CPS3 suicides no more?

[yukbeezy]

Hi,

I was talking on Darksoft blog regarding my interest in getting a Standard SH2 cartridge from my dead CPS3 game + the CD with the 6 games.
As i am just new on this forum, i cannot contact Darksoft.

I have got a couple of questions:
Can you select the region you want (japan)?
If i am correct i only use your CD + the CPS3 cartridge with the superbios and that's it?
You always keep the same cartridge plugged into the motherboard?
And it is better to take Standard SH2 if i am right.

I do not really understand the problem with SFIII 2nd Impact.
Could you please help me understand this?

How do you proceed with the dead the cartridge?
Shall i send my dead CPS3 cartridge to you in the US or do you supply one directly?
How much is your service + shipping back to France?

So I would be interested getting a CPS3 cartridge with standard SH2 with superbios + CD with 6 games + sticker for CPS3 cartridge.

Thanks in advance for the help!
Congratulations for the great work.

[yukbeezy]

One more thing.
I have got the following CPS3 dead cartridges.
-SFIII 2nd Impact
-Jojo's venture
-Warzard

Is there any cartridge that is better to modify?
thanks in advance.

[MitsurugiW]

I have got a couple of questions:
Can you select the region you want (japan)?
If i am correct i only use your CD + the CPS3 cartridge with the superbios and that's it?
You always keep the same cartridge plugged into the motherboard?
And it is better to take Standard SH2 if i am right.

Yes. You select the region every time you boot the cart.
Yes. One CD and one cartridge.
Yes. One cart always plugged in.
Yes. Standard SH-2 is the prefered cart. Especially if you are a hardcore gamer.

I do not really understand the problem with SFIII 2nd Impact.
Could you please help me understand this?

Ok. In a nutshell: 2I used a different encryption system than all of the other games. So when Darksoft re-wrote the code to use a Standard SH-2 chip, he could have all of the other games run the same way. 2I was different so it runs using encyption table. The game runs good. But as with any man-made thing, errors could be in the tables which could cause certain crashes of freezes somewhere. With the non-Standard SH-2 version, the only game that does NOT use tables is 2I. So you can see where it would be better to be guaranteed that 5 of the 6 games will never crash rather than 1 of the 6. That is very basic. Maybe Darksoft will come in and tell more.

How do you proceed with the dead the cartridge?
Shall i send my dead CPS3 cartridge to you in the US or do you supply one directly?
How much is your service + shipping back to France?

It is cheaper if you convert your dead cartridge. I can also give you credit if you want to trade in some dead cartridges. PM me for more details on that. I'll post a link to my sales thread here. I work with Darksoft directly. So when you use my service you are supporting Darksoft's projects. pornhub.com/gayporn is not affiliated with Darksoft in any way now. So if you want service after the sale it is best to use me.

Here is my sales thread:

http://forum.arcadeotaku.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=25075

So I would be interested getting a CPS3 cartridge with standard SH2 with superbios + CD with 6 games + sticker for CPS3 cartridge.

Thanks in advance for the help!
Congratulations for the great work.

Look forward to hearing from you!

BTW--for everyone else. The CD ISOS are now FINAL. We thought they were final a month or so ago but we found a few major errors. (I can only provide the BETA version with the conversion service) If you donated, the link will have been emailed to you. If you have not donated to Darksoft but you want the final version of the CD, you will need to donate. For everyone else, download the ISO and burn it. The CD sets will be sent out as soon as they are printed!!

[MitsurugiW]

One more thing.
I have got the following CPS3 dead cartridges.
-SFIII 2nd Impact
-Jojo's venture
-Warzard

Is there any cartridge that is better to modify?
thanks in advance.

Every cartridge functions the same. So you can convert any of them. The A and B carts have an area that you can solder a larger chip to instead of the TSOP48 chips but I really hate using the larger chips now. So to me, any cart is exactly the same.

[yukbeezy]

Hi,

Thanks for all these information. Much appreciated.
I sent email to Darksoft with all details and pictures of my dead cartridges!

So if i am correct the CD with all 6 games is now final? Is that correct?

[darksoft]

Yes that's correct. CD is final now.

[kazuo]

Are the "printed" CD versions CDRs or pressed discs? I'd actually be willing to pay a little more for a pressed disc.

[MitsurugiW]

Are the "printed" CD versions CDRs or pressed discs? I'd actually be willing to pay a little more for a pressed disc.

They will be CDRs. Pressed CDs would have probably required more than 100 donations. At last count I think it was something like 12.....

[SFJunkie]

This is good news reading all the threads, i am now no so scared for my SFIII dieing on me

[MitsurugiW]

This is good news reading all the threads, i am now no so scared for my SFIII dieing on me

No worries. If it ever dies just let me know and I can help you out. Also, if you are afraid to change the battery in your cart I do that for $40 as well. I'd rather keep the carts alive if possible. But I love reviving them if they have already met their fate. Just remember that if it dies and you need the SuperBIOS that you need enough SIMMs to play Third Strike. So if you only had a SF3:NG setup you would need to find one more 64mb SIMM and two more 128mb SIMMs. So it is cheaper to keep the battery fresh for sure.

