MV-1C and 161 in 1 Issues

F4M1N3

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Sep 18, 2020
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New to the forums (thanks for the add by the way) and this is my first post. A while back I found a Neo-Geo conversion cab locally on craigslist for $120. The seller could not get it to load either of the carts he had. It only brought up the green jumbled graphics screen as the game loads but it would freeze there. They had no idea on how to fix it so they were selling it cheap. Someone (way back when) had taken an old Williams Defender cabinet and used a Neo-Geo conversion kit. I know this because the cabinet still had the paper work for Defender inside as well as the SNK paperwork. I have spent some time refurbishing various parts of the machine to get it working properly. It came with 2 carts, Windjammers and Aero Fighters 2 and had an MV-1FZ board inside. After cleaning all of the contacts I was able to get both carts working though I still needed to replace the button switches as well as cleaning the buttons themselves. Everything was so filthy the buttons would stick. Soon after installing replacements and getting everything cleaned up I was up and running. I ended up getting an MV-1C because it seemed like some of the sound caps were starting to go out on the MV-1FZ and I don't trust myself when it comes to soldering such things. The MV-1C came from China and works without issue. After that I recently purchased a 161 in 1 multi cart off of ebay from a seller that has stock here in the US. I was super pumped when it arrived but extremely disappointed when I tried to use the cart. It loads into the menu just fine but when I try to load a game 80% of the games load into the system test menu where you have the grid screen and cycle through the various screens with the 1player start button. Of the games that do load every last one of them has graphical issues vertical streaking and of those at least half have extremely bad sound clipping... to the point where you cant here anything over the cracking popping and clipping.

I know it's a long preamble to my question but I want to give as much information as possible.

My questions are... Do I need some version of the unibios to run the 161 in 1 cart?

Did I just get a bad multi cart?

If it is a bad 161 in 1 should I just try to get another?

Is there something I can do to fix the issue so this will work as intended?

I have done some research on which version of the 161 in 1 I have and as it turns out I have the V4 board. I have posted a youtube video showing what is going on. Here below is the link...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRv8grC5d88

Someone please help!
 
Last edited:

Xian Xi

JammaNationX,
15 Year Member
Joined
Dec 1, 2005
Posts
27,748
If the 161 is new, open it up and use a pink eraser on the contacts. If you have Deoxit-D100, apply some on the cart contacts then insert into the MV1C. It's definitely a connection issue it seems.
 

F4M1N3

n00b
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Sep 18, 2020
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I disassembled the cart, cleaned and polished the pins with Noxon7 (a metal polish). In addition I cleaned the pins on the motherboard with a card and some paper. There is no change. The games that did not load before are still doing the same thing. Games that do load have the exact same graphical glitches. The ones with sound issues still have the same sound issues. Unfortunately there was zero improvement.
 

DaisyAge

Galford's Armourer
Joined
Jun 10, 2018
Posts
457
The fact that the 161 menu comes up but that games don't suggests that maybe there is a problem with one of the chips on the 161. I don't know exactly how the data is stored but if 1 chip is bad then there's a chance that's why some games work and some don't. I'd go for a new banana cart
 

F4M1N3

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Sep 18, 2020
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Thanks. I have sent it back to the ebay seller . I guess we will see what gets happens when the replacement arrives.

So I do not need a unibios to run the 161 in 1?
 

Neo Alec

Ned's Ninja Academy Dropout
20 Year Member
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Dec 7, 2000
Posts
11,925
This is unrelated, but the metal polish was a bad idea.
 

F4M1N3

n00b
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Sep 18, 2020
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I've heard of such things before. I have a pretty extensive cartridge collection and have had zero issues with using NOXON7. The stuff isn't like Brasso.
 

F4M1N3

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Sep 18, 2020
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Update...
It was indeed a bad cartridge. I received a replacement that seems to work without issue. Thanks to all that tried to offer a solution. It was greatly appreciated.
 

F4M1N3

n00b
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Sep 18, 2020
Posts
8
Quick question though...

I am debating just leaving the cart in the machine. Is there any valid reason why I should not do that?
I have read a few postings about both leaving and not leaving a 161 in 1 cart in an arcade machine.

Anyone's thought on this?
 

DaisyAge

Galford's Armourer
Joined
Jun 10, 2018
Posts
457
Leaving it in the MVS should be okay but I would not leave it powered on for days at a time because the 161 boards do not have proper voltage dividers. I would also personally unplug the cabinet and cycle the MVS power on and off to discharge any capacitors or fuses, but that's just a habit I picked up after working on SNES consoles.
 

Digmac

Leona's Therapist
Joined
Feb 10, 2016
Posts
1,966
Quick question though...

I am debating just leaving the cart in the machine. Is there any valid reason why I should not do that?
I have read a few postings about both leaving and not leaving a 161 in 1 cart in an arcade machine.

Anyone's thought on this?

Carts were left in the boards for months, maybe years in an arcade environment. I don't see anything wrong with leaving the cart in the slot. If you had a consolized unit or were using it with a supergun, it's easy to get to the cart to remove it. Since it'll be in a cab, I would leave it.
 
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