Nintendo Vs. Duck Hunt Problem

nma800

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Hello,

I've had an upright Vs. Dual System for a long time with Super Mario Bros. and Sky Kid in it and both of them seem to work fine. I just picked up Duck Hunt and tried to switch out Sky Kid for it but I can't seem to get it working and I'm hoping someone here will be able to help me out - maybe I'm missing something really obvious (this is the first time I've tried to do anything with the Vs. system besides turning it on and playing it). Sorry for the long post below, but I don't know which information may end up being important.

Okay, so here's what's happening: First, I removed the main PCB and installed the Duck Hunt ROM chips, removed the Sky Kid PPU and installed the Duck Hunt PPU, then switched the CPU that was on the Sky Kid side for the one that came with Duck Hunt (I believe this was a mistake, as the CPU that came with Duck Hunt was 2A04 and the others are 2A03). I also left the Sky Kid daughter board on, along with a couple other chips that were on there, because I didn't realize they were part of Sky Kid and not part of the main Vs. PCB (one was labeled PRG-1-B, the other was SK CHA). So that didn't work, both screens just flashed. I took out the two "extra" chips from the daughter board to make it match the Mario side and switched the CPU back to the original one (2A03) and then Super Mario Bros. worked, but Duck Hunt would just start up and immediately freeze.

So I finally did a little research and figured out that that daughter board didn't belong on there and removed it, then reinstalled the Super Mario Bros & Duck Hunt PPU's and CPU's. Same result: Mario works fine, Duck Hunt just starts and immediately freezes. I removed the Duck Hunt ROM chips, made sure all the pins were straight and reinstalled them. Same result. I repeated this about three more times with the same result.

Next, I thought I'd check if it was just the right side of the board that was having problems (and I'd read that the sockets get loose after having a daughter board in them, and since Mario was still working, I thought maybe the left side was okay) and decided to try Duck Hunt on the left side. At this point, I really didn't know what I was doing any more (well, more so than before). I removed all the Mario chips and installed Duck Hunt on the left side - both monitors just blinked off and on when I turned it on. I have no idea if you have to have two games installed, but I'd read that Mario has to be installed on the left side so I didn't want to try installing it on the right just to fill both sides. I then removed Duck Hunt and installed just Mario on the left side. Same result: the screens just blink off and on. If I put Duck Hunt back in, Mario works fine but Duck Hunt starts and immediately freezes (the sound starts and freezes, too).

I'm stuck now and don't know what to try next. Could one or more of the Duck Hunt ROM chips be bad? Do Mario and Duck Hunt not work with each other? Am I just missing something incredibly obvious and stupid? I searched the forums here and the closest thing I could find was someone who had a problem with their system freezing after 30 seconds or so and it ended up being a bad CPU, but I did swap the CPU between Mario and Duck Hunt a couple of times and Mario always works. I'm not ruling anything out and would be willing to try (or re-try) just about anything, but thought it might be worth mentioning what I had already tried.

Sorry again for the long post, but I'm very lost here and would really appreciate any help or advice anyone could offer. Thanks in advance!
 
First things first.

Vs Duck Hunt. You had the title screen and then it freezes. That means that the chips are fine. It's very easy to screw these up, if you are not careful. Also, you wouldnt be the first one to do it, so dont feel bad, cause we've all been there, self included. :)

Make sure that all 6 of the roms are in the proper places. The (4) roms should be labeled from 1A/6A - 1/D/6D. The other (2) say 2A/8A and 2B/8B.

Make sure all the roms are "facing" the same way. Meaning, each rom has a tiny groove in it, that should be pointed towards the left side of the board, if you are looking at the board with the edge connectors on top. I will try to include a pic.

The silver PPU. I owned this set and I had a 3C series, that worked fine. My main point of this is simple. There is a +sign on the PPU, signifying the #1 location. Make sure that it's in the southwest corner of the socket, before seating. Installing it backwards will kill it. Happened to me before, when I started out.

Lastly, this is a gun game. So, you must have the special gun harness attachment. I assume you do, or this will never work for you.


Go to Blkdog7's website if you are having any doubts or concerns. I'd proceed there first, before going any further. There is no sense in ruining your equipment, since his videos can help you out.

www.johnsarcade.com

Hope this helps.
 
Hello,

I also left the Sky Kid daughter board on, along with a couple other chips that were on there, because I didn't realize they were part of Sky Kid and not part of the main Vs. PCB (one was labeled PRG-1-B, the other was SK CHA). So that didn't work, both screens just flashed. I took out the two "extra" chips from the daughter board to make it match the Mario side and switched the CPU back to the original one (2A03) and then Super Mario Bros. worked, but Duck Hunt would just start up and immediately freeze.

