Nearby Namco 2X6 for testing? (New Jersey)

[Varga_Wasperine]

[Cross-posting this from Arcade Museum]

I have 3 possibly damaged 246 PCBs that I can't get to start up.
I'm getting fan spin and lights on the boards, but nothing else happens.
No beeps/pings/error codes I've read people describing, tried every dip switch configuration.
Using a Twisted Quarter power supply through a Jamma board.
A local arcade helped test the PCBs by putting them into a Tekken 5 cab, same problem as above, though we did confirm that my Jamma boards ARE operational.
I've come to the conclusion that maybe the PCBs were damaged in transport from Japan.
I'd like to verify that the drives&keys are actually working before I source replacement 2X6 PCBS.
I was wondering if there's anybody in the vicinity of North NJ, that owns a playable 2X6 PCB, that would be willing to help.
Due to the original damage coming from Japan, and recent increasing postal delays, I'd rather not ship the parts out.

 

[Franco23444]

Which version of the 246 do you have? Rack A,B or C? The most common issues I have encountered is a bad dvd drive (or media), bad IDE ribbon cable and bad or unconnected PlayStation controller ribbon cable (for all models of the 246). If you have a 246 A or B, other issues that can occur with those systems is an unplug or bad copper colored ribbon on the underside of the boards, unplugged PlayStation AV cable and dead PlayStation main board. I’m not too familiar with the 246 C or 256 in terms of what could go wrong but if you have the 246 C variant, check your DVD drive, your PlayStation controller port cable, and your IDE cable. Also make sure that the dongles are clean as the contacts can corrode over time (like all other cart based stuff).

 

[Varga_Wasperine]

246 C, HDD, Zoids Infinity/ EX /+
I get the 6 dings via a connected amp, but no video output.
All 3 behave the same.

 

[Franco23444]

246 C, HDD, Zoids Infinity/ EX /+
I get the 6 dings via a connected amp, but no video output.
All 3 behave the same.

I’m going to take a guess that the hard drive is either dead or the IDE cable has gone bad. The good news is that the dongle is good.

Here are the beep code for the 2X6:

3 dings followed by a repeated wah sound means that the system doesn’t have the dongle or the media files or the dongle is not good.
6 dings followed by a black screen means that the dongle is good but the media file is not present or is not good.
6 dings and no errors will start booting the game.

The other good news is that you can make a replacement hard drive for your games as the hard drives or disc aren’t copy protected. The files can be found here on the dongle roll up pack. You will need to convert them from CHD to HDD though.
I’d say check the IDE cables and if you have any disc based games as well as a compatible IDE disc drive, check if those games boot up fine.

 

[Varga_Wasperine]

If the media file is bad, will the 246 output anything at all?

 

[Franco23444]

If the media file is bad, will the 246 output anything at all?

No, it will just boot into a black screen. I have multiple of these systems and they all do the same thing. Also, you may want to check your voltages, especially on the 5v rail. Check if the hard drive power cable is getting the correct voltages as well with a multi meter. Red wires is 5v, orange wires is 12v, and black is ground. Check if your hard drive spins at all. One more thing. I do have a hard drive based super 256 game which is Time Crisis 4, it does take a while for it to boot, usually 1-3 minutes. You may want to wait and see what happens with your hard drive based games as they are known for having a lengthy boot sequence unlike the disc games.

 

[nem]

Agreed on waiting for a while. People are too used to flash and solid state these days.

Considering it's outputting 6 dings, I would then check +12V as that's what's spinning the hard drive.

Three busted hard drives doesn't sound right.

 

[Varga_Wasperine]

Agreed on waiting for a while. People are too used to flash and solid state these days.

Considering it's outputting 6 dings, I would then check +12V as that's what's spinning the hard drive.

Three busted hard drives doesn't sound right.

No, it will just boot into a black screen. I have multiple of these systems and they all do the same thing. Also, you may want to check your voltages, especially on the 5v rail. Check if the hard drive power cable is getting the correct voltages as well with a multi meter. Red wires is 5v, orange wires is 12v, and black is ground. Check if your hard drive spins at all. One more thing. I do have a hard drive based super 256 game which is Time Crisis 4, it does take a while for it to boot, usually 1-3 minutes. You may want to wait and see what happens with your hard drive based games as they are known for having a lengthy boot sequence unlike the disc games.

I'm pretty sure I've had all of them sit for more than 5min to wait on boot-up, but I can give it another shot.
Pretty positive all the voltages were correct, but I can check those again as well.
Do these blinking lights mean anything important?
On the 246:
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/751587957269594173/881729824941539338/20210829_223919.mp4
On the Jamma board:
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/751587957269594173/883430264959799366/20210903_151618.mp4
Just figured I'd bring those up in case there IS a problem.

Of course, if I could slap the drives and keys into another board, we'd know for sure what's not working.

