Franco23444
Grand Master
Post in thread 'Namco System ES3 Teardown and some basic info'
https://www.arcade-projects.com/thr...eardown-and-some-basic-info.22930/post-351546
- Thread starter Franco23444
- Start date
https://www.arcade-projects.com/thr...eardown-and-some-basic-info.22930/post-351546
Thank you for your response. I did read the information you provided. However, I'm a bit unsure about his post where he mentions that it works as a donor. Could you please clarify whether this involves a full BGA rework of the GPU chip? or perhaps something else I'm trying to understand the process of replacing a GPU.
Franco23444
Grand Master
You can replace the GPU from another system but just make sure it’s the same version (meaning that it has a matching BIOS). If you want to use any other card besides the arcade cards, you will need to find a way to unlock the HDD or find an unlocked HDD image. Just putting in a different GPU or a similar card with a mismatched BIOS will trip a bit locker screen…
As to fix a broken GPU, you can do the reflow method by just reflowing or reballing the GPU chip on the GPU motherboard. Obviously this won’t last as long and the card could break again.
As for @nem’s post, he flashed the appropriate arcade BIOS to a different GTX760 to replace his dead card.
Awesome, so please correct me if I am wrong! Let's say I take a known good GPU from one of my systems and place it into a PC. Next, I'll use GPU-Z to fetch the BIOS. After that, I'll take my donor card and flash the BIOS onto it?
That's the idea.
Use a Freedos USB stick and dump the BIOS from the good card with NVFLASH, then do the same for the donor card. Then try flashing the Tekken bios to the donor card. That way if the donor card is incompatible, you can revert back.
Use a Freedos USB stick and dump the BIOS from the good card with NVFLASH, then do the same for the donor card. Then try flashing the Tekken bios to the donor card. That way if the donor card is incompatible, you can revert back.
gamefixer
Beginner
I know its been asked a few times and seems to go un-answered but do we know the BIOS password for this system? I've got a Time Crisis 5 that has a timing problem on the second player (com port2). I'd like to get into the BIOS to see if COM1 and COM2 are set to the same speed.
I am looking for some help to restore life in a dead Mach Storm arcade dome.
I have recently taken on a contract to support and maintain a variety of arcade machines in an arcade-themed bar with this machine as one of their star attractions.
Thanks to this post (and decades of non-game related PC experience) I am guessing the GTX760 has died but I would like some verification and/or ideas for recovery.
Apparently, the machine has worked in the past but at some point it has failed and produces no screen output at all to anything connected to the GTX760. (As far as I know it is still in original condition but I have no way of knowing if any previous technicians have changed anything)
I was able to attach a standard VGA monitor to the motherboard and got the Japanese bitlocker screen (also viewable in the dome with the DVI projector cable attached to the motherboard output, which proves the projector works!) so my assumption is that the GTX has failed and the motherboard BIOS is reverting to onboard graphics.
So the big question is, what is the likelihood of recovery?
If I can source a replacement GTX card (the one with the green logo on it), and preferably with the exact same BIOS version, will that be good enough to pass the TPM tests or would it still not recognise the card as "original"?
(I don't have any experience with NVFLASH or similar utilities yet but I can give that a try if needed)
Secondly, if the BIOS battery has failed (a common issue with other machines in the bar) would that also trigger the TPM? (thanks to the BIOS password I can be pretty confident that nothing has been manually changed, fortunately!)
If I can get this beast going again it would be great (especially as it is a particular favourite of the bar owners), any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Ken.
I have recently taken on a contract to support and maintain a variety of arcade machines in an arcade-themed bar with this machine as one of their star attractions.
Thanks to this post (and decades of non-game related PC experience) I am guessing the GTX760 has died but I would like some verification and/or ideas for recovery.
Apparently, the machine has worked in the past but at some point it has failed and produces no screen output at all to anything connected to the GTX760. (As far as I know it is still in original condition but I have no way of knowing if any previous technicians have changed anything)
I was able to attach a standard VGA monitor to the motherboard and got the Japanese bitlocker screen (also viewable in the dome with the DVI projector cable attached to the motherboard output, which proves the projector works!) so my assumption is that the GTX has failed and the motherboard BIOS is reverting to onboard graphics.
So the big question is, what is the likelihood of recovery?
