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PGM single game PCB assembly and troubleshooting

There are only 10 of the revision 1 char boards, so if you got one they're collector's items! :) They are a bit thinner as well, so they may have contact problems, which is why I made all the later ones a bit thicker.

Which motherboard revision are you guys using?

Any soldering or connection problem would fail the trap version as well, which makes this confusing... Maybe some leftover copy protection?
 
@Fluffy I've got a V10 here.

And yeah, the thinner boards are harder to get set in there properly without a cart shell (been removing and testing so often it wasn't worth putting it on). Easy to end up with screens like @buffi posted above. Work nicely in a cart shell though!

Fluffy said:
Maybe some leftover copy protection?
Click to expand...
It seems @Mrhide is using the same exact file without issues, so I'm not sure?
 
rewrite said:
@Fluffy I've got a V10 here.

And yeah, the thinner boards are harder to get set in there properly without a cart shell (been removing and testing so often it wasn't worth putting it on). Easy to end up with screens like @buffi posted above. Work nicely in a cart shell though!

Fluffy said:
Maybe some leftover copy protection?
Click to expand...
It seems @Mrhide is using the same exact file without issues, so I'm not sure?
Click to expand...
I have mine in a cart shell but leave the screws out.

I've tried mine both in a v10 and v14 mobo. Same issue
 
I have an update

I cleaned the cart connectors on my mobo to confirm that it definitely is not dirty cart connectors and.......




It made it worse, it freezes on the copyright screen again and sometimes throws the address error. Resetting the SRAM does not help.
 
rewrite said:
@Fluffy I've got a V10 here.

And yeah, the thinner boards are harder to get set in there properly without a cart shell (been removing and testing so often it wasn't worth putting it on). Easy to end up with screens like @buffi posted above. Work nicely in a cart shell though!

Fluffy said:
Maybe some leftover copy protection?
Click to expand...
It seems @Mrhide is using the same exact file without issues, so I'm not sure?
Click to expand...
Another idea: What speed of EPROM are you using?
 
Another thing you can try with the SRAM is to mash the push button and hold it to bring up the test menu. There should be a system reset option which will completely clear & setup sram as it is supposed to be.
 
I have done that as well as used the switch multiple times to no effect sadly. The fact it's become worse again definitely suggests a hardware failure somewhere :(
 
Got a second PGM motherboard today (not related to this, just traded for another a while back and got it today) and same results.

Just to confirm, @Mrhide you have a working boardset off of the file you compared mine with, right?
 
rewrite said:
Got a second PGM motherboard today (not related to this, just traded for another a while back and got it today) and same results.

Just to confirm, @Mrhide you have a working boardset off of the file you compared mine with, right?
Click to expand...
We're running different games, have both tried different motherboards and yet we're having the same issue, it has to be related to something on the PROG board.

I'm going to try another PAL and look again for bridges. Next step is to replace the resistor arrays I guess even though they've checked out fine.
 
Different games, sure, but espgaluda and ketsui both use _esp for a pal (or can, anyway). But others seemingly have them working, so who knows!
XeD said:
upload board pics?
Click to expand...
Don't know how this'll be helpful, but I'm down for anything at this point! Hold on and I'll get some up!
 
rewrite said:
Different games, sure, but espgaluda and ketsui both use _esp for a pal (or can, anyway). But others seemingly have them working, so who knows!
XeD said:
upload board pics?
Click to expand...
Don't know how this'll be helpful, but I'm down for anything at this point! Hold on and I'll get some up!
Click to expand...
Good point, you did confirm we're both using the same PAL. I'm going to try an alternate PAL!
 
This will be of no help but may as well throw it out there...

On your prog board @rewrite, PIN PU. There's a blob of solder in a nearby via and an adjacent and separate trace where possibly the solder mask has rubbed off and created a possible short?

Hard to tell from photos, probably nothing wrong at all just mentioning about the only visibly suspect thing I could spot.

Also, worth cleaning the flux off the PCB to see if that helps?
 
Frank_fjs said:
PIN PU. There's a blob of solder in a nearby via and an adjacent and separate trace where possibly the solder mask has rubbed off and created a possible short?
Click to expand...
I'll give it a double check, can't hurt!

Cleaning the flux off would at least make it easier to look at, ha. I have checked all the pins on the ROMs and the nearby caps to make sure none are shorted to one another at least. It took forever, but at least I can be confident in that now.
 
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