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RdCrestdBreegull

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I just purchased an X the Ball PCB. The listing says "non-JAMMA" so is there a way to get it to work with the HAS? I've attached the picture of the board I bought (listed as working by the seller). There is also another small PCB the seller has listed for the same game but I have no idea what this is for (I attached this as well); does anyone know if I need it to get the game working or if the one large main PCB I already bought will be enough?

This game is controlled by a trackball and button. Are there cheaper generic trackball+button combos available for purchase somewhere, or do I need to buy the official X the Ball one the seller has listed? (also attached)

And I don't even own a HAS yet. I just bought this board because I don't think it's all that common so I just wanted to secure it for myself since it's one of the five arcade games I want.

Since it looks like this game dispenses tickets, even if I don't have the ticket dispenser hooked up (I think the seller actually has some ticket-related stuff for it listed) will I still be able to play the game? Or will the game give some kind of error message if it doesn't sense a dispenser or if it isn't able to dispense?

Also the seller has a bunch of cables for it listed but I doubt I will need them (attached). Is anyone able to confirm?
 

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Does anyone where where I could maybe ask these questions somewhere on the internet? This is the fifth place I've asked over the course of a year and everyone just ignores me. Any help would be much appreciated, thanks!
 
and everyone just ignores me.
It's not so much that as probably no one on here has dealt with that random redemption machine. Redemption machines aren't sought after generally, and have pretty much 0 following. You're going to need to find an operator.

That being said KLOV is really probably your best and only bet as far as forums are concerned. Or some of the older crowd on FB groups who may have run one of these as an op back in the early 90s, and if you're REALLY lucky either they have an incredible memory, or the manual.

Actually, your best best best bet is to just ask Bruce1Arcade on eBay. He has pictures of a PCB up and working. If he's a decent dude he can probably tell you what goes where and whether or not it'll run without the dispenser (it may not work without the lamps attached either).

As far as making it work with the HAS over JAMMA, you're going to need to pave your own road with a custom adapter of some sort.
 
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Are these the forums you're talking about? https://forums.arcade-museum.com/

Any facebook group recommendations?

I asked the seller on eBay a few times from last December through when I actually bought the board and have received zero replies. I even sent a message through their website and nothing. Very frustrating.

So it sounds like if I have the main board, providing it doesn't need the lamp or dispenser attached, then I should be able to get it working with just an adapter... Any idea at all if I'll need to actually buy the trackball/button combo from the original arcade machine or if there is a generic trackball/button combo that may work?
 
Yes, that's KLOV.

You may want to try Arcade Classics FB group? Fair amount of old ops on there.

The button definitely doesn't need to original, and it's *unlikely* that the trackball needs to be original.

Figuring out the pinout for the power connector and monitor should be your first step. If you could get it powered and displaying you'd be well on your way.

But at least as far as I can see from the couple of PCB photos online, they connectors don't seem to be labeled (like it says MONITOR, but it doesn't show which pin is which for RGBS). Does the reverse side of the PCB have any silkscreen?
 
Okay I just registered for that website but it's not letting me verify my email address to be able to access the members-only features (giving me a 403 error code). It's also not letting me log in at all and saying the site is temporarily down, so I'll just try again tomorrow.

If this is the group you're talking about then I'm joining it right now: Arcade-Classics https://www.facebook.com/groups/560213507515774/ (12,547 members)

I'll wait for the actual board to arrive and then will take detailed pictures of it. In the meantime I looked up the user profile of the only owner of X the Ball on KLOV and although it wouldn't let me view their email without being a verified member I was able to view what seemed like their website and send them a message through it. I also tried messaging the seller of my PCB through his website again.

Thanks for the info! I'm sort of understanding what needs to be done.
 
What do you mean ignored? I posted a reply when you first asked the question.

xtrasmiley said:
Wow, what a weird game! I've never heard of it, but yes, you'll need a trackball and a button to play.

The HAS will be available again, but no pre-orders right now. I think he wants to sell them when ready, FCFS.
If you are in Cali, here is one that you might be able to pick up and save on shipping.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/254268622322
That being said, HAS is JAMMA, but adapters are available. I'm looking for a manual for that game to see what the pin-out is for you, no luck yet.
Also, you got both PCBs for that price, I say you did OK. Not knowing what that game goes for, it seems on eBay people sell them (or try anyway) separately.
The game seems to be a redemption game, so like, I have no idea why you would want it for home use...
Welcome to the forum. And, oh, you HAVE to get Batttletoads. It's the best RARE arcade game, IMO.
 
