Bubble Symphony cartridge glitching on startup

[SuperJamesNelson]

Hello! Recently I got myself a Bubble Symphony Japanese cartridge for my F3. I tried to load it up, however it's stuck on the "Push Test Switch" screen, with some glitches, and I can't get passed it.

The listing I bought this from showed the game in working condition, so I wonder if maybe I need to open the cartridge up and clean some things inside with rubbing alcohol or something?

My F3 motherboard IS working, and is a Japanese one that can load other games just fine. This is the first time I've ran into an issue like this, and any help in getting this working would be GREATLY appreciated!

 

[SuperJamesNelson]

Something else I noticed. The graphics seem to change whenever I mess with the voltage.

When I have it turned to the left, it fuzzes out with some letters missing. When I turn it to the right, it still fuzzes, but all the letters are there.

I haven't tried messing with this too much, as I don't want to accidentally break anything, but just thought it would help a bit more in figuring out the issue.

 

[andynumbers]

Why don't you get a multimeter and actually measure the voltage at the board? Obviously undervolting the board is going to cause issues. Make sure you are getting 5.0 volts at the board.

Sometimes with certain F3 carts, when you change games you need to press the test button on the motherboard to get past this initial screen. The test button on your supergun or JAMMA rig won't work.

 

[SuperJamesNelson]

I've never tried using a multimeter before, so I'll need to look into that. When I turn my supergun on, it displays around 5.0 volts, however once I plug in something, like my F3, it drops to around 4.8.

I had no idea the F3 motherboard had a test button, I'll try looking for it and seeing what happens. Although, I'm still not sure if that'll solve the fuzzy graphics problem or not, and I don't want to risk raising the voltage on my box out of fear of frying the motherboard.

 

[ekorz]

Plug the pcb in
Turn on the psu
Adjust so the reading is 5.00v

Do this every time you switch games

 

[SuperJamesNelson]

I tried to adjust the reading after plugging in the board, however when when I turned the dial to the furthest it'll go, it still only displayed 4.73, and I still can't get passed this screen.

I also tried looking for a test button on the F3, but haven't been able to find it.

 

[ekorz]

The first pic shows 4.77 so I’m guessing you turned it down instead of up. Some psus are counter clockwise to increase voltage. Did you try the other direction?

Did you try pressing the test button on the supergun?

 

[SuperJamesNelson]

I did try the other direction, and it lowered the voltage which lead to the game eventually shutting off until I raised it again. I did also try pressing the test button on my supergun, but nothing happened still. Here's a quick video I took to better help show my issue:

https://tinyurl.com/SymphonyIssue

My Puzzle Bobble 2X & Bubble Memories cartridges still work perfectly fine, so this giving me problems has me worried the cartridge itself has a problem

 

[ekorz]

I'm not sure I follow, and the video didn't help regarding showing the voltage. When you turn it up/down, I can't see the PSU reading. I can see that at least the test switch isn't working. That is the switch that should get you past the screen.

Your other games may run OK, and your newest cart may indeed be faulty somehow, but you need to be running these games at 5.00v or else you'll develop even more problems. Also, if you don't fix the power first, it's not worth diagnosing anything else. It's like saying your car doesn't turn over, but you're out of gas. No reason to check the spark plugs, alternator, ignition, etc. if you have no fuel in the tank.

And low power can cause the kinds of issues like you're seeing -- gfx issues, pcb reset, inputs not registering. Most 5v lines have 1-2% tolerance across the board, meaning that 4.9 to 5.1 things should still work. Beyond that, who knows. You're asking the circuit to have 5+% tolerance to run at 4.75v, and that's just not going to work.

When powered on, turning one direction should raise the voltage, and the other will lower it. If you're saying that you get 4.72 to 4.77 volts, that's very surprising (a typical psu will have a range like 4.5 to 5.5). I would check all the wiring and try again. If you can't get 5.00v while the pcb is plugged in, then, replace the psu entirely. I'd also suggest grabbing a multimeter to verify the supergun's voltmeter is actually accurate. Those superguns are not known for their quality.

 

[ekorz]

Oh, one other thought. This is a japan motherboard and a japan cart? Or did you remove the region protection?

https://www.arcade-projects.com/threads/taito-f3-make-your-motherboard-region-free.3753/

 

[SuperJamesNelson]

Apologies, here's a better shot at the voltage being changed with the PSU reading:
https://tinyurl.com/PSUBoxvoltage

I think my supergun is what's giving me issues, since the PSU box does display well over 5.0 when nothing is plugged in, so part of me wonders if my supergun is using too much power or something. If that's the case, are there any better ones I could be recommended?

Also yes, my motherboard is a Japanese one, and so is the cartridge. My F3 is currently un-modded (to my knowledge)

 

[andynumbers]

You shouldn't power on your supergun with no board connected. Your power supply needs a load attached. Running it with no load may damage it.

So basically your supergun voltmeter is maxing out at 4.73 volts. As previously suggested you should:

1. get a multimeter and measure the +5v at the board to ensure the supergun's voltmeter is accurate
2. consider replacing the power supply with a reputable brand such as Mean Well

 

[andynumbers]

Here's where the motherboard test switch is located.

 

[SuperJamesNelson]

Ah, I didn't know that about the supergun. Thanks for letting me know! I'll be sure not to do that anymore.

I tried using a multimeter on the +5v section of my supergun, and got around 0.04 with the board connected.

Also, yes! Thanks for showing me where the test switch is, that got the game working perfectly which is a big relief to me! My supergun still only has 4.70 when running, so I'll try looking into a Mean Well power supply and see if that helps at all. Are there any specific products from them I should look at for this?

 

[andynumbers]

Mean Well RT-65A
Mean Well RT-85A
Mean Well RT-125A

These are the community suggested supergun power supplies. You can also get a Suzo Happ but they tend to have lower quality components.

 

[SuperJamesNelson]

Thank you so much! I'll definitely look into these soon enough

 

[haightc]

Have you recapped the board? My first f3 board I got had capacitor plague

 

[andynumbers]

That's unusual for an F3 to have bad caps. While it's certainly possible, it would be in the minority. Taito boards used Sanyo caps which are very good quality. (With that said, I typically recap my older Taito boards, but I haven't yet recapped any of my F3 motherboards.)

 

[haightc]

both of mine needed capacitors replaced, just my first one had many traces and board sections ruined. My first board game came with bubble bobble III but when I openeded it up it appeared to be a bootleg version, so I ended up using the case in coming in with a f3 multcart

 

[SuperJamesNelson]

I got the Mean Well RT-125A today, and before trying it out I wanted to ask about the correct way to hook up the wires. I think I got some of them down, but the labeling is different compared to my old one, and I want to make sure I don't mess something up. Here's some pictures of what I have, along with the setup on my old power supply.