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DARKSOFT CPS III Bios and CD Releases

twistedsymphony said:
Is there a good technique for removing solder off of SMD chip pins after removal? that always seems like the longest most annoying step in the process when I salvage or reflash chips.
Click to expand...
Hi
About removing solder off smd pins, best options is using good « tin soldering braid » around 350deg cel). Be careful using this technique ! Not recommended, but the most common.

using hot temp with smd chips can quickly destroy the chip or partially destroy it, removing the ability to write on it for exemple « , especially if you use hot air temp upper than 250/300 deg cel. Not a good option for me !

I use special alloy to remove smd chips (not the more cheap for sure), the « quikchip alloy » is the best solution to remove smd using very low temperatures and avoid to destroy anything : motherboard pads, eeprom chips (melting below 90deg Celsius and be « liquid » state for some seconds !).

First remove excessive tin on smd chip using braid, then put some good flux on them, then only, put allow on chip pins using classic iron, it easily melt around 150deg with airflow in 3/4 seconds and permit fast removing of smd chips.

I’ve tryed to remove original chip using classic method and I’ve issued the same situation : impossible to write on it etc..

Also use the correct adapter on your writer (8, 16 bits etc..) if not it will not be good.
 
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Nic034 said:
First remove excessive tin on smd chip using braid, then put some good flux on them, then only, put allow on chip pins using classic iron, it easily melt around 150deg with airflow in 3/4 seconds and permit fast removing of smd chips.
Click to expand...
yes, chipquik is what I normally use; I've never had good luck with normal high-temp hot air. but I've found it difficult to get the chipquick off of the chip... I can remove the chip is 2-min then spend 30-min getting the chip quick off of the pins :-/
 
twistedsymphony said:
yes, chipquik is what I normally use; I've never had good luck with normal high-temp hot air. but I've found it difficult to get the chipquick off of the chip... I can remove the chip is 2-min then spend 30-min getting the chip quick off of the pins :-/
Click to expand...
Yes same issue for sure for me :)
 
Question for BIOS / Cart Compatibility: Can an original 3rd Strike cart (that I think even the replaced battery has gone bad after a few years) be reflashed to use the new ULTRA SIMM BIOS so that it will work with both the ULTRA SIMM multi and the original CPS3 multi kit?

Basically I have an original version CPS3 multi running with an SCSI/SD card, and I'd like to upgrade another CPS3 PCB to the ULTRA SIMM kit and have upgrade both my multi cart and my original 3S cart so they could work with either kit.

Thanks
 
Yes. The UltraBIOS is fully compatible with original simms and SuperBIOS CDs. The only difference is that the Ultrasimms are compatible with a NoCD version since you don't have to write games any longer.
 
So if I have a no CD BIOS on my ultrabios cart can I use it like superbios with original SIMMS and sd2scsi ?
 
My guess is that to use your sd2scsi (or a scsi cdrom) and use the original SIMM kit you will need the CD BIOS flashed.
 
Mitsurugi-w said:
Did you erase it first? If so you probably have a short still between two pins on the chip or your adapter isn't making good contact with all pins on the chip.
Click to expand...

Strangely - I was able to erase it on my flashcat, but not my TopMax II.

Weird, but I have choices I guess!

Matt
 
Hello,

I just got a CPS3 system with original SCSI cdrom player and since I am not familiar with that system. and I've heard it's quite fragile, I thought I would ask a few tips here first :)

Here are a few photos of my setup :

the modified cart (don't know who did it and what BIOS it is):
1614604162-4fe58dac-d58a-45f3-93fb-d7be9bb3bda7.png
1614604159-313eb4ac-090b-4cea-ad73-d398e25506d2.png


the simms (apparently from Aje.fr) :
1614604166-c3e97e12-4702-442b-8e79-5265d9f48d4b.png
1614604171-ad7b8840-b09c-4d84-9df7-abcafd13b084.png


the scsi2sd pcb i ordered (is this the one when you dont need to plug the cables ?) :
1614604174-28809adb-e798-492f-a1b7-b4bd1ada124e.png
1614604176-8407a153-c3e5-4f01-adbf-a4a3b2cad041.png


There is also a CD with darksoft cps3 library, but i don't know which one since it is in the cdplayer and I haven't started it yet.

I wanted to get rid of the cdrom player before plugging the system for the first time on my cab, so I ordered an SCSI2SD pcb.

I also downloaded this cps3 game library from here (2 files) for the SD card:
https://www.mediafire.com/file/djkt..._standard_SH2_V4_Unmodified_MakotoFix.7z/file

Didn't know if I should take a BIOS for the SD card, so if I need to, can someone please tell me which one I should get ?

And if I should format the SD card on a special format ?

Thanks for taking the time to help/educate my noob butt ^^
 
@spacejockey -- Photos are a bit too small to make out clearly :)

Before going ahead, I would try to load the system up with the SCSI CD-Rom / Disc to make sure it's all working first :)

You won't need to plug in power for the SCSI2SD, just the SCSI cable.

Post up a larger picture of the cart so we can see if it's a CUSTOM or STANDARD SH-2 so we can point you to the right files to put on your SD. Once it's know, you just choose the correct file for your processor type here: https://www.arcade-projects.com/threads/cps-iii-bios-and-cd-releases.36/

You can then follow the instructions in this post to write the SD card and configure your SCSI2SD to work: https://www.arcade-projects.com/threads/cps-iii-bios-and-cd-releases.36/page-25#post-266720

Good luck!
 
Looks like a Standard SH-2 chip which is cool because you can also play 4th Strike with it (look for the right version to flash to SD).

I’ve also used that SCSI2SD 5.0a board with no issues. Nice setup! Let us know how it goes.
 
Awesome ! Thanks a lot for all the infos @djsheep
Also not familiar with the 4th strike version... will look into that right now to see what it is about.

As you suggested I will try to plug with the cdrom player first, then follow those steps.

EDIT:
I finally tried to plug the game and it works like a charm.

Made a few credits on the game.
And rebooted to go into the darksoft menu (hold the 1p button) to rewrite the ROMS with SFIII 3rd Strike.

I'm 57% in the rewrite now and it should be playable in 15 min.

I will let you know how this went then :)

EDIT 2 : It went perfect ^^

Next step is get an SD card filling it and go on with the scsi2sd tests.

Thanks again for the tips Djsheep
 
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Hello, maybe already answered but with the new ultrabios, is the region selection menu still displaying each time I power the board or I need to stay with Japan superbios? thanks
 
Hi there gang !

Concerning the SD card, do I need to use a special format (FAt32, Ntfs, ... )

And do I have to unzip the library on the SD card or I should just drop them as is on the SD card ?

Thanks
 
@spacejockey you need to flash the .iso file to your SD card using a program such as Etcher. No need to format the card as the allocation table of a CD is written to the SD.
 
There is a pinned thread about it in the cps3 section. Please check that first.
 
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