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Looks like someone is going to be a busy boy!! 
My Neo Geo AES
- Thread starter Phipscube
- Start date
- Replies 44
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I've done a few little bits and pieces to this lovely machine since I last posted 
I have since found out my unit is a USA model! Not Jap as I originally thought. It seems the only thing that separates them though is the BIOS. And that some of the USA units, like this one of mine, has the Daughter board attached to attempt to make AV output a little cleaner with less bleed and dot crawl.
I bought a "broken" Jap Rev 1 Machine on evil Bay mainly to get a nice clean and unscratched underside. But I have now ended up keeping the JAP board! There was nothing wrong with it really! Well, some audio issues and the odd bit of screen mess but I changed all the Caps on it and all the problems went away! I like the Jap board because its not got the daughter board attached and it seems a little better quality. The AV output without the daughter board really is ASS though! Dot crawl bleedy mess! But I won't be using the AV output anyway so not fussed. This unit still has awesome RGB output and as you will find out here, a secret S Video output!!
I socketed the Jap BIOS, notice how its an EPROM and not a PROM like the USA model? Another sign of its very early model state.
And a few days after socketing the BIOS, the Universe BIOS 3.0 came! In it goes.....
And this is the BIOS menu that appears when you hold down A B C at power on. You can adjust various things including region, and console or Arcade mode as well as cheat and debug things in games for fits and giggles. One REALLY nice feature is the Gamecart CRC check, this checks the game thats inserted to make sure its working ok, and check the CRC matches a known CRC. If not, its most likely fake! And there are alot of fakes out there so this is a nice util. Jukebox allows you to play all the music on the inserted cart, also quite nice and I must admit i've had some tunes from Samurai shodown playing in the background whilst I do things. You can do hardware tests and memory card management as well!
There is a slight mistake on the REV 1 Neo boards. The output lines for RGB and AV are tied to 68 Ohm resistors and 100uF caps, this is wrong and leads to some bad flickering and flashing when fast movement and bright white appears on screen, its especially evident on LCD TV's.
So when I changed all the caps, I put in the correct values according to Sony's spec sheets on the CXA1145. 75 Ohm resistors and 470uF caps
I also got my fave Neo Geo Game! Alpha Mission II, its BRAND NEW!!
Peeling that official seal off was very satisfying....
And inside you get a nice whiff of new pvc. Neo Geo game cases have a certain smell about them. You either like it or hate it.... I like it
Look at that beaut! spanky and new!
I plugged in Alpha Mission II and first did a CRC check... all is good!
So, setting the machine as Japan and Arcade (MVS)....
We see this screen, it shows the Japanese name ASO II and has the words "insert Coin" this is achieved with the select button. You can control the amount of allowed credits in this mode too
Now switched to USA and console mode....
It now displays Alpha Mission II and "Push Start Button"
why use this? you may ask, well certain games work in different ways in different regions, Samurai Shodown has blood in Jap mode for example.
Pressing Start and Select brings up this menu in game to make various tweaks and cheat if one wants to.
The only slight problem is that you need a memory card to save your region settings on power off, it defaults to Euro Console otherwise. So I got a memory card! And its good for saving game positions too!
Sony first with memory cards? nope!
Oh if only to have one of those 20 years ago. It was to coolest thing ever to walk into an arcade and slot one of them little gems into a Neo Geo cab. I only ever saw 1 person do this, a Japanese guy in our local "sunspot" arcade in Hull. We all just stopped and starred at the poor guy with mouths wide open, hahaha! he must have thought we were a bit tapped!
I've added a quick and dirty S Video mod! The Neo actually has Svideo capability, but SNK never plummed an output from the output chip! you only need a couple of components and you can get S video! I actually got a kit from Jamma Nation X: -
http://www.jamma-nation-x.com/jammax/neogeosvideo.html
It works for Megadrive Rev 1 output too as it has the same chip.
Here's a close up of my wiring, it taps Chroma and Luma from the CXA and power from the LS chip. So whats the difference between AV and SVideo? ....
AV.....
S-Video!
Unfortunately, RGB wont work on my LCD TV, its a mess of sync problems. Basically most modern LCD TV's cant handle the Neo Geo's awesome 240p output, they are only designed to take 480p and up. CRT's never had this problem
I also tapped Stereo Audio from the headphone jack. The bonus of this is I can control the volume with the slider along the front!
