NFG's Cyber Lead Journey

[NFGx]

Story post! Please comment if you can offer any insight or corrections to my understanding of this cab. It's 2 days old for me, so I'm still learning its secrets.

So, I just picked up a Cyber Lead cab. It's been a bit of a grail cab for me for a long time, I really love the colours and shape of the cab itself, and when I found one locally for a decent price with only two tiny holes in the side panels, I jumped at the chance. It's not a great time to be buying new cabs but sometimes you can't let these things slide. Especially after seeing it in person and seeing for real how great the monitor is.

So I had it delivered to my house. The shipper guy wrapped it in foam and then heavy duty paletting wrap. I had to remove the screen door from its hinges to get it through with a comfortable amount of clearance, and so far I haven't been game to move it from the front doorway. So I'm fiddling with it in the middle of the living room. ^__^

Anyway.

Wow. What a monitor. It's the crispiest, clearest CRT I've seen in a long time, with no burn, very few blemishes on the glass and no geometry issues that I can see. And apparently it's been untouched since new.

It came with all the sub boards inside, which is great. The JAMMA board works a treat, but gosh it's hard to find decent documentation about its functioning. While I did find the one-page pamphlet of a manual for the JVS CONV board, it didn't include the information I wanted to know, like, why are there two VGA ports? When it's set to mono, why do I get sound out of only one speaker? (I mean, with a mono switch, I expected it'd pipe the sound to both, but it doesn't seem to). Is that really an s-video port? Why there? How odd.

Where does the V-MINI cable, from the I/O board, go? My guess is it's game specific, and most games don't need it?

That control panel opening procedure is weirdly complicated. Pull, then tilt? I mean, I get it, but... And then when it's open, I worry about what it's resting on. The plastic of this cab isn't the thermoplastic used in the New Astro, and it's definitely more fragile. If there's leverage on anything plastic I want to know about it.

I read a lot about the power supply not having enough grunt to keep a Naomi and the NetDIMM running, but surely I'll be the lucky one, right? Not so much. Trying to run any game on the Naomi with the RasPi loader complains about no compatible DIMM. That seems to be a result of underpowering the Naomi, so I'll try a different PSU and see how I go.

As far as the plastic panels are concerned, there's a fair amount of fading and discolouration going on. I had planned to repair and repaint it sooner rather than later, but I'm starting to think that those side panels are structural, and so I won't be disassembling it without taking the monitor out first and basically stripping the whole thing down to the sub frame in the base. I'd love to know otherwise, but all the disassembly guides I can find are missing the photos of the process.

The plan was to put some backing inside the holes, fill them with bondo, sand them down and then re-paint the whole panel to achieve some colour consistency (and return to that glorious purple). There are some parts of the cab that haven't been exposed to this cruel world and have maintained the original hue, so I'll get some samples based on that, if I can. As for the yellow parts, I'll make 'em white again too. There's a faded NAMCO logo on the monitor surround, I guess it was originally individual letter stickers? I'll probably get something made for that.

Also, how do I get those plastic plugs out of the panels so I can undo the bolts?

I got lucky with a two-colour LED panel on top. The LEDs tho are kind of variable in brightness, so there's a noticeable difference as things move across the screen. It's all gone a bit random checkerboard. Are replacements available? And did they ever make a three-colour version? I've toyed with the idea of a replacement screen/monitor in there too, not sure where I'll go with this. Previous owner had a nice loop of animations going on, so I'm not in a hurry to mess with it.

When I lived in Japan I bought one of the one-colour LED boards off YAJ, thinking I could reprogram it for funs. I never got around to it, but until now that's the closest I ever got to a Cyber Lead. Never saw one in the wild in Japan. Pretty happy to have one in my living room now. ^__^

 

[notsonic]

https://wiki.arcadeotaku.com/w/Namco_JVS_to_JAMMA_Adaptor

The JVS Jamma adapter board has two VGA ports for linking cabinets. The cabinet has no video splitter so it's expected that the games will do it. System 12, System 246, and the Jamma adapter board are the only things I know of with two VGA outputs. I put a VGA splitter in mine.

I'm not sure about the mono switch, I don't actually use my Jamma adapter since the video output is pretty soft.
It is S-Video out, likely for video capture or live monitors, but I have no idea why since the link board also generates S-Video.


Opening the control panel is really inconvenient. Fishing around for the Test and Service buttons, as well as the volume knob is also not great. When it's open it's still resting on the metal hinge, so it's not stressing the plastics.


