Document Title: [pinout_help.txt (text file)]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------.
Title : Arcade Game Pinouts :
Date : 09-January-2003 :
Source : taken from the Conversion FAQ v1.1 :
by Doug Jefferys, Steve Ozdemir :
and pinout identification by Tim Lindquist :
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:
+---------. :
1) Pinouts \ :
------------`---------------------------------------------------------------.
:
1.1) JAMMA. :
:
The JAMMA standard was invented in 1985; any game older than :
this will not be JAMMA. JAMMA (Japan Arcade Machine Manufacturers' :
Association) is a standard 56-way connector used on many arcade :
boards to simplify conversion of cabinets from one game to another. :
The majority of newer games use a subset of this pinout. Some games :
(i.e., Street Fighter) which need extra buttons have extra :
connectors for these additional controls. The JAMMA connector has a :
.156" (3.96mm) pin spacing edge connector (male on the game board). :
For reference, here is the JAMMA pinout: :
:
--------------------------------------------------------- :
Solder Side | Parts Side :
----------------------------+---------------------------- :
GND | A | 1 | GND :
GND | B | 2 | GND :
+5V | C | 3 | +5V :
+5V | D | 4 | +5V :
-5V | E | 5 | -5V :
+12V | F | 6 | +12V :
- KEY - | H | 7 | - KEY - :
Coin Counter #2 | J | 8 | Coin Counter #1 :
Lock Out Coil #2 | K | 9 | Lock Out Coil #1 :
Speaker (-) | L | 10| Speaker (+) :
| M | 11| :
Video Green | N | 12| Video Red :
Video Sync | P | 13| Video Blue :
Service Switch | R | 14| Video GND :
Tilt Switch | S | 15| Test Switch :
Coin Switch #2 | T | 16| Coin Switch #1 :
2P Start | U | 17| 1P Start :
2P Up | V | 18| 1P Up :
2P Down | W | 19| 1P Down :
2P Left | X | 20| 1P Left :
2P Right | Y | 21| 1P Right :
2P Button 1 | Z | 22| 1P Button 1 :
2P Button 2 | a | 23| 1P Button 2 :
2P Button 3 | b | 24| 1P Button 3 :
| c | 25| :
| d | 26| :
GND | e | 27| GND :
GND | f | 28| GND :
---------------------------------------------------------- :
:
1.2) Konami. :
:
We're also including the Konami standard pinout, as it was :
also used on many games by many different manufacturers. :
:
------------------------------------------------------ :
Solder Side | Parts Side :
-------------------------+---------------------------- :
-5V | A | 1 | +12V :
Speaker | B | 2 | Speaker :
2P Button 2 | C | 3 | 2P Button 1 :
2P Left | D | 4 | 2P Right :
1P Start | E | 5 | 2P Start :
1P Button 2 | F | 6 | 2P Up :
1P Button 1 | H | 7 | Service Switch :
1P Right | J | 8 | 1P Left :
1P Up | K | 9 | 2P Down :
Coin (1) | L | 10| Coin (2) :
1P Down | M | 11| Coin Counter #1 :
1P Button 3 | N | 12| Coin Counter #2 :
Video Green | P | 13| Video Blue :
Video Red | R | 14| Video Sync :
| S | 15| :
GND | T | 16| GND :
GND | U | 17| GND :
+5V | V | 18| +5V :
------------------------------------------------------ :
:
+---------------------. :
2) Identifying pinouts \ :
------------------------`---------------------------------------------------.
