Spy Hunter and the concept of Security Torx

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Sun Mar 25, 2007 3:48 am

The marquee on my Spy Hunter doesn't light and I wanted to fix that. When I brought the Ms. Pac home the marquee did not light and I was able to fix it by removing the marquee and adjusting the lamp inside. I am capable of doing this to any game and feel like Nikola Tesla every time I perform this operation that, frankly, a monkey could do. I don't care, it's the extent of the electrical repair I am capable of.

Anyway, the screws on the Spy Hunter look to be TORX. Torx! Never been forced to encounter one before. No sweat. Vitriola says she has a torx screwdriver and I go to remove the screws holding the marquee in... and, haha, they are like torx-plus. Super torx. They have a piece of metal in the middle of them, rendering them invulnerable to a screwdriver that nobody on earth should have in the first place.

I can't be the first person to want to put a new lamp in his game, so I hope onto the newsgroup and sure enough, I learn about the "security torx" screwdriver. Good grief. At any rate, I'm able to determine that a security torx screwdriver exists.

But is this it? I assume that everyone on this website has encountered them before but me, so I might as well admit that I know NOTHING about them and get some much-needed advice.

AArdvark · Post by **AArdvark** » Sun Mar 25, 2007 6:14 am

As a denizen of the industrial world I encounter the torx type of fasteners on a daily basis. They, in a word, suck blue monkey balls. The so called security torx types are made to keep cretins from stealing the marquee from the machine. The chances of actually going to your local hardware store and buying a security torx wrench are probably nil. These fasteners easily defeated by simply inserting the correct size torx bit into your handy engine lathe and drilling the proper size hole in the middle, thus creating your own personal security torx bit. Thats what I did. This probably wont be very helpful to you, however. If the fasteners are not screwed down too tight you sometimes can cut a slot through the middle of them with a small cut off wheel (found in any dremel type of high speed rotary tool) and use a regular slotted screwdriver to remove them. Immediately replace them with a sensible fastener because you will not feel that you have defeated the evil torx empire until you do.

THE
STANLEY
AARDVARK

bruce · Post by **bruce** » Sun Mar 25, 2007 9:03 pm

What he said.

A Dremel and a cut-off wheel make all screws flathead screws.

Bruce

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Thu Mar 29, 2007 5:24 pm

It was cheaper to get a set of security torx from the Real Bob Roberts than it was to get a dremel (which I totally need). Bob had a set of bits for $7. Do you know what I normally get for $7? A bad meal at a Tech Center Food Franchise. So this will be an improvement.

Bob also sells a battery replacement that I am going to try to install. If it works I should be able to save my high scores. I got past 50,000 and got to the water scene for the first time last night. It felt great. I need these accomplishments saved because aside from getting Adventure Construction Set working on an emulated Amiga, they are few and far between.

The pedal in my Spy Hunter car reaches its highest value not when you floor it... but right before. So today I had my first case of Spy Hunter Foot with my real car. It was right when I left today, for the first intersection. I am becoming a better SH driver than real one.

AArdvark · Post by **AArdvark** » Fri Mar 30, 2007 7:01 pm

Could you please record a video of you playing Spy Hunter so we at home could watch you play? Another question? I have played that game since it first came out and I want to know,; do you ever get anyplace? You drive and drive and then youe boat and boat but do you arrive anywher?

THE
STUPID
BARREL DUMPER
AARDVARK

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Fri Mar 30, 2007 7:02 pm

It is not possible for me to record a video of myself playing Spy Hunter. The camera is still broken.

It's true: you don't get anywhere in Spy Hunter. But do you arrive some place in Pac-Man? Tempest? Crystal Castles? (OK, actually yes, in Crystal Castles). Life?

LIFE, Aardvark? How about LIFE?

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 6:55 pm

Update!

The Real Bob Roberts cross-ships. He is one of the greatest Americans that has ever lived.

I got the torx wrench and bits: glad I ordered his kit, as I had the wrong number for which security torx bit I needed! His kit gives you many.

I took out the fluorescent lamp and jiggled it. (This solved the issue with the lamp on the Ms. Pac-Man after transfer.) No dice. I removed the lamp and put it in the Ms. Pac -- it lit right up. Dammit! This means I have a problem with the marquee system on the Spy Hunter and I don't know how to go about fixing that.

I did buy a digital multimeter, though, so maybe I can... take a ... trace? Is that what people do? They take traces? Maybe I can do that.

Research indicates that I might need to replace something called the "ballast." Ever onwards.

Vitriola · Post by **Vitriola** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 9:15 pm

Yeah, I feel for you.

Love,
The person who has been fucking with our sprinkler systems all day, and they still don't work

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 7:31 am

In the last two threads, you and Pinback officially came out against Spy Hunter and baseball. Maybe the both of you could find common ground in the cooking base, where you could both eat shit?