I made a disassembly guide a really long time ago, and the side panels, if I recall correctly, are mostly able to be separated from the inner metal frame. You need to remove the back and bolt covers on the sides. I fully disassembled mine to move it, but I think you can probably get away with leaving the monitor in place. I removed my plugs with a small pick, which left a mark. There's probably better techniques these days, like maybe a suction cup or temporary adhesive.


Some info on the LED marquee here: https://wiki.arcadeotaku.com/w/LED_Display_Guide
I only have a mono colored one.

 

[NFGx]

The JVS Jamma adapter board has two VGA ports for linking cabinets. The cabinet has no video splitter

Alright, so it took me a while to wrap my head around this, but this means... There's no reason to have two VGA cables coming off the JAMMA board, one is effectively superfluous? That doesn't make a whole lot of sense, TBH. (Not questioning YOU, but those baffling wizards at NAMCO).

I can see that Tekken Tag, for example, has two VGA connectors. One for each machine, I guess? But then why route the local signal through the NTSC board at all... Except for the NTSC output, sure. But if there's s-video out of the JAMMA board, why not run THAT to the back end? Why have the 2nd VGA port on the JAMMA board? Just so it has somewhere to go?

When it's open it's still resting on the metal hinge, so it's not stressing the plastics.

Hm, you might be mis-remembering that. The metal hinge is doing part of the job, but it's the metal panel parts resting on the purple cabinet parts that hold it up. I'll try to remember not to leave it that way for long, 'cause I'm clumsy enough to bump it all the way to the floor. =/

the side panels, if I recall correctly, are mostly able to be separated from the inner metal frame. [...] I think you can probably get away with leaving the monitor in place.

You definitely mis-remember. Or I'm really bad at physics. Having looked at it from the back, there's nothing holding that monitor at the top except the side panels. Pull those off and that monitor is falling down into the cab, either rotating from the IO board or from the base of the cab. There's some metal at the front, but no rear supports at all. A gambling sort of person might do one panel at a time, but that's a lot of unnecessary flex for the polystyrene on the remaining side.

This is fun. What a wonderful machine. Baffling decisions, but fun. =)

 

[notsonic]

Alright, so it took me a while to wrap my head around this, but this means... There's no reason to have two VGA cables coming off the JAMMA board, one is effectively superfluous? That doesn't make a whole lot of sense, TBH. (Not questioning YOU, but those baffling wizards at NAMCO).

I explain, somewhat, how the rear link board works. It has 2 VGA inputs and 2 outputs. The 2 inputs come from the game. 1 input is routed to the output inside the cabinet, straight to the monitor. The other input is routed to the back of the cabinet as an output for linking.

I can see that Tekken Tag, for example, has two VGA connectors. One for each machine, I guess? But then why route the local signal through the NTSC board at all... Except for the NTSC output, sure. But if there's s-video out of the JAMMA board, why not run THAT to the back end? Why have the 2nd VGA port on the JAMMA board? Just so it has somewhere to go?

You route it through the board for convenience. The link cable is not only video but audio and JVS as well. The cabinet also has no passthrough holes big enough for a VGA cable. I honestly have no idea why the Jamma adapter board has S-Video other than maybe it was intended for use with more than just the Cyber Lead.

Hm, you might be mis-remembering that. The metal hinge is doing part of the job, but it's the metal panel parts resting on the purple cabinet parts that hold it up. I'll try to remember not to leave it that way for long, 'cause I'm clumsy enough to bump it all the way to the floor. =/

My panel floats just barely above the purple plastics when open, resting entirely on the metal inner structure.

You definitely mis-remember. Or I'm really bad at physics. Having looked at it from the back, there's nothing holding that monitor at the top except the side panels.

The monitor is connected to the frame at the bottom mounts for sure but I do not remember what the top looks like.
Edit: I found half of the old pictures from my teardown. It does look like the frame only goes as high as the bottom of the monitor, so the top must be connected to the side panels.

 

[NFGx]

It has 2 VGA inputs and 2 outputs. The 2 inputs come from the game.

Thanks for confirming that. What a weird cab! I wish I was in the meetings where they put this plan together.

My panel floats just barely above the purple plastics when open

Mine definitely makes contact. How much, I can't say, perhaps its barely touching, maybe it's load-bearing. For sure there are scuffs on the purple plastic that suggests more than gentle contact.

As an update:

Powering the Naomi with a separate PSU made it work properly. I used an ATX PSU with one of IrkenLabs' adaptors, plugged in to the 110V outlet under the internal power switch. Which brought me to another surprise: This plug isn't controlled by the switch. If the cab has power, this plug has power. Which means the ATX PSU is on 100% of the time, which is a bit less than ideal.

I might replace the entire PSU with an ATX one. Smaller, newer, more grunt. And while I'm re-wiring, I'll hook that port to the switch (or a new one, depending on the rating I guess).

