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newbie questions- racing cabinet

mathewbeall

mathewbeall

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Hi Folks,

I apologize for what may potentially be stupid questions... :) I have a decent amount of experience with JAMMA boards and such, but just picked up a Maximum Tune 3 cabinet (no game board) this weekend from an AP member. I also picked up a Chichiro type 3 at the same time.

Cabinet is very clean, monitor isn't working right now, but I have a LCD hooked up via a converter board. It has a security key with the number "253-5509-5101" which seems to be a maximum tune 1 pic. I have a raspberry pi set up for netboot a couple of games to test with.

Maximum Tune 2 - it loads, I am able to go into the game *test* menu, it *usually* doesn't freeze, although sometimes it does. When it does boot, it gets stuck at "handle check - checking" and is also looking for link PCB 2-4. I didn't see anywhere in the config of the game to tell it that it's a single cabinet.

Maximum tune 1 - it loads, Handle Check is "ok" but then it says "please call an attendant, Wheel error occured E20"... I do see the wheel moving however, during the test.

So, here are some generic questions.

o First time using a JVS racing game setup - can I reasonably expect any JVS racing game to work in this cabinet (I have a naomi2 setup with netboot as well)? Or is this one really only going to work with Maximum Tune 3 (which I don't have the board for)?
o I am pretty sure I need a zero key PIC to netboot other games besides what I have the chip for, although its a bit confusing to me that they start - how can I get a chip?
o the volume doesn't seem to be working at all - it's full volume when the system boots, regardless of what volume knob (which is behind the coin door) is set to - is this normal?
o There is a small 8 pin adapter down by the the usb, video, RCA cables - in looking through the service manual for maximum tune 3- it seems like this plugs into it - with a Chichiro - where should this plug into?


Thanks in advance for any help you can give!

Matt
 
Ok - did some more testing - and figured I would plug the 8 pin connection (I/O) into the only 8 pin on the chichiro - and bam, I can now pass the "handle" test... Card test keeps failing - but strangely enough - maximum tune 1 did boot up once.

I thought I would go into the game test menu and turn off the card - but when i got back out, the game wasn't loaded anymore (battery backup for DIMM isn't working)... I am guessing I should replace that for this to work properly.

It also seems to be rebooting at random times - the one time maximum tune 1 did boot up - it restarted itself about a minute or so - and I am pretty sure I saw another thread about this, and potentially being an issue with the PIC chip (not having a zero key?).

Matt
 
There is indeed another thread about problems with resetting games after a minute.
When the games reset he's getting an error 33 gateway not found.

I also expected other chihiro racing games would work in his cabinet, but apparently the sega outrun games expected a different jvs io board and throw up an error.
Wintermute designed an alternative based upon an ATMEGA 2560 arduino board that might potentially fix such issues. He also designed a card reader emulator.

I assume there are some members here that could provide you a "programmed zero netboot pic" Shipping one from europe probably isn't worth the shipping costs.

Some of the python scripts that are used for netboot have a routine that resets the watchdog timer regulary. The pi must remain connected and the game must remain running for this to work properly. Apparently, the WMMT games switch the chihiro ip address to 10.0.0.1 when the game boots.

So we assume that due to that, the pi can no longer reset the watchdog (as it disconnects). Probably setting the chihiro ip to 10.0.0.1 initially could fix this issue. In that case, your pi needs an ip in the same range like 10.0.0.10

It's still possible the program will disconnect when the game starts, but it should easily be possible to reconnect with a program that keeps the watchdog running.

You will find similar issues on other forums as well, but never with a happy end.

You should check your chihiro to see if all fans are working. You can separate the 2 boxes to do this. There is a case fan and a small one mounted on the gpu. Most chihiro's die due to gpu overheating when the fan stops working. Also check the capacitors surrounding the cpu. If the end of them is bulged, they need replacement. And while you are up to it, you could check the baseboard CR2032 coin cell battery voltage and replace it when it's dead. (I wan't say flat as those coin cells all are flat...:) On the xbox mobo, there is also a goldcap 1 farad capacitors that usually dries out or starts to leak. You better remove that one as the leackage is corrosive and can damage the pcb traces. (Clean up the spillage as well).
 
Normally it should work without a dimm battery. It's only when you power cycle that the battery is needed. A 4700uF 25V capacitor connected to the battery terminals instead of the battery might deliver just enough energy to keep the dimm powered during a quick power cycle (which the system might use to reboot)
 
I’ll check the caps on the motherboard... I tried changing the IP of the Pi to 10.0.0.10 and the chichiro to 10.0.0.01 and same behavior.

Since I don’t really care about the idea of net booting - and just want to get Midnight Tune going so I can test out this cabinet - am I better off just doing the CF/SSD boot I saw in the main Chichiro forum?

