Darksoft's CPS2 Multikit Tech Support Thread (No Killing B-Boards!)

[Londoncalling]

Awesome! thanks mate.

[lordviper63]

MVS multicart: Confirmed!

Oh man don't play with my emotions like that. If its an MVS multi, I'm dead.

[glossectomy]

I'm pretty sure I know what it says. Except for the purple lettering.

[darksoft]

I can make out the word ARCADE in the picture, but that's it.

You saw good....

[Yodd]

Any progress made on the audio issues?

[MitsurugiW]

Any progress made on the audio issues?

Not yet. I've played with the kit and the only thing I've noticed so far is the crackle is much worse on the older revision pcbs. I haven't had time to mess with it much because of my restaurants and the fact that it's summer time.

But also remember, I'm not a repair tech at all so I can test hypothesis but that's about it. Some other guys with more technical knowledge than me should be able to look at it soon.

I was, however, discussing the design with Darksoft. There are zero physical changes tot he circuitry of the kit between the proto I have and the final version. The only differences are pins and the interconnect. I already tried replacing the interconnect with a cable and it had the same results. I may replace the pins with the thicker pins and see if there is any difference. I don't think there will be because there would be a bunch of GFX issues also. I'll test it out though.

[leonardoliveira]

Graphics and audio are read at a different rate, with different bus arrangement and different timings.

Q-SOUND DSP read the Q-SOUND sample ROM in 8 bits so because of that, audio data has to go through a pair of 74LS257 chips 2:1 multiplexers (they're near the 11-12 sockets on the B board).

You hear "pops" when bits are "lost" because the waveform it reads is incomplete. The sudden change of voltage at the output of the D/A converter cause the "pop".

I'm talking with Darksoft about this privately as my board only reached me a couple days ago I had not much time to fiddle with it yet.

Rest assured we will discover why this is happening.

[HarumaN]

Quick dumb question. I have REV 3 board, with an F-pal.

I should solder to leg 7 of the F-pal, and leave the leg IN the socket, correct?

(This is for the wire that goes to the pin on the large board)

[jassin000]

I should solder to leg 7 of the F-pal, and leave the leg IN the socket, correct?

(This is for the wire that goes to the pin on the large board)

I have a G-pal, but I believe it's the same method... LIFT pin (pal) and solder directly to J17 (large board).

[leonardoliveira]

Quick dumb question. I have REV 3 board, with an F-pal.

I should solder to leg 7 of the F-pal, and leave the leg IN the socket, correct?

(This is for the wire that goes to the pin on the large board)

You lift the pin. If you solder without lifting, you will be shorting two lines of the address bus for the sound roms. That will make the sound processor read wrong areas and will cause it to produce random sounds instead of the correct music/sound effects for the game.

For any doubts on how the B3 PALs work:
http://wiki.pcbotaku.com/wiki/CPS2_PAL3

[leonardoliveira]

I should solder to leg 7 of the F-pal, and leave the leg IN the socket, correct?

(This is for the wire that goes to the pin on the large board)

I have a G-pal, but I believe it's the same method... LIFT pin (pal) and solder directly to J17 (large board).

You only need to do that if your board has no CN9 connector. (93646B-3/93646B-4)

[RoberMC]

Board v3 + Pal-f: lift pin 7 on the pal chip and join to j17 (in those photos he has a Pal-g so he lift pin 9 instead)

[leonardoliveira]

Board v3 + Pal-f: lift pin 7 on the pal chip and join to j17 (in those photos he has a Pal-g so he lift pin 9 instead)

Actually that instruction should apply to PAL F on any board. Lift pin 7 and join to J17 or find a PAL G and fit it straight to the socket without lifting any pins.

If your board is 93646B-3 or 93646B-4 (no CN9) you have to lift the PAL pin (7 for F and 9 for G) to connect to J17 regardless of which PAL you have (but you have to obey which pin to lift, based on PAL type).

[HarumaN]

So I lifted pin 7 on my f-pal and joined to J17, and I'm getting crazy sound.

There was an extra chip included in my kit, it it a g-pal? Should I use that one instead?

Everything else is working great. Just wonky sound.

[leonardoliveira]

So I lifted pin 7 on my f-pal and joined to J17, and I'm getting crazy sound.

There was an extra chip included in my kit, it it a g-pal? Should I use that one instead?

Everything else is working great. Just wonky sound.

What is the ID code of your B board?

[MitsurugiW]

So I lifted pin 7 on my f-pal and joined to J17, and I'm getting crazy sound.

There was an extra chip included in my kit, it it a g-pal? Should I use that one instead?

Everything else is working great. Just wonky sound.

If your PAL is set up correctly then you have a incorrectly set jumper.

[funkycochise]

Due to some request, here is SSF2X training version (by Jed Possum) converted to MultiCPS2 format :
https://mega.co.nz/#!WRBRUKJI!zoKnM2oXp ... M5DXttEZkY

[RoberMC]

Guys, sometimes, reading all the documents given in the first post (specially about jumpers and pal chips), might be useful

[HarumaN]

Got it, works great now. Didn't realize that some of the jumpers, while de-soldered, had a super thin trace connecting the two semicircles. Cut those with an Xacto knife and everything is perfect!

[MitsurugiW]

Anyone lucky enough to have a CN9 connector on their B-board can do a cleaner auto-reset installation similar to what I did here: