TECH: Namco System 2

[John Bennett]

[ukvac] TECH: Namco System 2
Does anybody know whether NAMCO System 2 games are interchangeable?
Can you transfer the ROM's and PAL's from one game to another? System 2
games
include Assault, RT2, Final Lap 1,2 & 3, Ordyne, Numan Athletics.
I'm wondering this as my beloved Rolling Thunder 2 has developed purple
sprite
syndrome and I 'm tempted to buy a board from a lesser game (i.e. Numan
Athletics) and do a transplant.
Thanks in advance,

John Bennett

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[robotronuk]

[ukvac] Re: TECH: Namco System 2

> Does anybody know whether NAMCO System 2 games are interchangeable?
> Can you transfer the ROM's and PAL's from one game to another? System 2
> games
> include Assault, RT2, Final Lap 1,2 & 3, Ordyne, Numan Athletics.
> I'm wondering this as my beloved Rolling Thunder 2 has developed purple
> sprite
> syndrome and I 'm tempted to buy a board from a lesser game (i.e. Numan
> Athletics) and do a transplant.

Yes you can!!
The basics of the games are the same. Each game consists of a set
of roms and a lock or "Slapstic" chip which provides the protection for
the specfic game, this is very similar to the way the Namco System 1 games
are protected. You may have to alter some jumpers on the board
as well if the roms size`s are different between the games.

I have a kit that came from japan to play Cosmo Gang The Video game on
this system, just never got round to picking a board set up

Cheers
Lee

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[P-Man]

[ukvac] Re: TECH: Namco System 2
Purple sprite syndrome? not heard of it, but sounds similar to a namco
system 1 problem i once had.

Check the group of transistors on the bottom board... that's about all i can
offer..

Any chance you would know of the location of RAM 9 ?? displays on powerup,
but locks up.. I have an Ordyne board, i'm seeking any tech namco sys 2
stuff you may have..

seeya!

==========================================================
Andy Welburn - A Collector of fine video game antiquities
http://www.willowsp.u-net.com/andy/collected.htm
>> CURRENTLY MOST WANTED <<
ATARI Battlezone AVG and AUX Logic Game Boards
==========================================================

 

[John Bennett]

[ukvac] Re: TECH: Namco System 2
"andy welburn" <andrew.welbur-@cableol.co.uk> wrote:
original article:http://www.egroups.com/group/ukvac/?start=3152
> Purple sprite syndrome? not heard of it, but sounds similar to a namco
> system 1 problem i once had.

The palette order of the main sprites has been messed up, turning the
player
characters purple and yellow and screwing up the colours for most other
sprites. I believe the fault is on the graphics sub-board. I fixed
similar
faults with Gradius 3 and Rolling Thunder 1 by replacing 74lsxx chips
but
I've replaced 10+ of the buggers on RT2 and the fault won't go away.
I'm
beginning to believe it's a custom chip. I think I'll have to do a ROM
transplant with another system 2 game. (Thanks to Lee Taylor for
answering my
original problem!)

> Any chance you would know of the location of RAM 9 ?? displays on
powerup,
> but locks up.. I have an Ordyne board, i'm seeking any tech namco sys
2
> stuff you may have..

I can't generate an error at RAM 9 so I'm not sure where it is. The
board will
still run with most RAM errors (it specifies the location in HEX then
prompts
you to push 1P start to continue). RAM 9 is the last location to be
tested
before the game starts so perhaps the fault lies elsewhere (a bus error
perhaps). If you don't have schematics, get the Assault ones from
Spies.com.

John Bennett

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[mikenemonic]

[ukvac] Re: TECH: Namco System 2
UKVAC,

The most plentiful monitors there days are for PC's. 14" multisync monitors
are considered too small for most people so they are v-cheap. There make
ideal test monitors for arcade boards.
I have one running at the moment connected to an Atari Centipede. The
picture is rock solid but you do get neck ache from looking at it at 90
degrees!
The pinout of the high density 15 way D type plug on the monitor lead is
as follows :-
1 Red
2 Green
3 Blue
5 GND
6 Red return
7 Blue return
8 Green return
10 Sync return
13 Hsync
14 Vsync

Connect pins 5,6,7,8 and 10 together and to ground on the game PCB. The
others should be obvious! A suitable 15 socket can be had from Maplin (part
no. JW78K, about 1.50)

Regards Mike

 

[John Bennett]

[ukvac] Re: TECH: Namco System 2
Mike,

> The most plentiful monitors there days are for PC's. 14" multisync
monitors
> are considered too small for most people so they are v-cheap. There make
> ideal test monitors for arcade boards.

