and now all 4 led's flash. any ideas?

the sense failure led is ON


Offline michael77

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Re: atari superman not working
« Reply #6 on: December 29, 2011, 09:03:23 PM »
reading through various posts a typical comment is like

"and most problems are related to poor connector connections or dirty contact pads on the boards (from my experience)."

are these connect issues plugs comming off wires?
what do you clean "dirty contact pads on the boards" with?


Offline Pintoxicated

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Re: atari superman not working
« Reply #7 on: December 29, 2011, 09:50:18 PM »
First thing I would try would be to re-seat the connectors several times in an effort to try to get a better contact.  I guess after this something like contact cleaner may be an option.  Personally I wouldn't use anything like a file or sandpaper.  A few wipes with a magic eraser may also help a bit.
Addicted to pins.

Offline Boots

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Re: atari superman not working
« Reply #8 on: December 29, 2011, 10:04:31 PM »
reading through various posts a typical comment is like

"and most problems are related to poor connector connections or dirty contact pads on the boards (from my experience)."

are these connect issues plugs comming off wires?
what do you clean "dirty contact pads on the boards" with?

It depends on how bad they are.
If they are only a bit tarnished then a normal white pencil eraser works great.
If they have corrosion they might need some light wet & dry sandpaper and if you remove the silver plating, then re-tin them with solder, also if the contact on the boards are corroded, then the connectors will need to be re-pinned as they will also be corroded.
If the connector pins are just dusty and dirty, you can use some thick card and windex to clean them.

Offline beaky

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Re: atari superman not working
« Reply #9 on: December 29, 2011, 10:31:00 PM »
just for your info if you ever need roms in the future there at least a couple of us on here that sell them,
there is myself and skybeaux for a start.  ^^^
On site pinball repairs in MELBOURNE NTH SUBURBS  : Circuit board repairs and refurbishing Australia wide (via Aust post)

Offline michael77

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Re: atari superman not working
« Reply #10 on: January 08, 2012, 07:20:45 PM »
I put the 3 new roms in and some coils, lights and display activated on and off at random. the 4 leds did flash at different intervals as well. However after about 15 seconds, it went back to its normal 4 leds flashing, no coil movement and no display. The only difference is that the playboard lights stay on.

I checked that it was only 5 volts to the rom chips

Another stange thing is that the test switch has being bypassed with the 2 wires soldered together, any ideas? I bought this as is and therefore have never seen it going


Offline Retropin

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Re: atari superman not working
« Reply #11 on: January 09, 2012, 01:40:52 AM »
LOL- if the 2 wires are soldered together then the machine sees  this switch as permanently closed... to start a test sequence you must pulse a high then low... you never pulse the low and so its all in error.
Undo the 2 wires.. you can use them to test by touching them momentarily if the switch is faulty.. if switch is good.. reattach

Offline michael77

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Re: atari superman not working
« Reply #12 on: January 09, 2012, 08:45:35 AM »
I unsoldered them when I first saw them. The switch does need replacing. Touching the wires together does not seem to do anything. I find it weird that they were soldered together in the first place as i am sure that the game would not work in this condition.

Offline michael77

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Re: atari superman not working
« Reply #13 on: January 16, 2012, 04:38:42 PM »
the machine is in Lane Cove, sydney

does anyone know where I can buy a LBT-10 (lil bitty tester) chip tester or something that would do the same job?

Offline humpalot

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Re: atari superman not working
« Reply #14 on: January 16, 2012, 05:08:50 PM »
PM sent.