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It's Aliiiive!! Two additional traces, both checked out fine when I did the initial repair, were damaged between the Z80 RAM and NEO-C1. Added a pair of additional wires to the PCB spanning the broken traces, and the diagnostics ran 100%. Put the original BIOS back in, and hey presto, the...

I did use the .19 version first, then .19a01. Both gave basically the same report: communication error, Z80<->68k. Digging into it with the github error docs, I'm getting beep code 001100, which is old diag: Z80<->68k COMM. ERROR (DATA) new diag: 68k->Z80 COMM ISSUE (HANDSHAKE) According to...

OK, so I managed to burn the diag BIOS and M1, socketed in my SamSho III cart. Running the 68k diagnostic reports no errors. But the Z80 diagnostics won't run at all. Z80 SLOT SWITCH IGNORED (SM1) SM1 OTHERWISE LOOKS UNRESPONSIVE Pressing START at this point runs the diagnostic on the...

I've never heard of the Diag BIOS, I'll look into it. Thanks for the tip. I have a logic probe, but it's old and simple. So old and simple that it doesn't have a rated speed. ^__^; EDIT: oof, I gotta put a socket into a cart for the Z80 tests? I've only got 2 carts and I'd hate to wreck...

Thanks to a clue from @Razoola I'm back at it. The jukebox error means that the 68k isn't getting a response from the Z80 through the shared port. So I'm checking every single pin between the Z80, NEO-DO, 2610, 6216, etc. Starting with the Z80, it checks out every pin to the NEO-DO and 6216...

Alright, this might be the final update: Whatever the problem is now, remains a mystery. I've traced every single chip pin and via within a 5cm radius from the battery and they all seem to be fine. I've re-flowed all the SMD chips in that radius, to no avail. Everything works but the...

OK, the socket arrived, the alcohol arrived, I got that wretched foam panel off, and cleaned the bottom side of the PCB. I put the socket in, with nice little wires connecting the broken traces, and hey, I have sound! It's not 100% correct. Pulstar makes a lot of wrong sounds, and SamSho 3 is...

While I wait for my parts to arrive I started doing some cleanup and checked out all the traces. While I thought these checked out fine when I tested them before pulling out the 6116, they're very much dead now. These are the traces closest to the battery, so it makes sense that they were, if...

Yup, my isopropyl alcohol is en route with the chip socket. Might as well do what I can while I wait, right? So far though there's zero sign of any acid on the bottom side. I'll know for sure soon enough.

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I did know enough to add a lot of fresh solder and flux. It turns out my problem was following internet advice, and running 350C with the hot air. Cranking it up to 370C (and running the soldering iron at 450 (!!!)) made it much more effective, and I got the...

Progress report: Very little progress to report. I managed to get the chip out of the home system, but the MVS unit is putting up a mighty resistance. I can't use a solder sucker or braid to do the job, so I bought a hot air station and that doesn't work either. I'd love some tips for...

Well typically when I see battery damage, there's lots of actual damage. Traces just etched away, gobs of acid lichen everywhere. This may be 'bad' it's probably the least worst one I've ever had to deal with. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The leakage area was significant, for sure. The damage seems limited. I haven't found any traces that have been severed, and I've checked pretty much everything within the leakage area. Every nearby component and via is still connected to some other place on the board. Maybe I got lucky, or...

Progress update: seems like everyone selling these chips is in China. It's not my first choice for picking one up. Aaaand then I remembered I've got like six AES systems kicking around that have like 5 compatible chips each. Time to break out the de-solder. ^__^

Oh gosh yeah, that battery was out 10 seconds after I took the picture. I scrubbed the whole area out with some water and baking soda and a toothbrush. Time to find a 6116 chip! Pretty sure I don't have any in the parts bin. Thanks for the tip, I'll report back with my progress.

I pulled my MV1F out of storage yesterday and was disappointed to find it worked fine but had no sound. The Unibios can't even start the Jukebox, which seems like it's possibly a Big Clue but I don't know what it suggests. Seems like the whole sound subsystem is offline? IDK. The damage to...

While putting together some controller reviews I had the crazy idea of creating a theme for my SonyEricsson K800i using the photos I'd taken. If you're at all interested in a NeoGeo controller theme, and happen to have the same phone, here it is (click image to download):

I started up a controller site recently, and while writing the NeoGeo Stick review I realized that I didn't know who made the stick mech, or what it was called. It's definitely not an SNK creation, but there are no identifying marks on it to give away the source. Does anyone know who made it...

I'm selling the last of my NGCD stockpile. A few neat titles, a few commons, and a brand new Twinkle Star Sprites. There's some other junk too, like Famicom carts and disks, a reconditioned disk system, but you're here for the Neo, right? Have a look if you like.

I've recently been tearing out my JAMMA gear, and playing with it, and it's involved an awful lot of crap. As part of the process I discovered my VirtuaStick Pro (A silly, unwieldy but awesome thing) was completely screwed up. It turned out, after some initial trials, that the painstakingly...