PICKnMIX Help & Support thread.

[Neo Alec]

The video doesn't show you ever trying it. The first time you booted it wasn't in Pick'n Mix mode (the 161-in-1) menu shows up.

The second time you started in pick'n mix mode (it boots to a random game). At that point you should hold select. But I didn't see you try it in the video.

 

[Billkwando]

The video doesn't show you ever trying it. The first time you booted it wasn't in Pick'n Mix mode (the 161-in-1) menu shows up.

The second time you started in pick'n mix mode (it boots to a random game). At that point you should hold select. But I didn't see you try it in the video.

Right, like I said, I made the video before I saw your post. I can definitely make a video of me holding the start button and it not doing anything, np.

Also, I don't have a select, but I assume you mean select as in "start".

Edit: Maybe I'm missing a step. Do I need to start MS3 and let it go to Game Over before I try to engage the menu command? I thought I remembered something about letting the game "end" before trying to go to the menu?
Edit 2: Tried that and it didn't work

 

[Neo Alec]

According to the instructions on the Unibios page, if you don't have Select, then you activate Pick'n Mix by powering on with start held. Then holding A or B cycles games.

 

[Razoola]

You have to hold down the start button while powering on the system. Also to get the picknmix menu to select a different game you need to hold the start button down and not simply press it.

 

[Billkwando]

I assume you're supposed to hold the start button for about 7 seconds, like the 161 menu, right?

Yup, I'm clear on that part, for sure. I'm not simply tapping it, but holding it, as if I were trying to access the 161 menu.

I tried it earlier and holding start did do something, but it was an illegal instruction error. I tried it just now, held the start button and counted to 30 and nothing happened (haven't touched or removed the cart). It always starts on Metal Slug 3, it seems.

Busy doing Mother's Day stuff with the wife and madre in law, but will provide a video asap.

 

[Billkwando]

You have to hold down the start button while powering on the system. Also to get the picknmix menu to select a different game you need to hold the start button down and not simply press it.

Okey doke. I'm trying it here, and then I restart the machine and give it another try.

 

[Razoola]

Looks like your doing that correctly in the video. Can I suggest clearing your backupRAM and trying again.

 

[Billkwando]

Looks like your doing that correctly in the video. Can I suggest clearing your backupRAM and trying again.

OK thanks!

 

[Billkwando]

Looks like your doing that correctly in the video. Can I suggest clearing your backupRAM and trying again.

OK looks like we've made a little progress! Reset backup ram. Still can't get the game select menu to come up, but it started on Super Baseball 2020 instead of MS3, and it is cycling between game attract modes the way I believe it's supposed to, so that's something. It wasn't doing that before.

I now know what 3 Count Bout looks like.

 

[Razoola]

Can you try using the select button instead? wire it up if you dont have it.

 

[Billkwando]

Can you try using the select button instead? wire it up if you dont have it.

I mean, not really....how? Not to be testy, but are you saying the instructions are wrong and I'm expected to drill an unnecessary hole in my cabinet if I want it to work "as advertised"? That isn't going to happen.

Can select and start be wired to the same button? I was honestly expecting you to eventually say there was something wrong with the cart or the chip, not that it flat out doesn't work and that I'm apparently the first person with a 1-slot to figure this out.

Do I need to send the chip back to Arcadeworks and get one that isn't defective, or is this a flaw in the programming of the Unibios itself?

 

[Razoola]

I don't know why its not working. The only other thing I can think of if you cant wire a select button is to maybe turn the hardDIPs off and see if that makes a difference. its a long shot but you never know. Don't wire start and select to the same button, I know that will not work. I just suggest a makeshift select button to see if it works that way before doing any permanent changes to your cab.

Your Unibios is not defective I would say. There is a selfcheck and if there was an issue it should show. But to be sure you can highlight the gamecart check option in the unibios menu, hold down start and press button A. It will do a more complete bios selfcheck.

PICKnMix was always an unsupported feature given there is alot that can go wrong with it.

 

[Billkwando]

PICKnMix was always an unsupported feature given there is alot that can go wrong with it.

