I have a couple of these boards, all of which have either lost sound entirely or have other issues. I have never successfully rebuilt or repaired them, nor have I ever figured out what the hell the modifications they did are intended to accomplish. The whole thing with the diode in the capacitor spot is just weird... my original Chinese 32-in1 CPS1 had one of these, but I swapped it out for a clean DASH board and am now using the same for my Darksoft multi.So, if you have this kind of A-board, test everything before you start.
- Thread starter Darksoft
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My eyes hurt when I see that kind of work.I wanted to bring up a problem I had. I first tested everything with a "normal" mobo. Everything was working then I swap with a repaired mobo. It seemed to work so I installed everything on it (with addons). This is a typical Chinese repair / overhaul board:
It works perfectly with authentic games and conversions but there are audio issues with the multi... On some games (notably Ghouls'n Ghosts and Strider) the music cuts out after a few moments of play. Nothing serious, I quickly identified the origin of the failure but my Remote Dip was soldered on it and it's painful. I'm ill-equipped for that and I damaged the Remote connections by desoldering (fortunately the mobo is fine). I asked Mitsurugi if I could reorder the soldering part (waiting for his answer).
So, if you have this kind of A-board, test everything before you start
Arf, I got this card recently and everything worked fine on it. Even a conversion of Ghouls'n Ghosts...
Of course, it's not great, it was to replace a card that died (sent to repair - typical PPU failure)...
Of course, it's not great, it was to replace a card that died (sent to repair - typical PPU failure)...
TravistyOJ
Student
Thanks so much, this was my issue. Rewrote SD on Windows and it’s working now!Mac's like to write all sorts of wacky hidden files and descriptors to media that cause problems.
The solution is to trash it for a Windows/Linux PC.
@TravistyOJ for future reference I think there’s a program/command called “dot_clean” that you can use to fix what’s going on with a Mac.
I use one called BlueHarvest.
obitus1990
Enthusiast
I am now experiencing issues with Street Fighter II, CE, and HF. The original ROM board was for SFII:CE (USA), and all the dips are set at the same as it was before I installed the multi. The music intermittently disappears in all three of the games above, then returns later on at some point. I am using one of the multi-packs from that archive site that contain files for all of the DarkSoft Multis, with the USA CPS1 pack inside being dated 6/4/22. I did not have this issue with the original SFII:CE ROM board installed. Also, sometimes after I flash CE back from some other game, after it reboots, all of the characters, texts, etc. are solid red until I actually power down completely and then power back up. Then the colors are correct. Power cycling does nothing for the sound issue, though.
Both wires installed correctly, the PAL is installed, and the soundboard is an FPGA variant (with a qsound.bin placed in the root of the SD card). The SD was bought with the multi from HighScoreSaves, and I moved all files onto with a Windows 10 PC. I downloaded the ROMset again, formatted the SD card, then copied the files fresh onto it, but still have the same result.
Sorry if this question has been asked already, but, this thread is 24 pages long.
Edit to add: C board is a 90631C-5 which had been modded very cleanly to be battery-less. I undid the mod, checked to make sure there was no connection to 5V and verified that the pins in question were now connected to ground with a DMM. A board is a DASH.
Both wires installed correctly, the PAL is installed, and the soundboard is an FPGA variant (with a qsound.bin placed in the root of the SD card). The SD was bought with the multi from HighScoreSaves, and I moved all files onto with a Windows 10 PC. I downloaded the ROMset again, formatted the SD card, then copied the files fresh onto it, but still have the same result.
Sorry if this question has been asked already, but, this thread is 24 pages long.
Edit to add: C board is a 90631C-5 which had been modded very cleanly to be battery-less. I undid the mod, checked to make sure there was no connection to 5V and verified that the pins in question were now connected to ground with a DMM. A board is a DASH.
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Finally got round to this. I find my A board (88617A-7B) and C board (90628-C-1 MERCS, no battery support) are incompatible with the multi. Possibly the ebay seller I bought this from played me like a fiddle. A shame as the boards are pristine. So, um, does anyone have multi-compatible boards they would be willing to sell me? I really don't want to buy from ebay again TBH 
Please PM me if you have anything.
Another QQ- do the 2 wires have to be installed, or will it work ok without?
Thanks guys.
Please PM me if you have anything.
Another QQ- do the 2 wires have to be installed, or will it work ok without?
Thanks guys.
They must be installed.
obitus1990
Enthusiast
Is this reply for me? If so, it's an 8GB card that was sold to me with the multi from HSS. I don't know what brand it is...will have to go check in a bit.
Also, DIP switches were the exact same as they were when the original ROM board was in place as a SFII:CE (USA). Should they be something different?
Yes, reply was for you. Dip Switches should be OK if the game was exactly SFII:CE. Can you try with a different microSD? It must be SDHC, the smaller the better and it should be original, otherwise weird things happen with timeouts, etc.
obitus1990
Enthusiast
It is a Sandisk HC (with Roman numeral I after it) followed by Class 4 -- 8Gb.
I don't have anything else this small, unfortunately. All my other Micro SD cards are much larger capacity SDXC.
Can you borrow some other microSD from Mister or any other place?
I bought one of these A boards cheap and put world warrior B+C on it. It works fine. The original world warrior A board is mint and in the multi works perfect with it. No way I'd put the beautiful multi with that rough looking hacked A board.I wanted to bring up a problem I had. I first tested everything with a "normal" mobo. Everything was working then I swap with a repaired mobo. It seemed to work so I installed everything on it (with addons). This is a typical Chinese repair / overhaul board:
It works perfectly with authentic games and conversions but there are audio issues with the multi... On some games (notably Ghouls'n Ghosts and Strider) the music cuts out after a few moments of play. Nothing serious, I quickly identified the origin of the failure but my Remote Dip was soldered on it and it's painful. I'm ill-equipped for that and I damaged the Remote connections by desoldering (fortunately the mobo is fine). I asked Mitsurugi if I could reorder the soldering part (waiting for his answer).
So, if you have this kind of A-board, test everything before you start
Where did these hacked A boards come from and why is the hack job so bad on them? They seem to be everywhere. I bought mine from yanton. I'd guess it's old cps1.5 stock.
Has anyone stripped out the hacked parts and rebuilt the audio section clean?
obitus1990
Enthusiast
I pulled a 4 GB from my Mister and another 4 GB from a Rasberry Pi (one a Sandisk and the other a Panasonic, both SDHC). Same results. The music drops out, but, sound effects continue to work, just as with the 8GB that came with the multi.
@obitus1990 please share a picture of your A board.
obitus1990
Enthusiast
Do you need to see more than this (from the eBay listing where I purchased it)? If so, I'm going to have to go unscrew it from the cabinet and disassemble the whole multi to get anything further.
There is a number on the bottom of the board from the listing as well, 89626A-4 if that helps.
