MotW cart I am trying to save.

NexusX

Astra Superstar
Joined
Jul 16, 2017
Posts
665
So a while ago I got ahold of a Mark of the Wolves MVS cart that had some bad C ROM chips in it. C3, C5, and C7 to be specific. The cart boots now but it basically looks like colorful sand is tossed over all the sprite assets.

I got in touch with Fox1 on the forum about burning some new C Roms for it, but according to what Fox1 informed me of is that there is no equivalent 8mb eprom to use directly on the board. It was suggested to maybe burn 8MB SMD chips but what we would need to figure out a DIP adapter board for it.

That is where we are at right now. Any input or thoughts on where to go from here from anyone? ROM burning is honestly new territory for me and any feedback would be appreciated.

EDIT: Added pics of bad Croms
https://imgur.com/a/xVQqxt1

Edit2: added adapter board pics with cart graphics issue
https://imgur.com/a/oHP1J1J
 
Last edited:

Xian Xi

JammaNationX,
15 Year Member
Joined
Dec 1, 2005
Posts
27,748
Sounds like a bad CMC. You sure the Croms are bad?
 

NexusX

Astra Superstar
Joined
Jul 16, 2017
Posts
665
Sounds like a bad CMC. You sure the Croms are bad?

I thought that too so I transplanted all of the Croms (And M1) onto a working KOF99 board with the same CMC (and PCB model). It actually improved the boot quality of the game but still had problems. The ROMs in question have actual damage to the chips themselves. Chunks of the chips are actually missing from them. When I get some time I will open it up and post some pics of the PCB. I tested continuity on all of the traces of the board after they were installed just to check if there were any board problems.
 

bustedstr8

Trollbox Trade Federation,
Joined
Oct 15, 2007
Posts
943
If there is room you could piggyback two 27c322 in each spot and connect the enables to A21 and /A21.
That’s assuming the 64M chip pin outs are similar to 27c322, which I would think they would be.
 

NexusX

Astra Superstar
Joined
Jul 16, 2017
Posts
665
If there is room you could piggyback two 27c322 in each spot and connect the enables to A21 and /A21.
That’s assuming the 64M chip pin outs are similar to 27c322, which I would think they would be.

You are talking about stacking 2 on top of each other in the same solder socket location and running a jumper wire right? I think I have seen a similar technique on some bootleg carts before. I would be open to that idea if it were possible. May need a bit of instruction on the location to wire the jumper wire though.
Thanks for the input.
 

Xian Xi

JammaNationX,
15 Year Member
Joined
Dec 1, 2005
Posts
27,748
You can always use the SMD ones. Buyicnow should have the adapter and they can also program it for you.
 

wyo

King of Spammers
10 Year Member
Joined
May 22, 2013
Posts
10,114
Did you find this cart in the Congo by any chance?
 

NexusX

Astra Superstar
Joined
Jul 16, 2017
Posts
665
Edited OP for pic links


You can always use the SMD ones. Buyicnow should have the adapter and they can also program it for you.

Looking into the site now. Talkin to Fox1 to see exactly what part I need to buy if they have it in stock. Not really familiar with that site but I will see what I can find.

Thanks for pointing me in a direction.

Did you find this cart in the Congo by any chance?

Nope, found it in Mexico.

….. but if there is a story behind a cart out of the Congo I would love to hear it.
 

NexusX

Astra Superstar
Joined
Jul 16, 2017
Posts
665
What are you using here?
BB

SMD chip adapter boards that as I am told were custom made. I have not received them yet from Fox1 for the install. The SMD still needs to be mounted to the bottom of the board. Fox1 could probably tell you more about it the finer details about the construction of the boards.
 
Last edited:

Fox1

Bub & Bob's Bubble Buddy,
20 Year Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2001
Posts
3,169
A friend who is trying to register here made them. He will explain in more detail, but they are basically the proper way to do this with line level translators.
 

BIG BEAR

SHOCKbox Developer,
20 Year Member
Joined
Dec 14, 2001
Posts
8,230
Any updates on how these worked out? I want to get some feedback before I purchase some.
BB
 

Fox1

Bub & Bob's Bubble Buddy,
20 Year Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2001
Posts
3,169
The first ones were sent off today. In a few days you should know how it works out in the cart.
 