That's the part I forgot along the way! LOL

I'll post back if I make any progress, but I literally don't know how to add a select button. Like, stick wires in the jamma harness? Oh duh I could hook up a Neo controller right? Plenty of those around here! Can't actually use the machine that way, but at least it's a way to see if the function is functioning with at least partial functionality.

I'm not dumb or anything, I managed to solder the caps and the regulator to the cart (and yes, PnM was broke before I did that haha) but I have nearly zero experience with arcade cabs, despite having owned one for 11 years. It always works, so I've never needed to know much about how the magic happens. I can do CP maint, cart slot cleaning, and that's about it.

I did add Turfmasta's memory card reader, but that was pretty plugnplay, as long as you didn't fuck around and hook it up backwards (plugnpray).

 

[Neo Alec]

Just tested on my cab, and the start button way worked fine. Hold start at power on. Then use A and B to switch games. Hold A or B to bring up the games list.

Bill, you have one of Turfmasta's card readers? Is that the MV-IC substitute board?

 

[Razoola]

That's the part I forgot along the way! LOL

I'll post back if I make any progress, but I literally don't know how to add a select button. Like, stick wires in the jamma harness? Oh duh I could hook up a Neo controller right? Plenty of those around here! Can't actually use the machine that way, but at least it's a way to see if the function is functioning with at least partial functionality.

I'm not dumb or anything, I managed to solder the caps and the regulator to the cart (and yes, PnM was broke before I did that haha) but I have nearly zero experience with arcade cabs, despite having owned one for 11 years. It always works, so I've never needed to know much about how the magic happens. I can do CP maint, cart slot cleaning, and that's about it.

I did add Turfmasta's memory card reader, but that was pretty plugnplay, as long as you didn't fuck around and hook it up backwards (plugnpray).

It shows how much out of the loop I am. I can't even remember how my own program works

Read Neo Alec post above. you use A and B to select through games and bring up the menu and not start. You only use start while powering on.

Sorry for the confusion this has caused.

 

[Billkwando]

Just tested on my cab, and the start button way worked fine. Hold start at power on. Then use A and B to switch games. Hold A or B to bring up the games list.

Bill, you have one of Turfmasta's card readers? Is that the MV-IC substitute board?

You're the fuckin' man Alec. That worked!

I'm not sure about the card reader, did he make more than one? IIRC I was one of the lucky ones who got one. AFAIK some genius fried his board putting the cables in backwards, and that was the end of that...for everyone.

I can take a pic later if you like! Not sure how much of it you can see, since I kinda had to jerry rig it to the Dynamo drawer to make it look legit from the outside, but happy to do it!

For the 161. I did notice if I let the attract mode run long enough, I get an illegal instruction error (I also get one on MSX from the PnM menu). Is that normal or perhaps I did indeed get a janky 161?

Edit: Raz, might be a good idea to update the 1-slot instructions on the unibios site, unless I just read it wrong, and have an illegal instruction error in mah brayne!

I'll take down those two videos, and maybe post one on how to do it right!

What sort of magic did you do that it only brings up the menu when you're not playing the game? I started a game of Fatal Fury and was worried if I lingered on a button, the menu would come up.....but nope! This mode is amazing.

 

[Billkwando]

It's nothing much, but here it is. I tried to make it in the style of those Chinese product tutorial videos on Amazon, where they spell out everything super simple.

 

[Razoola]

What sort of magic did you do that it only brings up the menu when you're not playing the game? I started a game of Fatal Fury and was worried if I lingered on a button, the menu would come up.....but nope! This mode is amazing.

It works in the same way as a real NeoGeo multislot in that you can only swap games when either in attract mode or on the title screen and not while playing a game. In fact it uses the same routines that are in the Bios for multislots but with some changes to accommodate the 161in1.

If you want to change game once playing you need to go into unibios bios menu and choose softreboot. From memory that should restart the system with the game that was playing but in attract mode again (there is no need to hold start again either).

 

[Neo Alec]

That's cool you got one of those. (I got one too -- shh!) It's too bad because it's my favorite aftermarket gadget for the Neo, and one that I had dreamed of for years. The popularity of the NeoSaveMasta is testament to the continuing popularity of real memory cards and not just a VMC.

