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DARKSOFT CPS1 Multi - Support thread

When reporting issues, could you all please put what setup you're using as this will ultimately help if there are issues.

What A-Board?
What C-Board?

Also any other info unique to your setup, such as the size/brand SD card.

If there's graphical issues, etc. if you have the patience, you could try formatting the card and putting your games back on, or even better try another SD card.

If you want to go the extra length, and have another A or C board, please try the multi with those (don't forget to remove the multi from the A-Board before installing another C-Board otherwise it will flex too much.

Please make sure you've done the basic troubleshooting, such as making sure the stack is tight, all connectors are in place, voltages are right, etc. too
 
Another think to keep in mind when reporting is reporting the game number and the frequency of your setup i.e. dash or no dash.
 
Mitsurugi-w said:
Check the dips for Strider. They are different than most other games. Most likely you have the stop dip on.

Dips are NOT AT ALL STANDARD across the games in CPS1. If you are having issues pull up the dip settings online and verify.
Click to expand...
Thanks @Mitsurugi-w and @Darksoft! I completely forgot about the hardware dip switches being applied to any game you boot up. Yes that dip switch was the problem. I have all the dip switches off for now just for compatibility across all the games and I'll fine tune them as necessary,.

BTW it was a PITA to get at those dip switches with the multi and filter board on. That dip switch extender can't come soon enough @Mitsurugi-w! :D
 
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As far as DIP switches go, I have found that most CPS1 games have defaults like this:

00000000
11000000
00000110

So I'm just making that the "default" on my board. I print out a list for every multi I have and stick it on the board, listing the games in the order they appear on the selector (I group all vertical games to the top in the SD card directory):

sROOoWa.png


On the list, one asterisk means that leaving the dips in my "default" results in a slight change. Something like difficulty down one step, or a slightly different extend. Two asterisks means that it's a pretty large change from the defaults and I should probably adjust before playing that game.
 
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Just some random thoughts regarding the install/setup/usage of the multi. I dont mean to offend anyone that has worked on this project.

I am getting a lot of messages either through AP or on Discord that the manual is a bit lacking in information, and seems rushed. Not everyone following along knows all the details of the hardware/all the options/dips, c board configurations, etc... So there is room for confusion. The manual needs to have a better step-by-step guide with pics of each step, yes I know some stuff is obvious, but it would help tremendously.

I know @ShootTheCore will be doing an install video. So that should alleviate a lot of the installation questions for many. Also, information is spread across a few threads maybe we need to consolidate all this into one sticky post and/or a revised manual?

Most of the issues I have seen happen/been asked about seem to be about the following:
  1. C board-related issues, for some very confusing. Which boards; which revision, in what configuration, battery/no battery, (do you remove the battery) which will run encrypted or decrypted roms. Jumpers or no jumpers, etc...
  2. They missed a step, cause again, not everyone reads through every detail, or they misinterpret a step. A better step-by-step with actual pics would be nice.
  3. Which SD cards/sizes are confirmed working/compatible - I always recommend Samsung
  4. Preparation of the roms - Im telling most to be patient. Either a tool will become available to make this step easier or they will find prepared roms somewhere out there.
  5. Dip settings for all the games. Which work for most, which require specific settings to boot, if any...
  6. What feedback on operation, if any, do the led(s) on the multi specify?
  7. Pinout guides for the different options/connections would help also before people plug things in the wrong way. For the c boards with extra connectors do you need to plug anything into them for functionality, etc...
I think the biggest confusion is happening regarding the C boards though. I have been directing people to post on here whatever their issues are, or if they dont understand something, even if it seems silly.

Hope this helps in revamping the manual to provide a better/detailed/step by step guide that will hopefully alleviate a lot of the questions/issues people are running into.
 
Ok, just a warning to anyone who opted for the longer LCD cable from HSS. I have had my multi set up and ready to go for days, but I couldn't get it to work. It was like it had no power except for 1 green led on the multi board, everything else was dead. It turned out to be a bad/loose crimp on the long LCD cable. I'm an idiot when it comes to alot of this stuff, so after bugging Derick2k for the last few days, he finally figured it out.
Derick2k took alot of time out of his day to help walk me through everything and I can't thank him enough. It's people like him and Darksoft and all the rest (you know who you are :)) that make this stuff possible and I'd just like to toast a (virtual) drink to you all. Thanks again for this amazing piece of hardware and all the help!!!
 
kidrivers said:
Ok, just a warning to anyone who opted for the longer LCD cable from HSS. I have had my multi set up and ready to go for days, but I couldn't get it to work. It was like it had no power except for 1 green led on the multi board, everything else was dead. It turned out to be a bad/loose crimp on the long LCD cable. I'm an idiot when it comes to alot of this stuff, so after bugging Derick2k for the last few days, he finally figured it out.
Derick2k took alot of time out of his day to help walk me through everything and I can't thank him enough. It's people like him and Darksoft and all the rest (you know who you are :)) that make this stuff possible and I'd just like to toast a (virtual) drink to you all. Thanks again for this amazing piece of hardware and all the help!!!
Click to expand...
Glad to help ;)

I think Darksoft personally tests every kit. Most of the issues I have been asked about have been related to roms and the c boards. Thankfully your issue was just a bad "aftermarket" LCD cable :D Bad crimps can easily happen on idc ribbon cables though.
 
kidrivers said:
Ok, just a warning to anyone who opted for the longer LCD cable from HSS. I have had my multi set up and ready to go for days, but I couldn't get it to work. It was like it had no power except for 1 green led on the multi board, everything else was dead. It turned out to be a bad/loose crimp on the long LCD cable. I'm an idiot when it comes to alot of this stuff, so after bugging Derick2k for the last few days, he finally figured it out.
Derick2k took alot of time out of his day to help walk me through everything and I can't thank him enough. It's people like him and Darksoft and all the rest (you know who you are :)) that make this stuff possible and I'd just like to toast a (virtual) drink to you all. Thanks again for this amazing piece of hardware and all the help!!!
Click to expand...