Temporary solution for now.
Here's a PSU I adapted to work with the Neo Geo, I put a nice sticker on it too
It can handle up to 5A, so this will be good if I ever want to use an MVS adapter in the future.
I also bought a Neobitz board.... for Component output. I wanted to try and get past the RGB problem and at least get component out to my LCD, but it proved to be not what I expected and not worth the money I laid out for it
I think something like this is good for guys n gals in USA that don't have RGB SCART availability.
Here's some pics anyway: -
Wiring up
Temporary test setup, but messy, but best to check these things before mounting! As I found out.
All set up for testing. Alas the AV output was no better (maybe worse) S Video seemed over saturated for my liking compared to the native output, and Component was a mess, maybe due to my crappy LCD TV I dunno, but just not what I expected. So will look for another solution. I may have to buy a cheap REAL CRT TV! I also have my eye on this: -
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120660289356&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT
Its a board specially designed for Arcades to convert to VGA screens. And along with one of these scanline emulators for VGA: -
http://www.arcadeforge.de/?page_id=745
It will be pure WIN!
I'm leaning away from an internal mod in the Neo as well because I can put those two parts in a box and use it for other old consoles.
Internally i'm only going to mount the Native S Video and Stereo Audio mod. Then try the Arcade converter box externally from RGB to VGA. I could actually have this box hidden behind the TV and have it as a "third" SCART connector dedicated to retro consoles Lets see, i'd rather not have to buy a real CRT tv, but if it comes to it I will and try to somehow convince the wife that we NEED one! 
Well that's it for now folks!
Thanks for reading!
I have since found out my unit is a USA model! Not Jap as I originally thought. It seems the only thing that separates them though is the BIOS. And that some of the USA units, like this one of mine, has the Daughter board attached to attempt to make AV output a little cleaner with less bleed and dot crawl.
I bought a "broken" Jap Rev 1 Machine on evil Bay mainly to get a nice clean and unscratched underside. But I have now ended up keeping the JAP board! There was nothing wrong with it really! Well, some audio issues and the odd bit of screen mess but I changed all the Caps on it and all the problems went away! I like the Jap board because its not got the daughter board attached and it seems a little better quality. The AV output without the daughter board really is ASS though! Dot crawl bleedy mess! But I won't be using the AV output anyway so not fussed. This unit still has awesome RGB output and as you will find out here, a secret S Video output!!
I socketed the Jap BIOS, notice how its an EPROM and not a PROM like the USA model? Another sign of its very early model state.
And a few days after socketing the BIOS, the Universe BIOS 3.0 came! In it goes.....
And this is the BIOS menu that appears when you hold down A B C at power on. You can adjust various things including region, and console or Arcade mode as well as cheat and debug things in games for fits and giggles. One REALLY nice feature is the Gamecart CRC check, this checks the game thats inserted to make sure its working ok, and check the CRC matches a known CRC. If not, its most likely fake! And there are alot of fakes out there so this is a nice util. Jukebox allows you to play all the music on the inserted cart, also quite nice and I must admit i've had some tunes from Samurai shodown playing in the background whilst I do things. You can do hardware tests and memory card management as well!
There is a slight mistake on the REV 1 Neo boards. The output lines for RGB and AV are tied to 68 Ohm resistors and 100uF caps, this is wrong and leads to some bad flickering and flashing when fast movement and bright white appears on screen, its especially evident on LCD TV's.
So when I changed all the caps, I put in the correct values according to Sony's spec sheets on the CXA1145. 75 Ohm resistors and 470uF caps
I also got my fave Neo Geo Game! Alpha Mission II, its BRAND NEW!!
Peeling that official seal off was very satisfying....
And inside you get a nice whiff of new pvc. Neo Geo game cases have a certain smell about them. You either like it or hate it.... I like it
Look at that beaut! spanky and new!
I plugged in Alpha Mission II and first did a CRC check... all is good!
So, setting the machine as Japan and Arcade (MVS)....
We see this screen, it shows the Japanese name ASO II and has the words "insert Coin" this is achieved with the select button. You can control the amount of allowed credits in this mode too
Now switched to USA and console mode....
