What's new

Help with CPS3 with cartridge slot issues

sebajun

Beginner
Joined
Nov 2, 2023
Messages
6
Reaction score
8
Location
Chile
Hello everyone, I need some help with my CPS3 that always had some problems with the cartridge slot since I bought it about a year ago.

I got this board from a guy from another city so I couldn't test it too much before I pay.
The thing is that this board started having some trouble since day 1, I just installed it on my cabinet and after a while playing the screen just went black, It was kinda weird but then I moved the cart and worked just fine, but then this kind of things became too frequent until a couple days ago when after I tried to reinsert the cart to turn on the board (sometimes the board didn't boot up so I have to move the cart and so), the board didn't boot up well anymore, I started having graphic issues so I decide to re-install the game, this was impossible because I was getting error 23 or others too everytime I tried to install the game. Later this week, I travel to a friend's house that has a cps3 and we did some testings, we tried his cartridge to check if it was my cart the problem (mine was kinda loose) but the same thing with his, so I ask him to reinstall the game on my simms to have it installed and keep trying back in my home. So now I got the board with the game but I can't start the game because the cartridge causes some issues, sometimes I reach the region selector but when I choose any the board just goes black, and then when I boot up again it shows me a cd drive error, and if I move the cartridge again before boot up again that error dissapears and I'm able to choose region again.

My theory is that the cart slot is making a bad contact or something and that's why sometimes it doesn't recognize cd drive or give other errors. I assume that the cart work as a bridge on some connections so if a pin lose contact it will to cause a random error with any part of the board.

So please I need some help to repair this, I'm thinking about replace the 120pin socket by myself (I live in a small city out of the states so I don't have anyone to ask for help with this) but I don't know if it's too risky or maybe is something else.

I'll attach some videos of me doing some testings moving the cartridge and powering on the board.

Thank you!!

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2UV3iLDmE4

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7a4D4vwCk8k
 
the cartridge causes some issues, sometimes I reach the region selector but when I choose any the board just goes black

I see that you have my BIOS and This is exactly what happens when you install a game for the wrong Processor. What did you try? Standard SH2 or Custom SH2 ?

That error could be of a badly installed BIOS or maybe not even from the cart itself.

the board didn't boot up well anymore, I started having graphic issues
That usually means that the problem is somewhere else, not in the cart. I think the motherboard itself is failing.
 
Hello everyone, I need some help with my CPS3 that always had some problems with the cartridge slot since I bought it about a year ago.

I got this board from a guy from another city so I couldn't test it too much before I pay.
The thing is that this board started having some trouble since day 1, I just installed it on my cabinet and after a while playing the screen just went black, It was kinda weird but then I moved the cart and worked just fine, but then this kind of things became too frequent until a couple days ago when after I tried to reinsert the cart to turn on the board (sometimes the board didn't boot up so I have to move the cart and so), the board didn't boot up well anymore, I started having graphic issues so I decide to re-install the game, this was impossible because I was getting error 23 or others too everytime I tried to install the game. Later this week, I travel to a friend's house that has a cps3 and we did some testings, we tried his cartridge to check if it was my cart the problem (mine was kinda loose) but the same thing with his, so I ask him to reinstall the game on my simms to have it installed and keep trying back in my home. So now I got the board with the game but I can't start the game because the cartridge causes some issues, sometimes I reach the region selector but when I choose any the board just goes black, and then when I boot up again it shows me a cd drive error, and if I move the cartridge again before boot up again that error dissapears and I'm able to choose region again.

My theory is that the cart slot is making a bad contact or something and that's why sometimes it doesn't recognize cd drive or give other errors. I assume that the cart work as a bridge on some connections so if a pin lose contact it will to cause a random error with any part of the board.

So please I need some help to repair this, I'm thinking about replace the 120pin socket by myself (I live in a small city out of the states so I don't have anyone to ask for help with this) but I don't know if it's too risky or maybe is something else.

I'll attach some videos of me doing some testings moving the cartridge and powering on the board.

Thank you!!

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2UV3iLDmE4

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7a4D4vwCk8k
I can replace the port for ya if you want, I've done a bunch of these replacements. Last one I did I got a 9 pack of the ports so I have about 8 new slots left here.
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18vkPsRD3y/
 
I see that you have my BIOS and This is exactly what happens when you install a game for the wrong Processor. What did you try? Standard SH2 or Custom SH2 ?

That error could be of a badly installed BIOS or maybe not even from the cart itself.


That usually means that the problem is somewhere else, not in the cart. I think the motherboard itself is failing.
Hi Darksoft! Thank you for your reply, probably the first thing have sense because after I couldn't reinstall the game on my board, I switch my simms to a friend's cps3 and installed the game on his board, maybe it's causing a bios issue or something, honestly I didn't install the bios so I don't know how it was installed by the previous owner.

