Pinned CPS III Bios and CD Releases

CPS3 is emulated pretty well in MAME, good option for stuff like 4th Strike.

It was very easy to convert 4rd Strike to work with a Standard SH-2 but too much work to convert for a custom SH-2. So Darksoft decided not to do it. Doubt it will ever be done. Sorry.

Anyone have any tips on actually flashing the bios? I've flashed a few EPROMs here and there without issue using my Minipro TL866. I can read and erase the 29f400 fine. I was even seemingly able to rewrite the original bios, but I'm getting an error whenever I try to write the super bios.

Always the same one, "Address 0x008000 Buffer Data: 0xA261 Verify: 0x5DE6". It happens just a few seconds after it starts writing, so despite it saying "verify" it's right at the start of the write phase. The thing is, when I check that location, both the buffer (bios file) and the IC don't actually have those values.

I don't think it's a problem with the programmer or the EPROM, since I'm able to read, erase and write. Does the bios file have to be converted somehow? I'm thinking the fact that it's right when the it rolls over to the fourth byte's most significant bit is a hint:

0x007FFF = 0111 1111 1111 1111
0x008000 = 1000 0000 0000 0000

I see. The only other TSOP48 I've got right now is a 16M. Think I should just concatenate the bios four times and try that?

Ok, I'll try it tonight and report back. Dzięki.

One more thing you can try (if your programmer allows for it) is to crank up the number of Retries. My programmer defaults to 25 retries, but if I set it to the maximum of 999 then many stubborn EEPROMs program successfully for me.

Thanks, but unfortunately, no there is no ability to set retries. The TL866 is a good little programmer, from my understanding, the interface seems simple though and doesn't have many options. I also updated the software and firmware, hoping that might help.

Also, the that 16Mb chip I mentioned is a M29160EB and it is indeed pin compatible with the 29F400, however it's a 3V. I guess I could desolder it and try to program it anyway, just to see if it's the 29F400 that's the issue.

Edit: earlier I said that a) the buffer didn't have the value that the error message said it did. This was a mistake and the buffer value was indeed the same. b) I said that I was able to program the original bios back on without issue. Well I just tried again and it finishes the write but then it fails on verification, right at the beginning. Address 0x00... buffer: 10FF, IC: 14FF. Starting to think Darksoft's correct.

Ehh, I need to make an order with digikey soon anyway I guess.

The SuperBIOS is larger in size than the stock bios. So this leads me to believe that there is either a problem with the flash chip in the later parts of the flash or maybe not all of your pins are making good contact. Does that programmer inform you if certain pins aren't making good contact? The most common problem I have when I reprogram a chip is that some of the pins will be shorted by solder and I sometimes need to inspect each pin and remove shorts.

Interesting, I thought it did because it's given me warnings about it in the past, but I just shorted pins 1 and 2 on the adapter to test it. Nothing came up when I read it, it took 60 seconds to erase (where it usually takes 8 seconds) and it didn't actually erase since failed a blank check after I removed the short! Now granted, this was on the adapter's DIP pins going into the programmer and not on the IC itself, but I think it shows there may indeed be a bridge somewhere without the programmer detecting it. I'll take a look under the microscope and see. Thanks Mits.

E: No bridges visible under the scope. I'll check continuity tomorrow just to rule it out. Tried re-seating the chip a few times too; no dice.

Duuuude!


Darksoft was right, of course. Replacement chip worked just fine. Literally just selected the IC, loaded the file and pressed program (after a blank check of course). Now to find a CD-R lmao!

Quick question, I am confused about which file I need to download and put on disk, I have the 50 Euro cartridge upgrade on the way, is that standard or custom?

Cheers in advance,,,

The 'cheapest' version is the custom, the more expensive option is the standard

Excellent thanks,

So I now have my cart back. Thanks darksoft,

The next thing I need to do is burn a cd, when I download the file from page 1 what do I do with it? Sorry for the dumb question

I will download the file to my iMac which has a cd drive, I presume I need a certain program to copy the file to a cd,

Thanks in advance....

Extract and burn the ISO. If you are using a scsi2sd then it is a bit more involved.

Cheers, I am using the standard cps3 setup with cd drive.