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 12:43 pm

Hey Varkus... quick question for you.

So, I got the battery replacement kit. The original board had a rechargeable NiCad battery, and the one I am replacing with is a Lithium. So I need to stop the PCB from charging it. Cool, I comprehend that.

The instructions for the kit say, "change R217 resistor to a 1N4007 blocking diode... colored band away from battery. "

How do I do that? Do I heat up a soldering gun and pick away the resistor that is in place there? Do I then solder the diode to the board in its place? And would Radio Shack have a "1N4007 blocking diode"?

(The instructions in full are here, towards the end: http://arcadecontrols.com/BBBB/midway.html)

Man, I think I know what I am supposed to do here, but I don't want to make a mistake out of ignorance and fry my PCB.

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 12:56 pm

OK, I now think the battery is on the power supply and not the PCB. I'll check it out tonight.

Jack Straw · Post by **Jack Straw** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 1:05 pm

sounds like you've got a pretty good handle on what's gotta happen. in this picture, it shows the same diode you're gonna need.. looks almost the same as the resistor it replaces. it's got a band on it to indicate polarity, also like the resistor.

he's saying you want the white band away from the positive side of the battery. incidentally, the above AA pic is from a bally pinball repair.

here's a EuroPean take on the 4000 family diode:

PS - Eat shit.

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 2:11 pm

Thanks! YOU MOTHERFUCKER

AArdvark · Post by **AArdvark** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 4:13 pm

You have the right idea. Radio Shack would indeed have one O them diodes. Or something just as good, Most diodes that size are pretty much the same. All you want to do is keep the 'lectricity from going back into the battery. I take it that you have limited experience with a soldering iron then. It wont be hard to do..

If you have a small pair of needle nose pliers you can pull the resistor leg out from the top of the board while you apply heat to the solder joint on the bottom. Practice on some junk boards if you want. It's not hard. The main thing is to do it quickly as some components don't like to get too hot. When you have the resistor free from the board make sure the holes are clear. This can be done by heating the solder to a liquid and wiping with a piece of wet paper towel or cloth. Bend the legs on the new diode so it fits nice in the holes. Double check the orientation so you don't have to do this twice. Then solder the diode in nice. Clip the excess legs off and Viola!

I guess pointing out that writing the high scores down on paper and taping them to the cabinet would work almost as well is rather moot. It's more cool to modify anyway, right?

THE
50/50
AARDVARK

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 4:21 pm

Awesome. This is exactly what I needed to know. You are an amazing human being and I will never forget this. Yeah, there was an episode of My Name is Earl where Crabman would take Polaroids of his 2600 Berzerk scores and tape them to the wall. I'm not too good for that or anything. But, I bought the part and everything, you know.

bruce · Post by **bruce** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 5:10 pm

Jack Straw wrote:it's got a band on it to indicate polarity, also like the resistor.

Resistors have polarity?

Don't put the diode in backwards, though. You will be sorry if you do. They do have polarity.

Bruce

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 8:36 pm

I opened the battery kit I ordered earlier this week, and the diode was inside. So that's taken care of.

Someone on the newsgroup posted this:

There's already a NiCad battery on the PS. Some integrate a lithium battery & holder to eliminate the possibility of a leak in the future which is what you're referring to (CR2032). In my experience, the lithiums just don't last very long in these machines so I replace with a brand new rechargable NiCad.

So now I am wondering what is easier. Still gotta get the current battery out of there, though. It's on "the power board."

Jack Straw · Post by **Jack Straw** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 2:30 am

Resistors have polarity?

Don't put the diode in backwards, though. You will be sorry if you do. They do have polarity.

If you want to get technical, diodes have bias, not polarity.. and you CAN put them in backwards if you want reverse bias.
Resistors do not have polarity, the bands on them indicate the value.
but this is all irrelevant to robB removing the resistor and installing the SAME EXACT diode as in the picture I posted in the SAME EXACT way that is visually represented.
Sometimes, less is more.

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 7:39 am

It is critical that Spy Hunter brings us together and not apart. (Unless one of you is a spy.) I will reverse the polarity of my stomach otherwise and no-one wants that.

Update: Found the location of the battery on the Spy Hunter. I also removed the fluoresent ballast from the Ms. Pac, installed it on the SH and ... it worked! So I have the SH ballast and I will take it into Home Depot or Lowe's over lunch today and get a replacement.

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 12:24 pm

The Milker noticed that the starter was missing on Spy Hunter's ballast. Yeah, that would explain why it didn't work. Apparently a previous owner of the game removed the starter and didn't care if the lamp lit. I find an unlit marquee to be a constant source of frustration.

So, I bought a new starter for a couple bucks. It fits! And they give you two of them, as well. Excellent. I had no place to test the ballast with the new starter, so I won't know more until I'm home and I've plugged it in.