Donkey kong on jamma harness problem

[robstraws]

I originally posted this in the main forum but I think it might have a better response in this forum due to all the related donkey kong restorations going on.

First I'd like to say that I am new here and reading the threads I have found in the last several days have been extremely helpful.  I've been using Markrvp's restoration as a bit of a guide to restore a Donkey Kong machine I acquired several years ago that had been converted into a jamma cabinet.  Since the jamma harness and the pcb were already wired up it seemed as though I only needed the jamma to nintendo adapter so I purchased that and quickly installed it.  When hooking the board up now I only get a mario jumping noise that quietly loops in the background and the screen stays blank.  I thought this could possibly be the monitor but I tested another jamma board that I have and it worked fine.  My guess is that the  pcb isn't giving the appropriate  voltage to the board/monitor but since I am very new to the restoring game I really have no idea how to approach this situation.  Thanks!

[AnthonyB]

It sounds like you have a problem with your board, since your power supply and monitor are working. Where did you get your nintendo to jamma adaptor?

[RetroACTIVE]

It sounds like you have a problem with your board, since your power supply and monitor are working. Where did you get your nintendo to jamma adaptor?

Better yet where did the DK boards come from? Where they ever working before?

[robstraws]

The harness came from Mike's Arcade and the boards I bought came from QuarterArcade.com and were said to be working.  A few days ago I actually read a post somewhere of someone having the exact same problem and then I proceeded to lose the forum that I had found the post on when this ended up happening to me. 

[RetroACTIVE]

Do you have a "rainbow" cable that connects power from the video board to the CPU board?

Also check the color adjustment pots on the JAMMA adapter... not sure if this could be the issue but maybe they are adjusted to a point where they maybe causing no pic.  Though I'm not sure they can be tuned that low... its still worth a shot.

That "jumping" noise could be the board resetting over and over again.  When the board powers up, all of the analog sounds happen all at once... (its not really a feature its a function of the analog circuit) causing this sound.

 

[shilmover]

This is probably it.  If you dont have this cable, only one of the boards gets powered up.

I had this same issue.  Got the cable and all is fixed. 

Barry

Do you have a "rainbow" cable that connects power from the video board to the CPU board?

Also check the color adjustment pots on the JAMMA adapter... not sure if this could be the issue but maybe they are adjusted to a point where they maybe causing no pic.  Though I'm not sure they can be tuned that low... its still worth a shot.

That "jumping" noise could be the board resetting over and over again.  When the board powers up, all of the analog sounds happen all at once... (its not really a feature its a function of the analog circuit) causing this sound.

 

[robstraws]

Yep I have the rainbow cable, it came free from mikes arcade with the converter that I purchased.

[RetroACTIVE]

What was the other JAMMA board you used to test?

[robstraws]

Strikers 1945, it's what used to be in the DK cabinet.

[RetroACTIVE]

Strikers 1945, it's what used to be in the DK cabinet.

The reason I ask is because its important to know if your DK is getting all the proper voltages... Generally speaking most JAMMA games comply with and require the standard three: +5, +12 and -5.  But there are the exceptions, especially those n-in-1 boards.  So check to be certain your power supply is properly sourcing each of the three power feeds of the JAMMA harness.

I tend to think its not your boards... QuarterArcade is very reputable.... but sometimes crap happens. 
 

[robstraws]

Strikers 1945, it's what used to be in the DK cabinet.

The reason I ask is because its important to know if your DK is getting all the proper voltages... Generally speaking most JAMMA games comply with and require the standard three: +5, +12 and -5.  But there are the exceptions, especially those n-in-1 boards.  So check to be certain your power supply is properly sourcing each of the three power feeds of the JAMMA harness.

I tend to think its not your boards... QuarterArcade is very reputable.... but sometimes crap happens. 
 

This was my original thought as well after reading the forum I had mentioned several days ago.  Now as stupid as it sounds I am so completely new to this I really have no idea on how to check the voltages or what to be looking for in something like this.  Does anyone know of any guides or something that could point me in the right direction?

EDIT: Nevermind I think I need to start looking before speaking as I just found the wonderful thread on checking voltages in jamma cabinets RIGHT above my own thread. 

[RetroACTIVE]

This was my original thought as well after reading the forum I had mentioned several days ago.  Now as stupid as it sounds I am so completely new to this I really have no idea on how to check the voltages or what to be looking for in something like this.  Does anyone know of any guides or something that could point me in the right direction?

1.  Get a pinout diagram of the JAMMA harness... they are easily found on the web
2.  Do a visual, see if you have each of the power lines on your JAMMA harness connected to the power supply...
3.  If you see there are connections to the power supply, then you can check them with a multimeter.
4.  If you don't have a multimeter...get one.
5.  Connect everything up.
6.  Set your multimeter to "volts", and make sure the test leads are inserted into Common (black lead) and Volts (red lead).
7. Turn on your system.
8. Carefully place your black lead on a ground point, then connect your red lead to each of the other voltage test points on the board see if they are hot... and what their values are.  Careful not to short anything out.  You can actually test right at the JAMMA harness if you want... just be careful not to short any pins.

Hope this helps

[RetroACTIVE]

One more thing ... regarding the rainbow cable...

I've dealt with a few of these in the past... ones that were indeed "rainbow" cables (nice and colorful  ) and they had the correct type of connector housings on them, and there is no question as to how they fit on the board header.

Another type... were not "rainbow" cables per-se, the headers are brown in color and all the wires are the same tan color... (I know color is not important  )... but the connector housings were not really 100% compatible with the DK pcb header... they fit cause the pins have the same pitch and thats about it.  I can see if someone has had little or no experience with this stuff, may inadvertently put them on wrong.