It now displays Alpha Mission II and "Push Start Button"
why use this? you may ask, well certain games work in different ways in different regions, Samurai Shodown has blood in Jap mode for example.
Pressing Start and Select brings up this menu in game to make various tweaks and cheat if one wants to.
The only slight problem is that you need a memory card to save your region settings on power off, it defaults to Euro Console otherwise. So I got a memory card! And its good for saving game positions too!
Sony first with memory cards? nope! Oh if only to have one of those 20 years ago. It was to coolest thing ever to walk into an arcade and slot one of them little gems into a Neo Geo cab. I only ever saw 1 person do this, a Japanese guy in our local "sunspot" arcade in Hull. We all just stopped and starred at the poor guy with mouths wide open, hahaha! he must have thought we were a bit tapped!
I've added a quick and dirty S Video mod! The Neo actually has Svideo capability, but SNK never plummed an output from the output chip! you only need a couple of components and you can get S video! I actually got a kit from Jamma Nation X: -
http://www.jamma-nation-x.com/jammax/neogeosvideo.html
It works for Megadrive Rev 1 output too as it has the same chip.
Here's a close up of my wiring, it taps Chroma and Luma from the CXA and power from the LS chip. So whats the difference between AV and SVideo? ....
AV.....
S-Video!
Unfortunately, RGB wont work on my LCD TV, its a mess of sync problems. Basically most modern LCD TV's cant handle the Neo Geo's awesome 240p output, they are only designed to take 480p and up. CRT's never had this problem
I also tapped Stereo Audio from the headphone jack. The bonus of this is I can control the volume with the slider along the front!
Temporary solution for now.
Here's a PSU I adapted to work with the Neo Geo, I put a nice sticker on it too
It can handle up to 5A, so this will be good if I ever want to use an MVS adapter in the future.
I also bought a Neobitz board.... for Component output. I wanted to try and get past the RGB problem and at least get component out to my LCD, but it proved to be not what I expected and not worth the money I laid out for it
I think something like this is good for guys n gals in USA that don't have RGB SCART availability.Here's some pics anyway: -
Wiring up
Temporary test setup, but messy, but best to check these things before mounting! As I found out.
All set up for testing. Alas the AV output was no better (maybe worse) S Video seemed over saturated for my liking compared to the native output, and Component was a mess, maybe due to my crappy LCD TV I dunno, but just not what I expected. So will look for another solution. I may have to buy a cheap REAL CRT TV! I also have my eye on this: -
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120660289356&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT
Its a board specially designed for Arcades to convert to VGA screens. And along with one of these scanline emulators for VGA: -
http://www.arcadeforge.de/?page_id=745
It will be pure WIN!
I'm leaning away from an internal mod in the Neo as well because I can put those two parts in a box and use it for other old consoles.
Internally i'm only going to mount the Native S Video and Stereo Audio mod. Then try the Arcade converter box externally from RGB to VGA. I could actually have this box hidden behind the TV and have it as a "third" SCART connector dedicated to retro consoles
Lets see, i'd rather not have to buy a real CRT tv, but if it comes to it I will and try to somehow convince the wife that we NEED one! Well that's it for now folks!
Thanks for reading!
Purely Delicious!
when Brookster Max brought his NeoGeo AVS with Supergun over I have been VERY interested in getting one...
its the cost of the carts that scair the crap out of me..
Oh BTW, did you know that SVideo kit you got, would work on an A600 and A1200 as again they have the same CXA1145 RGB encoder =)
when Brookster Max brought his NeoGeo AVS with Supergun over I have been VERY interested in getting one...
its the cost of the carts that scair the crap out of me..
Oh BTW, did you know that SVideo kit you got, would work on an A600 and A1200 as again they have the same CXA1145 RGB encoder =)
I ended up going the much cheaper MVS route and making a simple supergun.
That was the theory anyway because I then ended up buying approx 30 JAMMA boards to go with it. :roll:
That was the theory anyway because I then ended up buying approx 30 JAMMA boards to go with it. :roll:
They really are Delish! You can get alot of carts fairly cheap though you know Z? Alpha Mission II was surprisingly cheap considering its new!! I bought it from this place: -
http://myworld.ebay.com/videogamessource/
Do a search for Neo Geo stuff and you'll find 8 Brand New sealed games for sale and they have alot of each!! All for $not so much! Granted, some are poo, and they are all early, but still very nice to get started
HA! I never even noticed the CXA is used in the A6 and 12!! So there you go folks! simple S Video out for your Amiga too!
