Fix/Mod a Neo Geo MVS-2 Board and Controls

jasonlyvers

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I have a 2 slot MVS-2 Neo Geo board in a Dynamo "cut corner" cabinet. It is pretty ugly. Both slots seem to work, and the controls work. There are a few problems though.

1. Only 1 speaker is wired up.
2. There is no select game switch. - SOLVED
3. The test switch is wired up, but doesn't seem to work.
4. The volume knob is wired up, but doesn't seem to work.
5. I have 4 buttons per player, but 6 holes. The extra holes are currently capped, but I'd like to add 2 buttons that would work for 6 button games. This is for #6.
6. I'd like to add a PCB switcher. The goal is to be able to have 2 carts in my 2 slot, and a jamma+ PCB in the other slot. In theory, I'd have one cab with 3 games (assuming no multi's are installed).
7. What are my options for CPOs, considering the cut corners on the dynamo cab?

I'm using this Frankenstein system to learn on; I'd like to use those skills towards restoring a classic.

My question: Where should I start?
Pics, and my blog about the project, are at: http://louisvillearcade.blogspot.com/
 
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You have to add pins to your JAMMA plug to add a "select" button.

Add another speaker, use the stereo outputs on your board, and switch the board to stereo.

Not sure any Neo Geo game uses 6 buttons.

My NeoGeo board has a volume slider on the board. Not sure how you'd ever bypass that. Maybe add a volume pot and set the board at full volume?
 
So, a 2 slot neo geo board with a neo geo harness doesn't automatically have a pin for a select button? I assumed it would be built into the neo geo harness. I don't think I have a "jamma" plug, I think I have a neo geo plug. The pins are slightly different.
 
If it's a NeoGeo plug, it should have the correct pins.

jamma_pinout_engadget_howto.jpg
 
Ok, I understand that pin outs are slightly different, but I'm not sure how to determine where pinouts "26" and "d" go. I have some connectors on my control panel wiring harness that aren't connected to anything. Is there a way to test those (without a multimeter or extra button) to see if one of them is wired to those two pins?

Pictures of my wiring harness are here:
http://louisvillearcade.blogspot.com/2009/07/is-this-jamma-or-neo-geo-harness.html
 
I figured it out. I temporarily removed the P2 button and hooked it up to the extra connectors from the P1 wiring harness. It worked, so, I know what I have to do with the Select game button.

Anybody want to tackle #5? I'd like to add 2 buttons and make this a 6 button control panel. The holes are there, just need to figure out how to add 2 buttons.
 
The MVS system only calls for 4 buttons and jamma usually allows for 3 or 4 tops as well, so any games with 6 buttons would have an extra plug for the extra buttons. Therefore figure out what game you'd like to have the extra buttons for (like Street Fighter 2 for example), then just connect the appropriate plug for the extra buttons. They would only have any function when you switch to that second game, and no need to switch them since again Neo Geo only needs the 4.
 
Ok, so, I buy a SF2 harness. The Control panel side hooks up to the extra buttons, the PCB side is specific to the SF2 board and would remain unconnected if my Neo Geo board is in the cab?
 
Can someone confirm? Taking a 4 button Neo Geo to 6 buttons, I'm planning on a PCB switcher with a NG on one side and a Jamma+ on the other. I think I need to buy an SF2 harness. The Control panel side hooks up to the extra buttons, the PCB side is specific to the SF2 board and would remain unconnected if my Neo Geo board is in the cab

(bump)
 
Can someone confirm? Taking a 4 button Neo Geo to 6 buttons, I'm planning on a PCB switcher with a NG on one side and a Jamma+ on the other. I think I need to buy an SF2 harness. The Control panel side hooks up to the extra buttons, the PCB side is specific to the SF2 board and would remain unconnected if my Neo Geo board is in the cab

(bump)
You can remove the caps and install the missing 2 buttons. As far as the kick buttons on the bottom go you would wire those to a kick harness which you would have connected you your SFII board. Since the bottom 3 buttons are wired to the kick harness you wouldn't have to do any modifications to your Jamma Harness. When you wire the kick harness make sure to use the same common ground on the button microswitches as the current harness is using.
 
The problem with this plan is that for most JAMMA games you can only have 3 buttons. The 4th button for the Neo Geo is an exception.. You'd need to have buttons 5 and 6 wired up to the SFII kick harness.. and button 4 would need to be wired up to both the Neo Geo AND the SFII kick harness (assuming for SFII all 3 kick buttons are on the harness and not the JAMMA adapter, like in the other capcom fighters I actually have some experience with).

This is pretty easy to do (in fact, I do it in my CPS2 cab.. have buttons wired up to the kick harness and also to a JPac), but just something for you to keep in mind.


EDIT: You'll run into problems though if you have the "L" shaped button layout where the A button is lower than the B C D buttons, and your extra two holes are next to the A button... Becuase in a traditional SF2 game you'll want the B C D buttons to be mapped to Trigger 1, trigger 2 and trigger 3... but in a Neo Geo layout they'll be mapped to Trigger 2, Trigger 3, and something the JAMMA standard doesn't use (but Neo Geo does use for it's Trigger 4) Pretty much you'll need to move the quick disconnects around every time you switched between Neo Geo and SF2... If your buttons are laid out differently, then you can disregard this.
 
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The volume control in the cab isn't what you need either... there's a volume control on the 2 slot board itself.

If the audio is low, cuts in/out, or gets louder as the game is running then you need to recap the board. It's a common problem.

There are 2 different versions of the 2 slot board. The cap kit depends on the version.

http://www.arcadecomponents.com/catalog/item/5727916/5603406.htm
http://www.arcadecomponents.com/catalog/item/5727916/5603409.htm

http://www.arcadecomponents.com/f/Neo_Geo_Cap_Kits.pdf

RJ
 
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