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4 wire key soldering questions, plus red screen issue during install of DS Kit. (Solved)

Paranoid_Andy

Paranoid_Andy

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Hey all.

I have been looking for a tutorial for how to setup the multi to use key writing but I can't seem to find anything. I have a pdf guide on how to initially setup the kit called 'Instructions_CPS2_Multi_Boot_v2.pdf' and a video tutorial from Mitsurugi called 'Walsdawg Arcade Preparing your CPS2 B-board for Darksoft s Multi-kit'. However I didn't see key writing and the "4 wires" mentioned in them.


I did find 'Darksoft s CPS2 Multi now Restores keys!' video but that seems to be more of a showcase rather than a step by step tutorial so I'm not sure if there is more to it than just attaching 4 wires. Hard to see where they are attached as well.


If there is no guide on this, then is there a guide on how to add more ROMs to the Avalaunch pack? I have that working at the moment, but I noticed it's missing several games. I'd like to add them but I don't know how because everything seems to be using the keys method instead.


Thanks!
 
Hey Ekorz. Thanks for the reply. I did see the sticky but maybe my ignorance of how these things come together is keeping me from seeing the obvious.

When I read that page, I see some things that seem straightforward, like, that you need to attach 4 wires.

But then I get confused when it says like "SWD5 is not being used anymore.". I'm not sure what that means.

Also it says "You can see a video here and a small schematics of the only 4 wires that you need to solder.". However when I click the nearby link I don't see a video but a blog with other things posted. I'm also not seeing a clearly defined picture of where on the board I need to solder the wires. I see a picture down below that seems to show one half of the idea, but I don't see the rest.

I've been following step by step guides so far because I'm dreadfully scared to screw anything up. I don't have a job right now and losing all that money on a mistake would really hurt a lot. Not to mention needing to wait another month for another kit to arrive if I ordered again. That page didn't feel as clearly defined as the other guides and I'm getting lost honestly.

It felt like a post more geared for the experts and that's certainly not me lol, especially when you compare it to the clearly defined instructions in Mitsurugis video and the pdf.

That's why I was asking about adding ROMs to the Avalaunch because I don't think there exists a guide like the others for key writing yet.

Hope that helps!
 
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No problem. What CPS2 board revision do you have? Is your DS Multi from the latest batch (i.e. do you need to upgrade the firmware, or is it already using the latest firmware)?

You're right, the blog link should go directly to this article, but it's not super straightforward either: http://arcadehacker.blogspot.com/2016/09/capcom-cps2-security-programming-guide.html

The general gist is that you should update your firmware (or if it's a new board, it's already updated). Then you need to make 4 connections between the B board and your DS multi. How you do that depends on your board revision. The multi will always be the same, though (look at this image) so you'll end up connecting wires to the locations marked "clock" "data" "setup1" and "setup2". The other ends of those wires go onto your B board, but the terminating points depend on your board revision. Mine, for example, connects to CN9 which is just a 6-pin-header on the Rev7 b board (like this).

"SWD5" was an old solder point for a reset wire, so it's called out in the instructions because a lot of people with old boards need to remove it.

Anyway once the wires are soldered up, you're basically done. You need to set up your SD card with the new pack, with 'key' files in each directory.

Caveat - If you have an older board, you can still run avalaunch roms if you want, and not update at all -- they're basically the same!
 
He has a new kit so no need to update the fw.
 
WOW! Ekorz, I just fell in love with you man! Thank you so much for such a detailed explanation. This is really helps push me in the direction I want to go.

I'll include pictures of what I have setup so far, then what I think I'm supposed to do. If you give me the OK then I'll go ahead and try to get this going :D

I'm not sure which pins are which and if pins start at 0 or 1. On the board though I do see a 1 and a 6 on each side so I'll just go off of that and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

https://imgur.com/a/QYyer

Thanks again for clearing all that up. I really reallyyyy wanted to have it setup for the keyed, but I just didn't want to make mistakes.

*Edit*
Something that just occurred to me. If I do this process. Will I need to short the capacitors again?
 
@Paranoid_Andy on the sticky there's a schematic of the board where the solder points are marked, the pinout for the different board revisions are above the youtube link, and stopping the video at the right time helps a lot when you have the right board :D

I used the 93646B-7 board which is used in the video...

here it's easier to see than in the video - i just added the connector instead of directly soldering to the pins
IMG_0572.JPG
IMG_0573.JPG


All in all it was pretty straight forward after watching the video :thumbsup:
.
UPDATE: Just saw your picture - you have the same board - so it should be the same wiring as mine..., the connections you painted in should be correct
 
^^^ that's it

but I think your photo is the same thing at a glance. a little tin on your wire and pad will make it easy

Have fun!
 
You can also use simple dupont wires, I have the same B board revision as yours, check my installation. :)
 

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@MoppelTheWhale @ekorz @zeruel85 @Mitsurugi-w

Thanks to all of you for the information and pointers. I'm feeling MUCH more confident now about this. I have to address a few things first, but then I'm going to go ahead and try this out. I'll update on my progress for sure.

Side question. Should I discharge the battery capacitors again, or that doesn't matter?
 
You won't need to at all with key writing.
 
@Paranoid_Andy you've already done the most scary part (removing the roms and installing the multi - compared to that the four wires are a piece of cake :thumbsup:
 
@MoppelTheWhale Well I'm still an amateur at soldering so that was a bit nerve wracking as well XD Especially when I dripped a little on a resistor nearby :P Think I got it mostly taken care of now.

Unfortunately I'm back to square 1 again. Having the solid reddish screen again, so no gaming yet.

I think my soldering job is okay though. It looks like everything checks out. I'll up some pictures.

https://imgur.com/a/jiKrr
 
@Paranoid_Andy i started the arcade hobby in december myself and before that i only soldered once at school about 25 years ago - strictly following the instructions here on the forum helps a lot and i learned a lot in a very short time. - the whole tinkering part is almost as much fun as playing itself (as long everything works ?( :whistling: )
 
@MoppelTheWhale Agreed. I got myself back into learning DC electronics because I have the time and was feeling inspired. It's been a lot of fun so far.

"as long everything works" lol yeah. Fun otherwise for sure. I just can't seem to get the annoying problem to go away haha. Part of me hesitated to proceed with this part because I thought it might break again XD Oh well, I'll just keep fidgeting and hopefully get lucky because I have no idea what this things gripe is :P Maybe I'll get lucky and learn something :)
 
when i built my Bartop i couldn't get my scaler to get a proper picture - it took me 2 weeks to realize that the jamma connector on the adapter was only soldered on one side - these two weeks were incredibly frustrating, but finding the problem and switching from a pandora's box to mvs was a huge triumph.

Lots of the errors are tough to find the first time but help a lot when fixing the next one.
 
I can't seem to get it working the previous way with the Avalaunch ROMs now either. I just don't understand this XD

I'm willing entertain any ideas.
 
Make sure all pcbs are pushed on tightly and make sure the interconnect pcb is on all the way.
 
Paranoid_Andy said:
@MoppelTheWhale Well I'm still an amateur at soldering so that was a bit nerve wracking as well XD Especially when I dripped a little on a resistor nearby :P Think I got it mostly taken care of now.

Unfortunately I'm back to square 1 again. Having the solid reddish screen again, so no gaming yet.

I think my soldering job is okay though. It looks like everything checks out. I'll up some pictures.

https://imgur.com/a/jiKrr
Click to expand...
Isn't the red screen a result of not having the security keys present for writing? You should check you're using the correct ROM pack now with the security key files. If these aren't present the game will not load.
 
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