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LittleLarrySellers

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Hi all,

Planning on installing the Darksoft kit but I still want to practice some on my soldering before I attempt the full blown encrypted version. I'd like to verify I successfully installed it first w/o the key writing. Just a simple test to see if games load up and whatnot.

Am I correct in that I can use the "old" folder roll-up pack I see on one of the pinned thread links?

Thx
 
With no soldering at all, you'll also have to manually reboot your game when it finishes loading the new rims, I believe.
 
Soldering the wires is really easy, just don’t go wild with the heat
 
I installed the kit after removing the battery and shorting EXC5 with a screwdriver.

I am not able to get the games to work though. I used the old CPS2 pack and what happens is I have a blank screen and after I pick a game it say writing flash and then "all done - playing XXX" but nothing happens. Stays on the blanks screen.

I tried making the key file blank like literally deleting everything in it and also tried with the bunch of ys in the file which was the default key file i the old pack. Not sure which means "blank" but it didn't work in either case anyway.

Any ideas on what I am doing wrong? I did everything above based on what I could find from searching other people posting issues similar to mine.
 
If you don’t have a reset wire hooked up, you will need to power cycle the board after flashing a game so it can boot up.
 
I tried making the key file blank like literally deleting everything in it and also tried with the bunch of ys in the file which was the default key file i the old pack. Not sure which means "blank" but it didn't work in either case anyway.
They are not y's, it's 16 hex bytes of FF. If you had a hex editor you'd see it like that. But just use the file in the pack and don't open/edit it.
 
Got it. I reverted the file and also power cycled the board after picking a game but it still just has the blank kind of grey screen even though it says "now playing XXX"
 
VICTORY!

The A and B board weren't making good contact. I got it to work after making sure they had good connection.

Thanks for the advice, gang! This is awesome!

Now I am going to watch Voultar's soldering videos a 157 times and then practice before I attempt the encrypted version.
 
Find a scrap board and practice several times. Use flux core leaded solder 60/40, and even use some extra flux just in case. It’s not a hard thing to solder, but it’s worth practicing if it’s new to you
 
In the words of the immortal Senator Clay Davis, "SHEEEEEEEEEEIIIIT!!!"

I was able to get the wiring working first attempt. Did some practice on a scrap board and went for it today. Flux is an amazing thing! I think it helps I bought a quality iron too and not some the artist formerly known as Radio Shack model.

Thanks @ekorz and all for advice.

Pretty cool I see now the games can be selected without having to power down the board to switch. All in it's encrypted glory.
 

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Trouble in paradise :(

My A and B board have always been finicky but recently it has become chronic. I read the sticky post for definitive guide to fixing issues and I am in the jail bars/graphic glitches problem area. Everything else works great just these graphic glitches.

No matter what I do I can no longer get the games to boot up without some jail bars or small annoying sprite glitches. The region warning and service account screen don't show this behavior if that helps. As soon as the QSound or attract screen starts up I will get the jail bars.

Per the guide, I checked and don't have any broken pins on my kit so it is not that. I even took the A and B board out of the case and seated them directly so that would give maximum contact.

I also brushed around the board connectors with a toothbrush and some rubbing alcohol. There was some dirt around those areas and once I cleaned it up I think I noticed maybe an issue (hope not). This is at the top right near letter M on the B board. Is this a slightly dinged trace? Could this be causing my issue?
 

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hey bud, I'm not sure on the broken traces. Somebody else with better knowledge of that will chime in, but sometimes I have seen finicky cps2 boards be duct tape together ( A and B board) for an even tighter close. Have you also tried to air out the connectors?
 
Show some photos of the jail-bars? Definitely had that happen for me when things weren’t seated tightly enough. Snap a photo of the side connectors, when seated “enough” and we will tell you if it’s really enough...
 
I can't imagine this can be seated anymore. I took it out of the case so it's pure board on board action. I don't see any broken pins either on the multi-kit.

Also some pics of the graphical issues I'm seeing.
 

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Does anything change if you press down on the multi pcb while it is running?
 
No, it doesn't seem to do anything. I've pressed as reasonably hard as I can without fear of breaking these PCBs.

I did see SFA crash when I tried today. It went away when I picked another game but the jail-bars remain :(
 

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