boots / not boots?

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drwormphd

n00b
Joined
Feb 24, 2004
Posts
3
so, i picked up a neo-geo 4-slot cab last fall, and have just gotten around to taking all my carts apart to see whether they are boots or not. i read somewhere that if i had questions, i should post here.

rather than post the 20+ pics in this message, i just set up a page with my comments here. i'd be interested in what you all think.

thanks in advance for your sage advice!

ps. asure, if you (or anyone else, i suppose) would like the pics for your excellent boot page, you can get the whole lot of them here (3 mb zip).
 
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Amano Jacu

Charles Barkley
Joined
Sep 11, 2001
Posts
8,594
On second thought, neo-geo2 might be right and AF2 may not be a boot... Maybe that P1 rom got damaged and was replaced by that EEPROM.
The other 3 are clearly boots.
 
R

ResO

water damaged
20 Year Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2001
Posts
8,000
neo-geo 2 said:
Aerofighters 2 MIGHT not be a boot, all the rest are.
Click to expand...

No way man, look at that shoddy soldering job. It's definitely a boot.
 
chris1

chris1

POCKETBIKE NUT,
Joined
Oct 18, 2002
Posts
10,830
That's a lot of Boots...

Were these 4 carts in the machine when you got it or were they bought periodically..?

Do they work..?

Sorry to hear you were sold 4 bootleg carts.



......................................
((anyone know what's up with the label having a small sticker (VC990547)? is that a video connection thing or something? i have another cart with a small sticker like this, but the boards in that cart look)))

I have a Trash Rally with a label just like that..

The boards were original...but the label wasn't..
 
C

c.t.h

Maxima's Barber
Joined
Apr 17, 2003
Posts
2,350
ResOGlas said:
No way man, look at that shoddy soldering job. It's definitely a boot.
Click to expand...

Doesn't necessarily mean anything, I have some original carts with poor soldering.

That being said, what are the numbers on the AF2 chips?
 
D

drwormphd

n00b
Joined
Feb 24, 2004
Posts
3
chris1 said:
That's a lot of Boots...

Were these 4 carts in the machine when you got it or were they bought periodically..?

Do they work..?

Sorry to hear you were sold 4 bootleg carts.
Click to expand...

ten carts came with the machine. of those ten, seven seem fine (not boots) and three (af2, ntm and pb) are looking boot-tastic. pb2 was bought later via an auction (see the other page for details), and also looks like a boot.

i've put quite a few hours in to af2, pb and pb2, and all of them seem to work fine. honestly didn't play the golf game much, but it seemed ok, too.

thanks for your condolences. until recently, i had no idea neo-geo boots were so common. i can't be too sad, tho ... i only paid $200 for the cabinet and the carts. the guy thought it was busted (sound no video) but it turned out the connector on the neck of the display was just loose. i figured it was a good deal if only for the carts, not knowing then that they could have all been boots.
 
bones

bones

Crazed MVS Addict
Joined
Oct 9, 2003
Posts
143
drwormphd said:

i can't be too sad, tho ... i only paid $200 for the cabinet and the carts. the guy thought it was busted (sound no video) but it turned out the connector on the neck of the display was just loose. i figured it was a good deal if only for the carts, not knowing then that they could have all been boots.
Click to expand...

Well, then let me be the first to congratulate you! That's a hell of a price for a working MVS cab and 10 carts, even if 3 of them are boots.
:multi_co:

I'm a bit jealous, paid $450 for my dedicated 2 slot, and it needed a little monitor help, but at least it was local and didn't require shipping :D
 
Last edited:
Bishamon

Bishamon

Azu Bla, ,
Joined
Aug 24, 2002
Posts
3,624
OUCH!

I've been lucky in that, out of the 41 MVS carts I own, none of them are boots. Well, apart from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2003. ;)
 
D

drwormphd

n00b
Joined
Feb 24, 2004
Posts
3
c.t.h said:
Doesn't necessarily mean anything, I have some original carts with poor soldering.

