I Fixed My Space Invaders to DEATH.

[@xcaiusto]

Ah, the good ol' "I tried fixing this shit and made a different problem... I'm gonna deal with it another day"

[@ChristianStout]

And when Another Day finally comes, you can't remember what the original problem was or what troubleshooting you'd done so far...

[@CSLucasEpic]

@@ChristianStout Which is why he can now rely on this video as a source to remember what the problem was in the first place! Smart.

[@nep-nep6575]

Or what I like to call, “having a beer about it”!

[@wiintend07]

Me with my Mac Classic. Took about 3 months to get it working, then suddenly it failed again. Tried fixing the part, made it so much worse, and now it's just sitting around again. Peachy.

[@busterscrugs]

classic 🤣

[@rosebomb]

4:10 pictured: man learning that heat is hot

[@rikkoningen3992]

As an electronics repairman by trade and hobby I can say we have to okay? We need to know if hot is hot. I usually use the back of my finger but I have to know, which was quite fun recently when a heatsink had a random no reason 300v on it. Thanks sony.

[@harveycooper5098]

@@rikkoningen3992 the urge to know if hot is in fact hot is too strong for a man to resist no matter the profession. do not tell me to not touch a plate because its hot. first thing im doing, completely involuntarily is testing your hypothesis for myself.

[@Mobile_Dom]

8:10 WHO GAVE JAMES PERMISSION TO ONE GRIT IT

[@tasoeurlacon]

Bruh this one is 0.1 grit

[@UserAccount-ThisOne]

he didnt one grit it, he obliterated it with his mega grit.

[@brziperiod]

SUPER GRIT​@@UserAccount-ThisOne

[@EestiDorito]

James is friends with Dank pods so he has permission for that

[@TheOneTrueNothing]

@@tasoeurlaconDamn it, someone beat me to the joke!

[@daduckman97]

I have an old "The Simpsons" arcade cab that my parent's agreed to buy me many years ago for reasons I still don't fully understand (thanks mom and dad!). I had to repair the monitor at one point and ended up just swapping in an entirely new board since I couldn't get a replacement flyback for the one I had. I've definitely got an appreciation for repairing arcade machines watching this channel and I'm very thankful mine was such a simple fix. Thanks for keeping these old boxes alive despite them all wanting to just give up!

[@MarioKartSuperCircuit]

That arcade game is actually fire

[@thesergius2295]

​@@MarioKartSuperCircuitthat game ain't fire, it's the entire chemistry of heat

[@igotinspired8499]

This is nice example to my collection DunkPod - "ah, hang on, I'm an idiot" James - "Past me is a bit of a dick"

[@mikethetowns]

1:26 and 9:36 - Aww, the AVCon/PAX retro museum out of order signs made me smile haha

[@Mr.Mousey]

Is that what those are ? I thought it was a wreck it Ralph reference

[@craftersshaft]

​@@Mr.Mouseyit is mainly a Wreck It Ralph reference, but i love how it's actually been adapted and used as a universal "out of order" sign by most arcades

[@DUKE_of_RAMBLE]

Whereas me, being a non-arcade person, just appreciated the fact he slapped an OoO sign on it in his _private_ Man arCave. 😊

[@mikethetowns]

Aye, one of the my favourite images that can get the point across without reading the words haha

[@Games_for_James]

It came from wreck it ralph to begin with but but it’s by far the best option that comes up in google images

[@Bruddermane]

Today, I learned I can hook up an old small speaker with multimeter leads and use it as a tool to trace signal on a board…. Woah… super neat! Thanks James!

[@DUKE_of_RAMBLE]

At least for the audio signal path! Indeed, smart thinking. If it's communicating at a frequency higher than 25kHz, you won't hear anything 😅 _(and most Busses run at much higher speeds [frequencies], usually in MHz, so that's relevant)_

[@TheVilivan]

I'm a noob, what's the advantage of this over just using a multimeter normally?

[@jb-br8bf]

@@TheVilivan Multimeters are better for detecting fixed voltage and current values. For an electrical signal where the voltage is in flux, you need an oscilloscope, logic probe, or a speaker.

[@DUKE_of_RAMBLE]

@@jb-br8bf Just to add to what your said... Technically, if set to AC for voltage, a multimeter can at least tell you if an audio path is delivering SOMETHING... Where this speaker setup comes into play is determining if that audio is what it's supposed to be, clean and crisp; or perhaps that it's staticy, glitchy _(which would be more in the digital path before amplification),_ or even a complete screechy mess of noise _(maybe a fault in the amplification)._ Realistically, this is primarily a *_first step for diagnosing,_* either to tell you everything is fine in terms of signal, or some sort of problem which this then could point you in the direction of possible culprits.

