Strange MK2 issues / glitch... ideas?

EvilEmuOfDoom

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Despite passing the diagnostics, I have some really strange gameplay issues...

1) Sometimes one player loses a chunk of life at the beginning of a round
2) Sometimes both players lose all their life at the beginning of the round and the word "Draw" is displayed but in all black and it immediately goes to the next round.
3) If I win as Scorpion (or any other character) against Reptile (or any other character), it says "Reptile Wins" and then I'm playing as Reptile for the next fight. This has also happened between Round 1 and 2 where in Round 1 I was Scorpion and suddenly in Round 2 I was Reptile.
4) Sometimes the round starts but the timer is stuck at 99 and no buttons work unless I'm in 1 Player mode in which case the 2 Player Start button will work.

I took a video of this behavior: http://youtu.be/ekg6t2Jvrw8

I checked the voltage at the board and adjusted it down from 5.06 to exactly 5.00 (which reads as 5.07 at the PS) with no luck. Any other ideas as to what could cause this?

The first time I powered it on the other day UA11, UA13, UB11, and UB13 (RAM?) were all red but I haven't see that error again since.
 
5.18v is the number you want at the edge connector. 5.1v at the chips

is it a 2 pcb main board? (main board and memory expansion board not including the sound board. if so reseat the 2 boards

now to watch your video :D
 
5.18v is the number you want at the edge connector. 5.1v at the chips

is it a 2 pcb main board? (main board and memory expansion board not including the sound board. if so reseat the 2 boards

now to watch your video :D
Crap! I thought these were picky about it being 5.00v for some reason, back out to the cold garage I go... :D

And yes, it's the board set with the memory expansion board.
 
weird, very weird. check for touching solder legs (tho i'm thinking it's going to be an issue with another chip/controller)

they are definitely picky about the voltage. 5.18v at the edge should give you really close to 5.10v at a chip which is what the board really really likes.

I would pull the chips that came up red and clean the legs with super fine grit sand paper and canned air. while also checking those chip sockets solder legs on the solder side.

I've also seen boards boot 100% even tho a chip or two didn't have all it's legs socketed (1 or more were bent outside of the socket), so double check that as well.


edit you said cold garage... could possibly be some chips creeping out of their sockets from heating and cooling repeatedly. i say pull em and clean em (all of them) that way you'll be reseating the memory board at the same time, up to you tho but while your at it i'd clean the edge connector too (which means another voltage check/adjustment) if you haven't already (cleaned the edge that is). could also be cold solder joints moving from the heating and cooling of the board. (do i have your head spinning yet?)
 
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weird, very weird. check for touching solder legs (tho i'm thinking it's going to be an issue with another chip/controller)

they are definitely picky about the voltage. 5.18v at the edge should give you really close to 5.10v at a chip which is what the board really really likes.

I would pull the chips that came up red and clean the legs with super fine grit sand paper and canned air. while also checking those chip sockets solder legs on the solder side.

I've also seen boards boot 100% even tho a chip or two didn't have all it's legs socketed (1 or more were bent outside of the socket), so double check that as well.
Adjusting the voltage didn't help, but at least I now know the correct voltage to use ;).

I'll pull the board later to reseat things and pull/clean those chips. Thanks for the help (again)!
 
not a problem, i edited my post a little, with a little more info/idea's.
 
Hope you get this sorted out man. Not cool when an MKII is unwell. I have mine out in the cold cold garage too. If I end up having the same problems when I get my monitor working again, at least I'll have an idea of what to do if that's the case. ;)
 
edit you said cold garage... could possibly be some chips creeping out of their sockets from heating and cooling repeatedly. i say pull em and clean em (all of them) that way you'll be reseating the memory board at the same time, up to you tho but while your at it i'd clean the edge connector too (which means another voltage check/adjustment) if you haven't already (cleaned the edge that is). could also be cold solder joints moving from the heating and cooling of the board. (do i have your head spinning yet?)
Admittedly, I installed the board and in my impatience was like "meh, I'll go back and clean the contacts later..." :D. I'll pull the board and check for all of the above as well as do some real cleaning.

Remove the PLCC chips, check for dirt/corrosion and reinstall them.
Will do! Thanks! I swear you have a 6th sense for the creation of MK threads... (just like Broodwich and KI threads :D).

Good luck on this Allen!
Thanks! The ironic part is that I agreed to a trade deal just last night for my spare MK2 board set, LOL! Although, now that I know the diagnostics and attract screens aren't reliable I'll definitely be unpacking it later today to fully play test it before sending it out.