Next up: Adding a coin input switch to the coin reject button.

Then: find some better buttons than what's on there. That's some leftover parts vibe right there.

 

[notsonic]

Sorry, I missed the part about your PSU. I replaced my stock one (it was making sizzling noises) with a Mean Well. The issue with ATX PSUs is they're designed to deliver amps on the 12v rail. 5v is usually pretty weak.

https://www.arcade-projects.com/threads/cyber-lead-psu-replacement.23456/

FWIW, the original controls specified in the manual are LS-56 sticks, PS-15 buttons, green for p1, yellow for p2, and red PS-14-D for starts.

You can fit a 10mm button in place of the coin reject plunger for credits. I used these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GTS5MN8/

 

[NFGx]

The issue with ATX PSUs is they're designed to deliver amps on the 12v rail. 5v is usually pretty weak.

That makes sense in this modern age, I guess. I've got a handful of older Japanese PSUs that do 15A on the +5V rail, so I think that'll be sufficient. =)

the original controls specified in the manual are LS-56 sticks,

Yeah I was surprised to read about that, considering my (apparently) original wiring included connectors for those weird LS-33 sticks with the weird 5-pin pinout. Reading around the intertubes, it seems like that was a pretty common choice, to the point where some people have LS-33NA (where I assume NA = Namco?) sticks installed. I'd love to know what the story is there. Mine's got two LS-33 installed. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

You can fit a 10mm button in place of the coin reject plunger

That's a pretty good idea, I think I have a few of those kicking around. But while investigating this, I found that in order to fit the (common to Australia) multi-coin mechanisms the wiring for this has been repurposed. Now there's a NRI mech tied to a Sunrise credit board that's in turn wired into the coin wires in the orignal harness. So I've got some un-doing to do before I do the doing.

That said, it looks like I should be easily able to put one of my 3D printed switches in there on the reject shaft. Keep it original externally. Decisions decisions.

And speaking of decisions... I'm not a huge fan of the original colours, so I was thinking to go with a white/purple theme for the panel bits, to match the cabinet. But then, do I go white sticks and purple buttons, or the reverse? Should P1 match P2, or maybe be inverted (purple stick, white buttons). It's paralyzing to consider all the options, made worse when I know once it's installed I'll be happy no matter which way I go. Or will I think about it forever!? (ノ°Д°）ノ︵ ┻━┻

 

[NFGx]

It took me like an hour and a half to pull this all together, a combination of bad search skills (like 90%) and the fact that the following two things do not seem to have ever been put together on the same page. Anyway, here's the 10pin kick/etc pinout for the Namco JVS CONV board.

It's an AMP EI-series 10 position connector.

1	Speaker +
2	Speaker -
3	GND
4	P1 Button 4
5	P2 Button 4
6	P1 Button 5
7	P2 Button 5
8	P1 Button 6
9	P2 Button 6
10	GND

EDIT: Ah FFS. I knew I'd seen it before:

https://www.arcade-projects.com/threads/cyber-lead-appreciation.10758/post-406248

EDIT 2: That's not even the right pinout on that link. It's a marvel I can tie my own shoes some days.

 

[NFGx]

I've started putting together an all-in-one list of connectors for the Cyber Lead:

https://gamesx.com/wiki/doku.php?id=arcade:namco_cyber_lead_pinouts

 

[NFGx]

Last night I whipped up a switch holder for the coin reject mechanism. It works perfectly.

STL file is here: https://www.arcade-projects.com/threads/cyber-lead-coin-reject-credit-switch.29873/

 

[kazuo]

EDIT 2: That's not even the right pinout on that link. It's a marvel I can tie my own shoes some days.

You may have missed it in one of notsonic's posts, but the pinout for the kick harness has been on the AO wiki since at least 2017. I suspect it has actually been there much longer, since I used to own one of these things years before that, and I believe I got the pinout from the wiki when I was wiring up the JAMMA converter.

The composite/S-Video outputs on the back are for recording gameplay footage or displaying it externally (e.g. for spectators). I never tried them out when I had them, but I can see how they'd be useful in a tournament setting. The Vs linking boards are probably the best part about these cabs, makes it SUPER easy to link cabs, all you need is a couple of the cables between the cabs and you're all set. I don't know if they all had them from the factory or if it was an optional add-on.

The PSU likely needs to be serviced; these cabs were designed to support JVS boards out of the box, and I ran a Naomi in mine for many years without incident (both carts & GD-ROM). I'd probably just throw a Mean Well in there and call it a day.