The instructions on the Unibios site are correct. It's just a case of RTFM.

If (1UP START) is used to enable PICKnMIX, 1UP (A) and (B) buttons are used to cycle up and down through games. If (1UP SELECT) is used, (1UP SELECT) and (2UP SELECT) are used instead and the UNIVERSE BIOS input crossing feature is disabled (to stop SELECT adding credits).

 

[Billkwando]

That's cool you got one of those. (I got one too -- shh!) It's too bad because it's my favorite aftermarket gadget for the Neo, and one that I had dreamed of for years. The popularity of the NeoSaveMasta is testament to the continuing popularity of real memory cards and not just a VMC.

The instructions on the Unibios site are correct. It's just a case of RTFM.

Well, sort of correct. The A and B buttons are not "used to cycle up and down through games", the stick is.

This added to my confusion, as I believed I needed to hold the aforementioned start button, and use A to navigate up and B to navigate down the list. If I'm going to be using A & B to move up and down, what else would there be to hold, to keep the menu up? An easy assumption to make, in the absence of any other logical path forward. Nowhere does it say to hold down A or B. In fact, it would be simpler never to mention B at all, since it's redundant, in the sense that you only need one button.

I have a SaveMasta too! The white one. Here's my CardMasta:







That card slot looks hacky af, but it looks lovely from the outside, haha. Works great.

 

[Neo Alec]

Oh haha, yes that the MV-IC replacement. Nice. There are others making alternatives now. I was talking about something crazier.

The A and B buttons do cycle games if you tap them (don't hold anything) while in attract mode. That's what the instructions are talking about. Alternatively, holding one of the buttons opens the list.

 

[Billkwando]

Speaking of attract mode, any idea what's going on here? I can never seem to leave PnM running, because I always come back to one of these.

https://imgur.com/sbBOdc7

I took the message at the bottom to heart, and in a cloud of Deoxit, I went on a furious flurry of cleaning, both cart & slot (with q-tip and cotton-wrapped credit card, respectively). Alas, neither was the fix. Should I keep trying to insert it different ways or resign myself to my misfortune?

What's weird is if I hit C to reset, the attract mode for Turfmasters continues and then it goes on to the next game. After that, I got a similar error on KOF 99.

...oh wow, just walked over to the MVS while writing this post, because it was suspiciously quiet in there, and found it frozen on the fade in to the title screen for Samurai Shodown 1. Seen a lot of crazy Neo stuff, but rarely, if ever, seen it lock up like Windows. LOL

 

[Razoola]

Well, sort of correct. The A and B buttons are not "used to cycle up and down through games", the stick is.

They can be used to cycle games while the game list is not showing with single presses. It cycles to either next or previous game without bringing up the gamelist at all.

For the error screen try checking your 5v voltage at jamma edge while the system is running. is the error always on turfmasters also?

 

[Billkwando]

For the error screen try checking your 5v voltage at jamma edge while the system is running. is the error always on turfmasters also?

It doesn't appear so. I reset and chose it from the menu and let the attract mode play, and it went through til the end and flipped over to Super Baseball 2020. Also pretty sure I've played NTM on this machine extensively before, on the 161 (could have been on the home cart system tho, with the pranslation converter, but definitely the 161).

The one game that WILL lock it up every time, and that's Samurai Shodown 1. That seems to throw a address error instead of an illegal instruction error:




Something else suspicious about SS1 is it starts up with the Giga Power splash screen, which it shouldn't. The other game that seems to lock up every time is KOF 99 (another address error) every time it gets to the character select screen in attract mode.


Also, how do you check the voltage at the jamma connector? I knew how to do it 10 years ago (since forgotten), and read somewhere on here that I got 4.7v when I tried it then.


If I DO need to adjust it, would be this knob? These pics are my PSU. There's another one hooked up in the drawer (seen above in my reply to Alec), but I believe they just used it as a terminal block and it's not actually powered:






I would have to pull the machine out from the wall to tweak that knob, cos it's all the way in the back of the cab.

Thanks!!!

 

[Razoola]

You'll need a multimetre or something to check the voltage.