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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
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.