:
Identifying pinouts of unknown boards can be difficult. :
We offer the following approach: :
:
1) Do you already have a copy of the game's pinout? If so, :
you're done. (Make sure you've got the *right* copy of :
the game's pinouts. Moon Cresta, for instance, was made :
by at least four different manufacturers, three of whom :
used different pinouts...) :
:
2) Is the manufacturer shown? If so, who are they, and do :
you have any copies of pinouts by the same manufacturer? :
If so, compare them; do they "make sense" if you try them :
against the method outlined in steps 4-8) below? :
:
3) If it's a Japanese name, and a fairly new board, and it's :
got a 56-pin connector, it's probably JAMMA. Still, it :
always pays to double-check before you plug something in :
based on your assumptions. There *ARE* 56-pin connectors :
which aren't JAMMA, so the double-check is still important. :
:
4) Okay, now you're desperate :-) Get a list of all the :
pinouts that you *DO* know. :
:
5) Eliminate any pinouts with connectors that don't match :
the board in question. :
:
6) Look at telltale markers, like the power pins; you should :
be able to identify +5V and GND fairly easily by tracing :
backwards from some TTL chips. Using this, and the number :
of pins on the connector, should allow you to eliminate a :
few more pinouts. :
:
7) With the few pinouts you have left, look for audio and video :
pins. These are generally grouped together; two pins going :
to the same location (often a heat-sinked audio amplifier :
chip) will probably be audio, and four pins, three of which :
go to one chip and a fourth of which goes to a nearby chip, :
will likely be video. Large groupings of pins that go :
through resistors and/or diodes will likely be control :
input pins. :
:
8) *NOW* do you have a match? If so, start "experimenting"; :
make a few assumptions and try powering the board up :
without any video or controls connected and "experiment" :
by looking for fluctuating signals (characteristic of video :
or audio) on the pins. This is a fairly involved process, :
but can be simplified greatly by use of a partially- :
constructed adaptor to your current wiring harness. :
(Indeed, this is one of the reasons adaptors are fairly :
popular; they often get created through the process of :
determining the pinout from an otherwise unknown board) :
:
Note that this can be something of a risky procedure if you :
don't know what you're doing. For your first few times, :
you may want to do everything except powering up the board. :
Write down your best guesses, describe the board, and ask :
the 'net if anyone out there recognizes it and knows the :
pinouts. You might just get lucky, and if your guesses :
were right, you'll give your self-confidence a great boost. :
:
2.1) Determining pinouts with a volt meter (more ways to figure it out). :
:
We know where +5V and ground are because almost all EPROMs have :
+5V on the upper right pin (notch facing up) and ground on the :
lower left pin, so we use our volt meter on the ohms setting to :
find the pins on the edge connector with close to 0 resistance to :
those pins on an EPROM. +5V and ground is enough to power 90% of :
the boards out there. :
:
We now need to find the video outputs. First, connect video :
ground to any ground and turn the power on. Then, take the :
composite sync wire and run it along the remaining pins until :
you get raster. It's safe to run it along any pins we like at :
this point because all we have hooked up right now is ground and :
+5V, both of which are safe to touch with the sync wire. Even :
with no colors hooked up, you can tell when you find sync because :
you will get solid black raster, which is different from no :
raster. You will know. Next, we need some color. Green video is :
almost always right next to sync, so try touching the green video :
wire to the pin left of or right of the sync. If you get a green :
picture, swell. Otherwise, keep touching pins until you get a :
green picture. Once you've found it, red and blue are sure to be :
near by. Usually red is on the opposite side of green and blue is :
opposite sync. Try those first, if not, the layout is usually red,:
green, blue all in a row, so try either side of the green video. :
Now we have power and video. If the picture colors look wrong :
(red skies and blue explosions), try swapping around the colors :
until things look right. :
:
Next we need to find the sound output. Sound amps almost always :
need +12V for power. Power traces are usually thicker than inputs :
and video, so we need to look for a thick trace that goes over to :
the audio amp section of the board. Speaker + and - are usually :
right next to the power. If the part number on the amp is :
readable, it's usually pretty easy to find the pinouts for the :
amp on the internet and double check your suspects that way. :
:
Next is inputs. This is pretty easy. Just take a wire, hold one :
end to ground and run the other end along the remaining pins, :
being carefull to avoid the power pins, until you get a credit. :
That will be either coin 1 or coin 2. Repeat until you get :
another credit on a different pin (which will be the other coin :
input or the service switch) or until the game starts. Make note :
whether it started a 1 or 2 player game so you'll know which it :
was. Power down and repeat to find the other start pin. Once a :
game is started, just repeat to find up, down, left, right, fire, :
jump, or whatever else there is. :
:
Some boards need -5V to power audio or if the board has 4116 RAM :
chips, they need -5V, too. -5V is on pin 1 of of 4116's (upper :
left pin, notch facing up), so use your meter to find the -5V pin :
on the edge connector. :
:
-5V is sometimes used for audio on some Konami games, but most :
Konami game pinouts are listed on www.spies.com/arcade, so go :
check there. =) (section provided by tim@arcadecollecting.com) :
:
2.2) Unused connectors. :
:
If there are empty connectors on the board, don't panic. Some :
boards have "test connectors" that are unused during normal :
use. If you don't know whether a certain board or board set :
is complete, ask the 'net if anyone knows "how many boards :
and connectors were used in XYZ". :
:
+----------. :
3) Adaptors \ :
-------------`--------------------------------------------------------------.