Edit -
@fatbob, i'm a sucker for the way the AES console looks. I'm so shallow! I've got ideas on a consolized MVS though. Its probably cheaper than buying an MVS adapter for AES, and looks way cooler.
Now my ULTIMATE dream is to have a basement full of real arcade machines..... oh, maybe one day!
http://myworld.ebay.com/videogamessource/
Do a search for Neo Geo stuff and you'll find 8 Brand New sealed games for sale and they have alot of each!! All for $not so much! Granted, some are poo, and they are all early, but still very nice to get started
HA! I never even noticed the CXA is used in the A6 and 12!!
So there you go folks! simple S Video out for your Amiga too!Edit -
@fatbob, i'm a sucker for the way the AES console looks. I'm so shallow!
I've got ideas on a consolized MVS though. Its probably cheaper than buying an MVS adapter for AES, and looks way cooler.Now my ULTIMATE dream is to have a basement full of real arcade machines..... oh, maybe one day!
OMG Phipsy 
You are 1000 Elephants of Awesome
I love the work you have done on this, its truely inspiring mate, congrats and I hope there is enough space in your bag to bring this when you come over to UK
Steve.
You are 1000 Elephants of Awesome
I love the work you have done on this, its truely inspiring mate, congrats and I hope there is enough space in your bag to bring this when you come over to UK
Steve.
HAHA! Cheers Steve I would really like to bring this lovely beast over, it probably wont fit, but lets see...
An update from The guy I bought the NeoBitz from, He said I may need an LM1881 and one or two other components to clean the sync input. Apparently this could be a problem on very early models like the ones I have. I'll see if I can find one at work and give it one more try.
And incase anyone here is thinking of getting a Neo Geo, apparently the best one to get for good AV and Good RGB without any modding is the Rev 3-5. You can see the Revision inside the cart slot if you shine a light down the right side like here: -
If there are no markings or it just says "Neo Geo" its a Rev 1. There was no "Rev 2".
I would really like to bring this lovely beast over, it probably wont fit, but lets see... An update from The guy I bought the NeoBitz from, He said I may need an LM1881 and one or two other components to clean the sync input. Apparently this could be a problem on very early models like the ones I have. I'll see if I can find one at work and give it one more try.
And incase anyone here is thinking of getting a Neo Geo, apparently the best one to get for good AV and Good RGB without any modding is the Rev 3-5. You can see the Revision inside the cart slot if you shine a light down the right side like here: -
If there are no markings or it just says "Neo Geo" its a Rev 1. There was no "Rev 2".
Here's an update on my Neo Geo AES. I've actually decided to scale down my initial lofty ambitions, basically because I like the Neo as it is really. No LED's No fancy switching for BIOS. The UNIBIOS is just awesome as it is, and I don't plan to use the cheapo Chinese 50 billion in 1 MVS carts that have sound issues with UNI so I'm leaving it as it is and just adding S Video, stereo out extension and an overclock toggle.
Here's my earlier made SVideo board, I've added the 16MHz crystal to the board: -
I've routed one of the wires to the Osc under the board as it was causing booting issues sometimes when the two wires ran together close to each other (signals cross talk): -
The clock input is still running along the top though: -
Top view of it all in. Quite a simple affair really, but works great! Now I have the benefit of pure RGB (for CRT TV's) or S Video (for LCD TV's that don't work well with 240P RGB). The S Video signal is pure awesome, I really don't understand why SNK omitted this from the original Design, there is even space to fit the S Video port in. I guess in 1990 S Video wasn't common enough to warrant the extra cost.
Here's the back, I drilled some holes to mount the S Video port, toggle switch and 3.5 mm jack.
I decided to try the RGB to LCD thing again. And this little unit is AWESOME! Very cheap on ebay, it converts the RGBS signal of the Neo Geo to Standard VGA. Its only taking 1 frame to convert the signal which isn''t even noticeable. It takes a 5V DC input (2A) and the RGB header just takes R G B Sync and Ground, this then outputs in standard 31KHz VGA (scales resolutions all the way up to 720p if necessary). It can later be combined with a Sync splitter (for consoles that only have Composite Video out and no true Sync signal) And a small module called SLG3000 that adds scanlines to the output! My plan with this little board is to combine the three in a project box and have it as a universal "Retro Games" converter for my LCD screens.
