Yes it is true you must have the i/o board connected at least power CN1 and comm CN2 for virtua cop 2 or HOTD to boot
without it you ge pretty much what is shown in your picture
The only viper game i know of that uses a dongle is police 911 2 and the other game that uses the internal serial number is code one dispatch and the serial is tied to the rtc so if your rtc dies and you don`t have a backup for your specific main board you are screwed this game can only be...
Finally Had a chance to find the system 12 point blank 2 pcb set and take some photos just need to work out how to post them in the mean time the main large bottom pcb silk screen text is ( SYSTEM 12 MOTHER (B) PCB ) the paper label on the bottom ( GNB5 VER.A ) top pcb ( COH-700 Sony part #...
From memory i think you will find the crypt killer pcb has both the narrow pitch pin out for the 2.5" drive and the standard 50 pin 0.1" for a 3.5" drive you just need to desolder the holes and fit the larger header pins as they are not populated from factory and i remember having mine working...
I have only ever run my TC3 RGB but the NTSC converter should work ok just make sure you have the sync wire also connected to the gun i/o board and you should be good.
Having a complete loom makes hooking it all up so much easier half the battle is already won i did mine the hard way and built...
You don`t need that i/o board for TC2 or TC3 it is only used in the DX units with the ir emitter guns with the camera for standard guns on a crt monitor you only need the gun i/o board all the wiring diagrams are in the sd manual so not to difficult to put together a TC3 setup