You might have noticed that I do n’t post many repairs here on the blog. Although useful ( and I’m glad people do share their knowledge ) I think they’re pretty dry to read and I do n’t tend to tackle repairs– and when I do, they are n’t always successful! My knowledge of how to diagnose an issue in an arcade is somewhat limited. I can research a problem, follow instructions, solder, and swap things out, but I ca n’t do that very well.
That said, I thought this was an exciting method for sharing.
A great Super Pang Jamma PCB that I purchased a few months ago has been sitting around for some time. In my case last week, I took it out to check if it was functioning, but it only displayed a dark screen. I began searching on the web and went down a rabbit opening to find out why it might be useless.
Designed by Toshihiko Uda and Futoshi Kuwahara, Super Pang was released in 1990 by Mitchell Corporation and released in malls by Capcom, using their equipment. It follows up the enormously popular Pang that was first released a few years before.
Capcom developed a security system that held some of the show’s code in remembrance backed up by an on-board power in an effort to prevent pirates who were cloning Boards at the time.
In reality, encryption keys are necessary for the game to work. The PCB runs the show’s code using the crypto secrets after checking that the encryption code is manifest on startup. The board’s portion that accomplishes all of this ingenious work is contained within a device known as” Kabuki.” When the crypto password is taken out of the table, the chip is disconnected from the power, which wipes the cryptography code. And of course, this makes that part of the show’s script very hard to duplicate.
Although everything is fine, the batteries used to save this code are long deceased, which also means the code has been wiped! We are now 30+ years old!
It’s difficult to say if Capcom was aware that this would occur, but I suppose the shelf life of most video games was months or at most a few years. I guess it was n’t something they had in mind.
Some Capcom game use a similar layout ( as well as other manufacturers ), but it does suggest that if you discover one of these boards using this technology, the power will most likely be dead due to it failing.
But, I figured, this is what has happened to my Super Pang PCB. But what’s the solution? May these boards been’ de-suicided’? The truth it turns out, is a definite yes!
Over the years, people much better than me, have worked on this issue, resulting in the latest advancement of a piece of package called an Infinikey. Hobbyists have improved the style and created Infinikeys that are so simple to use that even an idiot like me can figure out how to use them to restore these worn-out Capcom sheets to life!
So come take a look at my table:
First job is to remove the dead power.
Then, replace the old battery with a new one:
A list of activities that are compatible with the Infinikey is provided on the up. My ROMs are labelled SPE ( Super Pang Europe ), so looking at the list, I can see that I need to set the dip switches to OFF, ON, ON, OFF, OFF.
When the Falls are set properly, I can replace the Kabuki device from the PCB and swap it out for the Infinikey:
Remount the Kabuki chip today so that it can put the Infinikey back on the Circuit:
Consequently. The Jamma table may be reinserted into our Jamma-compatible case. Then, when the original battery died, the crypto keys that were lost were re-injected into the Kabuki microprocessor, and the sport continues to function.
The Inifinikey could still be a continuous fresh PCB part at this time. However, I was unhappy with this because I wanted to possibly switch the Infinikey to a different table and return Super Pang to its shop state. How can we remove the Infinikey without re-wiping the crypto script? Keep in mind that removing the Infinikey right away will cause the Kabuki device to break, causing the cell connection to be disconnected! This will return us to the beginning.
It’s truly a riddle. However, there is a method to get around this. It’s very fiddly, but these goes:
Next, we carefully raise the Kabuki device and Infinikey device from the PCB, and separate the Infinikey:
Spot the Kabuki up on the Board without the Infinikey then. The following power, which stores the code inside the chip, is also attached. The additional power even engages with the device when the Kabuki is again on the PCB.
After the second battery is connected up to the PCB and connected, the next battery will be disconnected, allowing the initial battery to perform the tasks of holding the code:
We should now have a functioning sport, if all has gone smoothly, reminiscent of the 1990 Capcom production run game:
Confession day: It took four failed attempts to remove the recordings! I think when I was removing the recordings, I was shorting the two wires up. The whole process seems quite strong, but even shorting the cell did n’t completely destroy everything. I just had to repeat the process, until I got it right.
Have a look around on collectors boards if you find yourself in the same boat because there are a few guys who make and market Infinikeys. Or that you can purchase them at the Arcade Paradise Shop.
For the manual he provided on how to deal with this, I should bless collection wigsplitta from the Arcade Otaku boards.
Side word, Super Pang is a pretty entertaining puzzle/action sport– check it out if you can.
So there you have it, a small unique this year. Hope someone else will find this useful.
Thanks as constantly for studying!
Tony