I just joined this club last week. My Caveman works but has sound issues. At first I was getting audio, but the sounds were all playing randomly and at the wrong times. After I took the game apart to bring it downstairs, I lost all audio. I also never once have heard the voice work, so not sure what's going on. Luckily the game works otherwise - both the pinball portion and video game portion. I'm running the original boards in there currently.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/caveman-the-worlds-first-pinball-video-game-it-will-amaze-you

Fellow Cavemen:

On page 15 of the manual, section D. Video-Pinball Interface Test:

Notes that a six pin molex jack was included in the game envelope for testing the video interface and that jack would be plugged into A9P1 after disconnection the joystick.

Who can share the pinout to replicate that jack?

Thanks for any pics / help / direction

BPR

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Found this info- noting here for someone else digging in the future: The test jack is noted as simulating all four joystick switch circuits closed, so I will jumper all and see if it drops into test mode.

***
For this test, the joystick must be disconnected and the 6-pin Molex test jack connected in its place. This jack simply simulates the permanent closure of the 4 joystick switches (one can be be easily made up if it is missing from your game). (NOTE: There must be at least 1 credit on the game before the test can be initiated.)

***

Just tested today - the jumper method works perfectly.

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Looking for measurements of the Caveman playfield glass: My digging comes up with no definitive answers. Could anyone please measure and report so I can have a replacement made? Thanks!

http://pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=General#Playfield_Glass_Sizes

Manufacturer Title Game Style Glass Dimensions Notes
Gottlieb Caveman Widebody ? This glass is shorter because of the large control panel over top of the apron.

hello i have 2 caveman one working the second is in restoration whit a Nos playfield i have 2 spare video boxes a few repro backglasses ant lots of parts

Earlier this year I picked up a caveman that is in need of a full restoration. Unfortunately the backglass that says caveman is broken and the other backglass is heavily flaking. And the mpu is totaled out with alkaline damage.

My questions are
1) Has anyone has used a rottendog amusements mpu080 with success.

I read in this thread: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/niwumph-with-caveman-pinball#post-4897549
that there were some issues with it.

2) I wanted to ask here before placing a wanted ad, does anyone know a place where I can find a backglass set?

Can you describe or post a picture of what to do with the jumper clips? I’m trying to trouble shoot a problem I’m having with mine. Do I just connect all the pins together?

Thanks for the help!

The jumper connects all the pins.

Here is some pictures of the jumper that came with the machine:
Caveman Jumper
Caveman Jumper

Thank you! I didn’t have one of these so I just used a piece of rope around the joystick rod (which pushed all the contacts together) to simulate all of the buttons being pressed.

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Hey Cavemen!
I have a question about the Video Game Interface Test.

The results are attached (picture). The manual stated that it would have 3 phases to this test. I’m a little confused. I attached that page to the manual here.
The most confusing part is the “video section” of Part II. It states it “exercises the lines back to the pinball via the switch matrix. This part of the test is displayed in the ‘BALL IN PLAY’ window...” what window are they taking about? The score board? The playfield lights? Nothing seems to be showing up at all. Am I looking for flashing lights? I tried to press the reset button on the coin door too to start the testing (as it states in the Interface testing directions) and it just starts the Bookkeeping Self/Tests instead.

I also see “CHART 2” of the attached page has switch matrix number 02 as “EXIT VIDEO AND RETURN TO PINGAME PLAN”. This is the exact problem I am having with my game ( my pinball won’t send the ball back to the PF when the caveman goes back into a cave, but it will kick the ball back if I get eaten by a dinosaur). Could this help me in finding the problem? Where would I see this information during the Interface test? I guess I should also ask, what is a “Switch Matrix?”

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If you want to see what a matrix looks like regarding Caveman, page 37 has the switch matrix of the In short, a matrix is almost like a spreadsheet how you can find, or call on a certain cell by using letters (columns) and numbers (rows).

The section where they talk about lights is that the way the pinball boards communicate with the video boards is using some of the lamp lines. There is no lights to look for. And the way the video boards communicate to the pinball boards using the switch matrix.

Now to the your issue: The place you would look is where the game displays the ball in play (the smaller display in the middle of the back box, on the right hand side). I would go through the test and see if 02 is displayed.

Since you stated that everything else works on chart 2 besides 02, as hopefully being able to verify that through the test, makes the issue caused by U7 (74LS368) or U8 (8212) on the I/O RAM Board (A23). Before replacing U7 and/or U8see if the switch matrix reads out 02 during the video-pinball interface test.
I/O RAM Board

To take a more detailed look at the schematic it is in page 48 of the manual. If you have any questions I will try to answer them to the best of my abilities.