Here it is next to my Finished Neo (I recently got Blues Journey, My Daughter loves this game!): -
This is the image on my SVGA Monitor (this is running upscaled at 1024 x 768 ): -
And here's a wide shot of my little "Retro Corner" there is a familiar friend there.... but what is that little Black box of joy sat between the old girl and the Neo?
Cheers!
Here's my earlier made SVideo board, I've added the 16MHz crystal to the board: -
I've routed one of the wires to the Osc under the board as it was causing booting issues sometimes when the two wires ran together close to each other (signals cross talk): -
The clock input is still running along the top though: -
Top view of it all in. Quite a simple affair really, but works great! Now I have the benefit of pure RGB (for CRT TV's) or S Video (for LCD TV's that don't work well with 240P RGB). The S Video signal is pure awesome, I really don't understand why SNK omitted this from the original Design, there is even space to fit the S Video port in. I guess in 1990 S Video wasn't common enough to warrant the extra cost.
Here's the back, I drilled some holes to mount the S Video port, toggle switch and 3.5 mm jack.
I decided to try the RGB to LCD thing again. And this little unit is AWESOME! Very cheap on ebay, it converts the RGBS signal of the Neo Geo to Standard VGA. Its only taking 1 frame to convert the signal which isn''t even noticeable. It takes a 5V DC input (2A) and the RGB header just takes R G B Sync and Ground, this then outputs in standard 31KHz VGA (scales resolutions all the way up to 720p if necessary). It can later be combined with a Sync splitter (for consoles that only have Composite Video out and no true Sync signal) And a small module called SLG3000 that adds scanlines to the output! My plan with this little board is to combine the three in a project box and have it as a universal "Retro Games" converter for my LCD screens.
Here it is next to my Finished Neo (I recently got Blues Journey, My Daughter loves this game!): -
This is the image on my SVGA Monitor (this is running upscaled at 1024 x 768 ): -
And here's a wide shot of my little "Retro Corner" there is a familiar friend there.... but what is that little Black box of joy sat between the old girl and the Neo?
Cheers!
Small update, I got the SLG3000! And it looks AWESOME!!!!
Here it is: -
It plugs between the GBS 8220 Scaler and the Monitor: -
It can be used with ANY VGA output though, e.g. Dremacast VGA box
I recently got Magician Lord and here is what the screen looks like with scanlines: -
Close up: -
It really gives the old SVGA LCD screen a nostalgic CRT look and coupled with the softening effect built into the GBS 8220, it can be tweaked to look as if you really are looking at a CRT screen. Well almost
This is probably the closest one can get at the moment to a classic TV look on an LCD TV/Monitor right now for alot less money than an XRGB.
Here it is: -
It plugs between the GBS 8220 Scaler and the Monitor: -
It can be used with ANY VGA output though, e.g. Dremacast VGA box
I recently got Magician Lord and here is what the screen looks like with scanlines: -
Close up: -
It really gives the old SVGA LCD screen a nostalgic CRT look and coupled with the softening effect built into the GBS 8220, it can be tweaked to look as if you really are looking at a CRT screen. Well almost
This is probably the closest one can get at the moment to a classic TV look on an LCD TV/Monitor right now for alot less money than an XRGB.
Small update to my Neo, its a discreet LED mod. I really don't like the common mods where folks make the Reset button glow a hideous blue. I kept my mod simple and more in tune with what I think SNK would have done if they had remembered to put an LED on it.
3mm, flat topped red LED with approx 560 Ohm resistor connected to positive: -
Covered with heat shrink and soldered a header on: -
Drilled a hole in the front and mounted the LED. Soldered +5V and GND wires to nearby IC: -
Close up from the front: -
And with the lid back on playing Fatal Fury 2: -
I've been doing some experimenting with overclock speeds too, and it seems that if the overclock oscillator is changed for a 14MHz one, I get the same speed gains as with 16MHz, but other games run with no graphical glitches.
