Atari Firefox Arcade Repair / Restore Part 4 - Installing the Dexter Laser Disc Player Replacement

[@darkside1exisle]

Great work on the Firefox. The "Homing Beacon Attached" message is a reference in the film where in the film story, Clint Eastwood's character Mitchel Gant was given what in appearance looked like a normal looking pocket transistor radio that even picks up local stations but was disguised as a homing beacon that Gant attached to the control panel in the cockpit after escaping the air base with the Firefox. The homing beacon would activate when the Firefox was within 100 miles of "Mother One", the sub that refueled the plane as the aircraft wasn't configured to refuel in the air while the second firefox was. Gant used the ice floe surface as a runway for landing and taking off afterwards.

[@Johnsarcade]

Awesome! I need to watch this movie again. I read about the "homing beacon" in the manual and it said you were about to refuel and land. I wonder if that's in the game.

[@AverageJoeVinyl]

Nice to see this baby brought back to life! I haven't played this in 20 years at least. Too bad it's not in Daphne (yet).

[@pinballdan]

It's in Mame and plays great :-)

[@smellymelly011273]

Congrats on getting the Firefox working John!!! Love the movie and have fond memories of playing it in the arcades.

[@TortureBot]

Great video. It's really cool to see the development of that laser disc replacement. Just another great way to keep an old game functioning when the original hardware doesn't last.

[@jumbosinbad360]

I was so happy when Firefox first boot up! it's a great game John, play and enjoy!

[@sjntube]

You should definitely try and find some new control panel overlays. Maybe a gentle dremel tooling on those burns above the flight stick. That Dexter is REALLY impressive!!! Between that and Daphne, it will go a long way to including those disc games to home arcades!

[@GibbysArcade]

This is inspiring me to get out to the garage and work on my Firefox. Been putting it aside to work on others, but I think it's time to get on this one. Great video John!

[@Johnsarcade]

Get to work! :)

[@GibbysArcade]

+John's Arcade Game Reviews & Tech I actually did! Had to put a monitor in it as the operator must have snagged it for another game. Got it cleaned up as it was covered in layers of filth, but it actually looks Really Good! The inside is pristine...which was a surprising since it was buried in an op's warehouse for 20 years! Haven't tested the laser disc yet, but getting Rom errors once I tried to boot. Time to dig in!

[@fontenoyjoe]

One of the first arcade games I played in the 80s

[@Duke_Togo_G13]

I'm loving this new camera. The picture is outstanding!!!

[@Johnsarcade]

Thanks, Adam! Good to hear.

[@axelmartinezboulouf4534]

great to see the firefox working !! i hope some day do the same to my old proyect firefox ....almost more than 10 years non working, cheers!!

[@Chuck-RETROGAMECAVE]

John, Thanks for proper screenshot (digital). I've been wishing for this for a while now.

[@kamiboy]

John, can you help me with my Firefox browser? It is acting up, an running slow.

[@Johnsarcade]

clear your browser history, cache, and cookies. also, make sure you are updated to the latest version.

[@kamiboy]

+John's Arcade Game Reviews & Tech you truly are the foremost authority on everything Firefox.

[@Johnsarcade]

Camous also consider an ad blocker to lighten your load.

[@kamiboy]

+Mac Donalds i tried, but couldn't find the tournament settings for my version.

[@biokemical]

Yeah the new Opera browser is pretty good, has inbuilt VPN and ad blocker.

[@SomeClassicGameMusic]

Hey, John - when is the Brofest video coming out? Really looking forward to it! Thanks!

[@Johnsarcade]

ASAP. need to set time aside to edit.

[@trickey30]

Loving the channel Jon, allowing me to relive my childhood spending summers in the arcades of the U.K. Seaside towns (when my parents would let me lol). If I remember correctly, that SD card issue is a "problem" with the Pi 2 (and models below). The SD card is where the operating system for the pi is stored. It's a spring loaded slot. Push to insert and push to release, so its easy to bump and release :-)They've changed it on the pi 3's to be a push insert pull, take out. At least it didn't go pinging across the floor, you may never have found it lol

[@TheTurnipKing]

14:09 the only reason I can think of would be if the dip switch settings define the initial state of the board at start up but then allows the owner to ovverride the settings in software?

