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Time Crisis 3 Arcade Games Wont Boot With Link Cable Connected

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slybomber123456

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Hello Everyone,

I recently purchased a pair of Time Crisis 3 games, I was able to test them before purchasing them and they were fully functional when testing. I have included an example picture of the version of cabinets that I have. Broke the machines town, transported them, re-assembled them, and am now having issues.

When I turned the units back on, it would play the initial startup jingle, run the first boot screen / screen test (white dots and lines on the screen). Would then get a few buzzes and crackles from the speakers. But after that it would just sit at a black screen and never proceed to boot.

After some troubleshooting I have narrowed this to a link issue. If I remove the link cable, both machines boot and play 100% fine, I just obviously can't play in link-play mode.


Here are the behaviors I observed in case they are helpful:


  1. With the link cable plugged in the boot process gets stuck before the Bufram write screen ever shows up
  2. If the cable is plugged in after the boot process, the boot process hangs and will not continue
  3. If the cable is plugged in after the games fully boots it just freezes and starts playing the last sound over and over. Once the link cable is removed the systems begin operating again
  4. Both systems run completely fine as long as the link cable is unplugged on either side (doesn’t matter which)


Here are the troubleshooting steps I have tried:

  1. Reversing the direction of the link cable (no change)
  2. Booting machine without link, then plugging in link cable (causes game to freeze)
  3. Canned air to clean ports on system and cable (no change)
  4. Verified with Service screen that the machines are set in the correct link modes (one machine set to Left, the other set to right).
  5. Tried changing dip switches on the 246 (no change)


I have tried everything I can think of but I'm at a loss now. I know the machines both work fine since they will boot and play perfectly without the link cable attached.

Wondering if the link cable was damaged, was going to try ordering a replacement but I can't find the right cable anywhere.

Does anyone know what kind of cable is being used so I could try swapping the cable out for a new one? Any other suggestions to help troubleshoot this issue? Any manual or schematics of the cabinets / systems would be great to have for future use too.

Thanks in advance.



 

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slybomber123456 said:
Thanks @bagheera369, i actually have a different style but i found it as one of the related items from the link you sent, thanks!

This is the connector I have. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08KXWKYLQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I ordered a replacement and will see if that does the trick.
Click to expand...

If you still run into issues after the new cable, contact Speedy's One Stop, and ask if they'd be able to lend a hand with diagnostics, as they are Namco's official repair center.
 
Wondering if there was a conclusion to this issue, and if so what was it tracked down to?
 
SipA said:
Wondering if there was a conclusion to this issue, and if so what was it tracked down to?
Click to expand...

Yes the new link cable ended up resolving the issue. That was basically the last thing I suspected since the cable was working completely fine when the machine was tested. It was removed from the machines before they were disassembled and transported carefully, not sure how/why it was damaged.
 
Excellent, thanks for following up. I have my eye on same set as yours, hope it comes my way!
 
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