Ok, actually got a chance to take a look
at this a little more today. Using the tip
from NickG, I found the two latches that
locked in the top and tipped the whole
thing back. A quick look inside revealed
nothing extraordinarily wrong (heh, I'm
always afraid of bringing mice or other
vermin in the house this way). In fact
the insides look REALLY clean. I found
the 2nd coin mech in the bottom of the
coin storage, and even a spare quarter
that had missed the coin storage and
was in the bottom of the cab!
(heh, so it's not just free, but I've already
"made money" off it
)
Decided to plug it in, to see what works
and what doesn't -- like if the screen is
totaly dark, no sound, etc.
What I got has me pleasantly surprised:
- the lights for the controls all work
- lights for the coin door are out
- the monitor appears to work-- even has a little
burn-in "game over" in the center
- there's a slight hum from the speaker on the right (P2) side.
- the whole thing turns off if the coin door swings open.
Doing this a couple of times (no, not fast) I kept seeing this
on the screen:
JG
RAM 4L
(sometimes, 3L or 2L)
Always oriented towards P1. ONCE, I saw it oriented towards
P2 side AND I got a starfield scrolling, but it hasnt' repeated.
Ok, so I know the monitor's not junk and probably MOST of the
electronics are ok. Beyond that, I'm gonna need some help.
Think one of the roms might be corrupted?