What's new
By:

Namco system N2 failing to boot.

Left it alone for 30 minutes, switched the usb's around and it's finally working again. Classic Namco N2.
 
Last edited:
And now I was Curious again so I tried turning it on again to see a "no signal" with the Namco N2 not trying to boot up, I feel I definitely messed something up Turning it on and off too many times, the Namco N2 looks like it's getting power and even the USB's are lighting up but it doesn't consistently boot into the Namco screen anymore, gonna leave it be for now and not try to make things worse.
 
Seems like this is my problem and probably why I'm getting a "no signal" on my cabinet again. I tried both hard drives that I've had and they are both giving me Boot failed screens, I dont think it has anything to do with the hard drives being dead cause it was working just fine last night and the other one got into the Namco screen just fine so something might be up with the Motherboard.
IMG_20250216_172238.jpg
 
Yeah, even changing the ribbon data cable I had no luck getting it past the Boot failed screen. Seems like the Ide controller on the mother board is dead atleast judging from this post. I already used a seperate power supply to see if that might be the problem but no luck on that end. Fixing a "dead ide controller" doesn't sound like an easy fix.
Screenshot_20250216-175835.jpg
 
I think if I get this thing working one more time I'm just gonna sell it. Not worth keeping it around, hardware is waay too unreliable.
 
Maybe I should just throw in a Chihiro instead. How would I go about doing that? I know they need a seperate power supply so what would need to be changed or replaced in a standard Maximum tune 3 cab to get it to work with a Chihiro? Would I still be able to use the controls just fine?
 
antonioad14(TWON) said:
Maybe I should just throw in a Chihiro instead. How would I go about doing that? I know they need a seperate power supply so what would need to be changed or replaced in a standard Maximum tune 3 cab to get it to work with a Chihiro? Would I still be able to use the controls just fine?
Click to expand...

I have done that - not much work at all - you need an ATX power supply to run the Chihiro off of - but the power cord is already there (the one that plugs into the N2 - it just gets a little tighter in there with the Chihiro.

Outside of that - everything wires up the same - JVS connector, video, connector for the card reader (if you want to run the original card reader, you will need to get a different one than is used for WMMT3) and FFB board (same connector). WMMT2 runs fantastic in this cabinet with everything you already have there.

When you get the Chihiro - make sure that the power caps have been replaced on the main board, outside of that - I have found the Chihiro to be quite stable.
 
I will also say that I feel your pain - it has taken me a couple of years and lots of parts to get (2) stable N2 systems running WMMT3. Although - i know that when the *mechanical* hard drives fail, then its game over (unless that problem is solved by super smart people).
 
mathewbeall said:
I have done that - not much work at all - you need an ATX power supply to run the Chihiro off of - but the power cord is already there (the one that plugs into the N2 - it just gets a little tighter in there with the Chihiro.

Outside of that - everything wires up the same - JVS connector, video, connector for the card reader (if you want to run the original card reader, you will need to get a different one than is used for WMMT3) and FFB board (same connector). WMMT2 runs fantastic in this cabinet with everything you already have there.

When you get the Chihiro - make sure that the power caps have been replaced on the main board, outside of that - I have found the Chihiro to be quite stable.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply, any particular Power supply you recommend? How many watts would I need? Also I'd need to get a seperate force feedback board aswell for MT2?
 
antonioad14(TWON) said:
Thanks for the reply, any particular Power supply you recommend? How many watts would I need? Also I'd need to get a seperate force feedback board aswell for MT2?
Click to expand...

I just used one I had lying around - maybe a 400w one? Pretty sure that is overkill even - and got the ATX->JVS power adapter.

And no - the exact same force feedback board you have in there works fine!

Matt
 
mathewbeall said:
I just used one I had lying around - maybe a 400w one? Pretty sure that is overkill even - and got the ATX->JVS power adapter.

And no - the exact same force feedback board you have in there works fine!

Matt
Click to expand...
Would something like this do the trick? Sorry for asking so many questions, I'm still very new to all this.
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot_20250216-205042.jpg
    Screenshot_20250216-205042.jpg
    93.9 KB · Views: 19
And - when you first boot into the game, you have to go into the setup menu and calibrate the accelerator and brake, along with left and right - you just need to do this once.
 
Now I'm in the market for a WMMT2 card reader, unfortunately I can't for the life of me find one for sale. If someone is willing to part with one I'm willing to pay a good price for it.
 
So - the card reader, it is not cable compatible with WMMT3, if I remember correctly you will need to use dupont wires out of the existing harness and into the new one (different connector) - and something with the power.... ok - yeah, look at the wiring diagrams, for WMMT3 - its 24V and the serial connection:

1739765994079.png


for WMMT2 - you are going to need to give it 5V also:

1739766025564.png


But - other than getting all that sorted out and the right wires hooked up (don't' forget to feed CTS into RTS per the diagram) it works quite well - I ran WMMT2 in my cabinet for a few years before finally getting WMMT3 going.

Somtimes the card reader was squirrely - but I attributed that to me not having a great converter cable - I was using dupont wires.

Matt
 
antonioad14(TWON) said:
Yeah, even changing the ribbon data cable I had no luck getting it past the Boot failed screen. Seems like the Ide controller on the mother board is dead atleast judging from this post. I already used a seperate power supply to see if that might be the problem but no luck on that end. Fixing a "dead ide controller" doesn't sound like an easy fix.
Screenshot_20250216-175835.jpg
Click to expand...
So does anyone know a fix for this? or do I just need to get another motherboard? It seems like my motherboard just won't recognize my HDD anymore.
 
At times, there are hard drives that come up for sale (with the associated usb dongle) - you could wait and grab a set of those when it comes up.
 
mathewbeall said:
At times, there are hard drives that come up for sale (with the associated usb dongle) - you could wait and grab a set of those when it comes up.
Click to expand...
I already have a spare working HDD and it gave me the same error, so I'm almost 100% certain it's not an issue with the HDD itself rather it's the motherboard not recognizing it, I tried using a different ide cable but no luck.
 
I'm thinking of potentially re-soldering a new ide port in the motherboard or resoldering new caps or chips next to the port. Other than that I don't know what the problem is, already tried powering the HDD separately with another power supply to see if it was a power issue but that doesn't seem to be the case. For now I'm just gonna go the easy route and get another motherboard, just sucks I'll probably have to wait over a month to receive it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top