Recently got myself a Meteor and had it setup downstairs. Game played great, but the settings and high scores were acting up so I bought a nvram board for u8/u13 on MPU.

I took the head off and took the game upstairs in 2 pieces. Now I am having sound issues. (see video below). The sounds are all muffled and cutting out.

The cables between the sound board and MPU are brand new. I also repinned and replaced the bottom 2 connectors to the sound board as well. I also swapped back in the old ram and that didn't make a difference. I did clip off the remote battery pack when I installed the nvram, but that shouldn't matter. I also triple checked all my connections.

Any thoughts what I should test or check next?

Thanks!!!

Sockets are my next best guess as well....

I installed the RAM and moved the game at the same time, before testing it. Dumb move

Ok I will look into that Thanks!

I got a replacement Alltek MPU in it now. Still having same problem. I'm thinking it has to be a connector issue somewhere?

Sound Board test points read:

TP 2(12v) = 14.2
TP 4(5v) = 4.78

I took out the 6840 timer chip and reseated it. Wiggled connectors while triggering sounds. Still getting the same muffled and choppy sound.

I've done that with the new board and the old board too. But thanks for the tip anyhow Also the jumpers have been switched as well for Stern.

I did mess with the volume pot, didn't help.

I did run the sound test and some of the sounds are messed up in it I think. I'll post a video of what my sound test sounds like.

I did also check the speaker connections and they're good.

Ran the solenoid/sound test a few times.

See here:

20/21 don't sound right compared to a couple vids on youtube..

ie:

and

One of the sound board to mpu connectors is keyed though and missing that wire in the connector.

I could try bending that 6840 irq pin out....but dont want to wreck it.

Ok gonna try this right now...

Ok I bent 9th pin out on 6840. Hooked it all back up and getting same result. Thanks for all the help so far guys. Bit of a head scratcher

Sound worked fine just 15minutes before I moved it upstairs and removed all the connectors to take the head off.

That has to be the biggest and most likely clue? That clue would lead me to think I have a bad connection somewhere.

I tested continuity from the mpu to the soundboard, and got beeps all the way along that 34pin connector. So the data should be getting to and from those boards.

What other connectors should I focus on?

Maybe another clue? This is what the game is displaying for a high score.

20161108_114152 (resized).jpg

I reset that high score and all adjustments and it reverted right back to that weird high score thats missing a digit...

All the displays work fine. It just leaves a digit off for high score, so its getting bad data or something.

I did see that thing about clearing the board rotordave. Ill try it, but the old mpu and new mpu are doing the same thing. So id guess that aint gonna help But will try it anyhow..

With the alltek and I did move the jumpers on it to the right spot

Omg I think that fixed it!!!!!!!

I changed the dipswitches on Alltek board to clear memory. Then put it back to Meteor, and it has proper sound....so far....play testing now....

I am forever grateful for all your help. If that was the problem all along. I wanna smack my head on the wall. But at least I learned alot about this era of game. Now I need a Stargazer and Quicksilver for beside it

I did try and reset the original board too before all this. Must it must not have worked when I did it.

Is there any better feeling than getting a game working right!!! This game also had major problems with resetting the Meteor bank, but I fixed that by adjusting the lift rod on one end. Took a few tries.

Now I can treat the game to new rubber, rebuilt flips and a good scrub

Play tested it a bunch. Sound and settings are working perfectly. First time I've had the game 100%