What's new

Golden Axe and Shinobi Cart Issues

Now I'm the one having trouble making another shinobi cart and a Golden Axe cart.
Shinobi have sound problems, reprogrammed and verified all V roms, verified M1 too, jumpers checked too, its the same config that I have made in the first one that works.
Golden Axe I have graphic problems, reprogrammed and verified all C roms, its like jailbars on screen, (I forgot to record a video)....
Tried jumpers as same as in shinobi, but I couldn't make it work....
Tested on 3 different mobos and its the same in all of them.....
Any tips to resolve this problems?
WhatsApp Image 2025-03-18 at 22.15.59.jpeg
WhatsApp Image 2025-03-18 at 22.14.30.jpeg
Shinobi solved, it was a bad PCM.
 
I decided (on some good advice from @pierpa86 ) to create a new thread for my issues.

The post below has new information if you saw it in the Golden Axe thread.

I'll indicate new info with ***

I attempted to create Golden Axe and Shinobi carts today.

The long story, short, is that Shinobi works and Golden Axe does not...

*** Shinobi works on MV1C
*** Shinobi does not work on MV1B
*** Golden Axe and Shinobi both display the colorful checkerboard like when no bios is loaded
*** Tested on multiple MV1B motherboards

I'm using identical donors for both carts (Super Sidekicks 2).

*** Both donor carts worked well before conversion.

*** The below information is from my testing on MV1C.

Golden Axe just goes straight to the crosshatch.

One time (only once), I got a garbled NEOGEO on the unibios screen, followed by the silent Neo Geo splash (normal). There was some slight garbage in the splash. a little rectangle that didn't belong.

When the attract mode tried to start I got the crosshatch.

The ROM configuration is the same for both. Golden Axe and Shinobi:

m1 - 27c1001
s1 - 27c1001 - swapped pins 2 & 24
c1 - 27c160
c2 - 27c160
p1 - 27c160
v1 - 27c160
v2 - 27c160
v3 - 27c160
v4 - 27c160

Jumpers (same on shinobi):

PROGTOP:
- J1
- J9
- J13
- J16
- J17

CHA256:
- J2
- J3
- J7
- J8
- R1
- R2
- R3
- R4

PROGTOP
1000012717.jpg



PROGTOP BACK
1000012719.jpg


CHA256
1000012721.jpg

CHA256 BACK
1000012723.jpg


V1 pin 28 ring came off while I was removing the original ROMS. I expose the copper on the trace and patched a small piece of wire from the pin to the newly exposed trace.

I have the same thing happen to a pin on V1 on Shinobi and patched the same way. It came out better on Shinobi but it's not as bad as the image appears.

Any thoughts?
Hello, can you tell me exactly what you did on the PROTOP PCB and the CHA256 PCB?
I see in your photos that you didn't install a 74LS08, but I had to add one because the image was full of glitches — actually, the screen was just big messy pixels everywhere, and you couldn’t make out the game image at all.
I used the same EPROMs as you, except I'm getting horrible, very distorted sound.
Could you help me out? Thanks.
 
Hello, can you tell me exactly what you did on the PROTOP PCB and the CHA256 PCB?
I see in your photos that you didn't install a 74LS08, but I had to add one because the image was full of glitches — actually, the screen was just big messy pixels everywhere, and you couldn’t make out the game image at all.
I used the same EPROMs as you, except I'm getting horrible, very distorted sound.
Could you help me out? Thanks.
Can you share pictures of your boards?
 
Can you share pictures of your boards?
Hello,

Yes below the picture of my boards



I even tried a second conversion using two other PCBs from the same Puzzle Bobble game. This time, I used 27C322 (4MB) EPROMs for V1 and V2, and a 27C160 for P1 — and I'm still getting that awful, messed-up sound. I honestly have no idea what's causing it. :-X
Even during the boot sequence, before the game starts, the Neo Geo logo music doesn't play, almost like the M1 EPROM isn't communicating properly with the slot's YM2610.
I also duplicated the M1 file, since the Golden Axe M1 binary is only 64KB, so I padded it to 128KB.
I even tried using two EPROMs for P1 on the PROGTOP PCB.
Since P1 is 1024KB, I split it into two parts and used two 27C4002 EPROMs, each containing 512KB, installed in the EP1 and EP2 positions.

full_picture.jpg


2_boards_PROGTOP.jpg
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the info, that's good to know! :p)
However, the sound issue still persists even after reprogramming the V EPROMs using 27C160s.
When I got sound issues making my shinobi cart, I changed the prog board for another one, worked but I don't know what was the problem with the another one.
 
Dude i tell you, if you got a messed sound, scratchi.... its can be only:
1) VRom problem
2) PCM Chip problem

if you got no audio at all, check M1
Jumper on ProgTop is ok on picture for 27c160 or other 2MB eprom
Have you tested it before desolder old eprom ?
 
Mec, je te le dis, si tu as un son bizarre, un scratch... ça ne peut être que :
1) Problème VRom
2) Problème de puce PCM

si vous n'avez aucun son, vérifiez M1
Le cavalier sur ProgTop est ok sur la photo pour 27c160 ou autre eprom 2MB
L'avez-vous testé avant de dessouder une vieille eprom ?
C'était vraiment ce satané Neo-PCM qui était défectueux. J'étais persuadé d'avoir dessoudé les ROM d'origine du bon PCB – erreur de débutant. Quoi qu'il en soit, un grand merci à tous d'avoir pris le temps de lire ma demande.
 
Dude i tell you, if you got a messed sound, scratchi.... its can be only:
1) VRom problem
2) PCM Chip problem

if you got no audio at all, check M1
Jumper on ProgTop is ok on picture for 27c160 or other 2MB eprom
Have you tested it before desolder old eprom ?
It really was that damn Neo-PCM that was faulty. I was convinced I had desoldered the original ROMs from the correct PCB — beginner's mistake. In any case, a big thank you to everyone for taking the time to read my request.
 
Back
Top