:
3.1) Jammatization. :
:
Adaptors are one of the easiest and cheapest approaches to :
doing conversions; this is why JAMMA cabinets are so popular :
among collectors, even among those of us who prefer "classic" :
games. Large collectors will often accumulate a series of :
adaptors for their games, all of which convert to a standard :
pinout, usually JAMMA. Although the process is the same as :
building any other type of adaptor, the "random-raster-game :
to JAMMA" conversion is so common that it has become known :
colloquially as "Jammatization". :
:
3.2) Construction techniques. :
:
There are two main approaches to adaptor construction. The :
"right" approach for you will depend on what set of parts you :
can most easily replace. :
:
Both approaches involve an XX-pin (female, and "XX" depends on :
the board in question) edge connector for the non-JAMMA board :
and a 56-pin "finger board" (a straight piece of PCB, also :
known as a "male-to-male" connector), and a 56-pin (female) :
edge connector for the JAMMA side. :
:
1) Skip the 56-pin connector and solder the wires directly :
from the XX-pin connector to the finger board. The :
resulting finger board end of the adaptor can be plugged :
directly into your JAMMA harness. You'll use one finger :
board per adaptor. :
:
The end result would look something like this: :
:
--------< <---------->~~~~~\/~~~~~~~~~~------< :
TO --------< <---------->~~~~~'\/~~~~~~~~~------< DIG :
JAMMA --------< <---------->~~~~~~'\/~~~~~~~~------< DUG :
WIRING --------< <---------->~~~~~~~'`~~~~~~~~------< PCB :
HARNESS --------< <----------> /~~~~~~~~~------< :
--------< <---------->~~~~~~' :
56-pin male-male Wires that map 44-pin :
female PCB with JAMMA pinouts female :
edge straight to 44-pin Dig edge :
connector traces Dug pinout. connector :
:
Alternatively... :
:
2) Instead of soldering the wires to the finger board, solder :
the wires from the XX-pin connector to a 56-pin connector. :
Plug one end of the finger board into the 56-pin connector, :
and the other end into your JAMMA harness. :
:
Rather than using a finger board for each adaptor, you're :
using one 56-pin connector per adaptor, as the finger board :
can be used between different adaptors. :
:
The end result is reproduced here for quick reference. :
:
-------< <----------> >---------~~~~~\/~~~~~~~~~------< :
TO -------< <----------> >---------~~~~~'\/~~~~~~~~------< DIG :
JAMMA -------< <----------> >---------~~~~~~'\/~~~~~~~------< DUG :
WIRING -------< <----------> >---------~~~~~~~'`~~~~~~~------< PCB :
HARNESS -------< <----------> >--------- /~~~~~~~~------< :
-------< <----------> >---------~~~~~~' :
56-pin male-male 56-pin Wires that map 44-pin :
female PCB with female JAMMA pinouts female :
edge straight edge to 44-pin Dig edge :
connector traces connector Dug pinout. connector :
:
Like we said right at the introduction, the "right" :
approach for you depends on your resources; this is a :
perfect example. If you live near a surplus store that :
has 56-pin female edge connectors for $1.00 apiece, but :
you only have a few finger boards, grab a big pile of :
connectors go with method 2. If it's easier to use :
mail-order, and finger boards are half the price of edge :
connectors, get a big pile of finger boards and go with :
method 1. :
:
+----------------------------------------. :
4) RGB, Sync, polarity, and all that rot. \ :
-------------------------------------------`--------------------------------.