Hope you get this sorted out man. Not cool when an MKII is unwell. I have mine out in the cold cold garage too. If I end up having the same problems when I get my monitor working again, at least I'll have an idea of what to do if that's the case. ;)
Thanks :). I can't wait until we're ready to buy a house. I want a nice basement I can refinish for my bar/arcade sooooooooooooooo bad! I have to admit though, for an apartment complex, my garage is pretty freaking big and about 25ft from my door so I can't really complain too much :D.

Now, if only I could talk my wife into letting me put the TMNT cab inside... you know, "for the kids" :p
 
Thanks :). I can't wait until we're ready to buy a house. I want a nice basement I can refinish for my bar/arcade sooooooooooooooo bad! I have to admit though, for an apartment complex, my garage is pretty freaking big and about 25ft from my door so I can't really complain too much :D.

Now, if only I could talk my wife into letting me put the TMNT cab inside... you know, "for the kids" :p

Ah yeah that would be pretty sweet! I never heard of having a garage with an apartment though that's awesome. I always had to park on the cold dark street. haha.

I got confined to the garage when we bought ours, but that's more out of there's no convenient entrances. Everything's weird stairs and such so I said "screw it" and just stuck to the garage. :D

Yeah you seriously need to let the wife let you bring that TMNT in for the kids. Just the ambiance it would bring alone would be worth it.
 
Ah yeah that would be pretty sweet! I never heard of having a garage with an apartment though that's awesome. I always had to park on the cold dark street. haha.

I got confined to the garage when we bought ours, but that's more out of there's no convenient entrances. Everything's weird stairs and such so I said "screw it" and just stuck to the garage. :D

Yeah you seriously need to let the wife let you bring that TMNT in for the kids. Just the ambiance it would bring alone would be worth it.
I know right? I told her it would "really tie the room together" but in addition to her not catching the Big Lebowski quote, she gave me that "one more word and I'm going to f-ing stab you in the face" look... Needless to say, she didn't appreciate it when I pointed out the Big Lebowski reference and that she needs to watch better movies :D.
 
I couldn't wait, I blew off work for a few minutes (I'm working from home today anyway) and went out to the garage. I somehow hadn't realised that I didn't have the little plastic spacer in between the main PCB and memory expansion board. They weren't touching or anything but it may have loosened a little. I cut a plastic spacer I had and put a screw through it holding the boards at the correct position. Anyway, I reseated a couple ROMs and pushed on the PLCCs (since I didn't have a way to safely pull them), blew out some dust I found UNDER the SMD chips in question, and cleaned the edge connector with contact cleaner.

I double checked the voltage again, booted it up, and... IT WORKS!!! :D

Thanks guys! Once again, you all rock!

So for my next MK2 problem... can anyone tell me why I suck so bad at MK2 now?!? I mean, it's only been like 15 years, I thought it would be like riding a bike... Then again, I did get 3 concussions in 2 months from bike crashes when I was around 12 or 13 years old. Hmmm, that would be 1992 which is when MK2 came out... coincidence?!? :cool:
 
Could be a coincidence, yes. I have had a few boards over the years acting crazy like yours with no boot issues, and it turned out the be the PLCC chips were loose. The game acts strangely if those aren't JUST quite right in the socket or dirty contacts. Of course, the same could be said about it's pickyness regarding voltage as well.

Either way, glad it's working now and that we could help.
 
your out of practice and the computer can be brutal if you don't play equally as cheap/dirty.

I've been seeing a lot of dirty edge connectors lately that's the only reason i threw that out there.

who knows which of the many it was all that matters is its working now and you can start training again :D
 
your out of practice and the computer can be brutal if you don't play equally as cheap/dirty.

I've been seeing a lot of dirty edge connectors lately that's the only reason i threw that out there.

who knows which of the many it was all that matters is its working now and you can start training again :D

Tron guy told me that you cleaned the edge connector on the Invasion board he sold you and now you have good, sustained audio. Is that correct? I tried the same but mine still cuts out after a few seconds and never returns.
 
I couldn't wait, I blew off work for a few minutes (I'm working from home today anyway) and went out to the garage. I somehow hadn't realised that I didn't have the little plastic spacer in between the main PCB and memory expansion board. They weren't touching or anything but it may have loosened a little. I cut a plastic spacer I had and put a screw through it holding the boards at the correct position. Anyway, I reseated a couple ROMs and pushed on the PLCCs (since I didn't have a way to safely pull them), blew out some dust I found UNDER the SMD chips in question, and cleaned the edge connector with contact cleaner.

