Problem with Vegas system Showtime / Sportstation wont boot error code 8

[psychopat]

hey guys,

I purchased this board set as working a while back and unfortunately never got around to test it.
I find this weird that it was sold as working because when I got it the U27 bootrom was located in the expension slot above.

Anyhow I hooked everything together, I get an error code 8. After doing more research, this seems to relate to:
8. - Boot Rom Failure or pins not making contact at U27

So I pulled out the rom that was there, tried it in the proper U27 but no luck, I downloaded one from MAME and wrote a new 4001 rom. However the error still remains.
I tried all the other versions just in case it had to be version specific with the security chip but still no luck.
I then reflowed the U27 socket just to make sure its not due to a bad contact, but that didnt help either.

Looking at the security pic, it says: Showtime 25" 467401849
So I thought maybe the seller mixed it up and its just a regular NBA showtime board (security pic). I then downloaded the roms for the bootrom of nba showtime, tried that and still didnt help.

I was wondering if anyone has the Sportstation combo, whats written on the actual security chip?
Also is there any reason at all why the boot rom might have been in the rom expension socket above U27 and not in the U27 socket?

I have a Gauntlet Dark legacy here and also a Gauntlet legends, I was able to swap the chips and make sure the sound board for my showtime was working ok. However the CPU boards and video cards are different so I have no other ways to test them.

I also saw a lot of mentions regarding voltage, I tried increasing it to 5.10V like suggested and 12.1V but that didnt help. I know the voltage is fine because my gauntlet boardsets are loading up and working fine. So I do not think its a power issue. Possibly more of a security chip / bootrom issue.

Im running out of ideas, any help would be appreciated.
I attached a few pics, thanks

 

[psychopat]

Quick update on this, I ended up ordering a sportstation"upgrade kit" from ArcadeServices.
At least that discarded any kind of issues regarding the roms and drive while I was trying to debug the problem. Turns out the security chip I had and boot rom didnt match (hex compare) so that was one of the issue.

However when trying to load the game I still get a .B error code, no video image. When I use my Gauntlet Legends cpu board usnig the same chips, then everything loads properly. So I know for sure the culprit is the CPU board.

I also managed to find a replacement cpu board "untested" that doesnt seem to load either. This one boots and I get all the boot text, however when its just about to load the game the error code shows a dim 0 and the LED 12 flashes.

I know the error codes shows as "bad video cable" for the dim code but I know for sure my video cable is fine because it works with the good pcb.
Same goes along with the bootrom, error B says bad bootrom but I know its fine since its working on my other cpu board. I tried reflowing the rom socket but that didnt help either.

 

[CoolFox]

Are you sure the video card works? It's a different video card from Gauntlet.

 

[psychopat]

Yes for sure, the board set I purchased was a Blitz Showtime Sportation. After installing the upgrade kit and using the cpu board from my gauntlet everything runs well. The video card is different on the Gauntlet.