Various Questions

I'm new to owning a Neo Geo cabinet, so I've got a few questions that have been on my mind. My setup is a dedicated 4-slot deluxe cab. Here goes:

1. I picked up some of the newer/cheaper kits like Sengoku 3 and Zupapa!... thing is, these particular games don't seem to work in slot one of my MVS mobo. They work fine in the other slots, just not number one, any reason why that would be? My other games work perfect in the first slot.

2. I just got Zupapa! this week and it seems to have some problems. On the game play instruction and level select screen, there are lines on the right side. These lines aren't present on any other screens of the game from what I've played. The game also reset my system while I was playing it once. Another thing I noticed is that you can start a game on the second player side, but the game won't let you continue. Everything works fine for the first player side. Any ideas?

3. Sometimes I'll reach inside the cab while the power is on to adjust the sound or close the latches on panel and my thumb will go numb, kind of tingly. Is there a reason for this?

Any info on these questions would be great, thanks

1) I've found that certain carts that I have don't work well in Slot 2 on my 4 Slot for some reason, but other games will.

2) Not sure

3) Sounds like your cab may not be grounded? Where do you put your hand? Wherever you are putting it, you are getting some kind of electric shock, and it's probably not a good thing. I don't have a cab yet, so I can't really help much more than that. Look at where you put your hand when you get shocked and try and figure out where the power is coming from. When you figure it out, I'm sure someone here could likely help you out...

Good luck!

Sometimes I'll reach inside the cab while the power is on to adjust the sound or close the latches on panel and my thumb will go numb, kind of tingly. Is there a reason for this?

Does this happen when you close the latches on panel only,Without touching the volume control.
If it does its just the springing of the latches when you snap then shut that's sending a vibration to your finger.
Otherwise if it happens when you touch the volume control then your machine may be improperly grounded.
Make sure you are plugged into a 3 prong wall outlet.And not going through a 2 prong extension cord.
Make sure the machines plug is a 3 prong plug.
Some people lose the original plug/wire and bypass it by connecting a 2 prong plug into the power supply. Then you would be improperly grounded.
I was missing my plug but a computer plug fit the machine perfect.
A ground wire may be off inside the machine.
You may be walking on a rug in socks creating static electricity,before you touch the volume control.
You have to clean the cart it's dirty.

Hmm... okay. I tried a couple new games out today and found Aero Fighters 2 to have a similar graphical glitch as Zupapa! did. Maybe it's just the cart?

After some switching out of carts though, it seems the first slot on my mobo may be having problems with all games now. I don't have a game in there now but I was getting sound errors with a game in it earlier. I'll clean it out tomorrow and see if that helps any. As for Zupapa! being dirty, I don't THINK that's the problem as it's a fairly new looking kit and hasn't had much use from the looks of it. I'll give that and Aero Fighters 2 a good cleaning tomorrow while I'm at the mobo.

Regarding the numbness of the thumb, it may just be the force of the latches, but I really didn't think that would be the cause of it. I'm pretty sure it's grounded as I'm using the original three prong plug straight into the wall and it's on tile (no carpet in the house really). I'll take note next time I open it up.

Thanks for the input.

Clean the prongs on the mother board.
If the prongs on the mother board are dirty it will act just like the carts are dirty.
I had the same problems you were having,until I cleaned the carts and the prongs on the mother board.
Members on this forum know the best way to clean the carts and prongs.
I myself clean the cart prongs with a piece of dry Scotch Brite blowing out the dust.
I use a cardboard nail file to fit in the dual prong slots of the mother board.
I've been using these cleaning methods for years.
I have kits with carts that Look clean,but they still seem to be dirty.
All my carts now work the first time I put them in after I cleaned everything.

[ November 09, 2002: Message edited by: chris1 ]</p>

I Agree <img src="graemlins/multi.gif" border="0" alt="[Multi Color Bouncey]" /> <img src="graemlins/multi.gif" border="0" alt="[Multi Color Bouncey]" />

Well, thanks for the cleaning tip. It seems to have fixed most of the problems. My Aero Fighters 2 still seems to have lines in two spots of the game at random (sometimes they're there, sometimes not), but everything else works smoothly. It's amazing how much easier it is to slide the carts in the slots now too.