I actually had the same problem with my longer cable from HSS too, but fortunately I happened to test first with the shorter cable so when the longer cable didn’t work I knew that was the issue. Hadn’t done any further testing with the long cable yet but it’s good to know I wasn’t the only one with that problem.
 
I also currently have an issue, the games appear to be loading fine, but when done the screen remains black with no sound regardless of any of the games I tried. Testing in a couple of different cabs is the same result.

C Board being used: 92641CA1 (an unmodified board that I desoldered the battery from)
A Board being used: 89626A-4 12mhz Dash
SD card is the one offered by highscoresave - I used a Mac to transfer the files to it if that matters. It was formatted Fat32 already.

I am guessing I may need a different C Board based on reading the comments here, unless there is something else.
 
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arcadeaction said:
SD card is the one offered by highscoresave - I used a Mac to transfer the files to it if that matters. It was formatted Fat32 already.
Click to expand...

Macs add configurations files to all removeable drives, so called dot files. These have caused issues with Darksoft multis in the past. Try removing these files with dot_clean in terminal.
 
Derick2k said:
Glad to help ;)

I think Darksoft personally tests every kit. Most of the issues I have been asked about have been related to roms and the c boards. Thankfully your issue was just a bad "aftermarket" LCD cable :D Bad crimps can easily happen on idc ribbon cables though.
Click to expand...
Every kit is tested with 4 games, to make sure that both CPS1, CPS1.5, 3P/4P and Spinner work properly. If it doesn't work, there is 99.9% probabilities that the problem comes from another element, like a new LCD cable, bad A or C board, etc.
 
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nem said:
Macs add configurations files to all removeable drives, so called dot files. These have caused issues with Darksoft multis in the past. Try removing these files with dot_clean in terminal.
Click to expand...
Got it working ok now. Issue was due to using a Mac to load files. I was a bit wondering about that and a dot_clean in terminal seems to have solved it. Thanks
 
A few other issues I'd come across, not sure if othes are experiencing these or if just my setup or DIP setting etc:

-no sound on CPS 1.5 games through JAMMA edge, only with RCA out
-Muscle Bomber and Sat Night Slammasters do not load, either show a black screen, or show an ADDRESS ERROR 000FFF5 message
-Strider not loading
-Ghouls and Ghosts does not coin up with a service button, but does with a coin door button
 
arcadeaction said:
A few other issues I'd come across, not sure if othes are experiencing these or if just my setup or DIP setting etc:

-no sound on CPS 1.5 games through JAMMA edge, only with RCA out
-Muscle Bomber and Sat Night Slammasters do not load, either show a black screen, or show an ADDRESS ERROR 000FFF5 message
-Strider not loading
-Ghouls and Ghosts does not coin up with a service button, but does with a coin door button
Click to expand...

I will check again - but I know that C&D ran with on my setup with sound out the JAMMA edge - that is a CPS1.5 game right?

Matt
 
arcadeaction said:
A few other issues I'd come across, not sure if othes are experiencing these or if just my setup or DIP setting etc:

-no sound on CPS 1.5 games through JAMMA edge, only with RCA out
-Muscle Bomber and Sat Night Slammasters do not load, either show a black screen, or show an ADDRESS ERROR 000FFF5 message
-Strider not loading
-Ghouls and Ghosts does not coin up with a service button, but does with a coin door button
Click to expand...
did you change the PAL on the A Board?
 
Darksoft said:
did you change the PAL on the A Board?
Click to expand...
C&D is a 1.5 game yes.

The PAL was changed per the instructions. I'll remove it and reseat it and double check that step again. The direction of the LCD cable bend received covers the screen when plugged in, and the part that connects to the B board also bends over top of the LCD brightness pot. It is keyed so I'm not able to put it in the other way. Interestingly the extension cable I'd bought is also wired that way. Not sure if that matters other than being a bit ergonomically odd but it was different than the photos I'd seen of other setups so thought I would mention.

Edit: was able to reverse LCD cable around, and it fit.
 
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Try with the original cable first. That one is tested to work.
 
Strider now working.

-DIP setting adjusted to the suggested default a few posts above.
-Was able to reverse the LCD cable. I had thought it would only insert the one way, there's no mention of the order in the manual so maybe this doesn't affect performance either.

Just trying to figure out what else I might be doing as to why the CPS 1.5 has no JAMMA sound and Slammasters and variants do not load.

The CPS 1.5 volume knob seems to adjust volume levels when using RCA plugs, but does not currently affect sound through JAMMA edge. In the manual it talks about that knob being used for CPS 1.5 volume through JAMMA edge though.
 
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