Darksoft Neo Multi Help thread
- Thread starter Mitsurugi-w
- Start date
I just got mine (well, got it like a week ago but only just tested it) and I seem to have the same problem reported in the last couple of pages - sound channels randomly cutting out, I even had it misaligned once on Metal Slug 1 (melody not in sync with the percussion etc). MV-1FZ, with Meanwell RT-85A and the minigun, tried to clean all the contacts etc. Getting 5V on the JAMMA edge (something like 12.8 for the 12V pin though, I saw someone theorize in this thread that this one can't be too high?).
Is the workaround supposed to be trying to lower the voltage below 5V, or do you have any other suggestions? From the last couple of pages it seems like people had mixed success with this.
Is the workaround supposed to be trying to lower the voltage below 5V, or do you have any other suggestions? From the last couple of pages it seems like people had mixed success with this.
I got stock EU bios.
I just checked the voltage at the other side of the cartridge slot, it's approximately the same as on the JAMMA edge of the board so I don't think this makes a difference (and it's way harder to measure, since i have to do it with the case off and the cartridge has nothing to rest on). There's like 0.01-0.03V difference with my multimeter if at all.
I, however, cannot repeat that 12.8V measurement, to be fair I wasn't as focused on the 12V when measuring stuff yesterday. I am consistently getting less drastic 12.25V when adjusting RT-58A to 5.0V. I'll try with 4.8V (which results in 11.7V on the 12V pin) and will report if anything changes.
I did some tests. It does seem like the problems get less frequent the lower you go with voltage, but even at 4.7V I had a full sound hang. So far the only complete Metal Slug 1 run without any sound problems was with ridiculous 4.65V (11.3V on the 12V line), so I guess I'll continue testing at that voltage (I'm a bit tired of Metal Slug at this point, if you can believe such thing possible 
).
I'm also curious whether that 12V line actually makes a difference - one thing that did surprise me is how much the 5V adjustment (the only one available on RT-85A) actually affects the 12V output, maybe it's a problem especially with a high current draw? Who knows
).I'm also curious whether that 12V line actually makes a difference - one thing that did surprise me is how much the 5V adjustment (the only one available on RT-85A) actually affects the 12V output, maybe it's a problem especially with a high current draw? Who knows
junglemindstate
New User
Hello. I am running into a consistent issue with sound and other issues. From browsing through this thread there seems to be some conflicting advice so want to be sure I’m not making any bad assumptions. My board is a NEO-MVH MV4. I recently had it out and adjusted the voltage at the JAMMA connector to as near 5v as possible. I gather I need to test at the cartridge slot, and if someone could provide the pins that would be very helpful. Then do I understand right that I want to dial that back a bit to ~4.75-ish, or start somewhere else and go down or up in small increments until it starts to work? Is there an upper and lower limit where if it hasn’t worked yet, start doing the other direction? Is there anything besides voltage I need to look at adjusting if my machine works great otherwise? Thank you in advance!
Pinout can be found here: https://wiki.neogeodev.org/index.php/MVS_cartridge_pinout
junglemindstate
New User
Thanks. I was about 4.8, and have tried tweaking lower to ~4.7 when I began experiencing other more continuous audio glitches and incrementally increased from there back to the issue I originally had which is game runs fine until about ~5-10min in and sound drops completely. Then I continued to go up in small increments until about 4.9x and then instead of the audio dropping it froze. I wasn’t able to find a “sweet spot” in between that did not experience either issue after 5-15min. Any thoughts on how to resolve this? Again, this is an MVH 4-slot board, with stock US BIOS SP-U2. I’m testing voltage on the second and third slots under load with the darksoft cart in slot 1 and an original cart in slot 4.
r-type
Student
Can you please elaborate? All carts are tested one by one by me personally. Can you tell me which motherboards did you test it with? How is the sound section looking in terms of caps, even if it works with regular carts. Do they show the exact same symptomps? Is that in all games or only some specific ones?
r-type
Student
Thanks for replying.
I should have been more specific - sorry.
The issues are the same as @junglemindstate and @p_ja are having. Audio cut outs. Sometimes it's one channel (stage music for example) or sound effects. Sometimes they come back, although more often than not, the sound doesn't come back. Sometimes it only takes a minute or so before cutting out, other times it can be around 20 minutes.
Happens a lot with Neo Turfmasters and Metal Slug 1. It does it on other games too. I think only Thrash Rally is the one game it didn't happen on. It could be a lot of the games, but I give up most of the time and put an original cart back in. Happy to do some more tests.
The one slots I tried were 2x MV1-FS (one of which had had the caps replaced in the audio section) and 1x MV1-FZ.
PSUs tried were some generic JAMMA PSU, a meanwell RT-125a, and a Happ Power Pro. Symptoms are the same regardless.
I should have been more specific - sorry.