NexusX

Astra Superstar
Joined
Jul 16, 2017
Posts
665
Any updates on how these worked out? I want to get some feedback before I purchase some.
BB

I will update on how these work out once I receive and install them. I will probably be able to have everything done this upcoming Wednesday.
 

NexusX

Astra Superstar
Joined
Jul 16, 2017
Posts
665
Well I got around to installing them and it seems to be a no go. I double and triple checked that they were installed in the right place in the right orientation before I soldered them into place. I am at an impass. I am getting the same graphic glitches. At this point I don't know where to go. I used a brand new board off of a working KOF 99 with the same CMC so I know it wasn't the PCB. I have checked continuity as much as I can across the board. All of the pins from the new adapter boards to the CMC seem to have connection. I went over the board checking everything I could.

Any idea where to head from here?
 

BIG BEAR

SHOCKbox Developer,
20 Year Member
Joined
Dec 14, 2001
Posts
8,230
I have a MOTW that I can check against your bad copy. If you want to, you can gather EVERYTHING up including the alleged bad C ROMS and the newly burned SMD's to send to me.
I'll report back here and we can see this through....
Drop me a PM and I'll give you my info.
BB
 
Last edited:

NexusX

Astra Superstar
Joined
Jul 16, 2017
Posts
665
Sent the cart off to Big Bear. We shall see where it goes from here.

Quick overview on the adapter boards for those interested. They are a very solid build and fit in the mount holes just fine and they look very well made. One problem I did run into was that it was a tight fit in the case (but it still fit). I did however have to place an insulating layer over them once installed. If I did not the pins from the Prog board chips would make contact and bridge on the adapter boards when placed in the cart shell. I used some wide shrink tube cut open and laid over them while I tested it. I guess one could also clip off the extra length of pin on the underside of the Prog board to make more space as well. That seems a bit destructive to me though. That's all I have to add for now. I will update the OP with some more pics later.

Edit: uploaded pics of graphics issue, as well as pics of adapter boards before and after install
link in OP as well
https://imgur.com/a/oHP1J1J
 
Last edited:

BIG BEAR

SHOCKbox Developer,
20 Year Member
Joined
Dec 14, 2001
Posts
8,230
WHEN FRUSTRATION TURNS TO RELIEF

I received the parcel Friday and plugged in the game yielding the same game play screen shown in this thread. Opened up the cart to have a look and upon inspection, the adapter boards look GREAT!I look forward to purchasing some in the near future.
OK.I wanted to get to the bottom of this so I started overnight removing the chips from my MOTW CHAFI0 and adding sockets.Now it's time to remove the chips from NexusX's CHAFI0 board and things go a bit sideways.

The chips were a little difficult to remove off of his CHAFI0 and I got them off successfully until I came across the C7 adapter board.This chip seemed like it was cemented in place relative to a GROUND connection and wouldn't budge so after a little while of trying to lift this chip off of the board,I did something I knew better not to do and grabbed a flat head while applying heat...My rational was like,"If I damage the adapter,it can easily be replaced." so I took the gamble and freed the C7 chip leaving three parts of legs behind in the process. Again, I could have used more flux and took a little more time but I'm thinking figure out what's wrong here and clean up the mess afterward.

Alright ,I placed all of NexusX's alleged five good chips on my CHAFI0 along with three of my good C3,C5,C7 chips and yielded the same results I did on initial plug in.One or more of NexusX's chips have to be bad so I go through the process of elimination and lo an behold C1 and C4 turn out to be the party crashers of the group.Now I go and grab the chips NexusX repaired C3,C5 and C7 chips to populate the board one at a time and I was pleasantly surprised to find out that all his repaired chips are all checking to be GOOD which means C1 and C4 are the only bad roms.

What about the SMD's? The SMD's work as well with the exception of C7 because C7 got damaged by me. I replaced the three legs that got broken but it appears the scrapes with the flat head damaged some traces on the adapter board but I'm certain it would have worked as well.
BB
 

Fox1

Bub & Bob's Bubble Buddy,
20 Year Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2001
Posts
3,169
I received the parcel Friday and plugged in the game yielding the same game play screen shown in this thread. Opened up the cart to have a look and upon inspection, the adapter boards look GREAT!I look forward to purchasing some in the near future.
OK.I wanted to get to the bottom of this so I started overnight removing the chips from my MOTW CHAFI0 and adding sockets.Now it's time to remove the chips from NexusX's CHAFI0 board and things go a bit sideways.