That being said, what are the numbers on the AF2 chips?
Click to expand...

proggsc:

v2 -
075-v2 w94
9427e7004

v1 -
075-v1 w62
9427k7030

p1 - (eprom)
m27c160 - 120f1
p881s
9744f

cha256:

c1 -
075-c1 w63
9427k035

c3 -
075-c3 w65
9427k7003

c2 -
075-c2 w64
9427k7050

c4 -
075-c4 w66
9427k7006

aside: hrm ... i've looked around a little, but not a ton ... anyone know of a good faq that describes a) cartridge architecture, and b) what the numbers on the roms mean?
 
Bishamon

Bishamon

Azu Bla, ,
Joined
Aug 24, 2002
Posts
3,624
I don't remember where I got this from, but here you go:

Cx - The 'C' files carry the data needed for the lovely graphics you see, so if
a game has messed up graphics then its probably due to a bad C file, you can
usually replace the offending file with a correct one to fix the problem.
P1, - The P files contain the program data, so if a game has glitches or bugs
P2 in it (other than video or sound) then it's probably due to a bad P1 or P2
file (or both). A recent example I came across was when KoF95 would freeze
whenever a throw was done, replacing the P files solved the problem.
M1 - <Info needed>
S1 - <Info needed>
Vx - The V files contain all the sound effects and music for the game, if a game
has corrupt up sound or music, it's probably because of bad V files. Replace
them with fixed one's to enjoy the lovely music rather than having some
Godawful screeching noise.

M1 is the Z80 code that controls the sound chip. S1 is the FIX layer graphics (top layer). Usually used for fonts, small game logo, enery bars, etc...

Px - 68000 game code
Vx - ADPCM sound samples
Cx - Graphic Tiles (sprites)
 
chris1

chris1

POCKETBIKE NUT,
Joined
Oct 18, 2002
Posts
10,830
drwormphd said:
ten carts came with the machine. of those ten, seven seem fine (not boots) and three (af2, ntm and pb) are looking boot-tastic. pb2 was bought later via an auction (see the other page for details), and also looks like a boot.

i've put quite a few hours in to af2, pb and pb2, and all of them seem to work fine. honestly didn't play the golf game much, but it seemed ok, too.

thanks for your condolences. until recently, i had no idea neo-geo boots were so common. i can't be too sad, tho ... i only paid $200 for the cabinet and the carts. the guy thought it was busted (sound no video) but it turned out the connector on the neck of the display was just loose. i figured it was a good deal if only for the carts, not knowing then that they could have all been boots.
Click to expand...

i only paid $200 for the cabinet and the (10) carts.

Wow!!!..May I say Congratulations too.......That's a steal..

Please take pictures of the cab..I'd love to see it..

...........................................
Oh Yea../ I'm undecided about Aero Fighters 2 being a boot..
The others look like they are for sure...

.............
 
Last edited:
DanAdamKOF

DanAdamKOF

Iori's Flame
20 Year Member
Joined
Jun 15, 2002
Posts
8,255
All but AF2 are boots, well maybe AF2 is a boot, I'm stumped on that one.

Thanks for reading my FAQ, BTW, and welcome to the world of Neo-Geo! Gotta love a MVS.

EDIT: Hmm, the boards for NTM seem to be a common boot layout. IMO the dead giveaways to spotting that board are 1.) The two capacitors on one of the boards (Is that a CHA or PROG?) and 2.) The darker-than-normal green color on the boards and 3.) The font used is different than I've seen on MVS chips and the number on those chips don't look like an official MVS number.

Also, the scratched serial number on the ROMs on AF2 make me wary...
 
Last edited:
firebomber

firebomber

Astra Superstar
Joined
Apr 2, 2002
Posts
668
There's nothing on the AF2 boards that would suggest a boot. Most likely the hand soldering on that one chip was just from a repair. All the chip numbers show 075 which is the correct number for AF2 as well.

The other 3 are bootleg, but I don't see any reason to believe the AF2 is.
 
neo-geo 2

neo-geo 2

Raiden's Valet
Joined
Mar 21, 2003
Posts
1,122
Aerofighters 2 is original with a non SNK repair job, so its not 100% original, but not a bootleg really.
 
NeoGoaT

NeoGoaT

Mickey's Coach
Joined
Jul 26, 2001
Posts
596
I picked up a loose NTM from ebay a few days ago, also a boot and more importantly with the exact same serial number as yours, 000950. The bootleggers must have made an entire run all with the same serial. The lesson is if you're offered a 950 NTM, run away.
 
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