[@richardherzog5405]

Saw Firefox in the theater and Loved the movie. Game is very cool

[@Johnsarcade]

Yeah, I loved that movie too. I should revisit. It's probably bad now. :)

[@retroforce6919]

Hey John great video, I remember playing Firefox back in the days. The Firefox arcade seems a little temperamental with your mad skills you'll get it working 100%. Keep up the good work 👍

[@gto8202]

Yay....finally a Firefox update. Great vid John

[@Johnsarcade]

+PondWater thanks

[@iwgnma]

EPIC win with the Italia Hat. Saluti dall'Italia :D

[@rarecoolitems]

I used to play that game in the arcade. Good movie Clint Eastwood

[@fireproofneo]

41:15 I feel like i am watching the scene in National Lampoons Christmas vacation with the Christmas lights.

[@pHAMBURGLARq]

another successful restore! congrats buddy.

[@n.h.s.a.d.m.]

Thanks for the video, John! Now can you find a Cube Quest? :D

[@DJSArcade]

Small correction, the Dexter developer's name is Matt Ownby (no "S")

[@dvv45]

Great video!! Sure you will get the bugs worked out soon!!

[@nobodynoone2500]

These appear to be defunct. Are there any other devices that work in a similar way?

[@rick83083]

Great Video. I can't say if firefox is basement worthy though. I'd almost keep the darts or put pole position 2 down there instead.

[@70sroomreviews14]

Found the follow up. Well done sir. I also subscribed!!!

[@beeblebrux2112]

John, the game looks like it saves scores for each difficulty maybe? The first ones you saved were played on the easy mission, and the second ones you were playing the medium mission. Play another easy mission, and see if your other scores show up

[@bitrot42]

Great to see it up and running! Ugh, those pesky micro-SD cards... The full-size SD on the older Raspberry Pi was much less problematic.

[@bneyens]

8:23 - BNC stands for Bayonet Neal Connector. Most people don't know that 👍

[@Johnsarcade]

This is valuable knowledge. I didn't know that! :)

[@bneyens]

John's Arcade Game Reviews & Tech Damn google corrected me.... Bayonet Neill-Councilman Connector. So close ; )

[@Riz2336]

I like the cabinet of it, I don't think I'd be crazy about the game itself though.

[@uhfnutbar1]

restore it back to a Moon Patrol.cab and put one them 19 in one horizontal boards (witch is jamma), it has Moon Patrol you can set it up to boot only in to Moon Patrol or allow a few other of the games depending on the button setup ,

[@MartinAlejandroLiguori]

Is this game resolution interlaced?

[@janettecarbajo4408]

Nice! Love your videos! Looking good so far. Keep going!

[@Johnsarcade]

Thanks, Janette!

[@chickenlivers]

Love your passion, John!

[@ckvyucv1]

did you change the camera? amazing quality this vid

[@ninjaroach90]

That has got to be the quietest garage door I've ever heard.

[@Rinsler123]

John, we miss you even if you don’t wanna come back please let us know it’s going on😢

[@chrismc0101]

John, take a backup (image) of the Dexter Rpi SD card. It might become corrupted after multiple on-offs.

[@bitrot42]

With Dexter, the SD card is 100% read-only during normal operation. The random power cycling seen in this video is no problem for it at all. Otherwise, I would have been cringing through several parts of this video...

[@Johnsarcade]

+wondras warren, there has been a couple of times since this video where the video does not come up from Dexter. Power cycle fixes it. In general, it almost always comes up.

[@bitrot42]

Weird... I'll shoot you an email to discuss

[@Phaegian]

Are those SCSI and IDE connectors?

[@Johnsarcade]

No idea! Some sort of old ass connector. :)

[@uhfnutbar1]

the dips may be dirty , worth giving them shot contact cleaner and flip them off and on a few times to clean up the connection :) iv had pcb like this before that need the dips clean , they sit so long they tarnish

[@hannonm]

John check to see if there are any "free play" ROM's

[@NukTap]

is the dexter named after space ace?

[@Johnsarcade]

yep. the other laser emulator things are Daphne and Merlin. all from the Bluth world.

[@pinballdan]

JOHN!!! Plug some good headphones into it and it's so awesome to play that way!!!!!!!!!!!! Turn it up LOUD!!!

[@memyopinionsche6610]

Hay just wondering if you have any videos on Sega time traveler arcade game? I would love to see the guts of it just to see guts to find out how its works. I have check out TNT AMUSEMENTS you tube Chanel and they don't.. So do you? or can you point me in the right Direction.