I’ve made a breakthrough! I got the Interface test to start!

Here are the results:

Now I’ve got to just figure out what this machine is trying to tell me!

The numbers that come up in the Interface test we’re 01, 03, 04, 05, 06, 10, 11, 13, 14, and 15.

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I’m a little lost on what this actually tells me. I see that the test did not display an “02” which was “Exit Video and Return to Pingame Plan”. Does this validate that the video game isn’t sending a signal to the pinball table telling it the video game has paused when the caveman enters a cave? I also noticed that it DID display an “06”, which stated “Caveman Eaten By A Tyrannosaurus”. This part also makes sense with what is going on. The game WILL send the ball back in play if I get eaten by a dinosaur in the video game (it actually is considered a lost ball (flippers won’t move until the ball is sensed in the trough)) but it does let you play your next ball from the plunger. Lastly, “12” was not displayed during the test, which states in the manual as “Caveman has Stopped (Sound)”. I wonder if this is tied in with the big issue I’m having or just a small sound issue I can just ignore for now?

Any ideas where on the pinball cabinet I should look for fix this or what parts I need to replace?

The issue was resolved in this thread:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/caveman-pinball-game-freezes-when-you-go-into-a-cave-in-video-mode

Just joined!!!
CAVEMAN WAKE UP

Loving this game. My playfield is just horrible though. I know hundreds of these have been scrapped. If anyone finds a decent one, even if it needs to be restored, let me know!

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The guy that originally worked on this for us said if the video portion stop working, all you have to do is re-seat the boards in the base of the cabinet.

Well, that worked a few times. Then the game sat for a couple years. Now This is what I get. I think there may be some cold solder down there, and maybe the pins on the boards slots are corroded.

Any advice? I pulled the video box and brought it home to clean up.

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I'd start by cleaning all the edge connector fingers with a pink rubber eraser. That should get rid of any grime and tarnish that has built up. Then try firing it up and see what you get.

I wish I had a way to test this cage as it is with a vga monitor or something.

Pulled the boards out. Pic just cuz.

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What about brasso and then alcohol? I use that a lot on my nintendo carts and it works great.

I don't polish or sand the contacts.

If they're seriously filthy, I'll use alcohol.

But if it's just some grime and tarnish, the eraser is enough to clean and shine up the contacts.

The board on the top right looks like it could use some attention.

Those silver pins right? I got them shined up nice now. I did them all with an eraser, and then did alcohol to clean them up. Fingers crossed. I will go try it out Monday if all goes well.

Hey everyone, just recently joined the Caveman club and got the game working mostly (holy crap those varitargets are a pain to work on!), just wanted to ask if anyone had seen this occur on their game:

I recently got the Caveman Evolutions rom but did notice a couple of weird issues, one with the rom itself and one with my game running the original rom.

The bug I noticed in my game with either rom installed is that crushing the pterodactyls removes 5 bonus advances rather then adding them as the rules suggest. All the way down to 1 bonus!

The bug I noticed in the rom is that unless the flashing drop targets are both flashing, perhaps even when just the left flashing target is hit and the right one is not - When entering and exiting the video game, oftentimes the right target is no longer flashing and the multiplier can no longer be collected.

I do love the game sans these bugs (which might just be my game) and have almost gotten good enough at the video game to clear all eight levels twice with the three lives mod... how fast does this game get?

Thanks for any suggestions
-Jeffoto
Gottlieb widebody nut

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Whoo Hoo! I got mine home tonight. Like most of them out there, it needs work. So far I have diagnosed a bad power supply, and lack of a sound board may explain why the sound is not working. I got it sort of up and running using the power supply board out of my M:GoW. The video side boots and appears to work OK. However, there is a communication issue I think between the video section and the pinball boards. When I put the game in test mode is reporting all of the switches ending in '6' as being closed. When I get more time, I may have to dig into the video IO board to fix this issue.

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I finally got all the boards, and fixed the switch matrix issues that had been haunting my caveman. So now I’m turning my attention to other issues, like the back box lights. Has anyone come up with a way to replace the 24v back glass lights with leds or at least normal 6v lamps?

Coin Taker sells #313 LED’s that use the 28 volts. I have them in my Black Hole, Haunted House, and Caveman and they work great!

Reaching out for some troubleshooting assistance with my newly acquired Gottlieb Caveman pinball machine. This game was operational, with some small sound issues, and the seller recorded a video of the game in action. However, after performing bulletproofing and recommended ground modifications, the game will not boot up and play. Before going any further, the following were performed:

• All solid state boards are original style (no upgraded aftermarket boards).

• Recommended ground modifications were installed to all boards.