[@GingerNingerGames]

I'm trying to fix an amplifier, I should probably do this with that instead of trying to see distortion on the scope

[@HACMiNos]

9:53 this cat is so cute

[@brimple]

fluffy car

[@justinowens8834]

Very cool, but can you fix my life?

[@TomaszRyszkowski]

I second this

[@TomaszRyszkowski]

Oh and also hopefully not to death haha

[@CaptainRex332]

Un fixable sorry

[@coalitionofseekers9572]

No, ur cooked.

[@classicforreal]

If James can fix my life he'd be canonized as Saint Channel because it would be a legitimate miracle.

[@CadillacHobo]

You need to burn some holy incense and chant the liturgies in order to appease the machine spirit.

[@dogdog357]

At this point? Might as well

[@vcprado]

Otherwise the magic smoke might get out

[@mromutt]

Dont forget its a 70s machine, you also need to put out the beer offering.

[@dogdog357]

@@mromutt Maybe some cigarettes, too. Unless those are the incense

[@mromutt]

@@dogdog357 haha I also thought that was the incense and the chant being swearing to yourself

[@johnnygrind77]

This video reminds me of "Trust Your Mechanic" by the Dead Kennedys: "Trust your mechanic to mend your car, bring it in to his garage. He tightens and loosens a few spare parts, one thing's fixed, another falls apart."

[@flmalegre]

Plastic Surgery Disastersssssssssssssssss

[@johnnygrind77]

@ I applaud thee, but a proper response woulda been, "AND THE RICH EAT YOU!" haha

[@crabenjoyer2556]

6:04 close enough, welcome back Beastie Boys

[@Mobile_Dom]

i didnt think i'd get parasocially connected to 2 aussies, this year, let alone them two being mates, but here we are

[@adamyoung8289]

You and me both buddy.

[@87MrBEAR]

Who's the other?

[@ExE_9808]

@@87MrBEAR Dankpods

[@Aliens2Exist]

​@@87MrBEARme

[@FailRaceFan]

Pair of hands fixing old game console on a red background and Pair of hands fixing old music players on a green background. Pick your favorite!

[@Tambasarem]

James: *explains how the game board works and how he’s gonna repair it* Me: I know some of these words.

[@bjdhaak]

The pain of fixing something to death is so real. Tried fixing the dashboard lights on my Volvo 740 and ended up with no dashboard lights, indicator lights, or tacho. Got it to work again without lights, so now i just don't know my speed at night.

[@DUKE_of_RAMBLE]

Find a 12V LED strip and glue it to the underside of the dash lip by the instrument cluster, and run a wire to the headlight switch. 🥴👍 A cludge, but a functional one!

[@bjdhaak]

@@DUKE_of_RAMBLE might end up manually rewiring some leds in the stock bulb locations in this way

[@acejktheboss1590]

Had a similar fight with the dashboard lights in my W123 mercedes, but I managed to break my fuel gauge. Had to change the whole circuit board in the end, so I feel your pain, man.

[@DavidRoberts]

Heh, I had to replace the dash on my Volvo 140 which had no working speedo with one in mph. So at least I knew how fast I was going, but had to just remember the conversions from kph and guess where between the lines 37mph was.

[@SulfuronBGS]

@@DavidRoberts this is why I'm thankful that most cars built for the right-hand drive UK market include dash speedometers with both MPH/KPH markings (MPH being more prominent, though, since that's what we use in the UK)

[@MrMegaManFan]

I once had a game store "fix" a game to death too by pulling out a power sander to start BUFFING OUT THE SCRATCHES. The next time I had a scratched disc I told them "don't clean it up I'll do it myself."

[@Foxii-86]

6:08 DJ James in the house!

[@Accord_Ian]

4:48 me after the lobotomy

[@Joshimuz]

6:19 Counterfeit Chips.

[@Bahraini_Carguy]

No way, it's the true 100% percent streamer.

[@CortyCze]

Oh hello Josh, didn't expect you here.

[@phillipkrol3338]

Speakers look similar to the ones we used in the Chrysler 300 & Dodge charger police doors I used to build @ a factory. Look for b4 or b5 inside the door rear doors, there's a code but you won't need it. B5s are smaller b4s look exactly like the one you had if you go to a junkyard.