[@bitrot42]

Time Traveler uses a standard Sony TV and a large curved mirror. It tries, with some success, to make the game characters look like they are floating above the flat top of the cabinet. The video is recorded upside-down and backwards on the disc, so it comes out upright through the mirror. The game makes use of the laserdisc player's ability to play forward and backward at variable speeds, with some randomization, so the gameplay isn't just rote memorization. Overall, it's mildly amusing, but not a game you're going to get deeply into.

[@MaximRecoil]

Instead of zip-tying the wall wart into that flaky connector, I would have made an adapter that plugs into the Molex connector. Just buy a dollar store extension cord, cut the wall plug off one end and put a Molex connector on it, plug it into the machine's Molex connector, and plug the wall wart into the other end.

[@TheTurnipKing]

12:53 beginning to think the original owner might have known EXACTLY what they were doing by not putting it on freeplay.

[@netropolis]

John, FYI Sadly Moon Patrol is not on the 19 in 1.

[@Johnsarcade]

+AproudDaddy oh. Really? Oops. Thought it was for some reason.

[@pinmandan5164]

Its very stupid that it doesn't have Moon Patrol and I wonder why they haven't updated the 19in1 PCB ? Its the same board as the 60in1, so I cant see why the cant add some more games ? Or they could get rid of the doubled up games eg.. Defender & Stargate, Rally X & New Rally X.

[@Demeterkitty]

Hey John, glad you finally got that Dexter board, I knew it would come in handy somewhere down the line :) Anyhow I was looking back at your Dragon's Lair videos and I was noticing something about your cab, the video. I managed to get ahold of a Dragon's Lair disc that I had intended to capture for my own Daphne project, but the disc is worthless as about 12 minutes in it fails with severe laser lock from disc rot (What a waste of 200 bucks. >_< ). What I did capture showed me something. I think you may want to adjust the vertical and horizontal size of the picture on the monitor as you're missing about 25% of your image. Just something I happened to notice looking at what I captured and what your video shows on the cabinet's monitor. (My name's actually Dave, used to run a Garry's Mod server and had the nick as my admin name, still do on Steam.)

[@bitrot42]

It's normal for an NTSC CRT to lose 5% or so on each edge due to overscan. That said, you don't want more overscan than you need, so it's not a bad idea to tweak the size controls to minimize it.

[@darktetsuya]

I looked into it on TG and sure enough I noticed something while you were playing called the 'unlimited journey' (for 3 credits) and that's the mode they use to keep score since I think the other ones end at 3000/6000/9000 miles I guess to get more money out of people? though then why not just have the unlimited mode be the default?! at any rate good to see the firefox up and running, hopefully soon barring any unforseen hiccups it'll join the family down in the basement! Also I would totally rock the Nintendo x VANS if they weren't so darn expensive! :P

[@TheTurnipKing]

55:30 I'd probably say get a generic cabinet kit and build a new home for the Jamma guts, and restore that Moon Patrol.

[@TheCoasterSpot]

I can't believe what I'm about to say is going to be my first comment after watching you for 2 years but the Firefox must live next to the iRobot when you move it down. The Computer Space would look good next to Ice Cold Beer anyways.

[@richardherzog5405]

They should be next to each other .

[@Johnsarcade]

I dunno. I always like to mix my games up. We'll see. :) Thanks for commenting finally! I've been waiting for you to say something. ;)

[@brandonevans9342]

is this the Monday weekly vid

[@Johnsarcade]

Yes it is. For now. :)

[@Bearcade]

I'd love to have a Firefox

[@theSammyM333]

After Burner is my favourite, but I like anything Clint Eastwood related. Why there is no Spagetti western gun game like The Good, The Bad and The Ugly :D

[@TheTurnipKing]

theres loads. Boot Hill, Express Raider, Sunset Riders, Mad Dog McCree...

