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eoinzy

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Hi,

I was previously looking at converting my twin Battle Gear 3 driver into a MAME box, but now I think I want to restore it to its original state.

At the moment, the cab doesn't work. I have 3 System246 boards. 1x Type A, and 2 x Type C. I have 2 dongles and 2 HDDs. This cab doesn't use DVD-ROMs.

The current state is that I get 2 black screens, regardless of which of the 2 246 boards I try, and which of the dongle/HDD combinations I use.

I'm looking for help in diagnosing what could be the problem here.

From what I know, the 246 should load up with either a security siren, or chimes if everything is good. At the moment, there's no sound. I did, in the past, get the security squawk, the chimes, and even had the game boot once, but since then I haven't been able to squeeze any life out of it, with or without the dongles/HDDs connected.

Yesterday I did some work on the cab. I replaced all 3 of the CR032 coin batteries on the motherboards, and checked the +5V and +12V (at least on Player 2) and they were spot on.
The HDDs dont seem to be spinning up (or maybe they are and they're just quiet) but there is power going to the boards, as the fans are spinning.

I'm currently trawling the internet trying to find information on what to do next, but I'm not having any luck.

Does anyone have any expertise here that may help me?

Thanks.
 
I'm glad I made an incomplete documentation thread on System 2X6 hardware variants and their differences. What makes System 246A different from B and C is the lack of the second TLCS-870 based subcpu meaning any game released on B and C aren't compatible with A. As for repairs, I have these suggetions:
  • Check voltages on the pcb at critical components like the EE CPU and/or GS GPU (if possible).
  • Power on the pcb while pressing the CPU and/or GPU to check for loose BGA connections
 
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Hi,
I must have missed that thread. Was it on here, and do you have a link?

I believe Battle Gear 3 was released on the the 246A, so it should work on B and C?
 
Hi,
I must have missed that thread. Was it on here, and do you have a link?

I believe Battle Gear 3 was released on the the 246A, so it should work on B and C?
This is the thread that has a bit of documentation: https://www.arcade-projects.com/for...mco-system-246-256-2x6-main-pcb-photos.12931/

Also, Battle Gear 3 released on 246B initially. Later cabs may have used 246C because it's basically 246B but the ps2 and namco boards were unified into one large board. Either way, it probably needed the additional hardware for ethernet based linking for up to four cabs.
 
Thanks for that thread. I'll give it a read when I get the chance.

BTW, the 246A has networking capabilities through a USB dongle plugged into the USB port on the left. I have a couple of the dongles plugged in, for whenever I get this thing fixed!! :)

I actually managed to get BG3 booting on the 246A (video link), if only for 5 minutes before it shut down, so thats why I assumed it was released on the 246A. Either way, it must be backwards compatible, otherwise it wouldn't have booted in the first place.

Do you know of any tricks to identify which part of the "chain" is faulty? For example, if I look on the chassis, there's the I/O board, and the audio board, and then the 246 itself. The audio board, I assume works as I can get sound out of it by hooking the red and white cables to a speaker and playing music. So is it possible that the I/O board is faulty and blocking the 246 from booting?

Thanks.
 
I still have a feeling this isn't 246A. One way to determine from 246A and 246B is the sub pcb. I bet the sub pcb is labeled "System 246 PMOTHER PCB". Take a pic too. If a main 246 rack boots ingame with working controls, then this means both the JVS I/O and feedback boards are working. I would also boot the working 246 on the other side to see if that side boots. I'm leaning towards a faulty PSU in general as well.

The JVS I/O board would prevent the game from booting but idk if the game would black screen or boot with a "no I/O board found" error.
 
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Hi,

Yes, its labelled "SYSTEM 246 MOTHER PCB".

Actually, I have to apologise. It says "System 246 Rack (B)" right on the front. I've no idea why I thought it was a Rack A. I must have gotten it in my head over the last few months that it was an A!! X(

Anyway, back to the point. I got it to boot once. Before that, I managed to get the security squawk, and the chimes (on infinite loop) a few times. But since the one time it boot successfully, I haven't been able to get anything at all. No squawks or dings or anything, so I'm wondering if the successful boot may have fried something.

Next step is, as you say, to press down on various components and try again. Should I push down on the big heatsink on COH-H31100, or where exactly?
 
It's labeled "PMOTHER PCB" if you look closely. You have a 246B.

Yea, the heatsinked BGA chips are located on that COH-H31100 pcb for 246B and the mother pcb if 246C. I would press down on both if you can.

Idk how the cabinet gets power either. Does one power supply give power to both sides? I would replace the old psu anyway because it's possible a power supply can go bad even with proper voltages (had this happen in my Time Crisis 2 twin before when I first got the cab).
 
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I'll see what I can do with a new PSU. Both monitors power on, as well as the marquee, and sometimes the control panel lights (on Player 1 only) so there's at least some power going through it.

BTW, see the back of COH-H31100, there's the PS2 video cable. Do you know if I should I be able to get a picture out of that if there was any life in the board? I've tried it already with a PS2 cable connected to a little VGA box I have, that outputs VGA to a small cheap projector I was using to test, but it just got a "No signal" message. Maybe I should try again after I mess with the heatsinks. I dunno.
 
Did you clean the pins on the security dongles? This causes boot up issues often. Open up the dongles and give them a jolly good cleaning.
 
What would you clean the contacts with?

I'm not sure if its just the contacts on the dongle that are damaged, as I'd still get the security siren if everything worked and it was just the dongle. I get nothing at all!
So it can only be the JVS I/O board, or else the gameboard itself.

I'm looking to build a power supply to power the Sys246 on my bench, and output to a projector using a PS2 cable.
I have an old Lenovo PSU with a 10-pin mother board connector. I don't suppose anyone would know how I'd go about building the required 6-pin power connector out of this PSU?
It's the 6-pin connector on the green PCB on the left side of the box, as can be seen here: https://wiki.arcadeotaku.com/w/Namco_System_246/256
 
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