[@Dogapult]

Unfortunately, neither of those cars were sold in any quantity in Australia.

[@Attakai_The_Kitty]

@@DogapulteBay

[@connc]

8:09 next level 1 grit

[@Uncle_.Dip69]

the half grit

[@calliestudios]

0.3 grit

[@carpespasm]

I call this phenomena Jealous Part Syndrome. When the whole machine is just barely keeping it together but you don't antagonize it then she'll bumble along just on spite. The second you replace something with a shiny new bit the old bits get jealous and want to be shiny and new as well.

[@nikkiofthevalley]

The actual reason is usually more to do with the thermal shock breaking stuff that's just barely hanging on. I'm sure both you and James know that, though, haha

[@carpespasm]

@@nikkiofthevalley nonsense. unshiny parts get jelly of their new neighbors and decide it's time to cross the rainbow bridge and make room for a shiny new part to take their stead. I hear they go to a nice parts supply house upstate.

[@some-replies]

I hate fixing things "too much" and just breaking them again

[@Paco8478]

Me too... it always happens to me

[@mpixl9965]

This video is an absolute rollercoaster, I hope you get this thing fixed some day so you can get some peace of mind.

[@GlueTubb]

8:58 this is like hearing your fun uncle raise his voice

[@cpufangobrr9212]

As much as this was all suffering in the end, it’s absolutely fascinated me how these old computers work - I was not expecting whole chips to be responsible for what software could do nowadays Plus I work with soldering and electronics so it’s cool seeing stuff in use, not just random resistors and components

[@948320z]

Just like software code could be optimized, a good hardware designer can significantly reduce those number of chips. There's the famous story of how Steve Wozniak designed a board for the Atari game Breakout that used only 44 chips (Atari's original design used more than 150). Then Steve Jobs negotiated a hefty bonus with Atari behind Woz's back... and pocketed the money, because of course he did.

[@oddball_the_blue]

As someone who restores vintage amps... I feel your pain James, especially with unobtainium chips/bits and external visual parts.

[@JeanMarceaux]

The guitar amps?

[@oxymoron02]

1:26 That Wreck-It Ralph out of order poster is rad!

[@Elijah-r9v9o]

I think it's the actual symbol for when those machines are broken I've seen it in modern arcades!

[@quentin-v9d]

Absolutely love the sounds coming out when James is testing each half of that last amplifier chip

[@bowieinc]

I had Ms. Pac-Man that took two good side panel hip bumps to get out of boot loop/diagnostic mode, always ran and played fine after. Been that way for 30 years. Still have a Rush’n Attack in storage I’ll probably never do anything with.

[@carlouis1]

Finally, a scenario on James Channel where I can relate - a simple fix that is "done in 5 minutes" spiraling into hours of pain and frustration. Hope ya get this arcade running again.

[@clementpruvost8670]

5:52 this is where the fun part begins.

[@InvalidVertex]

0:50 The D in MDF is for dandruff

[@wesleymays1931]

Medium Dandruff Fiberboard

[@jimbobsclayworld2439]

I would of been pulling my hair out, eyes bulging, making klaxon sounds if I were to end up with a boot looping machine at the end of a complicated repair. I have nothing but respect for the amount of patience you have!

[@mikebell2112]

The little window in the front art is to put a piece of paper that says how much money for how many plays. There might be a place to put it onto the cabinet so it's visible through the window.

[@MoikeIsJesus420]

That thumbnail proves what wade said about you guys "bringing home arcade machines in the niki" 😂

[@Games_for_James]

I’ve transported dozens of machines that way haha

[@MoikeIsJesus420]

@Games_for_James did the fiat lose any power with those heavy machines on top?

[@Games_for_James]

oh my yes

[@MoikeIsJesus420]

@@Games_for_James figures haha. Just wanna say ive been watching since the dankpods colab and really enjoy your content. Keep up the good work!

[@Games_for_James]

@@MoikeIsJesus420the arcade machines also raised the centre of gravity so much that you could wiggle the steering left and right and the car would kind of swing side to side underneath without the machine following. Glad you’re enjoying the channel!

[@EliasFever]

Rare footage of james being so frustrated. 5:02

[@UWUMelon]

THE BEST WAY TO START THE DAY IS A JAMES CHANNEL VIDEO

[@cliffguy]

I am pretty sure the little window in the bezel is to keep track of high scores. Even though space invaders was the first game to save and record high scores with your anitials, they reset when the machine is turned off and on again and where limited at 100,000 or 1,000,000 points. To fix that issue, the window is where you would tape a piece of paper with your score and could write your full name, apposed to the three letters!

