Identifying Atomiswave Motherboard Mod

Hey Guys

I finally had time to myself and what better way to enjoy it? Work on some projects
I was performing the Stereo Mod on my Atomiswave Systems when I stumbled upon this Motherboard that seemed like it was modified/repaired
No idea what this is and was curious if anyone else here knows?

My other Atomiswave Motherboard didn't have this extra board with wires on it

Listen, I can't tell you what this is, but DON'T cut the PURPLE wire, the PURPLE WIRE!

lol there are no purple wires

The chip on there, the LVC74, is a flip-flop. I don't know the pinout for the cartridge connector or GPU so I can't say exactly what it does, but it seems to fix a memory access timing bug. Some games freeze on the AM3AGA-04 2002 motherboards that don’t have the little add-on board. Maximum Speed comes to mind but I'm sure there are others.

TP1 is ground.
TP2 is power
TP3 is the output - goes to cart connector
TP4 is the input - goes to the PowerVR2 GPU
TP6 is the clear - goes to pin1 of the amp, which is mute.


Interestingly, I've come across four motherboard variants, with the revision number corresponding to year (which doesn't necessarily match the serial number manufacture year). This is not authoritative by any means, just what I've observed. There may be other motherboard revisions floating around too.

Serial # starting with 2002 - Uses an AM3AGA-04 2002 with no mod board. Not common.



Serial # starting with 2003 - Uses an AM3AGA-04 2002 with the mod board (of this I've seen two variants, one has TP4 connected to Pin 14, the other doesn't). These are everywhere. Late production year machines may use the AM3AGA-06 2003 motherboard but I've never seen one.
.


Serial # starting with 2004 - Uses an AM3AGA-06 2003. Not common.

Chrone said:

The chip on there, LVC74 is a flip-flop. I don't know the pinout for the cartridge connector or GPU so I can't say exactly what it does but it seems to fix a memory access timing bug as some games crash on the 2002 motherboards without the fix after a certain amount of time. Maximum Speed comes to mind but I'm sure there are others.

TP1 is ground.
TP2 is power
TP3 is the output - goes to cart connector
TP4 is the input - goes to the PowerVR2 GPU
TP6 is the clear - goes to pin1 of the amp, which is mute.


Interestingly, I've come across four motherboard variants, with the main revision corresponding to manufacture year (which doesn't necessarily match the serial number year). This is not authoritative by any means, just what I've observed. There may be other motherboard revisions floating around too.

Serial # starting with 2002 - Uses an AM3AGA-04 2002 with no mod board. Not common.



Serial # starting with 2003 - Uses an AM3AGA-04 2002 with the mod board (of this I've seen two variants, one has TP4 connected to Pin 14, the other doesn't). These are everywhere. Late production year machines may use the AM3AGA-06 2003 motherboard but I've never seen one.
.


Serial # starting with 2004 - Uses an AM3AGA-06 2003. Not common.

Click to expand...

That's cool I never knew about this fix
Not that it will ever affect my enjoyment of the Atomiswave
I only have two games
Rumble Fish and Rumble Fish 2 lol

I have 2 x 2003 motherboards here that both freeze on Dolphin Blue. it’s not a game issue as it works fine on other motherboards.

Tried everything from tweaking voltage, cleaning slots, trying different cabs / superguns, etc. — anyone know any other troubleshooting I can do or know what causes this issue? Maybe I need one of those sub boards?

I’m having the same issue with Blue Dolphin, it freezes randomly, sometimes right at the start of the demo, other times after the first stage begins.
From what I’ve found, there seem to be different versions of the motherboard:

• 1111 00006701 (V1?) – has a large factory fix (see pix above)

• 1111 00007401 (V2?) – has a small factory fix
• 

• 1111 00008701 (V3?) – clean board, no fixes
• 

Right now I only have V1, but I’m considering tracking down V2 and V3 in the hope that the later versions might run the game more reliably, assuming these differences are actually significant.
@djsheep: do you happen to know which board version these other working boards have that run the game correctly?

If someone out there has access to both boards and a copy of Dolphin Blue, could be one way to rule things out.

Are people having issues using the real deal, or bootlegs? I've heard that some of the boots (notably SamSho) have issues, so maybe the problem is actually the cart and not the motherboard revision.

Dex74 said:

I’m having the same issue with Blue Dolphin, it freezes randomly, sometimes right at the start of the demo, other times after the first stage begins.
From what I’ve found, there seem to be different versions of the motherboard:

• 1111 00006701 (V1?) – has a large factory fix (see pix above)

• 1111 00007401 (V2?) – has a small factory fix
• 

• 1111 00008701 (V3?) – clean board, no fixes
• 

Right now I only have V1, but I’m considering tracking down V2 and V3 in the hope that the later versions might run the game more reliably, assuming these differences are actually significant.
@djsheep: do you happen to know which board version these other working boards have that run the game correctly?

Click to expand...

I’ll have to open my motherboards but they’re both 2003 serial numbers. I have an original cart and multi and spent time soak testing the motherboards already. Just have to open them up.

The definite working motherboard was from @xodaraP — so I’ll follow up with him.

Good to know I’m not the only one with this issue. Was driving me crazy.

I don't have a fix but I have few more data points. Dolphin Blue freezes on my 2002D0xxx motherboard and on a low 2003 serial (2023D10000xxx). I haven't tested all the games but I know that GG: Isuka works fine on the early boards. The lowest serial number I have that runs Dolphin Blue correctly is 2003D10008704.

I’ll open mine and have a look at the internals. That sub board reminds me of the small PCB on CPS3 boards and it’s related to clock/timing

Could we maybe determine some central data points to try and narrow down the issue?

Issue observed:

Is issue repeatable/consistent:

Board serial:

Expansion boards attached: IO expansion/comm board/other/none

Factory fix: Type 1 (sub board), type 2 (wire bodge), no fix

JAMMA or JVS:

Dolphin Blue cart type: Original/bootleg/multi

The only game I have had freeze is Dolphin Blue.

JAMMA with dip switch set appropriately.

Issue is generally either right at Attract / Boot or on the first level. But I have had it (annoyingly) occur in much later stages.

My motherboard serial numbers are:
2003D100067694*
2003D10000101L*

Will have to open them to determine any sub boards or fixes.

I have tried with and without the expansion modules with no differences.

Issue occurs more frequently with multi. Have checked with @aje_fr but no other users reported it. One of the motherboards I used with an original Dolphin Blue cart for ages with no issues.

Voltages have been checked within safe JAMMA high and low ranges.

Also worth nothing that there’s been times where I have had it running sweet with no issues also. But that’s about 20% of the time at the very most.

FWIW — When I had your motherboard here @xodaraP, I was doing blind tests and yours didn’t hang once over a month. The other two didn’t fail to have issues.

@Chrone are you testing with original cart, bootleg cart or multi?