I have one more question. In scrutinizing how things were working, I noticed that my last slot on my board has a high pitched squeal when it's chosen weather it be through the demo or it's being played. It seems to do this no matter what game is in there. I cleaned out all the slots so I assume this is something that can't be fixed? Anyone else experience this? It's not so bad as once I start playing the game I tend to forget about the noise.

Did some more extended playing tonight (mostly Zupapa!... what can I say, I'm addicted) and I have a couple more questions.

Sometimes, the sound will stop working all-together while playing games. When I get done playing the game I'm on, I'll go into test mode and exit to reset the machine and the sound turns back on without a problem. Any ideas as to why the sound may stop working? There doesn't seem to be any specific game or reason it does this, just random.

Also, I got a Z80 Error tonight. I've gotten this one other time before. What is this?

On a side note, I've noticed something about the graphical glitches in Aero Fighters 2 and Zupapa! I was having. The lines that were there seem to disappear after having played the games a while. They got progressively better the more I played until they were completely gone. Anyone else ever experience this one? <img src="graemlins/spock.gif" border="0" alt="[Spock]" />

I'm glad the cleaning helped.
I have cleaned carts without opening them up and still had sound problems.
I then opened them up and cleaned every prong.
Sometimes you may not be getting far enough in if you don't take them apart.
I Mainly had this problem with a Metal Slug 2 cart.It drove me crazy because I thought the cart was bad,The sound kept breaking up.I opened the cart and cleaned every part of the prongs.
Now its fine.
The games shouldn't go in real easy.They should have some resistance when you push them in.
Your 4 slot mother board may be worn out.
The prongs in it may be spread to far out to make good contact.
If I thought my prongs on the board were loose,I would take out the mother board and bend every prong out a little to make a better contact.
Have you ever felt how a worn out Nintendo feels when you slide the carts in,They slide in real easy and you get the Blink sindrome.Putting in the MVS carts shouldn't feel like the Nintendo, if they do.
Now taking out the mother board and bending the prongs is not something I recommend.
I'm a Machinist by trade and have the tools to do such a job,and it would be a timely job.
I fix a lot of non working cart consoles this way.The Neo mother board is much bigger than a console.
I myself would try everything to fix the board before I decided I needed a new one.
These questions are very technical.
I think you may have a power supply problem.

I think you should post these questions in the technical section,so you could get more replies.
I think your questions are getting missed here.
I have only had my Dedicated 4 slot for a few months and it's perfect now.Thanks to the members here.I would post in technical so you could get more answers from members more experienced than me with the 4 slot machine.
I hope you get it going correctly.
It's an awesome machine.
Does your Neo cab look like mine.The one in the pic.

For the 'random spots and lines'

-> your 5volt is too low / powersupply is dying

- It's low when you start the cabinet (lines/bugs)
- Once it heats up it produces a bit more voltage

Turn up the +5v a LITTLE or get a multimeter to check out what the +5 is actually outputting. I find that a cheap multimeter is a requirement for any arcade cab owner.

For the Z80 errors

Cart slots are dirty.

-> Use a fine toothbrush and some alcohol to clean the slots. let them dry before use.
-> This too could be caused by low +5v

All in all, it would seem you have a very dirty cabinet. I suggest cleaning it out before you use it more And get a multimeter.

- Alex

Edit:

The z80 error is caused by the Z80 on your main board. It reads data from the cart and runs it. If the slots are dirty, it will probably get corrupted data, and crash in an attempt to run it. This causes the error message to appear.

[ November 12, 2002: Message edited by: Asure ]</p>

Okay, thanks for the info guys.

The carts don't go in TOO easily, there is resistance there, it's just easier going then before it seems since I cleaned all my carts and the slots on the board. I'm going to go through the board with a toothbrush one more time this week. I used a computer cleaner from Radio Shack the first time around... suggested by Briggs over at HardMVS.

The cab isn't really "dirty" though. It's fairly clean (I bought it from Briggs by the way) and it works well, just these few quibbles. I played it all tonight without any problems with the exception for the line problem that cleared up after having it powered up for a bit of course.

I'll pick up a multimeter this week one day after work and check the voltage on my power supply. Hopefully that'll do the trick.

Thanks again for the tips. I'll be sure to let you know what comes of it.