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Pinky Jitters During Vertical Movement
Repair Case Summary
This page documents a firsthand Pinky Jitters During Vertical Movement repair case.
It is intended for technicians and collectors troubleshooting original Pac-Man or Ms. Pac-Man arcade PCB hardware.
- Date: 2017-04-16
- Board: Original Pac-Man PCB
- Category: Sprite movement / graphics
- Symptoms:
- Board booted and played normally except for one jittery ghost.
- Pinky twitched while moving up and down.
- Other ghosts behaved normally.
- ABC Diagnostics sprite-movement test reproduced the erratic movement.
- Diagnostic observations / tests:
- ABC Diagnostics identified 3F and 3H as associated with sprite movement.
- Piggybacking 3F with a new 7489 produced no change.
- Piggybacking 3H stopped the glitches.
- Components / locations investigated: 3F, 3H, 8216 at 3H
- Root cause: Fault associated with the device at 3H.
- Repair: Removed the old 8216 at 3H, installed a socket, and installed a replacement chip.
- Result: Pinky’s movement returned to normal.
- Search terms: Pinky jitter; Pinky twitch; ghost movement glitch; vertical ghost movement; 3F; 3H; 8216; ABC Diagnostics; sprite movement
- Evidence: Physically verified repair / firsthand repair log
How to Use This Repair Record
This is a firsthand physical repair case. The same symptom on another Pac-Man or Ms. Pac-Man PCB can have a different electrical cause. Use the documented diagnostic observations and tests to guide troubleshooting rather than replacing a component solely because it repaired this board.
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