Can you clarify this? I was under the impression that VGA monitors couldn't
sync low enough for arcade boards (15hz rings a bell for some reason). Is
there a specific monitor you're using or would this hack be okay for any
PC monitor?

Cheers
Chris
--
http://www.arcadenirvana.com
Dedicated to the collection, restoration and preservation of classic arcade
games.

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[zepromz]

[ukvac] Re: TECH: Namco System 2
At 20:23 24/11/99 -0000, Chris wrote:
>Mike,
>> The most plentiful monitors there days are for PC's. 14" multisync
>monitors make ideal test monitors for arcade boards.
>
>Can you clarify this? I was under the impression that VGA monitors couldn't
>sync low enough for arcade boards (15hz rings a bell for some reason). Is
>there a specific monitor you're using or would this hack be okay for any
>PC monitor?

I was under the same impression. 15.75 KHz scan rate...

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[John Bennett]

[ukvac] Re: TECH: Namco System 2
"chris ahchay" <chris.ahcha-@virgin.net> wrote:
original article:http://www.egroups.com/group/ukvac/?start=3715
> Mike,
>
> > The most plentiful monitors there days are for PC's. 14" multisync
> monitors
> > are considered too small for most people so they are v-cheap. There
make
> > ideal test monitors for arcade boards.
>
> Can you clarify this? I was under the impression that VGA monitors
couldn't
> sync low enough for arcade boards (15hz rings a bell for some
reason). Is
> there a specific monitor you're using or would this hack be okay for
any
> PC monitor?
>
> Cheers
> Chris
> --
> http://www.arcadenirvana.com
> Dedicated to the collection, restoration and preservation of classic
arcade
> games.
>
>
>

Thats what I heard to, EGA/VGA monitors are supposed to be ok but SVGA
I was told didn't sync low enough.

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[robotronuk]

[ukvac] Re: TECH: Namco System 2
> > Can you clarify this? I was under the impression that VGA monitors
> couldn't
> > sync low enough for arcade boards (15hz rings a bell for some
> reason). Is
> > there a specific monitor you're using or would this hack be okay for
> any

Some of the realy old NEC Multisyncs (Multisync 2???) would sync up that
low.....

Cheers
Lee

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[mikenemonic]

[ukvac] Re: TECH: Namco System 2
MMMMMmmmm.

Maybe I'm just lucky. The monitor I have is a 'NEC Multisync 3D' and the
picture is rock solid. Unfortunately, I have no technical data at all so I
can't comment on the scan frequency issue.

Got to be worth a try though ?

Regards

Mike

 

[mikenemonic]

[ukvac] Re: TECH: Namco System 2
MMMMMmmmm.

Maybe I'm just lucky. The monitor I have is a 'NEC Multisync 3D' and the
picture is rock solid. Unfortunately, I have no technical data at all so I
can't comment on the scan frequency issue.

Got to be worth a try though ?

Regards

Mike

 

[John Bennett]

[ukvac] Re: TECH: Namco System 2
Chris Ahchay wrote:

>Can you clarify this? I was under the impression that VGA monitors couldn't
>sync low enough for arcade boards (15hz rings a bell for some reason). Is
>there a specific monitor you're using or would this hack be okay for any
>PC monitor?

Most modern multisync monitors won't go below about 30kHz horizontal
sync. 15kHz is closer to old CGA/EGA standards which are kind of
obsolete. Some SVGA monitors *will* sync down to 15, though - I have
a Microvitec GPM 1701 (17" multisync SVGA monitor) that goes this
low, although I've not tried using it for arcade games. Presumably
something like that would be usable for a test rig.

__
Richard
<richard.burge@bigfoot.com>

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[John Bennett]

[ukvac] Re: TECH: Namco System 2
Chris Ahchay wrote:

>Can you clarify this? I was under the impression that VGA monitors couldn't
>sync low enough for arcade boards (15hz rings a bell for some reason). Is
>there a specific monitor you're using or would this hack be okay for any
>PC monitor?

Most modern multisync monitors won't go below about 30kHz horizontal
sync. 15kHz is closer to old CGA/EGA standards which are kind of
obsolete. Some SVGA monitors *will* sync down to 15, though - I have
a Microvitec GPM 1701 (17" multisync SVGA monitor) that goes this
low, although I've not tried using it for arcade games. Presumably
something like that would be usable for a test rig.

__
Richard
<richard.burge@bigfoot.com>

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