Arcade & Retro Repairs & Mods, all new recipe, with no added MSG...

deadl0ck · 30-12-2018 10:16pm

So as some of you may be aware I was restoring my C64 but I'm having a problem with my tape drive and/or CIA chip

In the meantime I had bought a manky dreamcast for 30 pounds on eBay and I've taken it apart, cleaned it and retrobrighted it.

It came up very well by using BBlonde peroxide (you can get it in boots) and a cheap UV light from Amazon (in a cardboard box with tinfoil).

Here's some before and after pics (click pic for full size):

o1s1n · 30-12-2018 11:17pm

edit - feck, wrong thread!

trout · 10-01-2019 12:34pm

Good people of Arcade & Retro forum ... I need your help & wisdom please.

I have a supergun, cabled up for PS/2 controllers, which I use to flute around with some fairly old jamma boards ... Tekken, Soul Edge, Pit Fighter. Old skool.

I'd like to move on and try to get a single joystick & 4 / 6 buttons setup instead; as I have a midi cabinet with cut outs for 1 player.

I see there's a huge variety of joystick & buttons kits, with a huge range of prices ... but I don't have the wisdom or experience to know what to go for.

Like, is a 100 euro kit really that much better than a 40 euro kit?

I'm guessing the kits I see on Amazon and mainstream sites can vary in quality ... I don't want to spend silly money on something spurious.

I'm looking for something responsive, robust and simple to fit.

I *think* I need the following

jamma+ harness / loom to connect the buttons & joystick to the supergun
joystick & fixing plate to fit to the midi cabinet cutout
a set of buttons & fixings, again to fit to the midi cabinet cutout
maybe some cable routing, ties etc.?

I don't want LED buttons or anything garish ... just plain ol' sturdy buttons.

If it helps, the short travel stick & buttons from arcade machines like R Type, UN Squadron are the ones I like. Short travel and a sturdy "feel" to the stick, and buttons you can pound on.

Any recommendations on what to get, where best to buy them?

I'd spend up to 100 euro, and prefer to get something shipped from Europe.

thanks, in advance!

o1s1n · 10-01-2019 1:28pm

What kind of joysticks do you like? A lot of the cheaper kits use generic Chinese sticks. If you're into good arcade sticks these can feel like crap. Tbh it's worth splashing out on your sticks/buttons and getting seimitsu or sanwa parts.

In the grand scheme of things they're not that pricey, last seimitsu stick I bought were about 25 each I think.

CiDeRmAn · 10-01-2019 1:41pm

Seeing as it is already wired for Playstation controllers, why not a pair of the black and yellow Namco PS arcade sticks? They are pretty great tbh.

trout · 10-01-2019 3:24pm

The cabinet already has cutouts, so I was hoping to use a kit, and not an arcade stick, if that makes sense?

I'll take a look at Senwa stuff so ... from reading around, they seem pretty respectable?

Any local / UK suppliers people would recommend?

The Last Bandit · 10-01-2019 3:41pm

I use these guys for spares parts, very good selection of parts available.

https://www.arcadeworlduk.com/

I'm pretty sure you're using one of my superguns, if that's the case then wiring up new controls is fairly handy. The Player DB15 inputs use the 'standard' Neogeo pinout, so you wire up each control to the correct pin and use a common gnd (just make sure not to press any of the controls when you power up the supergun or it might think another type of controller is connected)

trout · 10-01-2019 3:56pm

Yeah ... one of your superguns, from 5 years ago

I don't suppose you still have the manual for that?

I'll take a look at that site ... thanks!

trout · 10-01-2019 3:58pm

Acshully ... looking at that diagram, could I use the +5V for the LED type buttons?

The Last Bandit · 10-01-2019 4:07pm

trout wrote: »

Acshully ... looking at that diagram, could I use the +5V for the LED type buttons?

Yep, the +5V could be used to drive LEDs alright, you can get the manual from here

trout · 10-01-2019 5:02pm

I like the look of these

https://www.arcadeworlduk.com/products/Sanwa-JLF-TP-8S-SK-Ball-Top-Joystick.html

https://www.arcadeworlduk.com/products/sanwa-obsf-30rg-snap-in-arcade-button.html

Or maybe this one as a kit ...

https://www.arcadeworlduk.com/products/il-arcade-joystick-concave-buttons-arcade-controller-kit.html

I'm leaning towards the Sanwa stuff, based on their blurb about durability and "aggressive gameplay" for Street Fighter and the likes

eddhorse · 12-01-2019 9:58pm

trout wrote: »

I like the look of these

https://www.arcadeworlduk.com/products/Sanwa-JLF-TP-8S-SK-Ball-Top-Joystick.html

https://www.arcadeworlduk.com/products/sanwa-obsf-30rg-snap-in-arcade-button.html

Or maybe this one as a kit ...

https://www.arcadeworlduk.com/products/il-arcade-joystick-concave-buttons-arcade-controller-kit.html

I'm leaning towards the Sanwa stuff, based on their blurb about durability and "aggressive gameplay" for Street Fighter and the likes

+1 for arcadeworld.co.uk

DaveyDave · 16-01-2019 12:54am

The old Game Gear was in the living room the other day, must have been packed away somewhere. From what I remember it doesn't turn on.

What could I check to fix it/what parts might it need? Also what mods should be done to it?

Inviere · 16-01-2019 5:42pm

sugarman wrote: »

Full cap kit, little over a fiver on eBay.

Usually easy enough to do. I've done a few though that had lost whole solder pads due to electrolytic fluid damage from bad caps. Then you've to find alternative sold points/run bypass wires etc.

