Consolised MVS Bios question

Escape-To-88 · Aug 16, 2005

Hi guys,
Planning to build an MVS console, built a few superguns now so not too many probs on the construction side, just a Bios question. I plan to use as on my other MVS boards the Razoola unibios to access the AES content, but the best option ie. the MV-1C has a soldered Bios, I wondered how complex this is to take off???? I know theres a user guide floating around on HardMVS, but wondered if any one had done this first hand???
Also looking like a good option was the MV-1B, but i have heard this also has a soldreed Bios, can anyone confirm this???
Cheers in advance
Paul

loopyeddie · Aug 16, 2005

Don't let a soldered bios scare you off. Get the one you want. You can desolder it. If you have made superguns, you have the skills. The best way is to get a desoldering iron, or a solder sucker. Just heat it up and suck it off (that sounded bad). Be patient, you may also want to get a desoldering braid. Place this on the contact and heat it up. The most important part is to be patient. Just keep plugging away, and checking to see if the old bios is loose. If it is still stuck, keep working. Don't force it. Make sure you SOCKET the new bios though, so you don't have to go through that again to upgrade.

Escape-To-88 · Aug 16, 2005

cheers loopy!
Yeah hopefully shouldnt be too much of a prob, have never used desoldering braid or a desolderer and have modded saturns, snes' and superguns so i may give it a go, now to find a MV-1C board!

Razoola · Aug 16, 2005

Remember the MV-1B and 1C have a surface mounted Bios, its alot harder to fix a new bios here than to a Bios that is soldered in a DIP package. To give you an idea look at this page and how the bios is installed in place of a surface mounted device (http://www.benheck.com/Games/NeoGeo_1.htm). Basically all other 1 SLOTs apart from the 1B and 1C should have a socketed bios and the uni bios will plug straight in with no soldering required.

Raz

supergoose · Aug 16, 2005

loopyeddie said:
you may also want to get a desoldering braid.

i don't think that desoldering braid will do. i'm not even sure, if a pump will work.

i'm about to do this mod for the first time myself, but from what i understand, it's the best to heat each pin up (one at a time, of course) and gently try to lift it.

JMKurtz · Aug 16, 2005

Soldering tweezers with the correct (or even longer) size tips works magically...

supergoose · Aug 16, 2005

JMKurtz said:
Soldering tweezers with the correct (or even longer) size tips works magically...

i've seen those (i think) at a local electronics shop, but always wondered about how to actually use them. from the tiny picture on the package it looks as if it would pull the whole ic and not just a pin at a time. do you know of a page that explains how to use them?

also ... what kind of soldering iron would you suggest, if one doesn't want a huge station? i've got a 25 watts one and am somewhat worried, that it might be too hot. thinking about getting a tiny 12v (yes, volts) soldering iron just to replace the 1c's bios.

Dean · Aug 16, 2005

supergoose79 said:
i don't think that desoldering braid will do. i'm not even sure, if a pump will work.

i'm about to do this mod for the first time myself, but from what i understand, it's the best to heat each pin up (one at a time, of course) and gently try to lift it.

This is what I do. I have a very small screwdriver I use (less than 1/32", almost like a pin) to lift the pin while heating the solder with a 15 or 30-watt iron. It only takes a second with a 30-watt and a couple seconds with the 15-watt.

The nice part about doing it this way and not using desoldering braid is you have a nice, small dab of solder left on the contact which is the perfect amount to solder too.

I've done this with the 1C, 1B, Saturn pads, and Turbo systems and haven't had a problem yet.

loopyeddie · Aug 16, 2005

That sounds great. I have use a desoldering braid and pump though, and it works too. I'd go with the lift the pin method though from now on. Won't this bend up the pin though?

Dean · Aug 16, 2005

loopyeddie said:
That sounds great. I have use a desoldering braid and pump though, and it works too. I'd go with the lift the pin method though from now on. Won't this bend up the pin though?

Do you plan on using that IC again?

Escape-To-88 · Aug 16, 2005

Balls to it! Im going to use an MV-FZ board, im going to do it PC Engine style and have a horizontal loading system!...Drawn up a rough diagram, plan to document this one!
Cheers guys!

Adamaki · Aug 18, 2005

D-Lite said:
Do you plan on using that IC again?

If it's not going to be used again you could always snip the pins off the chip, then you could remove them all separately. That's what I did when I removed the bios chip from my aes and it worked great.

Consolised MVS Bios question

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