Nintendo Punch-Out PCB Hack Info?

[korendog]

I think my Nintendo Punch-Out board might have been hacked at some point in it's life and if so I'd like to know if it is reversible.  I shot a couple pics of the board (solder side and component side).  It seems there are three wires hacked in on the solder side along with two rouge resistors and a capacitor on the component side.  A wire goes from 4L to the "H" bank where the resistors are installed.  Then one from the "H" bank to 3C.  Lastly, there is one from 4L to 4H.  Does anyone have any idea why this might have been done?  I'm having a few video glitches "In game" and figured I'd start with this obvious hack.  Any info would be greatly appreciated. -Jarrett

[MaximRecoil]

Those wires are completely normal. Both of my Punch-Out boards are the same way. I know that it looks like a hack but it is not.

What sort of issues are you having with your board?

[korendog]

wow, that is surprising because the solder job on the board looks like a 3rd grader did it. lol  In any case, I have two issues.  The first is when I turn on my cab sometimes it boots into some kind of freeplay mode and sometimes it will go to regular mode. ie; will need coins to be inserted.  The second issue is video "in game".  Your boxer will seem choppy and flicker when the each round ends.  Doesn't happen during the round though.  It also seems to affect the opponents at the end of rounds when you lose the game.  Also, the Game Over graphic does not appear correctly. Any ideas?

[MaximRecoil]

wow, that is surprising because the solder job on the board looks like a 3rd grader did it.

With wires soldered to posts on the back side of a board, the fillet never looks pretty because of the non-uniform surface that is being soldered to. My boards are identical to yours right down to the same color/type of wire used.

The first is when I turn on my cab sometimes it boots into some kind of freeplay mode and sometimes it will go to regular mode. ie; will need coins to be inserted.

That's weird. In the picture it looks like your dipswitches A-D are set to "OFF" which should be the normal 1 coin = 1 credit setting. What happens if you set them all (A-D) to "ON" for freeplay? Are the results intermittent then? What about some of the other coin/credit settings?

Your boxer will seem choppy and flicker when the each round ends.  Doesn't happen during the round though.  It also seems to affect the opponents at the end of rounds when you lose the game.  Also, the Game Over graphic does not appear correctly. Any ideas?

Does it seem like an interference issue or do you actually get corrupted sprites/graphics? If it seems like an interference issue, make sure you are running the board in its proper shield cage with its shield cover attached. Also make sure your board's card edge is clean, as well as the card edge connector on the harness and on the shield cage cover.

I assume you have already pulled, cleaned and reseated all of your ROMs?

Beyond that, I don't know much about diagnosing board issues. I can fix them once I know the problem of course, but as for diagnosing them, when I had the issue with the sound on my SPO board, I had help from a Nintendo of Japan engineer and the BYOAC member named "2600".

[korendog]

I think I found the problem regarding the dip switch settings.  It seems that at some point the batteries leaked and since the dip switch banks are directly underneath the battery holder they took it on the chin!  Upon closer inspection there is a bunch of green corrosive material in all the switches.  More so in SW2 because that one is closest to the battery holder.  I'm guessing there is no way to clean this so are there replacement switch banks available anywhere?

[2600]

You HAVE to clean the rest of the corrosive acid off your board.  Not an expert on the subject, but the problem typically happens on pinball machines from what I've read.  Look up the repair on pinball machines or post in Arcade Misc. and you'll get a better response.  After you clean it up, now might be the time to remove the battery holder so that it isn't on the PCB and mount it separately (again look it up the repair on pinball machines).  I need to do that on my PO board as well.

After that do the typical things like cleaning all the connectors, chips etc and check power using a Multimeter.  After that post in Arcade Misc. with the results and more people will be able to help you.

[korendog]

Peale,
Sorry for the posting this in the wrong forum.  Here is where I am at on the Punch-Out PCB.  I have pulled, cleaned, and reseated all the EPROMS.  Since the dip switch banks are toast I'm going to order up replacements.  I examined the entire board and do not see any other traces of the green corrosive material.  It seems to be localized to the dip switches.  I guess in a sense they acted like a reservoir and held the majority of the material.  The few issues are still present.  The first being the the "jittery" player sprite and also the opponents at the end when you lose.  Neither seems corrupted, just choppy.  Also, the Game Over message does not display properly.  Only the top half is visible.  Other than those the game plays fine.  Each of these is not that big a deal. However, the dip switch problem is an annoyance as I cannot set the game properly.

[2600]

Have you tried the self test to see if any of the Ram or Roms are bad?

Any pics to show the problem?

[korendog]

The board has 2 banks of dip switches.  The first one has 8 dips on it and the second has 4 dips.  I picked up a 8 position one from Radio Shack and installed it. (They don't stock 4 position)  I wasn't able to get into the self test until I replaced it.  In the self test all the ROMS come up OK.  However, I can see that the bank of 4 dip switches are bad.  I'll need to order up a replacement from Bob Roberts.  I'll try to post some pics on Sunday as I will have more time.  Thanks for all the help guys.