Matt
 
CF/SSD boot requires another security pic.

When you changed the ip's, have you checked that the pi remains connected to the chihiro?
Some versions of the netboot program have the code remarked that resets the watchdog.

It's even possible you will need to reconnect with a program just running the watchdog reset script.
 
I didn't check - not sure how to check, other than a ping - but I can give that a shot tonight.

I will try to go through the python script as well...

But - if I do CF/SSD - nothing to worry about right? It seems maybe a bit easier... :)

Matt
 
Making progress - I can boot up Maximum Tune and race now!

When the game boots it does a "handle check" and moves the wheel left and right, but during the game - I can't really feel any force feedback occurring.

Has anyone run into this - I haven't pulled the steering assembly apart - but was thinking maybe it's just an adjustment somewhere since the wheel does move when it starts up?

Thanks,

Matt
 
You mind sharing how you fixed the issue?

Isn't there a test for the force feedback?
On sega, you can adjust the strength. Namco uses a Happ force feedback which is different. No idea if it has the option as well.
 
@obcd - in the end, it was just getting the right zero key PIC chip, AND - I think the clincher was setting the region in the service menu to match the rom of the game I was using.... probably super obvious - but even with the zero pic chip, if the region was set different it would still reboot.

I will go through the test menu again regarding the force feedback - while there is an I/F initialize - it doesn’t seem to have any settings for the FFB... but it was late last night, I will go through it again this evening. I also don’t remember seeing it in the manual either.
 
Just read some testing wintermute did on the WMMT force feedback board.
Apparantly it uses serial communication (RS232) with the chihiro, but it also has a digital /POWER signal that should be pulled to GND by an output of the JVS board to enable the motor.

There should be a red led on the board that goes out when the motor is enabled and ready to run ingame.

During game startup, it does a selftest and rotates the wheel.
 
during game startup - the wheel does rotate both directions, so that would indicate (I think) that at least the motor is functioning.

You mention a red LED - I assume you mean on the V320 board right? I do see it on in the beginning of bootup, and then during gameplay it is off.

I should ask the obvious question - as this is a WMMT 3 cabinet - and I am using a Chihiro running WMMT2 - should it work?

Matt
 
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I saw this thread:

Help with Namco Steering Force Feedback Board (WMMT1/2 and Mario Kart 1/2)

and noticed that the chip label on my V320 board is "MKA 1 STR0A" which seems like it might be a board from mario kart. I also saw in that thread some discussion that WMM FFB boards should have dip switch 4 set to "on".

I did that - and I got E20 - Wheel Error on bootup, so I switched it back - and now I can't get past E20 error. I go into the test menu and do the I/F initialize (all looks good), but still get the E20!

Argh!

*edit - if I turn off "force steering" I can boot fine - maybe I need a new V320 board?

Matt
 
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I read the same thread to get my info.

Dip SW4 seems to change the serial communication baudrate. It obviously won't work with that on the wrong position, but it won't damage something either. So maybe the dipsw itself is not working properly anymore?

You probably can change a jumper and install a flashrom or eprom in the empty socket with the correct firmware for your game. It's not really documented somewhere so it might be tricky to figure out which type of chip you need. The soldered smd rom chip could point you in the correct direction. The size of the firmware is also a know issue. Obviously, it must fit in the chip.
 
I went out and got a second FFB board.

It is a V315 with a sticker on the chip on top that is "WMM 1 STR0B"

When I boot up WMMT2 - the self test of the wheel has it move just a *tiny* bit - but the board does seem to initialize and no wheel error - just no force feedback in game.

The card I got with the cabinet:

V320 - with "MKA1 STR0A" - it refuses to boot the game now and always returns an E20 error, but strangely enough - the self test of the wheel does move it to the left, and then to the right until it hits the stops.

Does it sound like the motor isn't working correctly? Should that be what i look to repair/replace next?

Matt
 
mathewbeall said:
Does it sound like the motor isn't working correctly?
Click to expand...
If the motor is running all the way from far left to far right, I'd assume that means it's working fully? They're not very complex things.

I'm sure someone more experienced will chime in. Maybe @winteriscoming? I know he guided me a lot in trying to pick out a driving cab.
 
What’s the best/easiest way to test the FFB motor? Looks like it’s 100vDC - I am fairly certain my variac doesn’t go that high - but I’ll check later tonight.

Matt
 
I might have missed this, but did u check test menu if there is a force feedback strength setting? Haven't had any experience on mt1/2 myself.
 
Yeah - my Variac is AC only - any reasonably cheap DC 100V power supply to check the motor with? Or would a test with a smaller power supply do (12v?).

Curious how other people have validated that their motors are fine.

Matt
 
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