Grey Screen From CPS3 Motherboard

[Shunn]

I googled what a grey screen for the CPS3 means but I didn't get anything that looked like what I see from my board I bought from YAJ. I have a repro cart from Darksoft and I'm using the simms that came with the board. Can someone tell me if my CPS3 motherboard in the picture is dead or not? I plan on using the Ultra Simms and depending on if the board is dead, I'll buy the simms sooner or later.

 

[MostroVeneno]

Hey, really can be so many things...is it plain grey screen? or you got in the left some artifacts? can´t tell from the picture.
Maybe upload pictures of your setup, simms, cart, etc
You may want to clean with IPA all simms and cart sockets, seat and reseat again everything. Check voltages, set it to 5V.
Check SCSi Cable and drive though these won´t cause suicide screen, and suicide screen can be garbled screen or plain black or whatever, what i mean is you got to start ruling out things.

 

[Shunn]

I don't have my motherboard with me so I'll provide a picture of my setup after the weekend. Sometimes I get artifacts on the left side of the screen and sometimes it's a plain grey screen. I don't have a SCSI cable or drive since I wanted a Ultra Simms setup. Are they needed to check if the board is dead?

 

[MostroVeneno]

Are they needed to check if the board is dead?

Not really for the first step (to check video) but you would get stuck with screen message that drive isn't connected, yes for further testing and inspection.

 

[Shunn]

Would buying the Ultra Simms and then testing the board be the best way going forward?

 

[MostroVeneno]

For just troubleshooting I don't think so, you already have most of the elements to do testing. Right now you should at least worry to get video from your mobo.

 

[Shunn]

Okay once I get my setup, I'll clean and reseat everything and take some pictures. I'll update this thread with my findings.

 

[Shunn]

So I took a q-tip soaked with IPA to every simm and cart socket. I still get a grey screen. I did power up the board with no DS cart and got a weird screen (image attached). I measured the board at 4.99 V as well. Here's a video of me powering the board on a picture of my whole setup.

 

[MostroVeneno]

When powering without cart displays that garbled picture you attached. Also if you are trying to power with a DS cart you will need 2x64mb simms for slot 1&2 and 4x128 simms for 3,4,5 and 6th slot.
Your setup lacks the proper simms right now at simple sight.

 

[GoldenGlover]

It probably has a bad custom/is a dead motherboard unfortunately. I have a CPS3 motherboard exhibiting the same behavior and screen when the board is powered and a cartridge is plugged in/not plugged in. Even with me replacing the LS08 chip underneath the board (which is partially responsible for sync) & reflowing some of the customs didn’t make the board work.

I swear that static electricity can kill a custom on this board like it can kill a working battery cart. :/

 

[Shunn]

When powering without cart displays that garbled picture you attached. Also if you are trying to power with a DS cart you will need 2x64mb simms for slot 1&2 and 4x128 simms for 3,4,5 and 6th slot.
Your setup lacks the proper simms right now at simple sight.

So would now be a good idea to go buy the Ultra simms and check if I get video then if GoldenGlover is correct, I will buy another motherboard this one is truely dead?

 

[MostroVeneno]

If your final goal are the ultrasimms is fine, buy them they are great!
As long as the mobo is dead or not, there is not enough proof.

 

[Shunn]

I'll buy them and try to prove the status of the motherboard and update my findings again and go from there. Thank you!

 

[hatmoose]

I'm doing pretty much the same thing now with some untrusted "junk" CPS3 boards
https://www.arcade-projects.com/thr...ued-on-to-both-any-thoughts.17507/post-303504

It looks like your board was the same as mine, SF3 New Generation - and has 2 x 128mb simms, 1 x 32 MB simm and 1 x 64mb simm - same as mine

I would not rush out out and buy more SIMMS just yet - I think your mainboard may have a problem

Expected behavior if you have a working mainboard and missing security cart or a dead cart is garbled graphics like this. The garbled graphics dont mean anything in particular, it's just whatever state the vram hapened to be in when the mainboard decided to write it to the screen


Expected behavior if you have a working mainboard and working security cart but not a full set of SIMMS is to get a message saying "there is not enough memory installed" like this one



As far as I can see you arent getting either of those things - so I think your problem is with the cart (unlikley) or the mainboard (more likley)

Until you can get to the "not enough memory installed" message there is no point buying the SIMMS - except that they are wicked cool and you will eventually need them

But before that I suggest you try
1) removing and re-seating the existing SIMMS, they look kinda crooked to me
2) removing and re-seating the reproduction cart, its highly unlikley that it would be dead on arrival but its easy to check
3) rebooting the board a bunch of times, interested to see if the garbled graphics are different each time or the same.

 

[Shunn]

Thanks @hatmoose I will do some more testing tonight based on your suggestions and see what happens. I did already buy the Ultra SIMMS. If the issue is with the mainboard, does that mean I likely have to buy another or is there a good chance it can get fixed?

 

[Shunn]

So I recleaned the slots and reseated the simms. Hopefully they don't look crooked. As far as the output, it's the same grey screen every time. Sometimes it takes a couple of seconds before it shows up. How can I test the DS cart to check if it's dead or not?

 

[hatmoose]

Hmmm, this is the whole “testing untrusted gear with other untrusted gear” problem.

Easiest way to test the DS cart would be in a known-good CPS3 board. easiest way to test the board would be with known good cart/ram/CD.

I’ve got plenty of both. but I live on a tiny island 12000 miles away. Posting to/from probably isn’t practical.

You might be able to post a “want to buy” on the buy/sell boards here?
Alternatively if you are on the VAPS boards or etc there might be someone on your area that can help?

 

[Shunn]

Thanks @hatmoose , @MostroVeneno, @GoldenGlover for your time and help on this! Guess I'm in the market for a CPS3 board.