:
4.1) The Basics. :
:
Rick Schieve has written a text file on raster video basics; :
check out reference {9.3.6} (Raster Monitors) in the bibliography :
for more information, but we'll summarize the high points here. :
:
All raster monitors use generally the same set of inputs - :
RGB, and some form of sync. RGB stands for "Red, Green, and :
Blue", and denotes the colors of the beams. Sync is for :
"synchronization", the process by which the electron beam in :
a raster monitor sweeps across the screen. :
:
(You may have heard the terms "horizontal", "vertical", and :
"composite" sync. For now, just consider "horizontal" sync to :
be the sync pulse at the end of each line on the screen, the :
"vertical" sync to be the pulse at the end of each screenful :
of data, and "composite" sync to be a magical combination of :
both. We'll get into the gory details soon enough :-) :
:
So far, so good, right? :
:
Wrong. While all these signals are common to raster games, :
they come in different (and alas, incompatible) flavors. :
Working around these difficulties can be one of the more :
confusing problems for someone doing conversions. That's :
where this FAQ comes in. We'll try and describe the common :
variants, and give a few examples of games that use them. :
You should be able to extend the approach to other games. :
:
4.2) RGB polarity. :
:
While all raster monitors accept RGB inputs, they can have :
either positive or negative logic. The majority of games use :
positive logic (when the voltage is on, the electron gun turns :
on, and you get a bright image), but Nintendo games use :
negative logic, which works the other way around. :
:
RGB signals are analog signals; you'll need an analog inverter :
to get around the problem; a CMOS hex inverter (say, a 4069), :
which is designed to invert digital signals, won't work. To :
be more precise, it theoretically *shouldn't* work, but on :
the practical side, a few people have tried it and actually :
managed to make it work. Your mileage may vary. One tip: if :
you try this, make sure you ground all of your unused inputs. :
:
Meanwhile, the "right way" is to use an analog inversion :
circuit for each of the three RGB signals. It requires a :
+12V, -12V, and -5V supply, but some power supplies will :
supply all three voltages. Thanks to Paul Kahler for the :
original schematic and document. :
:
R3 :
+-----/\/\/---------+ :
| | :
| |\ +-- +12V | :
R1 | | \ | | :
Input ------/\/\/------+-----|- \ | :
| |LM318 \______|_______ Output :
-5V --------/\/\/------+ +--|+ / :
R2 | | /| :
| | / | :
| +-- -12V :
GND :
:
R1, R2, and R3 are all identical resistors. A value of roughly :
10K should provide good results. The LM318 is a high-frequency :
op-amp. Its pinouts are as follows: :
:
1 Comp/bal 8 Comp :
2 -in 7 V+ :
3 +in 6 output :
4 V- 5 Comp/bal :
:
The "Comp" pins may be ignored. An LF356 might also work, but :
the 741 is not recommended. :
:
4.3) Sync polarity. :
:
Now that we can generate the RGB signals our monitor requires, :
we still have to put the signals on the screen in an orderly :
fashion. The is what the "sync" signals are for. :
:
Again, we run into the problem that some boards produce :
negative sync, and some don't. Fortunately, since all sync :
signals are digital, the process is much simpler; using a :
*really* fast CMOS hex inverter is a perfectly legitimate way :
around the problem. A TTL inverter should also work; all sync :
signals generally operate at TTL levels. Still, this is dicey :
business, so your mileage may still vary. :
:
4.4) Composite versus Separate Sync. :
:
Now that you know how to invert syncs, you're ready for the :
last bit - the two flavors of syncs and how to mix and match :
them. :
:
Older monitors often had separate sync inputs; one for :
horizontal sync (the retracing of the beam across the screen), :
and one for vertical sync (the return of the beam from the :
bottom of the screen to the top of the screen). :
:
Newer games (but also many older ones) used monitors which :
accepted composite sync; the two signals were combined together :
on the board, and a bit of circuitry in the monitor determines :
whether a given sync pulse is a horizontal or vertical retrace. :
:
If you have an older game that outputs separate syncs, and :
a newer monitor that can only accept composite sync, you can :
combine the two using digital logic. Simply "OR" the two :
signals together with a TTL chip to obtain the composite sync :
signal. :
:
Since both composite and separate syncs can be positive or :
negative, it may be necessary to invert the composite sync :
signal after the ORing stage. If this is the case, just :
use a NOR gate instead. :
:
4.5) Sync shortcuts. :
:
If you've got schematics for your games, take a closer look :
at them. The game's wiring harness may show separate syncs, :
but the schematic itself may show that there are unused pins :
for composite sync. All the old Williams games (Defender, :
Stargate, Joust, Robotron, etc...) are like this, as is :
Atari's Missile Command. :
:
A little schematic-browsing can make your life much easier. :
:
One last cheat -- if your monitor only supports separate :
sync, you may be able to get away with connecting a composite :
sync signal to either the horizontal input or to both inputs. :
No guarantees, but you might as well try it as a "first shot". :
:
+------------. :
5) Inversion. \ :
---------------`------------------------------------------------------------.