Previously, when I could start the game, I had to move the cartridge as well but the game at least worked.
 
I can replace the port for ya if you want, I've done a bunch of these replacements. Last one I did I got a 9 pack of the ports so I have about 8 new slots left here.
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18vkPsRD3y/
Hi cruz! yes, I'm the guy that talked to you a couple days ago, I knew that you repaired our community CPS3 for KBR, but the thing is that I'm from Chile and probably the shipping will be super expensive, but I'll probably send you the board. If it's something else beside the slot, could you repair it? Thank you for your answer!!
 
If you don't have experience with this type of rework, I'd suggest sending it to Cruz. It's not hard, but if you've never done it before, you could easily damage traces and then you're into it for even more money since someone else has to fix whatever got damaged.

I do agree with DS though that this seems like a data/processor mismatch - can you open the cartridge and post a photo?

Have you looked at the cartridge slot under a microscope or magnifying glass? It's very easy to tell if the pins are messed up.
 
Hi cruz! yes, I'm the guy that talked to you a couple days ago, I knew that you repaired our community CPS3 for KBR, but the thing is that I'm from Chile and probably the shipping will be super expensive, but I'll probably send you the board. If it's something else beside the slot, could you repair it? Thank you for your answer!!
Hey bro yea shipping would be trouble hopefully we can do it.
 
If you don't have experience with this type of rework, I'd suggest sending it to Cruz. It's not hard, but if you've never done it before, you could easily damage traces and then you're into it for even more money since someone else has to fix whatever got damaged.

I do agree with DS though that this seems like a data/processor mismatch - can you open the cartridge and post a photo?

Have you looked at the cartridge slot under a microscope or magnifying glass? It's very easy to tell if the pins are messed up.
Yes, I’ll try to ship it to cruz ASAP. This is the catridge btw, please tell me if it looks alright!!
 

Attachments

  • IMG_3249.jpeg
    IMG_3249.jpeg
    219.5 KB · Views: 54
  • IMG_3251.jpeg
    IMG_3251.jpeg
    211.8 KB · Views: 54
That cartridge has the CPU replaced, so you need to use the games prepared for Standard
Does that mean that the game I installed with my friends CPS3 wasn’t prepared for this version of the bios?
Should I try to reinstall the game on the board using my own cd?
 
Have you looked at the cartridge slot under a microscope or magnifying glass? It's very easy to tell if the pins are messed up.
I didn’t use a microscope yet but honestly the pins look ok, but I always thought that the cartridge stays too loose on the slot compared to other boards, thats why I thought immediately that the slot was the problem
 
Does that mean that the game I installed with my friends CPS3 wasn’t prepared for this version of the bios?
Should I try to reinstall the game on the board using my own cd?
No, you should use a CD that is prepared to work with Standard SH2.
 
I didn’t use a microscope yet but honestly the pins look ok, but I always thought that the cartridge stays too loose on the slot compared to other boards, thats why I thought immediately that the slot was the problem
That's probably the culprit.
 
Got this one sent to me, took about a month to get here. I opened the package right away just to test it. Tried writing the game with the proper standard sh2 CD to match the cart and right away it spit out an error 13. I checked the CCU and found loose pins, the board was pretty dirty so I washed and dried it before reflowing the CCU. After the reflow I didn't get error 13 anymore but got error 23 instead. I did all the obvious stuff, clean the cart and slot, simms and simm slot, I also moved the simm around and it made no difference error 23 again. I took the simm and cart and threw it on a working board and was able to write and run the game fine on that board with the guys simms and cart, that told me the issue lay on the board itself. I took the simm and cart back to the original problem board and the game that was written on the working board ran on the working board but the graphics and sound were all bad, I then reflowed the ppu and the issue remained. I also ren the test mode memory check and all the onboard tested fine. This let me know the issue was on the buffers that come between simms 3-6 and ppu. I swapped all of them using spares from my parts board and thankfully was able to get the board working, I even rewrote the game on the board to make sure it would go through and not spot out error 23 again and it worked out.
Lesson is that the error messages are not always that clear and the obvious stuff is a good starting point but not always the solution.
https://x.com/Cruzlink2/status/1870076148857630935?t=Y0lN00KiAHC6t2gvcdzx7Q&s=19
 
Good thing I didn't send this one back to Chile yet, we used it for an event at Brooklyn Arcade this past weekend and the graphics would randomly glitch out. I re-flowed every chip I had not touched up in the initial repair including the simm and it still glitched. I pressed on the onboard ram and it would stop, tonight I reflowed the ram and now it's working solid CPS3 the gift that keeps on giving lol.
https://x.com/Cruzlink2/status/1886265204452827456
 
Back
Top