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Naomi Net Dimm possibly dead...ugh

nismopunch

nismopunch

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So i've been playing my Naomi with the netboot setup on a 4.02 firmware net dimm for probably six months or more. Yesterday I got the error msg 1 about the game not suitable for mainboard. This has happened a few times since i've had it...so went through the ritual of remounting the netdimm, cleaning, etc. Still same error and sometimes just boots to a black screen. I then took apart the net dimm to check for anything obvious, but everything is clean (since its been cleaned a bunch of times by me), and nothing appears to have blown up or have any obvious damage.

I saw in another thread to try taking out the daughter board that has the scsi connector/ethernet/pic slot and I now get error 22 - communication error occurred between main board and option board. Any insight into this?

I've always powered the naomi with a nice corsair 500w power supply I had as a spare since the naomi spends most of the time hooked up to a supergun. Just for kicks I hooked it up to a working sun power supply in my cab and get the same results.

I am guessing this thing is toast, but wanted some opinions of what to try/check to really be sure before I start looking for another net dimm. ;(
 
So when reassembled it gives you the game not suitable error?
 
Yeah same error when reassembled, error 1 game not suitable OR depending on how it feels a black screen. Which is odd its one or the other and not consistently the same thing. Makes me think the net dimm is not seating properly. Going to try to attach both boards without the dimm housing and see if that makes any difference or at least makes the problem more consistent.
 
I kept seeing that error pop up when I was compiling my own hex file to burn the Zero Key pic. The instructions I was using turned out to be incomplete. Once I resolved that, I was able to burn a proper Zero Key pic and that error went away completely.

Simple test would be to try another Zero Key pic if you have one or can burn one. If not, as fate would have it, I have one in my programmer right now. I'll burn it and since we are in the same area, we can meet up and pop it in your Naomi and see if it works. I can also bring another Naomi to test your current NetDimm in to see if it works too.
 
Have some interesting news, took the net dimm and daughter board out of the casing and mounted together on the main board...and it worked flawlessly. Had it running for the last few hours, running games, power cycling, etc and no issues. The only thing I can guess is possibly my main board is warping. I did however take that out of the case and do not see any visible warping...
acblunden2 said:
I kept seeing that error pop up when I was compiling my own hex file to burn the Zero Key pic. The instructions I was using turned out to be incomplete. Once I resolved that, I was able to burn a proper Zero Key pic and that error went away completely.

Simple test would be to try another Zero Key pic if you have one or can burn one. If not, as fate would have it, I have one in my programmer right now. I'll burn it and since we are in the same area, we can meet up and pop it in your Naomi and see if it works. I can also bring another Naomi to test your current NetDimm in to see if it works too.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the tip acblunden! I do have some extra zero key pics that I can pop in to try. Really appreciate it too that you would offer to stop by with some spare parts.

I have a feeling something is preventing the net dimm from seating properly if it works "naked". I popped in an extra zero pic and reinstalled back into the case and got the same error 1. Took it back out of the case and it works fine with the extra zero pic wtf bbq.
 
Out of curiousity I was googling pictures of the net dimm and see most of them do not have a white spacer on the bottom (like mine), is it supposed to have one? I saw a few pictures where there was the white spacer, but like I said most did not have them.
 
nismopunch said:
Took it back out of the case and it works fine with the extra zero pic wtf bbq.
Click to expand...
So the issue is fixed?


nismopunch said:
Out of curiousity I was googling pictures of the net dimm and see most of them do not have a white spacer on the bottom (like mine), is it supposed to have one? I saw a few pictures where there was the white spacer, but like I said most did not have them.
Click to expand...
I think it is just a screw length thing. I see Naomi 2 carts are a little taller. I think the spacer might have just been for use with Naomi 2. But that is just speculation.
 
Issue is fixed with the net dimm boards mounted without the casing. If I put it back in the casing still gets error 1 or black screen.

Was running it just now without the casing and mvc2 froze mid game...yay.

I swear of all the arcade stuff I have the Naomi is the most problematic lol.
 
Good thing you live down the street from Fry's Electronics and can go pick up some thin swabs. Other guys on this forum, no so fortunate. May be time to clean those edge connectors.
 
I've cleaned them so many times I swear they cannot get any cleaner haha.

At least it doesn't appear to be completely busted as I first thought, but still need to figure out what's going on.
 
So I've gotten it to run flawlessly for some hours last night and a bit today after work. I don't encounter any issues with the top half of the Naomi case off. As soon as I put the case back on and remount the net dimm with or without screws I start having the same issues again. It's really weird as it was working completely fine for months. I don't want to leave it with the case off either, so i'll have to see if something is off with the top half of the case not letting the net dimm sit correctly.

ALSO I figured out the random crashing...or at least I think I did by accident. I noticed one of the cpu fans looked a little erratic compared to the other one..and I started messing with the connector and the fan came back up to a constant speed. Looks like one of the pins in the connector didn't have a good connection to the motherboard, so fixed that and no more crashing.

Now to figure out what is going on with the top half of the Naomi case...
 
Naomi is indeed like a woman. One day is an angel and the next day a bitch :)

Sometimes your problem hypothesis turns out to be wrong and other times you even ran out of ideas...

So, let me throw a few of "my" speculations when I was cluless when my naomi & netDIMM/DIMM setups acts weird.

Speculation 1:

Do you have the battery in the casing? I'm asking this for the fact that if you still have the battery, and if you have been using your system for a long time but problems started just now, there is a possibility that your battery is not keeping the charge. When the battery started not keeping the charge it means it "always" tries to charge itself, sucking juice from your power supply that "may" lower your voltages a bit and causing the NetDIMM & Naomi throwing error. When you decase the system, may be you also disconnect the battery connector hence no battery no juice sucked from your precious watts.

Speculation 2:

When the NetDIMM decased, you may be able to seat the small daughter board (which the SCSI & UTP connectors resides) more securely.

Speculation 3:

Whne decased the system, the case fan is also disconnected, leaving "a little" bit more juice?

etc etc

Thats why my Naomi setup is now in f**n a box (in lots of small boxes so to speak) and locked in the f**n closet ;)
 
Haha it's very true. Thanks for the ideas yavuzg. Currently I do not have a battery pack installed in the netdimm. Also when I remove the top half of the Naomi case I still leave the rear fan plugged in. I've checked the voltages under load and they are spot on.

I'm going to go with speculation # 2 that the daughter board isn't seating properly. Even though it is assembled correctly.. Ugh.

Either that or possibly the connectors on the main board and dimm. Will play with it more this weekend.

I am seriously annoyed at how fickle they are but I LOVE the game library Naomi has. The struggle is real.
 
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