For example, Fatal Fury 2 has a particular stage where slowdown occurs occasionally when at stock 12MHz, at 16MHz it doesn't slowdown, but there are slight GFX glitches. at 14MHz the glitches are gone and the speed seems just as fluid as at 16MHz. Samurai Spirits 2 is unplayable at 16MHz due to so much garbage onscreen (see earlier posts) but at 14MHz it runs great!
so, i'm starting to think that maybe the common 16MHz overclock that most use isn't necessarily the best balanced option. I'm gonna try more tests with other games to see what happens.....
3mm, flat topped red LED with approx 560 Ohm resistor connected to positive: -
Covered with heat shrink and soldered a header on: -
Drilled a hole in the front and mounted the LED. Soldered +5V and GND wires to nearby IC: -
Close up from the front: -
And with the lid back on playing Fatal Fury 2: -
I've been doing some experimenting with overclock speeds too, and it seems that if the overclock oscillator is changed for a 14MHz one, I get the same speed gains as with 16MHz, but other games run with no graphical glitches.
For example, Fatal Fury 2 has a particular stage where slowdown occurs occasionally when at stock 12MHz, at 16MHz it doesn't slowdown, but there are slight GFX glitches. at 14MHz the glitches are gone and the speed seems just as fluid as at 16MHz. Samurai Spirits 2 is unplayable at 16MHz due to so much garbage onscreen (see earlier posts) but at 14MHz it runs great!
so, i'm starting to think that maybe the common 16MHz overclock that most use isn't necessarily the best balanced option. I'm gonna try more tests with other games to see what happens.....
Thanks Steve mate
Looks awesome mate.
I'm burning up some more Games for my NeoCd lol
I'm lovin' the NeoCD, I'm burning up el-cheapo Tesco CDR's at 48x and they're all working!
I think Amibay has the Neo Geo Bug as of late
Very tidy and fitting with the AES your led mod. Also do you prefer the kidney shape stick or the square stick?
Incredible work with the overclocking, I would never have thought to even try that.
I think 2012 is the year of Neo Geo!
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Incredible work with the overclocking, I would never have thought to even try that.
I think 2012 is the year of Neo Geo!
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Steve, Aye I commented on another thread how this place should be renamed Neobay Glad you are having fun with the Neo CD, Would love one one day to be able to play some of the more expensive games on AES
Brookster, Thanks mate, I prefer the kidney shaped sticks, I think its the position of the buttons I prefer, they seem too angled on the original controller. I'd like to find 2 original ones in good nick at some point though, just to be complete
I've just now finished a BIOS switch so I can select original US BIOS or UNIBIOS. It seems some games have issues with UNI (NG: DEV games being the biggest culprits). Also I got Crossed Swords recently and in USA mode through UNI I get mixed Japanese and English text which isn't a big deal, but made me decide to add a switch. (photos later)
I'm also experimently running at 14MHz. Fatal Fury 2 runs perfect, no glitches no slowdown. Also Samurai Spirits 2 runs with no GFX glitches at 14MHz.
I'm talking to someone over on neo-geo.com who has Metal Slug 2. I've offered to send him a 14MHz Osc so he can experiment. If MS2 runs the same at 14 and 16MHz, then I may have discovered a big thing that will make overclocking more appealing. (the big downer was the graphic glitches).
I think the reason why 14MHz may work just as good is because the main reason why slowdown is occuring is bottlenecking between CPU cycles. the extra few MHZ allow the waiting data between cycles to go through alot quicker. So its not necessarily teh Maxxorz Megorherzzzxx That helps. Hit optimum speed and that should be enough, override the speed too much and all your doing is adding incompatibilities with RAM and GFX hardware.
Glad you are having fun with the Neo CD, Would love one one day to be able to play some of the more expensive games on AES Brookster, Thanks mate, I prefer the kidney shaped sticks, I think its the position of the buttons I prefer, they seem too angled on the original controller. I'd like to find 2 original ones in good nick at some point though, just to be complete
I've just now finished a BIOS switch so I can select original US BIOS or UNIBIOS. It seems some games have issues with UNI (NG: DEV games being the biggest culprits). Also I got Crossed Swords recently and in USA mode through UNI I get mixed Japanese and English text which isn't a big deal, but made me decide to add a switch. (photos later)
I'm also experimently running at 14MHz. Fatal Fury 2 runs perfect, no glitches no slowdown. Also Samurai Spirits 2 runs with no GFX glitches at 14MHz.