The issues are the same as @junglemindstate and @p_ja are having. Audio cut outs. Sometimes it's one channel (stage music for example) or sound effects. Sometimes they come back, although more often than not, the sound doesn't come back. Sometimes it only takes a minute or so before cutting out, other times it can be around 20 minutes.
Happens a lot with Neo Turfmasters and Metal Slug 1. It does it on other games too. I think only Thrash Rally is the one game it didn't happen on. It could be a lot of the games, but I give up most of the time and put an original cart back in. Happy to do some more tests.
The one slots I tried were 2x MV1-FS (one of which had had the caps replaced in the audio section) and 1x MV1-FZ.
PSUs tried were some generic JAMMA PSU, a meanwell RT-125a, and a Happ Power Pro. Symptoms are the same regardless.
junglemindstate
New User
Firmware revision 0x0491
Firmware build 0xa512
Top file build 0x7d3c
Menu build date mar 24 2023
Menu build time 10:33:01
Firmware build 0xa512
Top file build 0x7d3c
Menu build date mar 24 2023
Menu build time 10:33:01
Didn't have much time lately for testing, but will report the versions as soon as I can. But just to add some observations I had since last time:
- At 4.65V issues are very rare but I still had it happen once
- I didn't actually encounter any sound issues at 5V ouside of Metal Slug games, but it may be because I didn't test enough (Aero Fighters 2, Pulstar and Zed Blade worked just fine).
The second point made me suspect it's related to this thread I found, for which the solution is apparently JP Unibios:
I already ordered and got an EPROM to try that, will tell you how it goes once I'm able to check.
- At 4.65V issues are very rare but I still had it happen once
- I didn't actually encounter any sound issues at 5V ouside of Metal Slug games, but it may be because I didn't test enough (Aero Fighters 2, Pulstar and Zed Blade worked just fine).
The second point made me suspect it's related to this thread I found, for which the solution is apparently JP Unibios:
I already ordered and got an EPROM to try that, will tell you how it goes once I'm able to check.
I tried Unibios JP today and it didn't really change anything (still testing at 5V), in fact I had the weirdest issue yet when last level music tried to play after killing the first stage boss in Metal Slug so unibios is probably a false lead.
so unibios is probably a false lead.I have the exact same versions.
An
And which motherboards do each of you have? p_ja has a MV-1FZ, right? and @junglemindstate a NEO-MVH MV4 ? Have you tried with any other mobo?I tried Unibios JP today and it didn't really change anything (still testing at 5V), in fact I had the weirdest issue yet when last level music tried to play after killing the first stage boss in Metal Slug
I have the exact same versions.
I have MV-1FZ, yes, it's the only mobo I currently have. As far as I can tell it was never tinkered with, looks like original caps and even the original backup battery. (I may try to change them and let you know if it improved anything but I won't be able to for a while again).
Maybe worth noting but I also do have the original Metal Slug MVS cart, it doesn't seem to have the same sound problems (so that unibios thing was probably a stretch to begin with)
Maybe worth noting but I also do have the original Metal Slug MVS cart, it doesn't seem to have the same sound problems (so that unibios thing was probably a stretch to begin with)
Good idea. Those caps can be 25 years old. Open and send us a picture when you can.I have MV-1FZ, yes, it's the only mobo I currently have. As far as I can tell it was never tinkered with, looks like original caps and even the original backup battery. (I may try to change them and let you know if it improved anything but I won't be able to for a while again).
Maybe worth noting but I also do have the original Metal Slug MVS cart, it doesn't seem to have the same sound problems (so that unibios thing was probably a stretch to begin with)
junglemindstate
New User
Yes, MV4 for me, and I don't have another board to test with although I have like a dozen original carts and never have any similar issues with them. The only game I have run into this problem on is Baseball Stars 2, but I also haven't extensively tested any others because I figure if I can get this one to work I'll be less likely to have issues with others. I reinstalled the newest bios and was able to get maybe 20min of gameplay in before the sound cut out completely again. Interestingly, as soon as the game ended and went back to the game's splash screen the sound came back on.
nipple
Enthusiast
Hey guys,
Couple of questions, have a mv1fz the big one with controller ports and headphone jacks.
What is the best bios to run, it currently has version as per below pic
Also I tried to run windjammers and it crashes at the splash attraction screen and just reloads to reboot loop. Have tried lots of other games and have only found both the windjammers to crash so far.
Sound also drops out randomly but will usually return the start of a new stage or section in the games.
Cheers
Couple of questions, have a mv1fz the big one with controller ports and headphone jacks.
What is the best bios to run, it currently has version as per below pic
Also I tried to run windjammers and it crashes at the splash attraction screen and just reloads to reboot loop. Have tried lots of other games and have only found both the windjammers to crash so far.
Sound also drops out randomly but will usually return the start of a new stage or section in the games.
Cheers