[@AyyEf]

6:02 bro is dabbling in some electronic music

[@samukadatp7969]

0:52 at the moment that he scratched the wood a speck of dust fell on my eye

[@manamaster_]

I feel the pain with space invaders. Ive worked on one at work with board issues. Got it fixed and put back in the arcade. It worked for 15 minutes and then I haven't been able to get it working since.

[@alexcharles8541]

6:00 I didn’t realize James was an EDM artist.

[@948320z]

Him + Wade should start a band lol

[@JeanMarceaux]

Just one of his MANY talents

[@ProfAmpharos]

Don't get too beat up about this project. I've had stuff like this happen to me. Keep up the awesome videos and I hope to see this machine working in the future : )

[@mrmouse-ol9pw]

Always been so impressed with ppl who can read a schematic like that.

[@RAFMnBgaming]

definitely interesting seeing what the inside of one of these looks like after 50 years of repair jobs. Adds some real tangiable history to the machine.

[@Radu_-ro6fp]

Australian tech youtubers are so fun to watch

[@Chilakkuma13]

My cat was just as interested in this video as I was with all the interesting sounds.

[@alteito]

>"Why no sound" >machine instantly outputs lobotomy noise FORESHADOWING AT IT'S FINEST

[@clark_johannes]

REIMU AT 0:17

[@CocoHutzpah]

8:11 this brings the phrase "every tool is a hammer" to mind

[@syntaxvrc]

0:10 Fun fact, Leisure and Allied Industries still exists today as LAI Games. I've worked on their modern machines when I was still an arcade technician, I didn't know they were based out of Aus until today! They've got a pretty huge presence in mainstream American arcades (think Main Event or Dave & Buster's), and actually still make some pretty cool games (though I'm still not a fan of Let's Bounce just from having had to maintain that damn thing...)

[@yaboilemonboi5223]

6:11 I liked how it made proton pack shutting down noises:)

[@StephenBanyar]

Nice going, James! My father loves Space Invaders!

[@eDoc2020]

I was tasked with fixing the Midway version that was being super unreliable. I started by reseating all the socketed chips but accidentally broke some pins off one of the ROMs. I ended up fixing that new problem by soldering on scraps of network cable to make replacement pins. As for the actual problem, the chips were running at under 4.5 volts. I had previously only checked on the other side of the connector. After cleaning the connector and readjusting the power connector (and redoing my ROM fix) it worked perfectly. It's a shame because the internals appeared to be 100% original before that, other than a PSU service tag from the early 1980s.

[@JoshNotJohn0]

this space invaders machine looks like something I'd build from memory.

[@scottmcreynolds9157]

My dog doesn’t like the function generator and it’s noises but I certainly found it fun.

[@SudosFTW]

There's modifications for these machines to use lower voltage ram and that by itself is something of a godsend for a big heat generating cabinet like this. Likewise I think there is the ability to just use one big ram chip instead of a whole bunch of small RAM chips and there should be documentation about that online.

[@rikkoningen3992]

Honestly not surprised the new audio chip lived that short. If there's anything that's needlessly robust it's audio devices honestly. I'm personally using loads of restored ancient audio equipment, the things they live while only developing mild quirks is amazing. They're a bit grumpy sure but they'll live. I do repair work, I wish anything was as robust as audio amps. They're a rare treat to work on for me because they're big, easy to troubleshoot, and they can shrug off me just pumping a load of power through them to see what smells bad.

[@rzdakira]

Awww, I feel heartbroken. Everything was going so well (relatively) up until the end

[@BryceClonan]

Story of my life, it's always the straight forward arcade fixes that don't go to plan..

[@JeanMarceaux]

James was so wired by the end of the episode, I'm sure you would've died of electric shock if you were to touch him without proper grounding.

[@gitcat6671]

this is the 2nd machine after the mercedes to earn the "james hates working on it" award

[@The-Thomas-and-Sonic-Guy]

Nice video as usuall James!

[@clockwork3494]

Seeing a nugget with an arcade strapped to the roof and the channel name "James" made me do that meme with the guy in the yellow shirt pointing, like "Hey, I recognize you _and_ your car!"

[@VF5SS]

The thumbnail of this arcade machine loaded up on a Niki is art. Everyone gets a Tony.

