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Nintendo Super System (NSS) Repair Log

yavuzg

yavuzg

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Location
Turkey
Got some spare time and wanted to share my small repair adventure hoping that might save someone else's butt sometime :)

Acquired this NSS cabinet in this excellent condition last summer. Getting this cab in my home arcade required a 1000 Km road adventure but that's a totally different story :D

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I've finally had this cab in my garrage in one piece but the PCB had some problems. Some of the games were only partially working.

Super Tennis seems working and playing fine...

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However, the Super Mario World was experiencing weird issues. Forexample, since the platform is not there the characters just fall into abyss ....

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And after that the game could no longer continue but chrash...

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F-Zero had some similar weird issues also. It seems to be working fine but later it also crash...

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At first I thought the carts might be dirty. However, even after cleaning them still got the same issues.


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Then I thought the ROMs might be corrupted. They checked out fine on Romident but I still re-programmed Super Mario just to make sure... Still no luck...


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Then I read DogP's web site dedicated to NSS and one thing he mentioned there was interesting. He said these weird issues might be CPU related. To my experiences, if a CPU is faulty the system generally not boot at all. But having depleted all other options, I have to try this solution. Had to replace the main CPU but where to get a replacement?

As I fixed my Sega Mega Tech PCB by salvaging parts from a Sega Mega Drive home console, this time I had to use a Super Nintendo :)

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It is cosmetically troubled and the plastic is too brittle to be used as a console so I decided to use this SNES as a "parts" system long time ago. It is however working 100% electronically...
 
This is the NSS main CPU... (Silkscreened as IC5 also clearly indicated as "CPU" by Nintendo :) )

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This is the spare CPU from SNES...


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As you can see they are exactly the same...


A bit of careful desoldering work...

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And some careful soldering with lots of flux ;) The transplanting of CPU is done!


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And surprisingly, as DogP (Pat) suggested on his site, the games are fixed 100%

After that, I've extensively cleaned the cab, replaced the florescent ballasts with 220V ones and replaced the light bulbs, cleaned the controllers etc...

Now its fully working ;)

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PascalP said:
very cool, probably one of my holy grails which I've never seen in Europe....
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Exactly! I tracked its history a bit. It is said that it was found in a basement of a vacated mansion by the sea (Bosphorus) in Istanbul. So that gave me the impression that it was imported and used only privately back in the day since the condition of the cab was not like it has been used in an arcade publicly. Also the coin counter was like 6000 or so...

Its probably the one and only NSS in Turkey...
 
i need to do the same for mine. Also have to check the wiring because the controls aren't working.
 
zero238 said:
i need to do the same for mine. Also have to check the wiring because the controls aren't working.
Click to expand...
What's wrong with yours?


PascalP said:
looks really good man!
Awesome condition!

If you ever want to sell you gotta let me know ;)
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It is a beauty for sure, definitely a great conversation piece, but...

To be honest, its not that "usable" as it is. I mean, I need to come up with some sort of a solution to make it more fun by extending the selection of games. For this, either you have to get an SNES-to-NSS adapter (which is non existent) or you have to put a SNES + SD2SNES in the cabinet (more doable).

I once did a NES-to-JAMMA circuit. May be I'll make a modified version of it for a SNES...
 
Basically can't use the control pads. Haven't touched the inside yet so I'll work with the wiring first before messing with the board. Dog P said he wasn't making another run unless you can convince him to do it again like the last order.
 
Yes I contacted with him but he is not going to produce another run in foreseeable future.

TBH, those adapters are very convenient way of running SD2SNES on NSS if they were available but in reality, if you are not into "time limited" game play (which is the only unique feature of NSS), just putting a SNES inside the cabinet is a more simpler solution for me to re-invent the wheel to re-produce those adapters myself.
 
on ebay there is another person doing the same thing but it's not as good as DogP's adapter. Its missing some features so it can't run all games
 
zero238 said:
on ebay there is another person doing the same thing but it's not as good as DogP's adapter. Its missing some features so it can't run all games
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Tried to contact him on ebay and on KLOV but never got a reply.
 
yavuzg said:
Yes I contacted with him but he is not going to produce another run in foreseeable future.

TBH, those adapters are very convenient way of running SD2SNES on NSS if they were available but in reality, if you are not into "time limited" game play (which is the only unique feature of NSS), just putting a SNES inside the cabinet is a more simpler solution for me to re-invent the wheel to re-produce those adapters myself.
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Dog's adapter have a switch for 'time' or 'skill', I didn't exactly test the result as I have it on 'time' to leave my NSS setup as genuine as possible ;)
So not sure if all games are supported or not with it.

What I personally miss when using the adapter is that you don't have attract mode when using a SNES cart, not sure how long the attract cycle is for each game but for me it looks like this now:
10s Super Mario World attract mode -> 10s F-Zero attract mode -> 10s black screen with the adapter -> 10s Super Mario World etc.
 
yavuzg said:
zero238 said:
on ebay there is another person doing the same thing but it's not as good as DogP's adapter. Its missing some features so it can't run all games
Click to expand...
Tried to contact him on ebay and on KLOV but never got a reply.
Click to expand...
Oh hey thats me! 8)

I havent been on KLOV in ages, but always make sure to reply to eBay messages! Sorry I somehow missed yours, but you can message me here and get you sorted out

PascalP said:
Dog's adapter have a switch for 'time' or 'skill', I didn't exactly test the result as I have it on 'time' to leave my NSS setup as genuine as possible ;)
Click to expand...
DogP made two versions of his adapter, with and without a PIC mcu to simulate the SNES CIC chip. This is required to play a short list of SA-1 games but adds extra cost. The option to bank switch the instruction rom between 'time' and 'skill' is only used if you want to play NSS cartridge roms on a SD2SNES or PowerPak, for only 2 of 12 games I think.

Overall the adapter from DogP and myself are essentially the same for 99% of games, but I was motivated to design one that used the proper DIN connector and was no frills otherwise
 
In the latest batch Dog did was only offer the ‘deluxe’ version, IIRC correct that was including the extra chip.

Thanks for the info on the time/skill switch, not much use then.

There are 2 other dips on the adapter, but I have no idea what their function is...?
 
brizzo said:
Oh hey thats me! 8)

I havent been on KLOV in ages, but always make sure to reply to eBay messages! Sorry I somehow missed yours, but you can message me here and get you sorted out
Click to expand...
Thats great...

So my questions on KLOV and ebay were;

1) Have you ever tested your adapter with SD2SNES? If so, any modifications needed on the NSS PCB (as DogP mentions regarding week reset signal)
2) You are in Canada, I'm in Turkey, could you quote me a shipped price for one of your adapters? (You can PM me. I can pay paypal ff)
 
yavuzg said:
brizzo said:
Oh hey thats me! 8)

I havent been on KLOV in ages, but always make sure to reply to eBay messages! Sorry I somehow missed yours, but you can message me here and get you sorted out
Click to expand...
Thats great...
So my questions on KLOV and ebay were;

1) Have you ever tested your adapter with SD2SNES? If so, any modifications needed on the NSS PCB (as DogP mentions regarding week reset signal)
2) You are in Canada, I'm in Turkey, could you quote me a shipped price for one of your adapters? (You can PM me. I can pay paypal ff)
Click to expand...
1.) At one point I repaired a NSS pcb, and also added the resistor as described by DogP. Customer used it with SD2SNES without issue. I just dont promote or recommend using multi carts because then end users without skill or tools may try to do mods, and make a mess. Also how many games does a person need? :P

2.) Sure, I will pm you!
 
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