 

[Franco23444]

Do these blinking lights mean anything important?
On the 246:
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/751587957269594173/881729824941539338/20210829_223919.mp4

I haven’t seen that on my 246 C but I haven’t checked it in a while. I’ll see if mine does that. I know that the red led on the power input of the 246 should be solid. Not sure if any of the 246s have this but on the 256/S256, in the middle of the memory card ports is two leds: one green led and one amber colored led for hard drive based games. It’s basically the hard drive activity light. It’s not lit up when using disc based games as the dvd drive has its own activity light.
Edit: mine also has a second blinking red led, it’s an indicator that the whole system is receiving power.

On the Jamma board:
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/751587957269594173/883430264959799366/20210903_151618.mp4
Just figured I'd bring those up in case there IS a problem.

The green light on the JAMMA pcb should be solid, not blinking. That means that your 5v rail is way to high. Lower it down to 5.0-5.10.

 

[Varga_Wasperine]

I haven’t seen that on my 246 C but I haven’t checked it in a while. I’ll see if mine does that. I know that the red led on the power input of the 246 should be solid. Not sure if any of the 246s have this but on the 256/S256, in the middle of the memory card ports is two leds: one green led and one amber colored led for hard drive based games. It’s basically the hard drive activity light. It’s not lit up when using disc based games as the dvd drive has its own activity light.
Edit: mine also has a second blinking red led, it’s an indicator that the whole system is receiving power.

The green light on the JAMMA pcb should be solid, not blinking. That means that your 5v rail is way to high. Lower it down to 5.0-5.10.

Through testing in the past, I did notice that tweaking the 5v does change the speed of the Jamma blinking. That local arcade's Jamma board in Tekken5 was also blinking, so i thought nothing of it at the time.
A bit later today I'll check boot times/tweak 5v, anything else?

 

[Franco23444]

I’m pretty sure that’s all I can think of at the moment. Just make sure the IDE cable and power cable to the hard drive is firming connected. They may have gone slightly loose while they were shipped. Check if the coin cell battery is good as well.

 

[Varga_Wasperine]

Which size battery do they take?
May have some in storage/can grab when on the road, just in case.

 

[nem]

CR2032

The battery just keeps the settings stored. It won't stop the system from booting.

 

[Varga_Wasperine]

Test all 3 units powered up for 10min, no boot..

Psu
5.04
-4.30
12.06

Cable from jamma board
5
5
12

Hdd
4.32
12

Not exactly what I was expecting when checking numbers. I've read that -V isn't required, but some games do supposedly need it, like Zoids.

Tried kicking the voltage up so the hdd gets 5v (5.44 from psu), and waiting about 5min past powering, still no boot.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1II7qhyvxcRiJHg3LDL02CvwaPvHwYJk2/view?usp=drivesdk
Is there something I'm missing here?
Link fixed.

 

[Varga_Wasperine]

Only thing I haven't tried is a different jamma loom, but I don't believe that would change much, since I'm within power range.

 

[Franco23444]

i think I found the issue bro: the ribbon cable should connect to the I/O pcb and the system. With out it connected, the games will not boot.

 

[Franco23444]

That tiny power supply will also not power the system efficiency. You need a 200w twisted quarter or Happ power pro power supply.

 

[Varga_Wasperine]

i think I found the issue bro: the ribbon cable should connect to the I/O pcb and the system. With out it connected, the games will not boot.

Pretty sure I remember reading that the ribbon cable was for connecting to Jamma controls. I plan on using the PS2 controller connection.

That tiny power supply will also not power the system efficiency. You need a 200w twisted quarter or Happ power pro power supply.

Hmm, if that's the case, which of the 3 they provide would be sufficient?
ALSO, if I could power the PCB directly, as opposed to through a Jamma board, that would be better for me, as I'm not using traditional Jamma controls.
Unless of course if there's some better video signal from the Jamma via a supergun, as opposed to upscaling the VGA signal.

Just for reference, here's the original cabs wiring diagram, and power assembly from the manual.

 

[Franco23444]

Pretty sure I remember reading that the ribbon cable was for connecting to Jamma controls. I plan on using the PS2 controller connection.

Nope, you still need to have some sort of JVS or JAMMA I/O pcb plugged in. This is not a home console. Not all games are compatible with PlayStation controllers but I’m not sure if this one is one of them.

 

[Franco23444]

ALSO, if I could power the PCB directly, as opposed to through a Jamma board, that would be better for me, as I'm not using traditional Jamma controls.
Unless of course if there's some better video signal from the Jamma via a supergun, as opposed to upscaling the VGA signal.

I can build you a custom 6 pin power harness for the system. You still need a JVS I/O pcb or no game will boot. This power cable is specifically made for 200w 9 pin molex power supplies. This plugs in directly to the system.