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[SOLVED]Taito Type Zero - hdd replacement

Blackfish

Blackfish

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Hey Guys,

Ok, got another issue I've been trying to get sorted but haven't had a lot of luck so far.

I have a Battle Gear 2 (twin) driving cabinet where the hdd had failed on one side. both sides fully functioning otherwise. I have made an image of the working hdd and sent it to AndyGeezer who has developed a script to replace the security reference that checks the hdd serial number.He has been sending me a modified seed file that I've been writing into the original image, then cloning onto the new hdd, even tried new ssd's and an IDE-SATA adapter. However after multiple attempts with multiple drives I can't seem to get it to work. So I'm wondering if anyone has had any experience with this or knows of a dump that has had the security removed that works on the original Type Zero Hardware?
I have been using WinHex for the cloning and editing process.

Also it should be noted that during this process my son bumped the working hdd off the bench and killed it. So I now have no working drives, just a raw dump of the original drive. Nothing worse than having cabs you cant use.
 
Blackfish said:
Hey Guys,

Ok, got another issue I've been trying to get sorted but haven't had a lot of luck so far.

I have a Battle Gear 2 (twin) driving cabinet where the hdd had failed on one side. both sides fully functioning otherwise. I have made an image of the working hdd and sent it to AndyGeezer who has developed a script to replace the security reference that checks the hdd serial number.He has been sending me a modified seed file that I've been writing into the original image, then cloning onto the new hdd, even tried new ssd's and an IDE-SATA adapter. However after multiple attempts with multiple drives I can't seem to get it to work. So I'm wondering if anyone has had any experience with this or knows of a dump that has had the security removed that works on the original Type Zero Hardware?
I have been using WinHex for the cloning and editing process.

Also it should be noted that during this process my son bumped the working hdd off the bench and killed it. So I now have no working drives, just a raw dump of the original drive. Nothing worse than having cabs you cant use.
Click to expand...
If you have a raw dump of the original drive, can you use HD Raw Copy tool? http://hddguru.com/software/HDD-Raw-Copy-Tool/ or use DD to copy the exact image on an almost identical HDD sans serial number have been successful in my attempts.

Does BG2 have the same goofy behavior as BG4 where the decryption key is stored using CMOS? How are you cloning or how were you cloning the working HDD? Did you use Windows or some other Operating System? If your son bumped the working HDD, is that drive confirmed dead? What does it do when you pop it back in to the cab? Does it show an error code?

If Battle Gear 2 is similar to some Namco systems, Windows writes header data to the drive so plugging in the HDD to a Windows machine essentially writes data to the drive regardless of read or write intention. It would be safer to use non-Windows to clone a drive to get an exact 1:1 replica.

Have you tried cloning on an identical drive (with different serial number) and using andy's seed file?

I hope my babbling provides more information in your quest.
 
sorry dont have much help for you as i havent worked with this system before.
but just point out for others.
this is a taito "type zero" not a type x zero. its not related to a PC in any sense besides the use of a HDD.

but a suggestion above could be possible if you did grab the ATA identify sectors of the good HDD before it died.
in this case you would need to find a like drive as a replacement and then also edit the ATA ID sectors to match that of the now dead good drive.
knowing andy though this would have been a first step for him. so there might be more to it.
 
corey said:
in this case you would need to find a like drive as a replacement and then also edit the ATA ID sectors to match that of the now dead good drive.
Click to expand...
The process for doing this is entirely the same as putting non-retail HDD's in Xbox 360's. Same tools, same process, more widely available information.
 
corey said:
but just point out for others.
this is a taito "type zero" not a type x zero. its not related to a PC in any sense besides the use of a HDD.

but a suggestion above could be possible if you did grab the ATA identify sectors of the good HDD before it died.
in this case you would need to find a like drive as a replacement and then also edit the ATA ID sectors to match that of the now dead good drive.
knowing andy though this would have been a first step for him. so there might be more to it.
Click to expand...
Yeah Sorry, probably should have been posted in the general arcade tech help as it is not specifically a type X variant.

From my understanding Andy has found the reference to the hdd serial within the code and made a script to make a replacement that is based on the serial of the replacement hdd. Which is then written into the offset in the original image replacing the .SYS seed file.

I was just hoping someone else may have had to deal with this and found another solution.

Andy has been a great help, but something just isn't quite working right.

The original image is https://mega.nz/#!wWh3lQ7C!3bu3QVb6CfZtRfAwH40qtuRswC1WcsUnXZYrRAhnqPQ

What is the best software for retrieving/viewing the ataidentify info? Which sectors usually contain the serial? I have tried using Crystaldiskinfo and looking at the serial information with WinHex both give me the same serial but Winhex add's __ to the end. I believe the underscores represent spaces in WinHex and seed files have been made for both versions but with no luck. Still booting with an "ID CHECK ERROR".

I'll get back in touch with Andy. Hopefully he has some ideas.
 
Still haven't manage to get this working so have ordered some different IDE to Sata adapters in the hope that they were the cause of the issues.

Once I've tried that I will get back in touch with Andy Geezer. He's currently dealing with a loss in the family so I don't want to bother him with something as trivial as my Battle Gear 2 cabinet.
If anyone has any ideas on how to deal with the HDD serial based protection when you have the location of data in the image and a seed file to use for comparison let me know. I'm happy to try fumbling my way through it if someone can point me in the right direction.

I was even wondering if an IDE to SD or CF might be an option? Would it be easy to spoof the serial rather than have to change the code?

Also if a Mod @Mitsurugi-w can move this thread into a more appropriate place as its not actually related to the Type X hardware that would be good. Maybe general arcade tech help? There isn't really a specific area that deals with this kind of hardware.
 
So I finally got a resolution to my problem with the IDE HDD failure in my Battle Gear 2 cabinet. Today I recieved 2 IDE DOM modules from Andy Geezer of AGS.
:thumbsup:
BG2.jpg

After installing the 2 modules the system does a firmware update (In mine it was a downgrade to the English version)

InstalledDOM.jpg

and then with a little configuration.

WorkingBG201.jpg

I'm sooo stoked to finally have a 100% working cabinet!! It is one of the first cabinets I purchased and has been sitting in my garage/slash gaming room unplayable for too long. I was getting very close to just cutting my loses and stripping the cab down. Really can't say enough good things about Andy, who with a lot of patience came through with a working solution at an extremely reasonable price.
These DOM modules are a pretty great little device and I believe could possibly be a solution for other systems with failing IDE parts. Definitely worth investigating if you have the skills.


:D :D :D :D
 
very nice!

not that I have a need for it or own a Battle Gear cab, but what is the DOM module and what does it do?
 
ah I see, very cool, enjoy your cabs man :thumbsup:

Although it will be different technically, it basically functions similar to a Flash module to replace the HDD on Killer Instinct boards etc.?
 
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