Bung V64

Finally I got my hands on one of these so called "Doctor Stations".
Turns out, it looks like brand new, but won't give me any picture of its menu.

I installed the N64 on top, added the cardridge adapter, installed the video cable from N64 to V64 and from V64 to TV.
I turn the N64 on, TV shows picture. I turn only the V64 on, no picture, no menu, no nothing.
I tried it with only the V64, even the same, no picture.
When I turn the V64 on, the disc drive spins.

I searched the www for some answers to my problem, but havent found much, only that it may be the 7406 driver ic.
So I bought a new one, soldered that thing in there (original GD74LS06, new one HD74LS06P), now Im having a more serious issue.
The picture is still not showing up and now the 12V switched its line
Where +12V line was, is now GND (I 12V) and where GND (I 12V) was is now +12V.
In this state the power brick gave me weird noise, so I switched the pins on the power-button connector, now starts normal with no power brick noise.

This thing is driving me nuts !

Anyone here who knows something about this hardware, its issues, this especial problem and why the heck the +12V line can switch to another line for no reason !?

I would be glad for some help !

INFO: N64 is EU PAL and V64 is UK PAL

kind regards
DragoonC

 

No one knows?

 

damn, seems like this is really special know how...

 

My system does the same shit. I'm sure it's basically dead, my unit was working fine after one day I got no video. So I tried other cables, cleaned the system out, tried another 64, still nothing. Try reflowing the board, but there's not promises, it's nice to have a unit working correctly, but you're better off with a flashcart. The V64 is a display piece now.

 

If either of you want to sell your dead one, I'd be interested - depending on price.

 

Weren't those things notorious for being eggshell flimsy?

 

@ Bad_Ad84

At the moment I exchanged the unit for other console stuff, but I told the person that I don't know why it isnt running.
Also I gave him the opportunity if its not working, he can have my working Wildcard DX with sd-card emulator.

So, when If I get the unit back from him, I contact you.
Maybe you can prvide me in exchange with a bunch of Dreamcast and Saturn region-free bios chips

You're from the Uk right, or was it Us ?
I'm asking cause I have to look how much the shipping costs will be.

 

never do this again, it kills your electronics, never swap power pins!

 

A trade sounds good, I am in the uk

 

@ Infrid

Whut?
Dude, when 12V has to be on the +12V Line and there is only I12V, there is no problem with switching the cord, which comes from the power button, lol.

 

One of my friends who used to sell console copiers back in the day gave up on the V64 because he had so many failures on them.

The main one was that the PSUs blew up, and there were also problems with the Molex connectors going high resistance. The emulation adapter (and especially the early white ones) were very easy to break, and when the unit had a logic board failure (which was pretty common) it was nearly always the main custom chip - which was a glob-top and could only be replaced by exchanging the main logic board.

Luckily, he was in HK and Bung would replace the dead boards, but it still ended up costing him a lot of money both for shipping and because he had to keep excess inventory so that there were always spares available.

 

sounds very interesting !

I read about blown psus, but never about molex connectors going high resistance!?
I can say, that the psu was working the right way.
The emulation adapter and the whole thing was like new (yes it was a full white one).
Can you describe that logic board failure a little more?
With main custom Chip you mean the Bung EEPROM or what?

Yeah, I would have done that too, since I have a lot of modding freinds over in japan, but Bung isn't existing or they haven't got the parts anymore I guess?

 

Replacing 1 IC shouldnt swap power for the entire circuit. You shouldnt reverse polarity of the entire circuit due to 1 chip.

 

gosh!

I didn't replace any IC.
I swapped the yellow and black wire going from the power-button to the mainboard.
so that it switches correctly.
Cause before, it wouldn't switch on and on the mainboard molex, going to the disc drive, there was I12V where +12V should be, by swapping that, I corrected this and the unit turned on again.
Im no dumbass, I can use a multimeter what it's made for and meassure correct voltages...

 

To be fair, you said you swapped the ic and then you had the power problem. Not that you found a separate issue.

But if that's the case, then this unit would have never worked. Or did you buy it faulty?

 

Oh shit you are right.
I didn't mentioned that even with the original IC the problem was there.
It didn't turn on and I seen a Thread where someone asked Bung directly about this issue and they said it was this specially IC.

It was given to me faulty.
It did never do anything more, than spinning the drive, but gave no picture.

 

Yeah, there are two 4-pin Molex headers on the board - one provides power for the CD-ROM drive and the other goes to the power switch - if you are getting random crashes, then check to see if there are any signs of overheating on those plugs (it normally shows up as a brown mark on the plastic housing) - if you get it, then the only real fix is to replace both the header and the connector.

There are two custom chips on the left hand side of the board (next to the sockets for the RAM modules) - apparently on some of the early units they were flatpacks, but all the ones I've ever seen were using globtops. The chip that seems failure prone is the upper one with the square PCB footprint - and if you have one of the boards using CoB construction then there is no practical way to replace the device and you just have to scrap the board.

One other thing to be aware of is that you should never hot plug anything on a V64 - sure, this is general electronics advice, but in this case, it's really important - most of the connectors (comms, emulation adapter, RAM) are wired directly to that custom chip with no protection components at all and it's easy to blow it up.

If you have a bad emulation adapter, then the V64 menus will come up normally but the N64 won't boot - this can also be caused by a bad boot adapter or main unit, though - so the best way to test them is to swap them into a known working system.

I think Bung ceased trading in about 2000, although the same people carried on making the flash based stuff (I.E. GB Exchanger and the V64jr) and selling it under the name "Mr. Flash". I don't know what happened to them after that, but they don't seem active any more.

I suspect what he's saying is that he swapped the two 4-pin headers inside the unit - which is pretty easy to do since they are identical (nice design there, Bung...) - if you do this, you end up with +12V applied to the +5V line in the unit and about -7V applied to the +5V line on the CD-ROM drive. If you're lucky, the PSU just shuts down - if you are not so lucky, it blows the crap out of everything.

 

on the right way, but no.
I swapped the +12V and GND Line on the Power-button connector, cause I was getting I12V on the +12V line of the disc-drive molex

 

ehhh LOL?