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K405

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So I received my TAITO F3 Multi in good condition, thank you, thank you, thank you! ^^ <3 unfortunately I can't get it to load any game, I have tried a couple different sdcards and different methods of formatting. I have used sd formatter on windows, windows own format command, gparted in Linux, both on different computers using different adapters, a laptop SD card slot, different USB ports and externally powered USB hubs, but still no go. Among my stash of sdcards, I have 2x 16GB Transcend sdcards which both work ok in the CPS2 multi but I can not get them to work properly in the TAITO F3 multi. I have also tried other sdcards I had laying around, from 4GB to 32GB all with the same result, at powerup the prog led lights up briefly and the LCD screen stays blank. So I'm guessing the sdcard isn't recognized?

I am going to buy some other sdcards from various stores, tomorrow, to have a bit of diversity but meanwhile, is there anything else I could try? Oh, I forgot to mention I tried on a europe and japan TAITO F3 mobo and both are giving me the same result. I have tried 2 different superguns, my HAS with arcade PSU and my other supergun with ATX PSU. I have not soldered any reset wire, neither have I put the multi in upside down, I carefully read the PCB text describing the A,B,C,D connectors and placed the TAITO F3 multi on top of the TAITO F3 mobo accordingly. The original jap and eur game I have work fine on both TAITO F3 mobos before and after using the TAITO F3 Multi.

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You only have the games folder on the root of the sd card, correct?

The LCD does not stay on? Not lit?
 
Yes, games dir is in root, I tried extracting Smokemonster's TAITO F3 archive to disc first, then to sdcard and tried from the archive directly to the sdcard.

The LCD does stay on, lit, but can't see any characters,text, it's blank.
 
Adjusting the contrast does not fix it either I suppose?

I think I have a idea what we need to do to fix it. I'll get up with Darksoft when he wakes up.
 
For us the LCD was very bright and had to turn down the contrast dial for text to display. Have you tried that?
 
Picked up 2 more sdcards, one Philips and one no-name. They both work ok in the CPS 2 Multi, as shown in the pictures below, but unfortunately it didn't make any difference for the TAITO F3 multi, at power up the prog LED blinks once, power LED stays on, and LCD display is lit but doesn't show any text, and the TAITO mobo itself is in a boot loop. I guess this rules out any sdcard issues right? So I'm out of options myself. @Mitsurugi-w can you please assist? :saint:

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View attachment F3 Firm w reset.zip

Download this. Rename to .rar instead of zip. Extract and place flash.img on the root of the sd card. Place in the F3 multi and boot. Wait for a minute for the fw to update. Reboot and see if the issue is resolved.
 
Thanks! Did it, twice, I see the prog LED flickering and the flash.img is gone after the process, but unfortunately no change in the behavior of the multi.
 
I guess this rules out any sdcard issues right? So I'm out of options myself.
I have tested *extensively* with both EUR and JAP motherboards, so the motherboard region is irrelevant.. also with HAS superguns, Jamma cabs. and RGB TVs and BVM monitors.. even with 6-1 Jamma switchers. I have tested also with shitty sdcards and didn't care much about double checking the format/clusters and brand and so far everything has worked.. it's nothing like GDEMU for example..

So i guess it must be something else..
 
Hopefully Mitsu can spot something or has another option for me to try.
 
Can you make a few pics around the heatsink? As well as under the paper where the voltage knob is?

I have 1 F3 mobo that didn't work properly either and I noticed that one of the (I believe resistor) was covered with sheep wool :) - that needs to be replaced. Since your mobo is as dirty as my mobo is...
My other F3 mobo works like a charm.

And are you using a Mac? If so, use 'dot_clean /Volumes/SDCARDNAME/' to remove the Mac stuff from the SD card. At least, that was always a problem with the CPS2 for me.
 
Can you make a few pics around the heatsink? As well as under the paper where the voltage knob is?

I have 1 F3 mobo that didn't work properly either and I noticed that one of the (I believe resistor) was covered with sheep wool :) - that probably needs to be replaced. Since your mobo is as dirty as my mobo is...
My other F3 mobo works like a charm.
We have the same dirty board supplier :) You mean your F3 mobo did not work properly with the TAITO F3 multi? Because I have tried the multi on both mobo's I have, and both show the same result. While both mobo's work ok with a normal game.

You can see it's working ok with a normal game in the video in the Google album.
 
As just general F3 troubleshooting, have you tried these troubleshooting steps?

"If the game cart has changed since last successful boot on F3 you get a message on the screen and have to go into the test menu to set the assignments first. If the video is not syncing properly then this could explain why you're not getting any audio either.
There is a white test button on the bottom right of the motherboard (jamma edge connector end). Press it, wait 30 secs, press down on the P1 joystick 5 times, then press P1 button 1. The game should then boot and you should hear audio (presuming the attract mode sound is set to on by default, if not try coining up etc).
You might even find your video comes up once you've done the above. The initial "press the test button" message appears to have a different sync signal and it doesn't display properly on my monitor."

"Somebody else told me to try it with 5.1v and that worked. "
 
But... I don't have a problem with my F3 mobo and a normal game, so I don't need to troubleshoot that. The problem is I can't load a game from the sdcard because the multicard isn't showing any titles in the LCD display.
 
Did you ever try the cps2 lcd on the F3? Don't remember.
 
Step number IMHO is: Did you try with an original game? Does it work?
 
I think he said original games work, so the mobo is ok. Sounds like you confirmed the SD card is also OK. Can you confirm the LCD and cable are also ok? i bet you did this already but worth checking. Plug the LCD *and* new cable into the cps2. Also you could take your cps2 cable and LCD and plug them into the F3.

That all would pretty much rule out the variables except the f3 multi itself
 
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