System 256 - Soul Calibur 2 won't boot up

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mathewbeall
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System 256 - Soul Calibur 2 won't boot up

Post by mathewbeall »

Hi Folks,

This is a weird one. I have a JAMMA cabinet at work that I put different games in every month or so. It works great - standard SF2 setup... have used it for CPS1/2, NeoGeo, NAMCO games, etc... no issues at all.

I have a workbench at home where I test the boards before taking them into work. I have Soul Calibur 2 on a system256 and it works completely fine on the test bench. After the screen about only being able to play it in Japan, the screen flashes and about 3 seconds later the SC2 loading screen comes up and the game starts shortly thereafter. No problems.

I took it to work today to hook it up - and it wouldn't get past the "don't play outside of Japan" screen. The screen flashed, and then it just froze up - didn't access the drive anymore, didn't make any sound out of the speaker... nothing at all!

I thought maybe the power supply in the work cabinet could be a bit weak, so I went home and grabbed the one at home, and took it into work - and lo and behold, still doesn't work....

Any ideas on what is going on?! This one is baffling me.

Thanks in advance!

Matt
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grantspain
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Re: System 256 - Soul Calibur 2 won't boot up

Post by grantspain »

did you read the +5 with a multimeter, the system 256 really does pull some power compared to other game boards and in particular when the drive kicks in
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Re: System 256 - Soul Calibur 2 won't boot up

Post by mathewbeall »

I did - it stays steady at 5.2volts even after the load screen. I thought that was it as well - which is why I took a known working power supply and installed it at work...

I am going back this morning with my other system256 to see if somehow, that one will work.... I will check the +5v rail again while I am there.

Matt
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nem
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Re: System 256 - Soul Calibur 2 won't boot up

Post by nem »

What IO are you using?
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Re: System 256 - Soul Calibur 2 won't boot up

Post by mathewbeall »

The standard NAMCO IO board.
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Spork
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Re: System 256 - Soul Calibur 2 won't boot up

Post by Spork »

This isn't a good or satisfying answer but I've had to do this with at least 2 different 256 setups: install a different game to see if that will jumpstart it, then reinstall the current game.

My first reaction was power supply not high enough. I'm pretty sure I've have had to go over 5.2 to power that beast before but I'm not recommending cranking up the volts. I'll say this, I've seen a hell of a lot of burn marks on Namco IO Jamma connectors.
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grantspain
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Re: System 256 - Soul Calibur 2 won't boot up

Post by grantspain »

mathewbeall wrote:I did - it stays steady at 5.2volts even after the load screen. I thought that was it as well - which is why I took a known working power supply and installed it at work...

I am going back this morning with my other system256 to see if somehow, that one will work.... I will check the +5v rail again while I am there.

Matt
if you are reading at the power supply then its a pointless exercise, read on the 256 filter board
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Re: System 256 - Soul Calibur 2 won't boot up

Post by mathewbeall »

Thanks for the help!

I tweaked the 5v power supply up just a tad and it's stable. The one difference between work and my test bench is that I have an arcade monitor at work (25") so I am guessing the voltage sag when the system256 kicks in just dipped it a bit below where it needed to be.

All is running well now!

Thanks again,

Matt
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