Hydro Thunder, I give up....

uriahsky

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Do I have to Junk my Hydro Thunder??

I think I have isolated the problem with my Hydro Thunder to the security chip, as it is called. A Xilinx XC9572.

I took my non working hydro card and put a socket on it. I also put a socket on a working Gauntlet Legends video card, which is the same card. Both cards with the Gauntlet security chip worked in the Gauntlet game. Both cards with the Hydro security chip didn't work in the Hydro game.

Unless there is some configuration setting I am missing I think the security chip went bad.
I haven't found anyone selling those chips or even a Hydro Video card.

Without that chip I have two useless games, which are in great shape I might add.

Has anyone resolved a similar problem like the one I am having?

Any ideas or suggestions?
 
PM ToplessZ and see if he has any suggestions.
 
Does yours beep or anything? Mine does a single beep, then three short beeps, three short beeps, then single beep. No display at all.
 
Beeps

Does yours beep or anything? Mine does a single beep, then three short beeps, three short beeps, then single beep. No display at all.

According to the manual your error is

1-3-3-1 28h Autosize DRAM

What ever that means.

My error is 1 long 2 short which points to the "Video Options ROM" Here is something from the manual on these beeps.

Whenever a recoverable error occurs during POST, the BIOS displays an error message describing the problem. The BIOS also issues a beep code (one long tone followed by two short tones) during POST if the video configuration fails (no card installed or faulty) or if an external ROM module does not properly checksum to zero.
An external ROM module (e.g., video BIOS) can also issue audible errors, usually consisting of one long tone followed by a series of short tones. For more information on the beep codes issued,check the documentation for that external device.

If you get your card working let me know. Or if you learn anything else.
Thanks
Russ
 
That was good info to pass along. I completely passed over the sdram while concentrating on the lack of video. I grabbed a 128MB 133mhz sdram and threw it in and powered up. Now, two beeps! Getting closer, but still no video. I just happen to have received an old computer with a dedicated PCI graphics card the other day, so I threw it in too. Now when I power up, I HAVE VIDEO! Awesome. And my two beeps are the bios needing the date reset since I changed out the battery. I configured the bios and exited, now it will boot to the screen where it loads hrydo.exe, then says it is passing it to the user program or something, and now I get 6 beeps, pause, 6 beeps, infinite. Granted, this is on my bench right now and NOT in the cabinet, so perhaps the error is from the peripherals not returning a feed signal, so I'll have to put it in the cabinet and see what happens. But at least it's getting somewhere.
 
Hydro

Did you get your Hydro working? I never got either of my pair to work. Just wondering. If you still have it out of the game can you check a few things? If you boot it up I think you have to have the COM1 port cable connected or you get problems but can you go straight from the computer to the monitor and will a picture come up? I have the guts of the game out on my bench but the cabinet is far away. I am using a different monitor and wondering if that is a problem. Also I am not sure if the security needs to see that Diago board to run the game. Maybe I have that hooked up wrong??
Thanks
Russ
 
I have tried everything I could think of trying to get my pair of Hydro Thunders to work. Nothing worked. So, until I find another video card and can maybe send the security chip to someone who knows how to copy it I am faced with junking them or maybe converting them to something else. But what?? Is there anything out there that I can swap in that might work somewhat OK with the Hydro controls? I was thinking of Hyper Drive but I think the wheel needs to move in a four directions. I know there is no other boat game that is in a kit or motherboard. Any ideas on what might work. It doesn't have a gas pedal or brake so that leaves out most driving games. Maybe I can buy some time and not have to hall them off until I figure out a solution to the video card problem. They are on location and my truck needs work but I can't leave them there for much longer.
Thanks
Russ
 
That was good info to pass along. I completely passed over the sdram while concentrating on the lack of video. I grabbed a 128MB 133mhz sdram and threw it in and powered up. Now, two beeps! Getting closer, but still no video. I just happen to have received an old computer with a dedicated PCI graphics card the other day, so I threw it in too. Now when I power up, I HAVE VIDEO! Awesome. And my two beeps are the bios needing the date reset since I changed out the battery. I configured the bios and exited, now it will boot to the screen where it loads hrydo.exe, then says it is passing it to the user program or something, and now I get 6 beeps, pause, 6 beeps, infinite. Granted, this is on my bench right now and NOT in the cabinet, so perhaps the error is from the peripherals not returning a feed signal, so I'll have to put it in the cabinet and see what happens. But at least it's getting somewhere.

6 beeps means there is no communication with the IO board.

Is your serial port set up for COM1 ?

JD
 
That makes sense. I don't have the pc in the cab right now, just running it on a bench with LCD. I figured it was waiting on the peripherals to load since it was loading the main exe. I will get it in the cab this week and see if it loads the rest once it can communicate with the other boards. Then we will see what it needs for video. Right now I'm using a swapped in s3 video card from an old pc but have not came across any security issues yet.
 
It will boot to the point you are at with a regular PCI video card. You will need the proprietary video card (with the proper security chip) in order to boot the game fully... whether it's in the cabinet or not.

If you have a BAD card, but a good security chip, then you can use some other cards (like Chad @ Arcadecup offers) and simply move the chip. Not having the correct card, AND a working security rom, is a tough problem.

I wish you luck finding the card. They are scarce as unicorns. Took me a year to find one (with several people assisting in the hunt.
 
I hate to say it, but I would love to see someone find a way to bypass the security features of this thing to allow generic cards to be used. Especially since midway has long stopped supporting this game.
 
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