:
5.1) Smoke and mirrors. :
:
Some games have mirrors in the cabinets which reflect the :
video output. This is great, if you're playing Asteroids :
Deluxe in the original cabinet. This sucks, however, if :
you're trying to put an Asteroids Deluxe boards in a :
conventional Asteroids cabinet. Most of these games have pins :
on their edge connectors for X- and Y-inversion; pulling these :
pins high (+5V) or low (GND) will invert the image in the :
appropriate axis. Play around until you've got something :
that looks right on your screen. :
:
5.2) Cocktails, anyone? :
:
To further complicate things, some games have "cocktail" pins, :
which are pulled high or low depending on the wiring harness. :
On upright games, the signal on the "cocktail" pin tells the :
game *not* to invert the image when player 2 is up. On :
cocktail machines, the signal tells the game *to* invert :
player 2's image. :
:
Finally, and this is the *really* weird one, some games use :
both approaches -- a PLAYER1 and a PLAYER2 pin, for instance, :
were used on the Asteroids cocktail machine, both to activate :
and de-activate the two players' control panels, but also to :
control video inversion. :
:
Our point here is not to confuse - merely to say that if the :
game appears upside-down or backwards for no apparent reason, :
you should probably take a closer look at the pinouts. It's :
amazing the number of variations that are out there, and it's :
sometimes a miracle that things show up correctly at all! :
Again, our earlier rule of thumb applies: If you don't like :
what you see, play with it until you do. :
:
As a last shot - sometimes it's not on the pins at all. More :
recent games control their "cocktail" versus "upright" behavior :
by means of a DIP switch setting. Fiddle with these if you :
think you've tried *everything*... :
:
5.3) It's *STILL* upside-down! :
:
Finally, with vertically-mounted games, there are no :
guarantees. Some manufacturers believed that a monitor :
should be rotated 90 degrees to the right, and some believed :
it should be rotated 90 degrees to the left. So you're not :
the only person who's confused. The whole industry was :
confused at one time or another, and this is the historical :
result. :
:
What this means is that if you've tried all of the above :
techniques, and you've got a game designed for a vertically- :
mounted monitor, you may be out of luck. The manufacturer of :
that game used the same monitor, but they turned it the other :
way around. :
:
You can get around this by reversing the wires to the :
deflection coils on the neck of the monitor (and if you're :
really fancy, installing a switch to go back and forth :
whenever you like), but like most monitor work, this is a :
fairly advanced modification, and we recommend that you be :
absolutely certain that you know what you're doing before you :
try this. :
:
Remember, monitor hacking can be a dangerous sport unless you :
know what you're doing and take proper safety precautions. :
Keep in mind that with all the space you've saved doing :
conversions, you can probably squeeze in another cabinet. :
Replacing *yourself* is much more difficult. If you've never :
hacked on a monitor before, ask some folks on the 'net about :
proper safety procedures (such as discharging the tube, etc.) :
before you begin. :
:
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------.}