I double checked the voltage again, booted it up, and... IT WORKS!!! :D

Thanks guys! Once again, you all rock!

So for my next MK2 problem... can anyone tell me why I suck so bad at MK2 now?!? I mean, it's only been like 15 years, I thought it would be like riding a bike... Then again, I did get 3 concussions in 2 months from bike crashes when I was around 12 or 13 years old. Hmmm, that would be 1992 which is when MK2 came out... coincidence?!? :cool:

MK2 is no fun against the computer as it just cheats. I mean it actually cheats as it knows what button you pressed. It is quite evil. It is only fun against a human. IMHO.


Really MK3 is worse with the cheating, at least beating MK2 is possible without pulling your hair out.
 
MK2 is no fun against the computer as it just cheats. I mean it actually cheats as it knows what button you pressed. It is quite evil. It is only fun against a human. IMHO.

99% of the last 19 years or so, all my MK2 experience has been against the AI. There simply wasn't anyone around that knew how to play the game. When I would find one in the wild, everyone was on some other game and if I DID get a human opponent, I'd beat him unmercifully and he would just leave after the first round/match. I never got to really play anyone in person which resulted in me having to learn all of the AI cheats and how to counteract them.

The game is actually quite easy and can be beaten with any character if you simply know how to exploit the AI's predictability...

 
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I know right? I told her it would "really tie the room together" but in addition to her not catching the Big Lebowski quote, she gave me that "one more word and I'm going to f-ing stab you in the face" look... Needless to say, she didn't appreciate it when I pointed out the Big Lebowski reference and that she needs to watch better movies :D.

Haha yeah we need someone to photoshop a fake article for Better Homes and Gardens or something and be like, "Here you go, TMNT cabs are so in this season." ;)

So for my next MK2 problem... can anyone tell me why I suck so bad at MK2 now?!? I mean, it's only been like 15 years, I thought it would be like riding a bike... Then again, I did get 3 concussions in 2 months from bike crashes when I was around 12 or 13 years old. Hmmm, that would be 1992 which is when MK2 came out... coincidence?!?

Yeah I agree, MKII is a bitch. I tried to play like 30 mins to an hour everyday after I got my MKII and I still hadn't beat it haha. It took me like 20 mins to get to Kintaro and I still got my ass kicked. :D I can feel my skills deteriorating while my MKII is out of commission. I'm determined to get on the high score board though so I won't give up.

Good luck and get on that scoreboard! ^^

99% of the last 19 years or so, all my MK2 experience has been against the AI. There simply wasn't anyone around that knew how to play the game. When I would find one in the wild, everyone was on some other game and if I DID get a human opponent, I'd beat him unmercifully and he would just leave after the first round/match. I never got to really play anyone in person which resulted in me having to learn all of the AI cheats and how to counteract them.

The game is actually quite easy and can be beaten with any character if you simply know how to exploit the AI's predictability...

<<SNIPPY SNIP>>

Yeah after I got frustrated and started looking for strategy vids on Youtube. I got better at beating the AI, though I'm still not 100% good at perfectly predicting all the time. Whenever I could convince my wife to play I would have to pretend not to be so good, but not look as if I'm trying not to be so good either so she'd have a fighting chance and not hit me for insulting her by not even trying haha.
 
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Tron guy told me that you cleaned the edge connector on the Invasion board he sold you and now you have good, sustained audio. Is that correct? I tried the same but mine still cuts out after a few seconds and never returns.

This is correct (i owe him one), it didn't look dirty but i decided to go over it anyways. I was surprised to find that it was actually quite filthy. I let it run for over an hour with audio the entire time on more than one occasion. have you checked the voltage at the chips to make sure it's getting a good 5.1+v (also testing the chip farthest from the edge connector is advised as it's the furthest down the line)

Edit: I also set the time and date and did a full test after this

Have you noticed if it makes a "Pop" before the audio goes out? my buddies got a wolf unit that does that until you go into the test menu. I've been wanting to get an ESR meter to test the main cap on it as i'm thinking that's probably the culprit.

The game is actually quite easy and can be beaten with any character if you simply know how to exploit the AI's predictability.

so true. I hate playing KI and Tekken Tag vs Tighe I feel obligated to let him win occasionally to keep his interest (lol)
 
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