[@Jacklyn-Arts]

we have the rare example of a angry james, if you have an angry james stuff has gone sidways

[@P7777-u7r]

Amazing that whole cabinet could fit on 1 chip now

[@TheBorhork]

99 bugs in the code, 99 bugs in the code, take one down, patch it around, 117 bugs in the code

[@ZeroWind2014]

"I'm not desoldering with a heat gun" *accidentally desolders with a heat gun*

[@SomeRandomPersonOnTheNet]

Is that the “Wreck It Ralph” out of order sign?

[@shaky5754]

we need you to show off your popnmusic machine NOW!

[@dansintheband]

6:00 nice little cameo by Edgar Winter there

[@mcrsit]

look mum no computer!

[@Vixeneye1]

Incredible! I can't wait for either one month from now or two years from now for a video on this cabinet again . :D

[@freestyla101]

You might want to give that chipboard a coat some sort of clear polyurethane to try and stop it from deteriorating even more. Maybe even a clear acrylic spray paint might help.

[@obscuremix8198]

Hehehehe, "thish mesh". That's a potential gag right there.

[@baetIIDX]

very appreciative of the amount of screentime pop'n got

[@AngusNolanAddison]

Ah now we get to see the space invaders cabinet that was on tony’s brother AKA his fiat 126

[@skweek256]

you're ace james! keep on truckin

[@trevcorn42_technology]

You got this Man. keep working on it man!!

[@carlbergstrom2627]

As someone that owns and operates a vintage arcade machine rental for events, oh I feel your pain! I can have a machine is 100% working order, take it on an hour truck ride and nothing works.

[@coleforsmark7847]

5:54 James becomes LookMumNoComputer

[@hyper847]

i usually dont hear you and wade swear so hearing you say "past me is a bit of a dick" was extra hilarious. I can only imagine how stressed you were

[@Games_for_James]

Haha I originally cut it like with dogsh. but the same humour didn’t work twice so close and dick is mild enough anyway. I figure if it can be someone’s name it can be in my vids

[@SharmanDoom]

When you started saying LAI I heard LAIce and was wondering what caused that cross over

[@snil4]

You really deserve to go to the next cabinet and play some Pop'n after that mess.Also good on you for already updating to Unilab just a month after the new version got released, I know private owners had to wait a really long time to get DDR A3 running.

[@Games_for_James]

Yeah the private servers usually stay one version behind to avoid angering konami too much.

[@DUKE_of_RAMBLE]

Would spraying Lacquer on the image side of the cabinet, maybe be an easy way to preserve what's left by giving it some rigidity? (and the other side, to stop the "dandruff") Or would its solvent be more than likely to *ruin* what *_is_* left?

[@Games_for_James]

Probably, I just want it working though

[@RossMitchellsProfile]

To be fair, considering it's got no artwork already and is just a big flat sheet of chipboard you could probably do a far more polished job by just replacing it with a fresh piece of chipboard, mdf or plywood, you could even stick on a replacement sticker if you wanted at that point.

[@Games_for_James]

@@RossMitchellsProfileyeah there are a lot of things attached to the inside of it though. Also the back and other side arent brilliant and I’m not keen to rebuild the whole cabinet

[@RossMitchellsProfile]

@Games_for_James fair enough, especially considering this things history of breaking in new and different ways after every fix.

[@dakawans83]

James, you embody what passion can bring a person too.

[@GlupShito]

3:23 for a second I thought dankpods made a cameo lol James sounded just like him

[@luheartswarm4573]

aw man it sure was heartbreaking it didnt work but its a bit funny to see jank going all the way back then

[@lightlegion_]

You’re offering something new and exciting!

[@beingsactual]

You have killed the invaders. "You're winner!"

[@oseidwomoh]

Hehe. That Wreck It Ralph out of order sign.

[@maninthesnow4393]

Fixing electronics is a loop of fixing one thing breaking one thing until you some how hit a equalibrima and it all magically works

[@panagiotispappas1001]

5:01 HE DID IT… HE SAID A NO-NO WORD!

[@electriccomics]

This is the Sears Atari of the Space Invaders.

[@DouglasFish]

Wait until james dives down the LMNC circuit bending route

[@glassramen]

Fix one issue, another appears. I feel that pain.

[@furkan9549]

People use SUVs to transport only themselfes instead he uses only nuggs, epic!

[@CaptainRex332]

Yay I love when the Aussie disembodied voice and hands KZbinrs upload

[@BlaiseLeFolf]

He works on cars and game consoles thats something to be proud of