NeoBiosMasta: Introduction and Information (photo heavy) ORDERS OPEN

smkdan

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Too bad about the Z. Didn't realize there was that little clearance in the shell for it to not fit even with the relocation cables.

Also how many boards did you order for each type? All my MVS boards have a socketed BIOS, but I might end up getting a smaller one later on.
 

NeoTurfMasta

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Also how many boards did you order for each type? All my MVS boards have a socketed BIOS, but I might end up getting a smaller one later on.

I have 150 MVS and 150 CD. Technically the CD one would work on the 1b and 1c board if you used the larger 27c400 chip.
 

aria

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:golf clap:

great job ntm!

A golf clap seems entirely appropriate.

But I'll raise it a few dancers (I'm fresh out of tassels):

karnov.gif
karnov.gif
karnov.gif
 

Murray

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Technically the CD one would work on the 1b and 1c board if you used the larger 27c400 chip.
Which kind of makes me wonder if there could be a 4Mbit MVS bios with more features ... stuff like saving dip settings, high scores, default cheats, etc. to memory card like the new CD one does (well, not high scores yet, but you get what I'm saying).
 

smkdan

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I got some hands on time with the NGCD and adapter, here's how it went:

Installation was very simple and over with very quickly. It powered on with custom BIOS the first time, so getting it in there is no hassle at all. I'm very average with a soldering iron but lifting 2 pins and adding a jumper wire is well within my reach.

Unfortunately I can't get the top part shell closed with the NBM installed (just the adapter + EPROM sitting on it). It appears to get in the way of the CDROM PCB. If you imagine yourself putting the top plastic on a top loader from the back first, and then snapping it shut from the front, the snap pops it out of place and it doesn't work. I remove the shell and the adapter is not sitting parallel to the PCB since it got knocked out of place. If the ROM was not there, it would have enough clearance. This is a CDM4-2 PCB for what it's worth. I'm assuming there is something really silly I'm missing considering that Murray probably has a modded toploader coming.

There is also the issue of the PLCC socket not having much/any grip to the 68k. It worked the first couple times, although intermittently. Physically, it feels extremely loose as even a gentle prod will move the adapter around. The PLCC kind of just 'sinks' into the 68k with no resistance. Kind of like MKL said, if I were to turn the PCB upside down, it would just fall out. NTM did state that this was the socket that went through a large amount of testing, so that is understandable that it would not be as strong as the newer adapters. I cannot use it though, there is about a 20% chance or so that it will powerup, and then just randomly reset throughout. I made it run a powerontest right from reset to test, something that confirmed to be good in CD based tests. It resets and random stages in the test and now it doesn't appear to work at all. The slight amount of bite it had seems to be gone. I can't use it at the moment. Does anyone know a common way of making the PLCC pins have better grip?
 

NeoTurfMasta

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To me it sounds like its not installed properly. It should snap to the 68K. You have to give it enough force and the plcc socket should be nearly touching the MB. That would also explain why there is not enough clearance for the CDrom board.

Murrays TL isnt modded in any way, other than the shielding being cut. Same with xiao_haozi 1C I sent him. Those PLCCs arent coming off without some force behind it and nothing was modded to keep them on.

My advice, push the NBM on a little harder, it should snap.
 

NeoTurfMasta

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I am out of town till Tuesday, but if you think the one I sent you is damaged I'll send you another one when I get back. Like you mentioned before, the board I sent you is one I used in a lot of tests, so it was removed over and over and over again, but it still had pleanty of force behind it.

edit: Murray's and xiao_haozi's systems should be arriving either today or tomorrow. I'm interested in hearing if the NBMs stayed put through USPS. I'd think that's a good test of stability.
 
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smkdan

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Great, that explains everything then. I wasn't sure how much force I should've been applying and I didn't want to do force it much without being 100% sure. It wasn't nearly touching the PCB here so I know I didn't do it correctly. I'll get to it now, actually.
 

NeoTurfMasta

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I'll be out for several hours, so I wont be bale to reply for some time.
 

xiao_haozi

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I am out of town till Tuesday, but if you think the one I sent you is damaged I'll send you another one when I get back. Like you mentioned before, the board I sent you is one I used in a lot of tests, so it was removed over and over and over again, but it still had pleanty of force behind it.

edit: Murray's and xiao_haozi's systems should be arriving either today or tomorrow. I'm interested in hearing if the NBMs stayed put through USPS. I'd think that's a good test of stability.

I'll be swinging by the post office this afternoon to ship some things out. So if I get it today I'll surely post. Otherwise I will be out of town for the weekend and can post back Monday.
 

Murray

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Mine is here and the bios board is still nice and snug. My el-cheapo region button didn't do quite so well (lol) but that's what the new bios is all about so I'm not sweating it. :D

I haven't had a chance to play on it yet but I don't expect to have any problems. I'll play a few rounds of something tonight when I get home from work and report back.
 

NeoTurfMasta

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Thats a relief. I was confident it could handle USPSs bouncing, but it feels good to know it really stayed put. Sorry about the region switch. I noticed that it was kinda loose when I got it so I just pushed it in a bit hoping it would hold.

