Evil Night Hardware Error please contact staff

[runawayabc123]

I've got a working Evil Night PCB (it plays the game), however, part way through the attract sequence, I get "Hardware Error please contact staff" and the game stops.

Edit: When this error occurs I hear 5 gun shots when the message pops up.

I noticed that as it happens, the CD-Rom spins up.

I checked the CD and it came with a Burned CD-ROM (not original) AND it has several scratches on it. Straight lines from the middle out. I'm not sure if this is from shipping, the CD-ROM drive itself or something else.

Does anyone have an ISO for the Evil Night revision UBA that I could try to reburn and replace this with?

Thanks.

I'll post pictures of the message and CD-ROM later. (It is just yellow text on the screen.)

 

[awbacon]

I have what you need. Pm'd You

 

[awbacon]

Please do post a photo of the error though. I've never seen it and I'd like to add it to the doc I wrote up on repair and maintenance of the M2 hardware. Thanks!

 

[runawayabc123]

Pictures attached.

I've never seen such straight scratch lines from the middle of the disk out before. (The top of the disk looks pristine.)

Thanks for your help!

Also, the attract mode (of what I can see) have an excellent scary movie/Halloween vide. Too bad this sequel to Crypt Killer was over shadowed by HOTD and just seen as a cheap rip off.

 

[runawayabc123]

awbacon sent me the iso.

Windows 7 said the iso was bad and wouldn't burn it.

I downloaded free burning software (CD Burner XP) and it burned it.

The new CD fixed the above Hardware error as I expected.

Thanks!

 

[Hydreigon]

awbacon sent me the iso.

Windows 7 said the iso was bad and wouldn't burn it.

I downloaded free burning software (CD Burner XP) and it burned it.

The new CD fixed the above Hardware error as I expected.

Thanks!

I somewhat knew it would be disc related issue (funny Konami didn't bother to change the name to "disc read error" or something). Then again it could happen from a dying cd drive. It all has to do with the fact the m2 constantly reading data from the cd while powered on as opposed to a system like Naomi GD rom where it loads the gdrom data only once to the dimm board. Leaving the m2 on most of the day for normal arcade operation greatly shortens the lifespan of the cd drive overall and disc scratches could also happen as a result from a faulty cd drive. Running these games on anything but a cd drive would be nice in the future.

P.S. I have been told this was one of the big reasons why the Konami m2 arcade hardware was short lived.

 

[runawayabc123]

P.S. I have been told this was one of the big reasons why the Konami m2 arcade hardware was short lived.

The load times are brutal. They happen often too.

20 years ago, I wouldn't abandon a credit over it, but I might not put another quarter in either.

Although, time for your trigger/button finger to relax in between isn't bad either.

But yeah, if someone came up with a hard drive mod for this game that would be great. However, it is unlikely due to the rarity of the hardware.

 

[awbacon]

Am I the only person who has zero issues with loading time? lol

In my playthroughs, I specifically mention in the commentary that loads are 15-20 seconds max. I mean I get it, arcade games that need to load are an odd thing, but the load times are nowhere near "crippling" to me.

Yes the M2 was delicate in the arcades since the cd-rom drive was constantly streaming data, and it's no surprise that caused them to die relatively quickly. Obviously in 1998 cd-rom drives weren't a dime a dozen, so that led to the unreliable issues. It would have been smarter to go with a CPS-III style "loads once into RAM, then does not access" but considering the M2 was a console design that did not accommodate for enough ram to store the game in its entirety it's no surprise it worked in the manner it did.

Today, swapping a NOS cd-rom drive costs me around $5-10 and about two minutes. So bringing these units "back from the dead" with cd-rom issues is inconsequential IMO.

Glad that ISO worked! If anyone ever finds this thread years from now searching how to repair a M2 pcb, just message me! I'm happy to help get it back up and running!

 

[awbacon]

awbacon sent me the iso.

Windows 7 said the iso was bad and wouldn't burn it.

I downloaded free burning software (CD Burner XP) and it burned it.

The new CD fixed the above Hardware error as I expected.

Thanks!

Yes due to the Opera File System having a non-standard sector size, not all OS versions or burning software options will handle the ISO.

I use Burnaware Free and it works perfectly. For bin/cue, XDuplicator Beta 5 is my go to.

You just need to use a burning program that does not try to open the iso before burning. If it does it'll report as a corrupted / unburnable ISO, due to the sector size differences between OperaFS structure and general burnt discs / ISO's

 

[Unretrofied666]

Am I the only person who has zero issues with loading time? lol

In my playthroughs, I specifically mention in the commentary that loads are 15-20 seconds max. I mean I get it, arcade games that need to load are an odd thing, but the load times are nowhere near "crippling" to me.

Yes the M2 was delicate in the arcades since the cd-rom drive was constantly streaming data, and it's no surprise that caused them to die relatively quickly. Obviously in 1998 cd-rom drives weren't a dime a dozen, so that led to the unreliable issues. It would have been smarter to go with a CPS-III style "loads once into RAM, then does not access" but considering the M2 was a console design that did not accommodate for enough ram to store the game in its entirety it's no surprise it worked in the manner it did.

Today, swapping a NOS cd-rom drive costs me around $5-10 and about two minutes. So bringing these units "back from the dead" with cd-rom issues is inconsequential IMO.

Glad that ISO worked! If anyone ever finds this thread years from now searching how to repair a M2 pcb, just message me! I'm happy to help get it back up and running!

awbacon!!! I am in need of your assistance! I swapped out the disc drive only to get a repeating color bar screen. When I reinstall the old broken drive, it will at least boot before it gives me the hardware error. Is there some sort of formatting I need to do to these new drives before putting them in the cabinet???
Thanks,

Aaron

 

[ArcadeTechGW]

awbacon!!! I am in need of your assistance! I swapped out the disc drive only to get a repeating color bar screen. When I reinstall the old broken drive, it will at least boot before it gives me the hardware error. Is there some sort of formatting I need to do to these new drives before putting them in the cabinet???
Thanks,

Aaron

Good luck. The last time he was on was May 5th 2022.

At least it was within a few months, but don't expect a rapid response.

With that said, what can you tell us about the original drive and the new drive? Make/model? Any jumpers?

 

[Unretrofied666]

Good luck. The last time he was on was May 5th 2022.

At least it was within a few months, but don't expect a rapid response.

With that said, what can you tell us about the original drive and the new drive? Make/model? Any jumpers?

Sent some photos directly as to not clog up the thread, hope that's okay!

 

[ArcadeTechGW]

Sent some photos directly as to not clog up the thread, hope that's okay!

Yes. That's fine.