The chips were a little difficult to remove off of his CHAFI0 and I got them off successfully until I came across the C7 adapter board.This chip seemed like it was cemented in place relative to a GROUND connection and wouldn't budge so after a little while of trying to lift this chip off of the board,I did something I knew better not to do and grabbed a flat head while applying heat...My rational was like,"If I damage the adapter,it can easily be replaced." so I took the gamble and freed the C7 chip leaving three parts of legs behind in the process. Again, I could have used more flux and took a little more time but I'm thinking figure out what's wrong here and clean up the mess afterward.

Alright ,I placed all of NexusX's alleged five good chips on my CHAFI0 along with three of my good C3,C5,C7 chips and yielded the same results I did on initial plug in.One or more of NexusX's chips have to be bad so I go through the process of elimination and lo an behold C1 and C4 turn out to be the party crashers of the group.Now I go and grab the chips NexusX repaired C3,C5 and C7 chips to populate the board one at a time and I was pleasantly surprised to find out that all his repaired chips are all checking to be GOOD which means C1 and C4 are the only bad roms.

What about the SMD's? The SMD's work as well with the exception of C7 because C7 got damaged by me. I replaced the three legs that got broken but it appears the scrapes with the flat head damaged some traces on the adapter board but I'm certain it would have worked as well.
BB

Glad it worked out (in the end heh). If you need any help give TD-Linux a PM since he's the one who created em.
 

wyo

King of Spammers
10 Year Member
Joined
May 22, 2013
Posts
10,114
Edited OP for pic links




Looking into the site now. Talkin to Fox1 to see exactly what part I need to buy if they have it in stock. Not really familiar with that site but I will see what I can find.

Thanks for pointing me in a direction.



Nope, found it in Mexico.

….. but if there is a story behind a cart out of the Congo I would love to hear it.

The legend starts here: http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showt...s-restricted&p=3916679&viewfull=1#post3916679

Grab some popcorn and a Coke.
 

NexusX

Astra Superstar
Joined
Jul 16, 2017
Posts
665
[Solved]
Short update:
The cart has been fixed. I will be updating this reply and post with a more detailed explanation of everything involved by the end of the day.
Thank you to all who contributed and replied with information, parts, work, and of course time.

See pictures of fixed board here.
https://imgur.com/a/Gkg7wh7
 

Atro

Who?,
20 Year Member
Joined
Jan 30, 2002
Posts
9,209
That was a nice read.

Congrats to all parties involved. Curiosly, this game seems to have a lot of failure. Bad batch maybe?
 

NexusX

Astra Superstar
Joined
Jul 16, 2017
Posts
665
Life got in the way, sorry for the late update:

Ok so the solution to this and overview for the repair of this cart.

Cart: MVS Garou Mark of the Wolves
PCBs: PROGLAB, CHAFIO (With CMC 90G06CF7042)
Symptoms: Colored dots all over screen graphics (see OP pics)
Problem: Dead/ damaged CROMs on CHAFIO board (CROMs C1 & C4). No known eprom equivalent for replacements to be made.
Solution: Fabricated SMD chip adapter board (see OP pictures) to mount the SMD to the CHAFIO board C1 & C4 locations. SMD chips used were SMD chip MX26L6420 SOP.

Chips burned by member Fox1
Adapter board designed by member TD-Linux
Cart damage verified & identified by member Big Bear

Outcome: Game boots and runs fine now that it has replaced CROMs.
See pictures of fixed board here.
https://imgur.com/a/Gkg7wh7

Installation Notes: One problem I did run into was that it was a tight fit in the case (but it still fit). I did however have to place an insulating layer over the adapter boards once installed. If I did not the pins from the Prog board chips would make contact and bridge on the adapter boards when placed in the cart shell. I used some wide shrink tube cut open and laid over them after I installed them (see pics). That simple addition seemed to fix the contact problem with no ill effects.

Thank you everyone who contributed to this solution. Please feel free to post any additional info if I missed anything.
 
Last edited:
Top