• Original orange capacitors were replaced with 12,000 mfd @ 25V radial snap capacitors (from Marco’s Specialties).

• All single side connectors were repinned, including the A23-J2 connector at the I / O board.

• Installed the updated Caveman Evolutions eeprom (designed by Davroux Brothers).

• All fuses checked and good.

When the pinball was first energized, the displays all illuminated, but most of the playfield lights ( not all ) locked on
and there is NO attract mode. The test mode cannot be activated nor can any credits be added. All the while the video is in GERMAN attract mode. All the tilt (pendulum/ ball roll / playfield side to side all normally open) and the slam switch (normally closed) were in correct position. After being powered up and performing various tests, now the displays DO NOT illuminate and different lighting stays locked on, and still CANNOT get a game started. I even tried swapping out a working Swemmer MPU board, but the results were the same (with no changes), so the problem lies in the game.

I scoured and searched the internet and YouTube for information and answers, but only found a little information. Can anyone provide any insight, or point me in the right direction as to where to start troubleshooting this game? I really do not know where to start. Thanks for your help.

Thread: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/gottlieb-caveman-issues-1

Managed to save a Caveman from weathering away in a barn! It was in rough shape but I’ve put a lot of work into it. My biggest issue now is the screen glitching and restarting. See the video here of when I turn it on:

Could this be a problem with the I/O ram board? What are the biggest issues on that board? Connections all seem good. Boards look good with no bad/cold solders.

Side note: when my basement flooded and hot steam when all over the pin, I experienced a brief moment where the monitor worked!

Thanks!

I’m in the club!
Anyone have a fuse list?
Looks like someone was trying to bake a Turkey again!

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That looks like an issue with the “Television Set™” itself. Probably an issue with one of the sync pots OR the actual alignment of the guns themselves.

Caveman is such an awesome game. I personally like how you lose the ball when you die in the game. Does anyone run the new code, what are the pros and cons?

Anyone have a cap kit list for the monitor? Mine is touchy, typically it needs to be powered on for a length of time, it will be totally black, then if I come back and turn the game on again within a day, it works flawlessly. I had it out at my pinball show, 3rd year in a row, and it’s been great! I find that you need to “exercise” the monitor and leave it on for an hour at least once a month and it tends to keep things running smoothly. The “arcade” portion of these games is what gets us pinball guys!

I am using the Caveman Evolution ROM. It gives you three lives in the video per ball. Good for me since I stink at Pacman. You can disable the three lives feature with a dip switch.

Here is the fuse list for the game.
Caveman Fuse List
This link is an order list I made awhile ago when I ordered fuses for my machine:
https://www.mouser.com/ProjectManager/ProjectDetail.aspx?AccessID=be21a0acf7

This page has a lot of good info on the monitor.
http://www.pinrepair.com/g07/
Also a quick search of G07-902 may find some pre made kits.

Hello,

Does anyone have the DIP SWITCH settings to change the coins/credits?

My Caveman comes up as 3 Credits for Every Quarter and I would like to change it.

Thank You

Coins per play (left to right chutes, respectively): 1 coin, - S1-5, S9-S13, S17-S21 all off. 2 Coins, - S5, S13, S21 on all others switches off.

You can set the number of coins per play up to a max of 10. If you need a specific number above 3, let me know.

Clive

I am looking for 2 coins = 1 credit so I would assume these settings are correct S5, S13, S21 on all others switches off?

Thanks so much!!!

Yes, that would be correct.

Clive

I am looking for the very bottom/right plastic piece in good condition if anyone has one to sell. Unfortunately mine is cracked all the way through.

Thank you

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I'm trying to put together a Caveman from scratch as they never appear for sale here in Norway.
So far I have most of it covered, but I am missing the MA253 I/O RAM board - so if someone has one lying around (working or non-working) that they would sell, please send me a PM.

Does anyone know the size of the playfield rubber located where the RED Arrow is pointing too?

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According to the manual, 1-1/2"

If anyone comes across a NOS playfield, I am interested. Mine is really worn. I must have one of the only Caveman’s to ever see significant play

Thank You!!!

I looked and looked in Google for the darn manual with no luck. You know how Gottlieb is regarding their documentation. It's very frustrating.

I appreciate the information

So I have most of the major parts collected or on their way now.
But I can't figure out the lockbar receiver - is it a D-19017 widebody lockbar or a D-16951 - or something completely different?

I found a set of plastics!!! Not easy to find these days.

So what does a complete, non-working cage with boards sell for these days? I came across one and grabbed it even though my set is working. It should be here by Tuesday. I figured it would be a good idea to jump on it while its available.

Are there any experts in the community who go through and repair these board sets?