Sorry I meant moreso that I’ve asked in a few places online over the past year and I’m usually met with zero response, and also that I posted this thread here with no response, so was just checking to see if anyone had any recommendations for other places to look. I really know anything about all this stuff so any help is appreciated, thank you!
 
So I received the board today and took pictures. Not sure if this does anything to help, but if anyone is able to get any ideas from these pictures please let me know!
 

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Can you see if there is any writing on the opposite side?

SMALL chance the pinout is printed on the underside of the connectors?

I saw on FB someone may have the manual to scan and send your way. That should help immensely.
 
It's not so much that as probably no one on here has dealt with that random redemption machine. Redemption machines aren't sought after generally, and have pretty much 0 following.
This x10000. 99.9% of collectors don't give a wet shit about redemption machines. The only people outside of operators using them to make money is the occasional person like yourself who has some nostalgia feels for a particular title.

As rewrite said your best bet is to track down a manual or an operator who is familiar with the machine.

Interestingly this game is in MAME: https://github.com/mamedev/mame/blob/master/src/mame/drivers/xtheball.cpp

unfortunately there is little to no documentation about the pinout in mame, but it's an interesting title. Redemption collab between Capcom and Rare.

----------

worst case you can work backwards to figure out the pinout if you've got a multimeter and a scope and some patience.

thankfully it looks like the primary function of most of the connectors is spelled out already.

start with writing down a list of connectors and a numbered list of each of the pins on each connector (there is usually a mark or some indication which pin is pin 1)

then pick a common chip on the PCB such as anything with a 74xxxxx. google the pinout and determine the 5V and Ground pins, then go through all the connectors and determine which pins have continuity. to 5V and ground and mark those on your list.

then you can start narrowing things down, look at the power connector and determine which pins ARENT power or ground and follow the traces to a chip, then look up the pinout for that chip to see what kind of power input that pin typically accepts.

for the video connector you should expect a ground pin, a sync pin (Which will have a 15kHz pulse) and 3 color pins which will have floating voltages you can use a scope to determine the pulse pin and the color pins.

try to identify an audio amplifier chip, look up the pinout for that and follow the output traces to determine the audio output pins. you can also poke around with a scope to help with this.

then that leaves the input pins we know a trackball typically has a 5V, a Ground and then 2 plus pins. once you've identified the 5V and groun pins on the input connector and you've got the audio and video working to a point where the game starts up and you can hear and see it, then you can take a wire and connect ground to each of the unknown input pins to see if you can figure out what they do.


EDIT: you might want to also put stickers over the exposed windows on those chips less UV light will erase or corrupt the data.
 
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Okay the PCB is screwed onto a sheet of metal so I'll have to unscrew it and see what's on the other side. And yea that person is going to scan the manual for me. I offered to pay them for their time if they could scan the whole manual in good quality so that I can upload it to archive.org and/or an arcade website for preservation.
 
Okay so I took a picture of the whole backside, one picture each of the four back quadrants, and then three separate pictures showing any text that was visible. I'm guessing this won't be useful at all? :/
 

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Okay, I already have a multimeter, so how necessary will an oscilloscope be? And about how many hours do you think this will take, so I can plan a day out of it?
 
Okay, I already have a multimeter, so how necessary will an oscilloscope be? And about how many hours do you think this will take, so I can plan a day out of it?
you can do it without a scope, but determining the sync pin on the video out will be more difficult. if your multi meter has a frequency function then a scope is completely unnecessary.

I've done this before on other PCBs and it's taken me way less than an hour (probably about 20-30 minutes?) but that's with pigtails for all the connectors and a finger board/ JAMMA setup to test on.
 
Here is what I'm working with
 

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So does mine have the frequency function?
That's not a function I've ever used. I was just reading that brand name there, ha.

You can find the 5v/ground/etc as @twistedsymphony was saying by using the dot with 3 sound waves coming out of it setting on the left there. Should get you to a point you can power it up at least for now!

Take this datasheet and find the GND pin and put one probe on that, put the other one on the power connector.
https://www.datasheets360.com/pdf/-5967810087723673588

Do the same for vcc.

Now you've found which wires are 5v and ground for power.

Speakers should be self explanatory.

So you should be able to see if it boots and plays blind at least!

Assuming nothing is wrong with it, and assuming attract mode has sound...
 
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