Theres really only 2 mods worth while doing, an LED backlight instead of the lamp.. which imo still looks the same, bit increases battery life considerably OR fit a new McWill LCD which are top notch.. but also around €100 and tricky enough to fit.

Don't bother with the LCD backlight mod, it can be a bit of a headache getting an even lightspread, and you tend to get spotlight effects on the screen. The replacement screen mod is the way to go.

o1s1n · 16-01-2019 6:22pm

Was it my Gamegear where the audio board had completely crumbled due to a leak? I remember there was some mad damage on it anyway. Still works a treat now.

You really were cap man there for a while, wheren't you?

Inviere · 16-01-2019 7:25pm

o1s1n wrote: »

Was it my Gamegear where the audio board had completely crumbled due to a leak? I remember there was some mad damage on it anyway. Still works a treat now.

You really were cap man there for a while, wheren't you?

Coulda' been yours alright, required a trace bypass from memory! Those GameGear caps were bloody awful things.

deadl0ck · 16-01-2019 9:15pm

sugarman wrote: »

That turned out well, what UV light did you use and for how long?

Meant to do mine and few other bits and pieces last summer in the good weather but never got around to it :rolleyes:

Sorry @sugarman - hadn't noticed your question till now !

I used this one from Amazon.
Basically 2 half days (I don't like leaving it on overnight)

trout · 18-01-2019 4:13pm

Every day is a school day

Today I learned that the cutouts on my cabinet are 24mm, and the buttons I ordered from Arcade World are, you guessed it ... 30mm.

So ... anyone need 8 x 30mm buttons? I'd send them back, but it's hardly worth the postage.

:rolleyes:

Doge · 18-01-2019 4:27pm

trout wrote: »

Every day is a school day

Today I learned that the cutouts on my cabinet are 24mm, and the buttons I ordered from Arcade World are, you guessed it ... 30mm.

So ... anyone need 8 x 30mm buttons? I'd send them back, but it's hardly worth the postage.

:rolleyes:

If no one else wants them I'd be happy to take them. I did get some from BGOllie recently though so don't want to be selfish.

It was mostly switches so I could do with some buttons.

trout · 18-01-2019 7:32pm

8 of these bad boys ... I needed 6, and thought 2 spares would be a good idea

https://www.arcadeworlduk.com/products/Sanwa-OBSF-30-Arcade-Button.html

Sanwa_OBSF_30_Red__77937.1437493237.jpg?c=2&imbypass=on

Sanwa_OBSF_30_Red__77937.1437493237.jpg?c=2&imbypass=on

I paid by credit card, as part of a larger order ... and it's my own stupid fault for ordering the wrong size

Doge · 19-01-2019 11:34am

Someone else can have them if they like if you're still offering. I forgot that its strictly concave buttons im after for my cab.

trout · 19-01-2019 7:00pm

I'll stick up a post in the marketplace so ...

Doge · 19-01-2019 9:21pm

trout wrote: »

I'll stick up a post in the marketplace so ...

Sorry for wasting your time. I have similar Sanwas in my icade core and they're very light on the fingers. Someone will be delighted with them.

centa · 20-01-2019 11:36am

I would like them if no one else is inline for them. I am building a new 8 button fightstick.

BGOllie · 02-03-2019 8:12pm

Was recently donated a CPS1 system (A+B boards) A board wasn't booting so it was uncertain that the custom was intact. Managed to get it back running (had a couple of bad sockets and a bad PAL) . Came up with missing red color but no graphic issue. Replace one IC and the board was running perfect after that :

80s Synth Pop · 02-03-2019 8:14pm

Good man, going to watch that one with interest. You are doing Gods work on those boards

BGOllie · 02-03-2019 9:43pm

well it's a lucky strike really. most ICs other than that custom are replaceable and easy to find really

BGOllie · 13-03-2019 10:40am

53806375_10157119337233276_115166425601015808_n.jpg?_nc_cat=101&_nc_ht=scontent-lhr3-1.xx&oh=511c68c14ed0d3cb9b867712abaf1784&oe=5D16F49A

Finished bringing this Kung Fu Master back to life. Had Issues on all 3 boards of the stack.
Bottom board : board stack wasn't booting (fujitsu ls112 in the clock circuit wasn't driving the signal to the board) .
Middle board: Sound issues, one of the ay 3-8910 was having trouble on one output and distorted the sounds. 1 ram was gone
Top board : all 3 eproms were fried. One of the custom ICs on the top board (thanks caius for the custom replacement ) had floating outputs and 5 fujitsu ICs (two ls00, ls04 and two ls32) had failed .

last 3 boards all had fujitsu TTLs that had failed . they're notorious for dying in batches.

Doge · 23-03-2019 1:25am

Nice Save!

https://hackaday.com/2019/03/21/a-steady-hand-makes-this-chip-work-again/

80s Synth Pop · 27-03-2019 1:10pm

Fixed a Naomi 2 board. It was just showing a black screen, no sound but lights were on.

One of the gpu fans was not working/spinning so replaced them both from a German supplier (not cheap) as they are special fans needing a speed pulse signal on a 3rd pin.

Removed supercap (no leaks found)

Installed a new universal bios.

Tweaked the voltages on the sun PSU. 3.3 and 5 were off by a large amount.

It still wasn't working at this point.

The problem turned out to be an issue with the speed/pulse pin for one of the GPU fans. There is a resistor on the back of the board labelled R527S and there was no continuity from this to the speed pulse pin on the small chip at the back of the fan. Once this was fixed up it started working again.

Also replaced the case fan and the sun PSU fan as the originals were loud and filthy.

Ordered a netdimm and baseball control panel to celebrate

Arcade & Retro Repairs & Mods, all new recipe, with no added MSG...

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