Intellivision Repair

[Jayson]

Hi there,

Does anyone out in the gaming community have any advice on how to
repair a joystick unit for an Intellivision I? Pushing left on the
disc control does not work, and the enter button works sporadically.

Secondly, this particular Intellivision unit sporadically freezes or
hangs itself, requiring me to reset the machine. Any advice on how to
fix this? This problem occurs with any cart I use.

Thanks in advance,

Jayson
joma...@excite.com_remove_this_please

[Joseph Zbiciak]

Jayson <joma...@excite.com_remove_this_please> writes:
: Secondly, this particular Intellivision unit sporadically freezes or

: hangs itself, requiring me to reset the machine. Any advice on how to
: fix this? This problem occurs with any cart I use.

A lot of the chips in the original Intellivision are socketed. If
you're not squeamish about desoldering the metal shielding that
protects the logic board, then you might consider opening it up
and reseating the chips. (Just push on them firmly.) That
often helps.

It appears, from looking at a scan of a schematic that I have, that
there are a couple transistors that drive the CPU clock that also
tend to have problems. (They're circled with an X nearby on the
schematic. On one of my logic boards, the fiberglass is discolored
near these transistors.) If those are heating up and going out of
spec, that could cause lockups as well. Those transistors are
2N3906 transistors, and should be available at Radio Shack or similar.

You can find the schematics on Frank Palazzolo's site:

http://2bits.simplenet.com/

Regards,

--Joe

--
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Joseph Zbiciak http://www.primenet.com/~im14u2c/ Not your average "Joe"
R$+@$=W <-- sendmail.cf {$/{{.+ <-- modem noise
!@#!@@! <-- Mr. Dithers swearing Zbiciak <-- Joe's last name
---------------------- Member of the Intellivisionaries ----------------------

[Hdn1]

> Any advice on how to
>: fix this?

KICK IT!!!!!!

seriously...if you are in the US, i can send you an Intellivision for the cost
of shipping alone....Myke
~//\/\\yke (too many systems.....too little room)................(the XXX in
Email address is a SpaMblock)

[Diogenes the Dog]

It sounds to me like you've got two unrelated problems.

I had the same problem with one of my Intelly controllers and found
that it was just the little plastic ring that's supposed to be down by
the disk...it had gotten loose and was wreaking havoc where ever it
went.

As for your system, reseating those chips sounds like a good idea to me
(clean 'em while you're at it). Kicking the system couldn't hurt I
suppose...hmmn...I guess it could, but it just feels so damn
good...especially if you've got it wedged up against the wall, if you
kick it just right (a little below the woodgrain) it makes a beautiful
cracking noise...but I digress...

..dpdcp...

"The Sage returns with reverence to what the masses have left behind."
-Diogenes after Laozi

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[Jayson]

Hi there,

Did you receive my email message?

Jayson
joma...@excite.com_remove_this_please

[Edward A. Brunner]

Jayson <joma...@excite.com_remove_this_please> wrote:
: Hi there,

: Does anyone out in the gaming community have any advice on how to
: repair a joystick unit for an Intellivision I? Pushing left on the
: disc control does not work, and the enter button works sporadically.

Heh, intv controllers are a bugger to fix. It could be an overlay problem
(inside the controller) or it could be a cable problem. If you want to
mess around with it, i suggest opening the controller and testing the
overlay (by pressing on it directly). If that still doesnt work, then its
in the cord, and you'll need to replace all of that (which is a hassle,
might as well get another one then).

: Secondly, this particular Intellivision unit sporadically freezes or
: hangs itself, requiring me to reset the machine. Any advice on how to
: fix this? This problem occurs with any cart I use.

Sounds like the classic power source overheating problem. Nothing you can
do with it short of placing the system on a large block of ice. Of
course, you could try to keep it off of carpet which keeps the air from
flowing through the vents. Other than that, consider picking up an
intellivision 2, which has an external power supply and eliminates this
problem. Reseating chips probably wont help you much with this...

Ted B

: Thanks in advance,

: Jayson
: joma...@excite.com_remove_this_please