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Namco 256 Freezing Issue

SpiritSaiyan

SpiritSaiyan

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Hey all. I've semi-recently began having issues with my 256 setup to where it would either get stuck on a black screen or a white screen randomly. Happens with multiple games, and I've tried several DVD drives, yet the issue persists. On either screen, pressing start or putting in a coin will cause games to do a little sound effect, but then nothing further.

I've checked the 5 volt and 12 volt lines at both the power supply and on the JAMMA I/O. On the power supply side, readings were around 5.5v and 12.8v, while on the I/O they were 5.07v and 12.6v. I've read that the sweet spot for the 5v line is around 5.05v, so I don't think that's much of an issue. I did, however, read a dip in the 5v line that went down to 4.9 volts for a moment, and the system freezed around the same time.

Oddly enough, after multiple restarts the issue goes away. On a cold boot though, it'll usually freeze within a couple minutes and needs to be restarted a couple times.

Would this be an issue with the power supply, or bad solder joints on the board? The dip in readings tells me it could be the power supply, but since the freezing stops after a couple attempts that makes me think there's cracked solder joints on the board. I'm not too knowledgeable on this stuff, mostly just going off of what I've read online.

Any suggestions or information would be greatly appreciated. Cheers
 
Have you tried cranking up the 5 volts a bit more than 5.5v? I know it’s not recommended but I would give that a try, maybe, try powering up the dvd drive separately? Give that a try.
 
The pot on the power supply is already almost maxed out. I tried upping it a bit, still no change. Also tried powering the DVD drive separately and the issue is still present.
 
SpiritSaiyan said:
One of those Suzo Happ PC Power Pro ones. It's got a manufacturer date of "1047", whatever that means. I went ahead and ordered an identical one. It's the same as this one:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Happ-Power...-/123679842554?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292
Click to expand...
How strange, it should technically work wonders, I would actually recommend the twisted quarter’s 200w power supply, it’s a little bit more expensive but it’s totally worth it.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/380253420104
 
You think the power supply is just overburdened?

I'll see if I can power everything except the 256 itself separately. Whenever the new power supply comes in I'll redirect the mains to a power hub and hook up everything to that instead of directly to the power supply.

Right now I've got the power supply powering the monitor, marquee light, and an OSSC.
 
SpiritSaiyan said:
You think the power supply is just overburdened?

I'll see if I can power everything except the 256 itself separately. Whenever the new power supply comes in I'll redirect the mains to a power hub and hook up everything to that instead of directly to the power supply.

Right now I've got the power supply powering the monitor, marquee light, and an OSSC.
Click to expand...
Probably, I use a power strip with a ground loop isolator and power surge protection in my arcade cabinet.
 
New power supply came in. Tested the voltages on it and they didn't need messed with, so I went ahead and replaced the old one. Hasn't froze or crashed so far.

After taking out the old power supply, I can see it's been through some stuff. There's a crudely drilled hole in the bottom of it for whatever reason, next to the fan, and I just noticed that it's had the red LED ripped out after seeing that the new identical power supply has one. The fan on the new one is also noticeabley louder, which makes me think the old one's fan wasn't functioning properly.

All in all, looks good so far. Thanks for the help!
 
Just curious, but is 12.6 volts on the 12v line safe for the 256? There weren't any issues while I was testing earlier, but I don't want to overheat the system or anything.
 
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