[idc]

I do not really understand the problem with SFIII 2nd Impact.
Could you please help me understand this?

2I is different because it encrypts only the executable code, leaving the data unencrypted (similar to CPS2). The other CPS3 games have everything encrypted, both code and data. With those games, it's "simpler" -- in relative terms -- as it's just a full decryption of everything. With 2I, we had to figure out what was code and what was data and decrypt only the code. Decrypting everything with 2I, in the manner of the other games, would decrypt the code but would then effectively encrypt the data at the same time. Therefore, Darksoft created a table which acts like a "mask" in order to decrypt the correct code areas, leaving the data untouched.

Cart converted with standard Hitachi SH-2 CPU and custom BIOS: This will run fully decrypted games, so five are perfect, but 2I had to be decrypted with the "mask" table as described above.

Cart with Capcom SH-2 (runs only encrypted code) and custom BIOS: This will run games which are re-encrypted with the 2I key. 2I is fine, as nothing needs to be changed, but the other five games have to be decrypted with their original keys and then re-encrypted with the 2I key (all zeroes) using the "mask" table.

One more thing.
I have got the following CPS3 dead cartridges.
-SFIII 2nd Impact
-Jojo's venture
-Warzard

Is there any cartridge that is better to modify?
thanks in advance.

In short, I think you should keep your 2I cart. If you remove the battery from it entirely and it will play 2I "forever", flawlessly. 2I carts are suicide-proof, since it would appear that Capcom made a mistake when encrypting it. If the battery dies and the cart suicides, simply removing the battery will cause it to start working again.

One of your other dead carts could then be converted to a standard SH-2, and this can run all games. As you know, five of the games are known to be perfectly decrypted, but 2I might have small bugs since it uses the decryption table. In this case, you still have the 2I cart with the battery removed which will run 2I perfectly too, so best of both worlds.

[MitsurugiW]

2I is different because it encrypts only the executable code, leaving the data unencrypted (similar to CPS2). The other CPS3 games have everything encrypted, both code and data. With those games, it's "simpler" -- in relative terms -- as it's just a full decryption of everything. With 2I, we had to figure out what was code and what was data and decrypt only the code. Decrypting everything with 2I, in the manner of the other games, would decrypt the code but would then effectively encrypt the data at the same time. Therefore, Darksoft created a table which acts like a "mask" in order to decrypt the correct code areas, leaving the data untouched.

Cart converted with standard Hitachi SH-2 CPU and custom BIOS: This will run fully decrypted games, so five are perfect, but 2I had to be decrypted with the "mask" table as described above.

Cart with Capcom SH-2 (runs only encrypted code) and custom BIOS: This will run games which are re-encrypted with the 2I key. 2I is fine, as nothing needs to be changed, but the other five games have to be decrypted with their original keys and then re-encrypted with the 2I key (all zeroes) using the "mask" table.

Perfect. I can't explain it in the detail that you just did. I'm really not that technical of a person.

[VectorGlow]

Just resurrecting this thread and showing my CPS3 ignorance here, but how is the BIOS reprogrammed? Does the chip need to be removed from the cart and programmed separately or can it be left in the CPS3 cart where it is then flashed from a suitable CD?

Or are there detailed instructions online giving the exact procedure?

[MitsurugiW]

You need to remove the TSOP 29F400 and reprogram it with a compatible programmer and then resolder it to the cart. If you aren't good at soldering fine points then you can easily destroy the cart. I've seen it happen too many times unfortunately. Sometimes I can fix it for them, sometimes I can't.

[VectorGlow]

Thanks. I have an SMT rework station and have successfully replaced many SMT parts with finer pins and pin spacing than the ones in CPS3 carts, so no worries there.

[bricoleur]

Hey Mitsurugi-

Are you still fixing CPS3s? I have a USA 3S which just went black screen on me. Very sad.

[MitsurugiW]

Hey Mitsurugi-

Are you still fixing CPS3s? I have a USA 3S which just went black screen on me. Very sad.

Yes, sir. I still do ALL CPS3 services. Battery swaps or SuperBIOS conversions. Send me a PM!

[darksoft]

Have you seen this one?
http://page11.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/a ... n144958442"

I heard they'll be available soon in walmart

[skykappah]

Hey guys sorry I'm late for the party. I have an ancient SF3 3S that will have suicide'd.. Been years since I've plugged it in. May be it hasn't I dunno..

But say it has.. What do I do next? Are there people I send it to? And how much is the service? Pm me if preferred.

[MitsurugiW]

Hey guys sorry I'm late for the party. I have an ancient SF3 3S that will have suicide'd.. Been years since I've plugged it in. May be it hasn't I dunno..

But say it has.. What do I do next? Are there people I send it to? And how much is the service? Pm me if preferred.

If you want it done from the official source I can do the conversion for you. Your cart may not be suicided though. First thing to do is check that.