I think the thing I hated the most was all the plastic... but more specifically, the control panel bezel (mine ended up cracking eventually from it hanging on the hinge, so definitely don't recommend doing that too much), and the front access door. The sides also become extremely brittle over time and love to explode from being looked at the wrong way. The Toei chassis is also made out of glass.

All that said, glad you're having fun with it!

 

[NFGx]

You may have missed it in one of notsonic's posts, but the pinout for the kick harness has been on the AO wiki

I definitely missed his post on the topic. But I did see the AO wiki page, which has the pinout but not the connector. Other pages had the connector, but not the pinout. The manual schematic had both, sort of, but the pinout itself wasn't really clear.

The composite/S-Video outputs on the back

Oh, I get what they're for, I just don't get why there are TWO.

The video setup as a whole is just weird.

The PSU likely needs to be serviced

That's possible. Maybe I need to adjust the 5V. I haven't delved into it too much, since the only game it doesn't like is the Naomi.

I think the thing I hated the most was all the plastic

Yeah, I can totally get behind that. On the bright side, it does seem like polystyrene is fairly easy to repair. Eventually it'll be all bondo, I guess. But yeah it's a weird choice of material, they had to know it didn't have a lot of longevity.

As for the chassis... Was it Toei originally? Mine's got an MS9 in it, which I thought was standard. It's the best monitor out of all my cabs by far.

 

[notsonic]

Mine also has an MS9 with no signs that it wasn't the original.

 

[DRAGONKZ]

I’ve owned/been offered CyberLead 1s with both MS9 and Toei setups.

The Toei ones have always had later revision IO boards, and the “namco” label on the top bezel is a metal sticker instead of being printed on.

My guess is MS9 was original batch, and they swapped to Toei at some point before the CyberLead 2 production started and they went to Tri res.

 

[NFGx]

Is this a known variation on the MS9, or is it the same as some other cab? There are several versions, I've seen, and the Cyber Lead has a reputation for monitor excellence. For sure it handles interlaced video much better than my other MS9 cabs, it's as good as any monitor I've ever used.

Also, just wanted to say, I'm not trying to claim credit or steal any thunder with the kick harness pinouts. Not sure if anyone gets that impression, but I just had trouble finding it when I needed it, for whatever reason. And, I've been running a pinout site since the 90s, so. Making stuff easy for me is just what I do. I do realize I'm standing on the shoulders of a various assortment of giants and moderately huge humans who came before me.

 

[kazuo]

Is this a known variation on the MS9, or is it the same as some other cab? There are several versions, I've seen, and the Cyber Lead has a reputation for monitor excellence. For sure it handles interlaced video much better than my other MS9 cabs, it's as good as any monitor I've ever used.

AO wiki also states that the cab used either a Toei or a MS-9. As I recall, my cab also had no signs of being tampered with. So what Dragonkz says seems to be correct - they probably switched vendors at some point during the production run. I didn't realize prior to this that they ever had Nanaos as I've only seen them with Toei

Also, just wanted to say, I'm not trying to claim credit or steal any thunder with the kick harness pinouts. Not sure if anyone gets that impression, but I just had trouble finding it when I needed it, for whatever reason. And, I've been running a pinout site since the 90s, so. Making stuff easy for me is just what I do. I do realize I'm standing on the shoulders of a various assortment of giants and moderately huge humans who came before me.

No worries, apologies if my reply came off that way. Mainly I was trying to bring attention to the AO wiki as a resource, as it is often overlooked (especially around here for some reason). I can't begin to tell you how much time it has saved me over the years.

 

[Ziggy Cheetos Dust]

Great thread thanks @NFGx. Mine had a joystick with an LS-33 labeled pcb, but I was lead to believe it’s still an LS-56. Mine had the weird pinout as well. I’ve also had old LS-40s with the weird pinout and new LS-40s with a normal pinout.

I’m guessing mines a Highway Gaming import and also has the MS-9. It died last week so will have to get the back off this week and take a look. Hopefully it’s just a hairdryer warm-up job on the chassis.

Here’re the colours I went with. I made that Namco instruction space art too if you want a copy.

 

[NFGx]

No worries, apologies if my reply came off that way.

Not at all, this wasn't in response to anything specific. I think I'm always thinking that this opinion might exist so I was trying to explain away my own mental baggage. Maybe someone thinks this, maybe no one does, I dunno!

Here’re the colours I went with.

Those metallic controls look really snazzy installed. Much nicer than in a catalogue on a white background. =)

I’ve also had old LS-40s with the weird pinout

Wow. That's just bizarre. I wonder why they exist.

 

[Ziggy Cheetos Dust]

I read somewhere it was a Namco specific thing, but not sure really.