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Opcode 1010, no idea what that is.I need to debug (credit feed?) this and find out if it's a sneaky trigger they have in stage 4. The code at 0x14169E might contain a write/check for something.

Note this wasn't extensively tested, and i'm not skilled enough to reach second loop on White Label or even Black Label.
If they have some tests/protection trick when the true boss Hibachi shows up and it crashes then & there, that's gonna be an issue :(
You can probably do a lot of debugging in MAME by setting appropriate watchpoints and using cheats.Even if MAME doesn't crash at least you'll have locations writing to the ARM.
Well, it doesn't seem to write or read from 0x50000-FF, I just ran it with the debugger and a save state. Must be something else going on, perhaps an internal checksum is triggered or other rom protection measure :/
 
Has the DDPDOJ dual rom been released yet? I found the Ketsui one in this thread and plan to try it out, but really want the DDP.
 
Thanks much for the link and definitely thanks to the folks that have been chasing down the secrets of these carts! I wish I had the time and skills to contribute, but this is way over my head!
 
I transcribed the description (and photos) of the Lydz and Killing Blade boards into schematics, though unfortunately didn't get any more amazing insights. I expect the 74LSxx logic on the killing blade board is mostly related to the SRAM shared between the ASIC and the M68k, and handling low/high write access for the M68k.

What I find interesting on the Lydz board is that none of the unknown cart pins are connected, except for the connection between J2-48 and J1-21. (Unless there are any buried via shenanigans going on.) Not even the pull-up resistor on pin 21 that seems to be on all my other prog boards...
The loose wire is to drive the OE for the internal tile ROM, which makes me think that the board was originally meant for a different game, especially because of the different soldering quality between ASIC and ROMs.

It is really strange that the KB board doesn't boot, considering how bare the Lydz board is.
 

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It is really strange that the KB board doesn't boot, considering how bare the Lydz board is.
RIGHT!?

I must have metered out the pins a half dozen times thinking I missed something. there's got to be something else on the PCB that's interfering with the operation of the program ROM and I'd suspect that the PALs used disable that. since there's no apparent pin or trace cutting.
 
RIGHT!?
I must have metered out the pins a half dozen times thinking I missed something. there's got to be something else on the PCB that's interfering with the operation of the program ROM and I'd suspect that the PALs used disable that. since there's no apparent pin or trace cutting.
I was hoping that comparing your findings with the photos would uncover some clues...

One other thing you could try is outputting "high impedance" values from the PAL:
U16_A1 = 'b'1;
U16_A1.OE = 'b'0;

That way if anything else is connected to U21/Pin 2 it shouldn't conflict with the value from the PAL.
(Though I only tested this in the simulator in WinCUPL.)

The same way, depending on where the lines from U7 that are going to the ASIC are going as well, they may need to output "high impedance" instead of 1 or 0 to avoid conflicts.

I can't think of anything else right now...
 
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So has @lydz created custom GFX board now too?

I can see that my Ketsui Prog board is missing the jumper wire @twistedsymphony had on his Espgaluda board.
So looks like the board design is being improved upon. Mine is v0801 it seems...

IMG_0628.jpg
 

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I can see that my Ketsui Prog board is missing the jumper wire @twistedsymphony had on his Espgaluda board.
That wire is only required if the game uses tiles from the built-in ROM. If you have a voltmeter you can try if there is a connection between Pin 14 of J2 J1 and Pin 23 of U3.

As Ketsui was a stand-alone board there is a good chance that it has all required background graphics in a single ROM chip to save on costs...
 
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I finally got around to trying out my sheep nova carts today. Sadly, Ketsui is the only one that consistently works. DDP and Espgaluda boot, but play with graphical issues. I've cleaned the pins on all three, it just seems to require multiple seatings and power cycles until they work properly. Curious if anyone else had similar issues.
 
it just seems to require multiple seatings and power cycles until they work properly.
if thats the case then start by cleaning the pins on the cart connector and check your voltages.
I've had similar issues and it often is down to the cartridge just not making great contact with the slotted connector. Try gently lifting the label end of the cart while it's in the PGM and see if that makes a difference. I've noticed some carts fit more snug in the plastic tray than others, and that seems to affect how well they maintain contact.
 
Thanks for the replies guys. Voltages are good, and I cleaned both the carts and the connector on the board. I've noticed now that a little added pressure on the cart affects the sprites. I'm going to try swapping some shells to see if one doesn't provide a better fit.

EDIT:
Swapping shells did nothing. I went back and turned all DIP switches off, booted without a game, reset, and still hit or miss. Seems odd it would be all three carts, so I'm guessing it could still be the board. It's puzzling though since I popped Demon Front, and then KOV SH in right after my last series of trial and error with the conversion carts and both of those carts ran fine. I also had DDP throw the attached error once.
IMG_7077.jpg
P1980539.JPG
P1980537.JPG
vlcsnap-2019-02-22-18h32m16s534.jpg
vlcsnap-2019-02-22-18h31m39s787.jpg
 
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If it helps, the green background is mostly generated by the sprite board (PCB 213 in your case)
I would double-check the power connections to the ROMs, especially U3 looks a bit dodgy, IMHO. I think people generally prefer to add a voltage regulator instead of messing with diodes.
This is how it looks like for me, where I use a custom char board but have no correct tile ROMs:
 
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