If you don't know your chips are good that'd be the first thing I'd try to verify.

Do you have a logic probe?

Hello
In your last photo, the empty ROM socket it looks like pins 23 & 24 are bridged by solder?
Cheers bob

Try removing the driver board completely, then power on. This will let you know if there's something on the driver board mucking things up or not.
I just went through some problems on my firepower, and it ended up being a bad PIA (or two) on the driver board that was keeping the CPU from booting properly.
I'm starting to think that PIAs should've been named PITAs.

Good collection of Firepower info here (not sure why it's called "blackknightpinball" when it's really firepower):
http://blackknightpinball.co.uk/wp/
specifically in the margins here:
http://www.firepowerpinball.com/downloads/CPUBoard.pdf

Helped me out a LOT.

Good luck,
Jeff

I'am sure there are 3 balls loaded in the game. It would mess with me a bit while I was getting mine up and running.

Just an idea..what’s your reset signal doing? Does it go high? You can check that with a normal meter.

Referencing that 2nd link I posted, put your black lead on test point 10 (ground) and your red lead on test point 8 (reset). It should be 5v when machine is powered up. If it’s not, you’ve got a problem with the reset circuit, and there should be some things on pinwiki to help with that.

Nothing to see....Williams originally had some trancievers there, but decided they didnt need them, so replaced them with these things that look like ICs, but are really just strategic jumpers.

Reset is 4.9? That's probably good.

Is PIA IC18 socketed?

Sorry, I'm kind of out of ideas without being there myself.
Do you have the soldering skills to remove any soldered chips on the boards? If it were me, I'd probably remove the PIA on the CPU board and see what that did.
Do you have a logic probe? If so, you could check the address lines and see if they're pulsing (which would mean the CPU is running). I'm guessing they're not. You can see a lot with a logic probe.

In that picture of the IC9 and IC10 above, it doesn't look like your processor chip is fully seated in the socket strips.

I was in the same boat as you, but I decided to buy the Siegcraft testing fixtures instead of a Rottendog.
The reason I went that way was is because I have 3 sys6 CPUs and 2 driver boards.

My boards are not as good as your pictured CPU.
I learned a lot about troubleshooting these in the past couple of weeks.

First thing I learned is that the game ROMs ARE ABSOLUTELY WORTHLESS for troubleshooting a board who's past is unknown.
If there is even the smallest defect those ROMs do NOTHNG except flash the LEDs briefly and then lock on.

You REALLY must acquire a test ROM to make any progress on boards with defects.
I used the Andre v2.0 test ROM (sys7.bin - 2716 ROM) most since it has pretty comprehensive tests for major components.
(and it runs EVEN IF there are several defective components and the driver board does not have to be attached to test only CPU components)
You can leave the other ROMs in, just put the test ROM in the IC17 location.
You need to make the little LED board that the Andre v2.0 manual describes. (I think it took me 10 minutes to make one)
Once you have all the Andre tests passed (except PIA V sys7 only) you can think about putting the game ROMs back in.

Andre Fixture (resized).jpg

I highly recommend switching the six ROM configuration to the three ROM configuration. (2732 with FPcombo.732)
linked here: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/firepower-tech-repair-and-restore

Then the Siegcraft boards (display tester, diag. switch, and lamp matrix PCBs) show that the game runs and you can step through the standard tests.

Bench Test (resized).JPG

This is all SO much easier on the bench instead of in the backbox.
Right now I have all three CPUs and one driver board working properly, one driver board is still not working, parts ordered.

Just things I wish I could have known about BEFORE I started down the sys6 board repair road......

You can also try these test ROMs: http://pincoder.reversion.ca

You can run them in-game. just write a test ROM image to a chip and insert it where the green flipper 2 ROM is. all others can stay in the game. the LED test will tell you if your CPU is functioning and later tests will check RAM and CMOS, PIAs, etc.

Have you made a way to use your tests without switching a ROM for every test?

That is really hard on sockets.
I have used those too just found Andre ROM covers many tests without swapping.

I really like your tests better if there was a switch tests easier.

Could you use The Andre LED user I/F and combine your tests?

i am betting on a bad ram chip.........