I'm talking to someone over on neo-geo.com who has Metal Slug 2. I've offered to send him a 14MHz Osc so he can experiment. If MS2 runs the same at 14 and 16MHz, then I may have discovered a big thing that will make overclocking more appealing. (the big downer was the graphic glitches).
I think the reason why 14MHz may work just as good is because the main reason why slowdown is occuring is bottlenecking between CPU cycles. the extra few MHZ allow the waiting data between cycles to go through alot quicker. So its not necessarily teh Maxxorz Megorherzzzxx That helps. Hit optimum speed and that should be enough, override the speed too much and all your doing is adding incompatibilities with RAM and GFX hardware.
Here's the photos of the BIOS switch I made: -
The idea is to switch the enable lines on each of the Original USA BIOS and UNIBIOS. +5 = disabled, GND = Enabled. The switch will flip the two values onto each BIOS. So at any one time the levels will be always opposite.
Anyway, here's the way I did it...
Took a 40 Pin Socket and snipped pin 2
Add a wire along the inside ( also a dab of superglue to stop the pin spinning) This will be for UNIBIOS Pin 2.
Add a 15K resistor to Pin 40 (this will be the +5V lead)
Add a wire and some heatshrink to insulate
Line up the USA (Original) BIOS under the socket and carefully solder all the pins one to one (missing out pin 2 of course).
Add a wire to Pin 2 of the USA BIOS (bending the pin out at 45 deg) and insulating
On my Mainboard, I solder another wire under my previously socketed BIOS. you don't need a socket here, if the original BIOS is left slodered in, all you have to do is snip pin 2 near to the mainboard, and solder this wire directly to the board.
Plug in the socket and BIOS combo. You should see Red/Black wire for +5V, Blue/White wire for UNIBIOS (It will sit in the top), Yellow wire for USA BIOS and Black wire for mainboard connection.
here's the UNIBIOS plugged in
here's a diagram of how to wire the DPDT Switch
And wired up on the switch for real
Hanging out ready to test
WOOT! UNIBIOS!
Turn off, switch over and... USA BIOS!
AWESOME! IT WORKS!!
Now to install properly
Found where I want it to sit, and drilled a very small hole to start. SLOWLY too, otherwise the plastic will crack.
4 Drill bits later i'm at 6.5mm. This is the right size.
And in
Look at all the wires I got in there now!!!
Well that's the BIOS switcher
Cheers!
The idea is to switch the enable lines on each of the Original USA BIOS and UNIBIOS. +5 = disabled, GND = Enabled. The switch will flip the two values onto each BIOS. So at any one time the levels will be always opposite.
Anyway, here's the way I did it...
Took a 40 Pin Socket and snipped pin 2
Add a wire along the inside ( also a dab of superglue to stop the pin spinning) This will be for UNIBIOS Pin 2.
Add a 15K resistor to Pin 40 (this will be the +5V lead)
Add a wire and some heatshrink to insulate
Line up the USA (Original) BIOS under the socket and carefully solder all the pins one to one (missing out pin 2 of course).
Add a wire to Pin 2 of the USA BIOS (bending the pin out at 45 deg) and insulating
On my Mainboard, I solder another wire under my previously socketed BIOS. you don't need a socket here, if the original BIOS is left slodered in, all you have to do is snip pin 2 near to the mainboard, and solder this wire directly to the board.
Plug in the socket and BIOS combo. You should see Red/Black wire for +5V, Blue/White wire for UNIBIOS (It will sit in the top), Yellow wire for USA BIOS and Black wire for mainboard connection.
here's the UNIBIOS plugged in
here's a diagram of how to wire the DPDT Switch
And wired up on the switch for real
Hanging out ready to test
WOOT! UNIBIOS!
Turn off, switch over and... USA BIOS!
AWESOME! IT WORKS!!
Now to install properly
Found where I want it to sit, and drilled a very small hole to start. SLOWLY too, otherwise the plastic will crack.
4 Drill bits later i'm at 6.5mm. This is the right size.
And in
Look at all the wires I got in there now!!!
Well that's the BIOS switcher
Cheers!
