TECH Zaccaria Time Machine Sounds

[j***@yahoo.com]

I *think* the sound on my new Zaccaria Time Machine is only partially
working, however having never played the game previously just not
sure. I believe all the speech clips seem to be functioning, but some
of the in-game sounds seem to be missing. For instance, when a couple
of the standup targets are hit, points get scored but there is no
sound. In test mode, when the sound test section is happening it goes
up to number 14. But there is not a sound at each number 1 -14. Tried
the test on the sound board itself and I think all the speech clips
are there, but not sure what other sounds I should here during that
test, there isn't much. Haven't tried doing anything with the two on-
board pots yet. When I first got the game, the potentiometer was
hacked and literally started smoking when I turned the game on. I re-
wired it and now I have sounds, but am at the current state. Maybe
something on the sound board also got smoked?

Any ideas, thoughts? Is the sound just a little wacky on the game or
am I likely missing some sounds? I have emailed David G directly as
well and may just send the sound board in for checkout, but wanted to
do a little research first.

Thanks, David

[David Gersic]

Post by j***@yahoo.com
I *think* the sound on my new Zaccaria Time Machine is only partially
working, however having never played the game previously just not
sure. I believe all the speech clips seem to be functioning, but some
of the in-game sounds seem to be missing.

Games that used the 1B11136 sound board (Farfalla, Devil Riders, Time
Machine, Magic Castle, Robot) have three sound sources on the board.
The first is the 1408 DAC, the second is the AY-3-8910 Sound Generator,
and the third is the TMS 5220 Speech chip. A malfunction in one of
these will not generally affect the others.

Post by j***@yahoo.com
sound. In test mode, when the sound test section is happening it goes
up to number 14. But there is not a sound at each number 1 -14.

Ah, good. That's in the 1408 section, then. You can see this in the
docs on my web site. Go to Gen2/Games and Doc/Time Machine and look
for the Sound Map document. Sounds 0-15 on Time Machine come from the
1408. Sounds 16-25 and the backround sound comes from the AY-3-8910.
The speech comes from the TMS5220, of course.

On some games, sounds from the 1408 and AY-3-8910 are intermixed,
unlike Time Machine where they're neatly organized. I don't know why
this is.

You'll need a 'scope and the schematics to debug this. The processor
(IC 1C on the schematics) controls things via the PIA (IC 1H). From
there, the Data Bus (DB0...DB7) goes to the LS374 (IC 2B), which
controls (D/A0...D/A7) the 1408 DAC (IC 2C).

The sound from the DAC comes out pin 15, via transistor Q2. Follow
the "D/A" from there on the schematics over to the input of pot
P2, then in to the TDA1510 amplifier (IC 7C).

If you're getting sounds from the AY-3-8910, you know that P2 and
everything past it are good. The AY-3-8910 outputs ("SA", "SB",
and "SC") come in to IC 4F, then go out of that, through the op
amp (IC 5F) and meet up with the "D/A" signal going in to P2.

Post by j***@yahoo.com
the test on the sound board itself and I think all the speech clips
are there, but not sure what other sounds I should here during that
test, there isn't much.

Not much. The LED flashes tell you what the board thinks is working.
Then there's a "boop" "beep" from the sound effects, then it starts
playing speech from the TMS5220.

Post by j***@yahoo.com
Haven't tried doing anything with the two on-
board pots yet.

I don't normally change those unless they've clearly been messed with
already. In that case, I centre them, then adjust until it sounds
right to me.

I can't recall the last time I replaced a DAC. They don't fail often.
Somewhat more likely would be a PIA failure. You could swap the two
PIAs to see if the problem moves. The other one controls the TMS5220
speech chip, so if the PIA is the problem you'll gain the DAC sounds
and lose the speech clips. If swapping the PIAs doesn't change
anything, then your problem is somewhere in what I've described above.
Grab the schematics, a 'scope, and follow the path above until you
find where the logic isn't working or where the sound is disappearing.

[j***@yahoo.com]

Tried swapping the PIA's, problem didn't change. Still think I'm
missing sounds. For instance, when I hit the #1 standup target there
is no sound, but it is registering. If I hit a different standup in
that mode, it'll say "shoot for one" if it hasn't been hit yet. The
Orange Special, no sound. Lots of the speech is there and lots of
other sounds, but some gotta be missing. If somebody knows of a
youtube/video clip with the game in play, that would be great. Maybe
all the sound are there?

Again, when I go into the game sound test, not the sound board test,
sounds 0 - 10 seem fine, but there are no sounds from 11 - 14 in the
test. The 0 - 14 test doesn't map directly to the sound map you have.
Not sure what else to do as I don't have the rest of the tools to test
the game any further. Unless somebody can tell me my game is operating
as expected, gotta ship this off to have it checked out.

Thanks, David

[David Gersic]

Post by j***@yahoo.com
Tried swapping the PIA's, problem didn't change. Still think I'm
missing sounds.

The sound test (self test #5) is all you need to confirm that. There
should be no missing sounds in that test.

Post by j***@yahoo.com
Again, when I go into the game sound test, not the sound board test,
sounds 0 - 10 seem fine, but there are no sounds from 11 - 14 in the
test.

Ah. That's different from what I thought you said earlier. Only 11-14
are missing? That's very odd.

Post by j***@yahoo.com
Not sure what else to do as I don't have the rest of the tools to test
the game any further. Unless somebody can tell me my game is operating
as expected, gotta ship this off to have it checked out.

I sense a sound board may be heading my way...