SF3 2nd impact no CD

[msamiullah]

Folks,
I have an original SF3 2nd impact CD & Cartridge with original SIMMs on the CPS3 board. I am wondering if there is any way to have it as noCD ? I want to avoid connecting the CD-ROM drive. I do not play or plan to play any other games on my CPS3 board. Please let me know. Thanks

 

[hatmoose]

My initial thoughts based on vague recollections areas follows.

Hopefully someone that has done this more recently can check my work, but I'm pretty sure this is right

You'll need to re-write the bios chip on the cart to accomplish this - there are lots of different bioses to choose from here https://www.arcade-projects.com/threads/cps-iii-bios-and-cd-releases.36/ Which one for your use case?

Because you have an original cart you are going to want one with the CUSTOM SH2 - this was a custom chip for Capcom that they put into these carts. If you had a repro you would want the "standard SH2" but you don't so you won't.

Because you don't want to read the CD drive you are going to want the NO_CD version

Because you don't want to select the region on every power on you are going to want the superBIOS

Because you don't have Ultrasims you could use either the ultraBIOS or the superBIOS

So putting all that together I believe you will be wanting
NOCD USA SuperBIOS for Custom
which you can download here http://www.mediafire.com/file/x0qul3rlzfje8bn/SuperBIOS_NOCD+AsiaNOCD_Custom&Standard_.7z/file

Then you will need to physically remove your existing BIOS chip by desoldering it off the board inside the cart,
write this file to the chip
SuperBIOS_for_custom_SH2_USA_NOCD.u2 (or obtain a new bios chip that someone has already programer with this file)
Solder the new/updated chip back onto the board
Done!

 

[tiff_lee]

I do not play or plan to play any other games on my CPS3 board

Judging by this statement I suspect you are seeking a solution to exclusively make that game no CD but unfortunately I don't think there is one (at least not currently).

Going the super/ultra bios nocd route will also require you to get an additional 128mb simm, even though 2nd impact doesn't require it the superbios does.

 

[nem]

Asia NoCD has been dumped. Looking at differences between it and the Japan and US bioses, the only differences are

0x1FECB, which controls the region

and

0x1FECC, which controls if it looks for a CD or not. Normal is BD, NoCD is BC.

Desolder the flash, make the change, reflash it and solder it back?

I haven't actually tried this, so I don't know if there's some catch involved.

 

[msamiullah]

My initial thoughts based on vague recollections areas follows.

Hopefully someone that has done this more recently can check my work, but I'm pretty sure this is right

You'll need to re-write the bios chip on the cart to accomplish this - there are lots of different bioses to choose from here https://www.arcade-projects.com/threads/cps-iii-bios-and-cd-releases.36/ Which one for your use case?

Because you have an original cart you are going to want one with the CUSTOM SH2 - this was a custom chip for Capcom that they put into these carts. If you had a repro you would want the "standard SH2" but you don't so you won't.

Because you don't want to read the CD drive you are going to want the NO_CD version

Because you don't want to select the region on every power on you are going to want the superBIOS

Because you don't have Ultrasims you could use either the ultraBIOS or the superBIOS

So putting all that together I believe you will be wanting
NOCD USA SuperBIOS for Custom
which you can download here http://www.mediafire.com/file/x0qul3rlzfje8bn/SuperBIOS_NOCD+AsiaNOCD_Custom&Standard_.7z/file

Then you will need to physically remove your existing BIOS chip by desoldering it off the board inside the cart,
write this file to the chip
SuperBIOS_for_custom_SH2_USA_NOCD.u2 (or obtain a new bios chip that someone has already programer with this file)
Solder the new/updated chip back onto the board
Done!

This is super helpful. Is there any way to buy such cartridge. I have no experience and means of writing bios.

 

[hatmoose]

This is super helpful. Is there any way to buy such cartridge. I have no experience and means of writing bios.

Pretty sure @Mitsurugi-w used to offer this service, either modifying an existing cart or supplying a new one. might be worth a check.

 

[Mitsurugi-w]

Yeah just reprogram your 2i bios with a nocd version. No need to do superbios in your case as 2i technically has no protection.

 

[tiff_lee]

Judging by this statement I suspect you are seeking a solution to exclusively make that game no CD but unfortunately I don't think there is one (at least not currently).

Well I stand corrected!
Good to know as you won't need to buy an extra simm now either.

 

[msamiullah]

Well I stand corrected!
Good to know as you won't need to buy an extra simm now either.

Thanks

 

[msamiullah]

Yeah just reprogram your 2i bios with a nocd version. No need to do superbios in your case as 2i technically has no protection.

Thanks. Is there any video on this by any chance ? I do have a chip programmer and some soldering experience to pull this off. Not sure which chip to replace here.

 

[XeD]

Thanks. Is there any video on this by any chance ? I do have a chip programmer and some soldering experience to pull this off. Not sure which chip to replace here.

It's the 48 pin tsop (29f400) in the cart next to the custom. If you don't have a mean to do it, I can. I'm located in BC