Pac-Man PCB Questions

[korendog]

Ok, I just got a Pac-Man cabinet with Ms. Pac-Man running in it.  It looks as though the previous owner hacked the Pac-Man board to run Ms. Pac-Man.  Pictures are below.  In the one picture on the back of the PCB there are three wires that are soldered to other terminals.  This doesn't appear to be stock.  Am I correct in assuming this procedure in part converts the board to play Ms. Pac-Man so you don't need the daughter board? (My board does not appear to have one) My goal is to just get Pac-Man running again if that is possible.  I have done some research on the web and know that Ms. Pac character chips are installed at 5E & 5F. Can I just acquire Pac-Man character chips to install at 5E & 5F and snip the three wires on the back of the board?  Also, where do I obtain the character chips?  Any info or help would be greatly appreciated. -Jarrett

[D_Zoot]

You are correct about the hack.  That's exactly what that is, Ms Pac modified to run without the daughterboard.

I've got a Ms Pac that's the same way.

I can't tell you how to convert it back, I've never studied the hack.  But last I looked at mine it appears to be slightly more complicated than a rom swap as the addressing circuits get modified slightly to address the additional rom space.


Good luck!
D

[Ken Layton]

Mowerman describes this hack under his Bootleg Pacman section of his website.

[korendog]

Ok, I've had the game up and running a few times.  Last time I fired it up I got some wacky stuff on the monitor.  I'm guessing this is a video pcb issue.  The very next time I fired it up it wouldn't even boot so I did the RAM/ROM test thingy and it says "Bad C Ram-0" which tells me I have some bad RAM at location 4L.  So my question is....Can I just pick up these RAM chips at Radio Shack or do I need to order them someplace special online? Please advise.

[D_Zoot]

If memory serves (no pun intended  )  pac boards used 2114 rams? (somebody correct me if I am wrong). 

They are available from Jameco, Mouser, Arcadechips.com, most of major suppliers should have them.  You aren't going to get them at RadioShack.



D

[Dav]

Ok, I just got a Pac-Man cabinet with Ms. Pac-Man running in it.  It looks as though the previous owner hacked the Pac-Man board to run Ms. Pac-Man.  Pictures are below.  In the one picture on the back of the PCB there are three wires that are soldered to other terminals.  This doesn't appear to be stock.  Am I correct in assuming this procedure in part converts the board to play Ms. Pac-Man so you don't need the daughter board? (My board does not appear to have one) My goal is to just get Pac-Man running again if that is possible.  I have done some research on the web and know that Ms. Pac character chips are installed at 5E & 5F. Can I just acquire Pac-Man character chips to install at 5E & 5F and snip the three wires on the back of the board?  Also, where do I obtain the character chips?  Any info or help would be greatly appreciated. -Jarrett

Don't worry about the wires it should work with them.  Just replace row 5 with pacman chips, and pull all 6 in row 6.  Replace the first four with pacman chips just like it wasn' t modified.

[korendog]

Thanks Dav.  This PCB stuff is all new to me.  My first project was a MAME cabinet.  ie; no board.