So I finally did a little research and figured out that that daughter board didn't belong on there and removed it, then reinstalled the Super Mario Bros & Duck Hunt PPU's and CPU's. Same result: Mario works fine, Duck Hunt just starts and immediately freezes. I removed the Duck Hunt ROM chips, made sure all the pins were straight and reinstalled them. Same result. I repeated this about three more times with the same result.

Ok. I'm glad to see that you learned about daughterboards. They are exclusive to the special game that comes on them. All chips remain on those boards. The daugherboard does not belong to the motherboard, if you are putting both SMB or Duck Hunt on the motherboard.
 
On John's website, click on the Nintendo Vs section. Take the 12 minutes to watch his YT vids on "How they work". Should clear up alot of questions and concerns you have.

After that, look at all the different games and see how they are all compatable. This is your mission, if you choose to accept it. Good luck.
 
Thank you very much for all the suggestions, I really appreciate it. I checked out that website and it was very helpful - I wish I'd watched those videos before trying any of this since the second video specifically addressed the Sky Kid daughter board, but in my excitement to set this up, I didn't do the homework I should have ahead of time. Oh well, hopefully I didn't damage anything.

I did re-check all the ROMs and they are in their correct spots with the little circle pointing to the left. A couple of them look like they have stickers underneath the stickers that say which spot they go in - is that normal, or anything I should look into further?

I also double checked that the PPU was plugged in correctly and I believe it is. I also switched it with the Mario PPU, since I'm under the impression that (hopefully) that won't hurt anything but just make the wrong colors show up. Mario did work with the wrong colors, but Duck Hunt still just freezes after starting.

I'm wondering if it does have something to do with the gun, but I have no idea. I do not have a gun harness installed right now, but I ordered one and hopefully will have it installed this week. Would the game notice that there's no gun harness and just freeze? Beyond that, I believe I have everything installed correctly, but I'm not taking anything for granted.

On John's website, click on the Nintendo Vs section. Take the 12 minutes to watch his YT vids on "How they work". Should clear up alot of questions and concerns you have.

After that, look at all the different games and see how they are all compatable. This is your mission, if you choose to accept it. Good luck.

Ha! I do accept it, but I didn't see anything for their compatibility (and couldn't find anything with Google, either). Unless you're talking about which PPU's work with multiple games, but I may have misunderstood and was looking to see if some Vs. games just don't work with each other.

Anyway, thanks again for your help!
 
Thank you very much for all the suggestions, I really appreciate it. I checked out that website and it was very helpful - I wish I'd watched those videos before trying any of this since the second video specifically addressed the Sky Kid daughter board, but in my excitement to set this up, I didn't do the homework I should have ahead of time. Oh well, hopefully I didn't damage anything.

I did re-check all the ROMs and they are in their correct spots with the little circle pointing to the left. A couple of them look like they have stickers underneath the stickers that say which spot they go in - is that normal, or anything I should look into further?

I also double checked that the PPU was plugged in correctly and I believe it is. I also switched it with the Mario PPU, since I'm under the impression that (hopefully) that won't hurt anything but just make the wrong colors show up. Mario did work with the wrong colors, but Duck Hunt still just freezes after starting.

I'm wondering if it does have something to do with the gun, but I have no idea. I do not have a gun harness installed right now, but I ordered one and hopefully will have it installed this week. Would the game notice that there's no gun harness and just freeze? Beyond that, I believe I have everything installed correctly, but I'm not taking anything for granted.



Ha! I do accept it, but I didn't see anything for their compatibility (and couldn't find anything with Google, either). Unless you're talking about which PPU's work with multiple games, but I may have misunderstood and was looking to see if some Vs. games just don't work with each other.

Anyway, thanks again for your help!

Just a thought, but did you remove the capacitors you are supposed to when using a gun game? Look at the manual on John's site, there are three or four caps that need to be removed.

Good Luck!
 
Just a thought, but did you remove the capacitors you are supposed to when using a gun game? Look at the manual on John's site, there are three or four caps that need to be removed.

Good Luck!

Nice catch! I had actually been using the gun kit manual, but stopped reading it when I realized I didn't have the power harness - which is right before the instructions for removing the capacitors. I guess I should read all the instructions next time.

Unfortunately, after grabbing some wire clippers, running out to the game room and pulling out the PCB, it looks like someone had already removed those capacitors, so I don't think that was the problem. Good suggestion, though, thanks!
 
All right, I still haven't gotten any further on this, but I'm not giving up. I got the gun power harness in the mail today, but once again I didn't pay attention to all the instructions before trying to do something and now it looks like I'm still missing the "15 pin short harness" that's needed to get the gun installed (or at least I think I am).
Does anyone happen to have a spare one of those that they'd be willing to sell, or know a place that sells them? Thanks for the help!
 
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