Also, if you have a chance LMK when you'll install the MVS version I included.
 

xiao_haozi

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Okay. ...
I actually got mine today just as I was swinging back home on my way out of town.

I didn't put in a BIOS as I didn't have enough time (so I can post back Monday about measurements with BIOS in)... but let me say for any that are skeptical, it fits TIGHT.

On the 1C the board seems like it will have the top of the BIOS about even with the top of the cart slot but, like I said, I will measure it up and post back when I return home Sunday night.

The adapter sits on there super tight and I tried wiggling it a bit to gauge how it will handle bumping around if installing in an enclosure or moving around from cab to cab and it remained firmly in place. I couldn't detect any movement whatsoever. Now, I didn't remove it and re-seat to see if successive installs would loosen the connection, but the initial one should be darn secure.

Summary:
-Will post back some info with BIOS installed (measurements and such)
-The connection with the 1C board is EXTREMELY secure on an initial install (and like NTM said should sit pretty close to flush with board)
-For those skeptical of durability and/or security of the fit, it does not seem like that will be an issue at all
 

smkdan

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Forcing it all the way in made it pretty secure and now it works perfectly well. Just swapped a bunch of chips and they read fine. I'm stuck on something else now, will post later in debug thread if it turns out to be a real issue.
 

NeoTurfMasta

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Forcing it all the way in made it pretty secure and now it works perfectly well. Just swapped a bunch of chips and they read fine. I'm stuck on something else now, will post later in debug thread if it turns out to be a real issue.

awesome-o. Next week I'll get some real install instructions posted. I'll also plan on getting you an extension board to make things easier on swapping the bios. i should be getting the dip-idc adapters in soon.
 

Murray

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Alrighty, the NGCD works perfectly, which is badass.

The 1C is hating life, though.

First, both of the solder points seem to be electrically equal. Is it necessary to actually have both wires connected or could they be shorted and only one soldered? I ask because it's a real bitch to solder to those points and it could make peoples' lives easier.

Second:
ng7rsh.jpg


Unfortunately, I didn't verify the old install still worked before I removed it but it worked two years ago when I stopped working on it and shelved it :(. A Unibios boots up but the character graphics get corrupt over time (i.e., the selected line in the menu looks wrong and moving around makes it worse). The address changes with every boot but it's always 00400XXX. I thought maybe I broke a solder connection on the 68K when I seated the socket but all the pins look fine.

Here's my install, if it makes any difference:
2nbhp1d.jpg

dvsity.jpg


Any ideas? Is this a problem with my install or do I actually have bad color ram?
 

MKL

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CE and OE need to be connected to pin 10 and 12 of the old bios, not to the ground points you soldered them to. NTM used those thru-holes only to route the wires to the other side of the board, he didn't solder to them. In your case the bios isn't there anymore so you can keep the wires on the top side and solder them straight to pads 10 and 12.
 
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NeoTurfMasta

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Yeah, what MKL said. Where the original bios was, solder pin 12 to OE and pin 10 to CE. It should boot up fine then.
 

Murray

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CE and OE need to be connected to pin 10 and 12 of the old bios, not to the ground points you soldered them to. NTM used those thru-holes only to route the wires to the other side of the board, he didn't solder to them. In your case the bios isn't there anymore so you can keep the wires on the top side and solder them straight to pads 10 and 12.
Haha yeah, that makes much more sense. I was wondering why those two would be soldered to ground. :lolz:

Edit: Yep. It's good now. Who would've thought soldering the wires to where they're actually supposed to go would make such a difference?!?
 
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NeoTurfMasta

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http://2dlives.com/nbm/install.pdf

I whipped up a quick install guide. I'll show actual examples on the order page, but I wanted this to be the real how to. People can route the wires however they like, I just dont want to add too much confusion. This details how to disable the existing bios as well. Of course if the bios isnt there, you just solder to the pads.

I didnt include the vias (holes) mainly because I am starting to see some boards with those vias soldered in. So to stop any confusion I'll just show the one install way.

Comments?
 

Xian Xi

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http://2dlives.com/nbm/install.pdf

I whipped up a quick install guide. I'll show actual examples on the order page, but I wanted this to be the real how to. People can route the wires however they like, I just dont want to add too much confusion. This details how to disable the existing bios as well. Of course if the bios isnt there, you just solder to the pads.

I didnt include the vias (holes) mainly because I am starting to see some boards with those vias soldered in. So to stop any confusion I'll just show the one install way.

Comments?

Looks good but needs to be more clear for snapping it on and which direction it needs to face for each application. I understand it perfectly, but there are a lot of noobs that dont have common sense as to reading the direction on the NBM. Other than that it is great.
 

Murray

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Looks good but needs to be more clear for snapping it on and which direction it needs to face for each application. I understand it perfectly, but there are a lot of noobs that dont have common sense as to reading the direction on the NBM. Other than that it is great.
I don't know man. If someone's noob enough not to understand the combination of the printing on th NBM and the install doc, they need to put down their soldering iron and take a step back. It was crystal clear to me.
 

Xian Xi

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You know that's not gonna happen.

I've had to really noobify some tutorials.
 
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