 

[robstraws]

The "rainbow cable" that was sent to me is infact the brown type that you mentioned.  It appears that there were some plastic strips that would normally stop the connector from going on correctly but have been shaved down, forcing it to fit in.  I guess this could definitely be the issue but I am also going to check the voltages on everything first.

[RetroACTIVE]

The "rainbow cable" that was sent to me is infact the brown type that you mentioned.  It appears that there were some plastic strips that would normally stop the connector from going on correctly but have been shaved down, forcing it to fit in.  I guess this could definitely be the issue but I am also going to check the voltages on everything first.

One wire on your "rainbow" cable assembly should be black... just make sure that on both the video and cpu board that the black wire is connected to the same pin number.  Nice thing about DK boards is that they are very well silk screened and labeled clearly so you should have no sweat identifying the pin number.

 

[robstraws]

Yeah the cable is on there correctly so I guess it is the voltages inside the machine.  I went out and bought a multimeter but the damn thing requires a 12v battery that I don't have so I will have to go back out and get one before I can test any voltages.

[robstraws]

Checked my voltages
+5v=5.04
+5v=5.04
-5v=-4.98
12v=12.47

These seem like they would be alright but I really don't know.

[RetroACTIVE]

Checked my voltages
+5v=5.04
+5v=5.04
-5v=-4.98
12v=12.47

These seem like they would be alright but I really don't know.

I'd say they look dead nuts on!  so thats not your problem... its something else...

- Make sure the ribbon cables connecting the video and cpu boards together are properly seated.

- Visually inspect the DK to JAMMA adapter for any damage...

... hopefully not your boards... how long ago did you get them?

[robstraws]

I bought them probably a year ago and just now got the time to start working on it, so if they are blown im screwed.
Checked the ribbon cables and the adapter, everything looks perfect.  Before I make any drastic decisons about the boards I really wanna make sure I'm hooking everything up right, are there any good pictures anywhere of EXACTLY how this should look when all hooked up, the renovations on the forum have pics but it's hard to tell whats going on in them.

[RetroACTIVE]

I bought them probably a year ago and just now got the time to start working on it, so if they are blown im screwed.
Checked the ribbon cables and the adapter, everything looks perfect.  Before I make any drastic decisons about the boards I really wanna make sure I'm hooking everything up right, are there any good pictures anywhere of EXACTLY how this should look when all hooked up, the renovations on the forum have pics but it's hard to tell whats going on in them.

Tough to get that kind of picture... usually all hooked up means its buttoned up in a cab...

Another thing... (and I'm not sure about your DK JAMMA adapter)... but make sure its on the board correctly... many JAMMA adapters don't have keys in them... they just say "component side" on them to tell you which way to put it on...  and unless your paying attention ... you could mistakenly put it on backward...

[robstraws]

It's in there right, it's really starting to look like the boards.

[robstraws]

BIG PROGRESS! I plugged everything in after finishing my CP and now I can insert coins and even start the game and play but still NO VIDEO.  Once again I tested the other board and it worked so I ordered a new rainbow cable just for the hell of it.

[RetroACTIVE]

BIG PROGRESS! I plugged everything in after finishing my CP and now I can insert coins and even start the game and play but still NO VIDEO.  Once again I tested the other board and it worked so I ordered a new rainbow cable just for the hell of it.

Prob not your rainbow cable...

Did you check the R G B adjustment pots on the JAMMA adapter?  Maybe they are turned way down?  Like I said before... I'm not sure they can be adjusted to a point where the color is not visible... but its worth a tweak.

 

[robstraws]

Finally got it working! Turns out it was a combination of all the different video knobs on the monitor, board, and adapter that was making nothing show up.  Im having some sound issues like crackling and after playing awhile ill get random noises and wrong music playing or looping.  Basically after 5 minutes the sound just melts down.  Thanks RetroACTIVE for all the help.

[RetroACTIVE]

Finally got it working! Turns out it was a combination of all the different video knobs on the monitor, board, and adapter that was making nothing show up.  Im having some sound issues like crackling and after playing awhile ill get random noises and wrong music playing or looping.  Basically after 5 minutes the sound just melts down.  Thanks RetroACTIVE for all the help.

Glad things worked out!  Yeah... there are plenty of adjustments for sure... not all boards are created equal when it comes to video adjustments (especially Nintendo) 

[robstraws]

UPDATE: Sound is now working fine for some odd reason.  The only thing I have found that isn't working right is 2 player mode.  When playing player 1 works completely fine but when you get to player 2s turn the screen is flipped 180 degrees and none of the controls work.  Now the control issue could just be my stupidity because I didn't you needed to use the second player wires from the jamma harness in any way but once this happened it kind of made sense (anyone know if this is the control issue?).  The upside down screen has me stumped though.

[shilmover]

The upside down image is because the board is in Cocktail mode.  In that mode, the P2 controls are used, that's why you dont have any control.

I know that you mentioned that the dip switch was set to non-cocktail, but switch it to cocktail, then upright and see if that fixes it.  If not, it might be a bad switch.

Barry

UPDATE: Sound is now working fine for some odd reason.  The only thing I have found that isn't working right is 2 player mode.  When playing player 1 works completely fine but when you get to player 2s turn the screen is flipped 180 degrees and none of the controls work.  Now the control issue could just be my stupidity because I didn't you needed to use the second player wires from the jamma harness in any way but once this happened it kind of made sense (anyone know if this is the control issue?).  The upside down screen has me stumped though.

[robstraws]

The upside down image is because the board is in Cocktail mode.  In that mode, the P2 controls are used, that's why you dont have any control.

I know that you mentioned that the dip switch was set to non-cocktail, but switch it to cocktail, then upright and see if that fixes it.  If not, it might be a bad switch.

Barry

Yeah that was the problem.  It turns out that the switch has to be ON for it to be in upright not Off.