If I can source a replacement GTX card (the one with the green logo on it), and preferably with the exact same BIOS version, will that be good enough to pass the TPM tests or would it still not recognise the card as "original"?
(I don't have any experience with NVFLASH or similar utilities yet but I can give that a try if needed)
Secondly, if the BIOS battery has failed (a common issue with other machines in the bar) would that also trigger the TPM? (thanks to the BIOS password I can be pretty confident that nothing has been manually changed, fortunately!)
If I can get this beast going again it would be great (especially as it is a particular favourite of the bar owners), any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Ken.
That is exactly what the TPM does, it checks the graphic card, the motherboard version, serial number, etc. if you use another graphic card the TPM will fail and that's why it asks for a bitlocker password. The only way I see to recover this is to extract the BIOS of the faulty graphic card and inject it in a identical new graphic card so the TPM will not fail.
Yeah, that's pretty much what I thought but wasn't sure if the cards identity would be unique or if it was just a BIOS version match that was required.
Hopefully the card won't be too dead to get its BIOS off it, I'll have a go at NVFLASH etc next time I'm on-site (something new to play with which is always fun!)
Thanks for the quick response, much appreciated!
If it's too dead to get the BIOS off with NVFLASH, you can desolder the BIOS chip and read it with a programmer. It's U505 on the backside of the card, a 2Mbit serial flash memory.
If you don't have the tools to do this, ask on UKVAC, I'm sure someone will help you if needed.
If you don't have the tools to do this, ask on UKVAC, I'm sure someone will help you if needed.
I want to say I had this thread with notifications on but it doesn't anymore? Just happened to see "ES3" and wanted to hop in.
I've made decrypted "master" images of almost every game. Only reason I haven't shared more openly is because ES3 is a real bitch to work on, lot of dumb little things to trip people up, and I'm not good at compiling tools or notes good enough for an end user with lower technical abilities to follow reliably. Trying to support remotely is also a real PITA. I think for Tekken specifically, there'll be a solution that should just work for everybody, just needs to be tested before distribution.
I'm probably not going to read up too much of what I missed, but I do want to throw my hat back in to get updates for this thread. I have a really strong desire to see this hardware be end-user serviceable, which it really is not rn.
@kml42 there is a Star Wars/Mach Storm multi someone made. It should be usable to perform repairs to your PCB. It will disable TPM/BitLocker, and allow you to replace PC components without having to muck about the BIOS or anything dumb.
@Darksoft I'll hit you up at some point to discuss what can/should/shouldn't be discussed/distributed here. I don't remember if we talked about ES3 yet.
Right now, I'm super under stress with too many tasks/projects on the table, including a few new ES3 dumps, so I don't really want to take on too much more, BUT anyone who needs support for their systems can reach out to me. It will take a longer time, but I'm also willing to service anyone's ES3 for more obscure stuff (namely anything but Tekken 7 atm) for free.
I've made decrypted "master" images of almost every game. Only reason I haven't shared more openly is because ES3 is a real bitch to work on, lot of dumb little things to trip people up, and I'm not good at compiling tools or notes good enough for an end user with lower technical abilities to follow reliably. Trying to support remotely is also a real PITA. I think for Tekken specifically, there'll be a solution that should just work for everybody, just needs to be tested before distribution.
I'm probably not going to read up too much of what I missed, but I do want to throw my hat back in to get updates for this thread. I have a really strong desire to see this hardware be end-user serviceable, which it really is not rn.
@kml42 there is a Star Wars/Mach Storm multi someone made. It should be usable to perform repairs to your PCB. It will disable TPM/BitLocker, and allow you to replace PC components without having to muck about the BIOS or anything dumb.
@Darksoft I'll hit you up at some point to discuss what can/should/shouldn't be discussed/distributed here. I don't remember if we talked about ES3 yet.
Right now, I'm super under stress with too many tasks/projects on the table, including a few new ES3 dumps, so I don't really want to take on too much more, BUT anyone who needs support for their systems can reach out to me. It will take a longer time, but I'm also willing to service anyone's ES3 for more obscure stuff (namely anything but Tekken 7 atm) for free.
This system is too new and we don't want to see any images around. Posts with any (C) material will be immediately deleted and the user warned first and then banned. Just want to make this crystal clear. @brizzo @Mitsurugi-w