[@allrock1238]

Fuel represents game play time .any hit by enemy fire causes loss of "fuel" (game play time) so shoot down the missiles and regular shots before hit you (Like the hits from the fireballs in star wars destroy shields hits drain your fuel in firefox) bonus fuel after each awarded after each round depends on how many things you destroyed ,there are hidden bonus objects like bases (there shots give there position away after your detected) radar avoidance is twice as hard at high altitude (sky) then along the (ground) but you use more fuel along the ground also not making the game instruct you to pull up will also score a bonus (simply pull up before it plays the video clip that warns you to do so) game difficulty selected at start determines mission length (number of stages played before completion) the beginner mission is so ridiculously short most people will say ,, that's all there is to it ? firefox stores credit and difficulty settings in nvram and refrences those settings ,, you may need to change to the freeplay setting in the self-test mode,, (the credit service switch must work as you said in test mode its a simple momentary contact button) yes the game saves the first 4 high scores in NVram and will hold them when powered off (unless there is a nvram fault)

[@DJThinK707]

Basement Worthy!!!! Put it next to I, Robot!!! And get Major Havoc back!!!

[@Johnsarcade]

+DJ ThinK I never got rid of Major Havoc. :)

[@DJThinK707]

Nice!!! Is it the same type of cabinet? Those would look good all together John!

[@Johnsarcade]

+DJ ThinK mine is the atari conversion for Tempest

[@DJThinK707]

Awww, too bad. :( You of all people, should be mad about that......

[@Johnsarcade]

***** I'm not mad. It's an official conversion kit. Looks and plays great. Has the full side art too. It's pretty rare, really.

[@royroy7814]

"Is that the whole game" Ha...another brown paint moment! 😅

[@otismohammed5555]

I realize Im kinda off topic but does anybody know of a good place to watch new series online?

[@novajaylen5296]

@Otis Mohammed Flixportal :)

[@otismohammed5555]

@Nova Jaylen Thanks, signed up and it seems like they got a lot of movies there :D I appreciate it!

[@novajaylen5296]

@Otis Mohammed no problem :D

[@CaptAwesumNo1Zone]

I'll buy a pair of those Vans John if you do

[@Johnsarcade]

Maybe, Kenny. Maybe. :D

[@CaptAwesumNo1Zone]

+John's Arcade Game Reviews & Tech yeah if it was ten years ago if buy them in a heart beat. I love Nintendo but I get the overly too dorky line, though I have been meaning to buy a new pair of Vans this summer, if I cave in and but them I'll email a pic, take care John!

[@CaptAwesumNo1Zone]

I'd* buy*

[@ed150arcade2]

another awesome video! thank you for answering my viewer mail question. you rock sir! #moonpatrollinginKY

[@Johnsarcade]

+Ed Damage restore it! :)

[@drifter848]

I thought I was so cool skating to the local pizza place and plugging my Walkman headphones into this and wasting quarters on this game

[@chuck12-82]

John, from your comments, it's clear that Firefox isn't a keeper. ..

[@chuck12-82]

Nothing can replace the "Jump Bug Blue" boots!

[@wingwong8304]

Don't get rid of the dartboard

[@royroy7814]

Kool game...

[@games2replay]

30:44 Just JO no gay stuff.

[@uhfnutbar1]

you should bought a few exstra free play coin up things from Adam :)

[@pinmandan5164]

Congrads on getting the FireFox up & running :-) Great little device that to replace the LD Player, FireFox has a great attract video, but the game is absolute SHIT !! Don't waste your time putting in the basement !! personally I'd rather play darts then play FireFox LOL Play it in the garage a few times, then sell it & save the dart board space for a real classic !!

[@Danelectro_56-U2]

John, I love you man-- but that game looks awful! I'm kinda disappointed for you after all your work and patience.

[@Johnsarcade]

+Danelectro_56u2 lol. :) We will see.

[@Johnsarcade]

Mac Donalds QUANTUM IS AMAZING

[@unorthdoxcleric6953]

It's incredible the thing even works, so if it looks a bit shitty which it did, then thats whats going to have to happen.

[@Musha-Fyre]

it sounded like a galloping horse

[@ed150arcade2]

I believe I will \m/

[@xboys_archive]

No dislikes nice

[@Johnsarcade]

+XBOYS Don't Jinx me.

[@goahead2402]

6

[@goahead2402]

5

[@james42519]

why you use twin galaxy settings? every since that donkey kong video i hate them. everyone involved in it really came across as bad in that. www.mtv.com/news/1560691/ex-donkey-kong-champ-finally-speaks-after-getting-bruised-by-new-doc/ this is jsut a fmv game like on segacd or something i guess if there is a service menu that would override the switches i would think too. finally can actually see the pictures. instead of using some small thumbnail