I had some very thready boot issues with my Blackout until I replaced the .156" male headers on the MPU and solenoid board. Also got them from Great Plains Electronics.

If not done so already, build up the power supply per the Vid1900 instructions (caps, diodes, resistor, voltage regulator replacements), and look carefully at the bridge rectifiers for burn marks, I replaced those as well. They were cheap and the new ones run much cooler.

Keep a close eye on what could get shorted out when the playfield is lowered; I had a few diodes and switches that got bent about over the years that would short out on playfield drop. I replaced most of the diodes that were questionable with 1N4004s on solenoids and switches.

Needless to say, it was a lot of work but the basket case I got is now working 100%.

Yes, I agree, it is very hard on sockets to be continually replacing the chip. I am working on a board that will hold a larger, newer, and widely available EEPROM chip, that will hold all the tests on one chip (with room for more). The tests are selectable by dip switches. There is a gap reserved in the image for the user to place a copy of the original ROM, so that by setting all the DIP switches to zero/off you will be able to leave the board installed and still play the game.

I could also reserve an extra slot for placing the Andre ROM image. It wouldn't hurt. That would allow one to have the best of both worlds without having to pull chips in and out of the socket.

I could also write some tests to use the LED user interface, but that feels more like reinventing the wheel.

Another option exists, but it's expensive. It consists of plugging a ROM chip emulator ($300 USD+) into the socket and then just sending each ROM image to the emulator and turning on the game. I've been using one for test ROM development, and I leave it connected full time. If I want to go back to playing the game I just send the original ROM file to it. Works great, but again it's expensive. I've also added bluetooth to it, so I can send ROMs via bluetooth and I don't need to have a serial cable hanging out of my pinball machine. PM me if you want more details.

I purchased an Aries 24 pin ZIF socket from Mouser for $10
Worth it!
Thanks for your hard work on those test programs.
BTW I tossed out my ROM emulator years ago.

You're welcome, I'm glad you find them useful

I love my emulator - I found some linux code for it a few years back so I don't have to keep using windows. Had to make some changes to it to get bluetooth to work, but its great not having the cable hanging out.

I added my System 6 (Firepower) bench test experience on YouTube.

Sorry for the blotchy video, just my iPhone.

Used the Pincoder ROM leds.bin to get the CPU to flash the two LEDs.
I also got the Pincoder displays.bin to work with the Siegecraft display before trying the Andre 2.0 ROM.

Bud

Any updates?

First posting - not sure to the rules Of the forum but adding to this topic since it may be related.

I just pushed to 3 my pinball collection by buying a Tri-zone, a system 6 machine. It does not boot up. I have 2 LEDs on constant with play field on. No display lights although from an angle I can see there is power going to them.

When I first fired it up, I had some numbers going to the displays that eventually went away.

My question this: I have checked the voltages and I am only getting 9 Volts DC in the 12V unregulated supply, both on the MPU board and on the power board. The 5V is good. The F5 fuse and the C15 capacitor all have 9 V going to them.

Any ideas on what could be limiting the voltage from reaching the 12V dc?

Thanks,

Indigestion

12V unregulated is created by D7 and D8 on the power board. My guess is that one of these diodes has failed or you have a bad connection on the AC supply side into the power board.

When one of the rectifier diodes fails, you are missing half of the rectification of the AC to DC which drops the DC voltage. It also wreaks havoc on your filter capacitors so don't run the game like this for long.

The reset circuit on the CPU board needs to see 5V and 12v unregulated at certain levels before it lets the CPU start. It is possible your low 12V situation is the cause of the game not starting.

Thanks for the response and intel. Here is further results of the ongoing investigation.

Now I disconnected all the connectors to the Power board except for the input F1 and F2. I have removed the F2 and F3 fuses. Now When I power on, I get the 12v DC unregulated on the 6 pin! What does that tell you?

However, when I do a diode check on the D7 and D8 diodes, I am getting .4V with DMM in diode setting in both directions. I am seeing that malady on both diodes.

I may also have a grounding problem. I swear I am getting a current from the rails to my fingers and got a reasonable shock one time I touched the metal surrounding the transformer.

What is your best prognosis? Buy a new PS board? Buy a new set of diode?

Thanks,

indegestion

Dont work on the pin barefooted.