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Any PGM Conversion info out there?

Locutus73 said:
but can that be converted to DOJ?
I'm sorry if I'm bothering, buy the thread is so long and confusing to me...
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so the thread of mine that you quoted, has links next to each PCB number where a conversion was done. so if you find NO-0222-1 and NO-0213 in the list you can see they both link to this post: https://www.arcade-projects.com/threads/any-pgm-conversion-info-out-there.4812/page-7#post-70494
which shows what a DOJ conversion looks like on that board.

it's been years since I looked at this but in general conversions here is ROM swapping, some boards also require installing a PLD on the PRG board, and the GFX board since it uses SMD ROMs the only suitable replacement ROMs available on the market are 3.3V and not 5V so you'll need to lift the power pins off of the board and install a 3.3V power converter for them.

Most people stopped doing these conversions once the Fluffy PCBs came out as they're a much cleaner and more reliable way to go. https://www.arcade-projects.com/threads/igs-pgm-cart-pcb-gerber-files.27155/

To be honest there seems to be some corrosion on your PRG PCB so it make cause you some headaches soldering in the new SMD ROM.

If you really want to try a conversion and learn the processes etc, with this PCB I can respect that. but if your goal is just to own/have one of these carts and play the game then buy a set of fluffy PCBs and consider the cart purchase you made a nice original case to hold them in.
 
twistedsymphony said:
so the thread of mine that you quoted, has links next to each PCB number where a conversion was done. so if you find NO-0222-1 and NO-0213 in the list you can see they both link to this post: https://www.arcade-projects.com/threads/any-pgm-conversion-info-out-there.4812/page-7#post-70494
which shows what a DOJ conversion looks like on that board.
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Oh, I see... I was deceived from the first pic, but yeah the second one is exactly my board... and I was confused because the post doesn't seem to mention DOJ, but probably I lost the messages sequence.

twistedsymphony said:
Most people stopped doing these conversions once the Fluffy PCBs came out as they're a much cleaner and more reliable way to go. https://www.arcade-projects.com/threads/igs-pgm-cart-pcb-gerber-files.27155/
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Yeah, I'll buy a set of three Fluffy conversions from @nnap , but, in the meantime I thought converting my cart could be a fun week end project.
@nem can you please share some details on your NO-0222-1 conversion?

TIA
 
I haven't made any PGM conversions. The pics are from another user here.

Personally, I would keep the Super Heroes as is (it's a fun brawler) and get the Fluffy carts instead.
 
nem said:
I haven't made any PGM conversions. The pics are from another user here.
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Ok, by any chance do you remeber who was the user?

nem said:
Personally, I would keep the Super Heroes as is (it's a fun brawler) and get the Fluffy carts instead.
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I'll buy Fluffy carts for sure, but I'd love at least to study how to do a conversion. I might do not perform it, but I'd love to have the procedure.

h6JSU6ajpo0uCZfQXMTj-zbj2cHe_idBLbjtSn_8puM.webp


TIA
 
Locutus73 said:
I'll buy Fluffy carts for sure, but I'd love at least to study how to do a conversion. I might do not perform it, but I'd love to have the procedure.
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1. identify what ROMs you need, it should be a 27c322 for the main program ROM and 26L6420 for the 64Mbit Graphics and MX29L3211 for the Sound ROM and maybe one of the other ROMs on the PRG Board.,
2. program the ROMs, you'll need a SOP44 adapter to program those SMD chips. When I did my conversion I ordered these pre-programmed from buyicnow.com
3. Remove the original ROMs from the boards. Obviously the SMD ROMs will need to be de-soldered.
4. on the SMD ROMs you'll want to lift the Vcc pin off of the PCB or cut the trace going to Vcc so that it's NOT receiving 5V power. Then buy a small 5V to 3.3V power converter, connect input power to 5V, Ground to ground, and the 3.3V output goes to the Vcc pin on each of the SMD ROMs.
5. Try it and see if it works. you may need to replace the PLD (PAL/GAL) the code for this is somewhere in the thread and you'll need to buy/program it and install it in the appropriate socket on the PRG board.
 
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@twistedsymphony thank you so much for the extensive explanation! 🙏

twistedsymphony said:
4. on the SMD ROMs you'll want to lift the Vcc pin off of the PCB or cut the trace going to Vcc so that it's NOT receiving 5V power. Then buy a small 5V to 3.3V power converter, connect input power to 5V, Ground to ground, and the 3.3V output goes to the Vcc pin on each of the SMD ROMs.
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Isn't that what the black wire and the bulk decoupling capacitor are doing in this conversion?
pcb_2_1.jpg


pcb_2_2.jpg
 
Locutus73 said:
Isn't that what the black wire and the bulk decoupling capacitor are doing in this conversion?
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yes, exactly. this PRG board actually has a 3.3V converter built in (U3 in the top left corner) so you can use that instead of adding your own.

on the GFX board, this conversion it looks like they're running a wire between the boards to tap into that as well.
 
Good, now I have to figure out what goes in each of the flash ICs... I remeber seeing instructions for different boards with different layouts, but I have to dig in this thread accurately... nice!
 
so look at the mame driver, look at the ROM definition for your original game and see which ROM labels corespond to which locations on the PCB.

then compare it to your target game (DDP) to see which ROM in that games definition file correspond to the locations in the donor games definition.
 
twistedsymphony said:
so look at the mame driver, look at the ROM definition for your original game and see which ROM labels corespond to which locations on the PCB.

then compare it to your target game (DDP) to see which ROM in that games definition file correspond to the locations in the donor games definition.
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Cool man, that's a very useful info/tip, I mean, generally speaking, not limited to this peculiar conversion.
Thank you so much, very very apreciated.
🙏🙏🙏

One last (ehm... I don't think so) thing: any suggestion about encryption?
 
Locutus73 said:
One last (ehm... I don't think so) thing: any suggestion about encryption?
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the ROMs used for these cart conversions don't have any encryption on them.

for DDP you'll want to find the latest Program Rom version that people are using (look through some of the fluffy cart threads), some of the older releases had some bugs and there have been a few updates since this old conversion thread was used. I'd give you a link but I honestly haven't kept up with it personally.
the rest of the ROMs outside of the program ROM you can get from MAME
 
twistedsymphony said:
I'd give you a link but I honestly haven't kept up with it personally.
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No, no, absolutely no links, only precious informations as you’re doing.
Anyway I was under the impression that this particular board requires an encrypted program ROM and/or assets. Does the modified program ROM (to be found somewhere) get rid of any encryption so that I can use the rest of unencrypted MAME ROMs?
 
Locutus73 said:
No, no, absolutely no links, only precious informations as you’re doing.
Anyway I was under the impression that this particular board requires an encrypted program ROM and/or assets. Does the modified program ROM (to be found somewhere) get rid of any encryption so that I can use the rest of unencrypted MAME ROMs?
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on this board the security hardware just gets ignored when you're using an an unprotected program ROM
 
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