New arcade machine owner, any advice?

Hmm, sounds like I'll need to take a look at the slot itself and see what makes it tick.

By the way, do you guys have any reccomendations for arcade-style stools? I'll obviously need something to sit on, but I'd like something that would have been used with the machine in the arcade.

 

Go to one of the arcade suppliers, then. Or try asking an op where they source theirs. They are fairly plain stools, mind you.

Personally, I'd rather have a new one. I think Taito still make them, but they're pretty pricey.

 

This is something to mind when your removing the harness its not difficult though. Just mind what side the power leads need to be on the edge connector. You could shove a small piece of plastic called a key into the connector to make it idiot proof they call it a key it fits into the notch on the edge connector. Or mark with marker or slap a label on it for top or bottom side.

The coin issue can be solved in a few ways.
1:Set the bios for free play if possible (to do this google about your system or game and find a pdf or info about making a free play mode enabled.
2:If you want the nostalgia of a piggy bank you need to research about the type of coin mech your using if it is mechanical AND adjustable google or youtube about adjusting the acceptor to accept your currency if its possible to take it. Just google the model of coin acceptor you have currently you will likely find info. Other wise you might need to buy a new one to work. You can even incorporate the 3rd option which is a free play button into this option which you seem fond of the coin mech idea and having free play.
3: Drill a hole in the coin door for a free credit button. Take your wires that run from your coin door switch and move them to the new button. A fancier solution would be to splice the cable into two so your free credit button can work and your original coin mech as well.
4: You can be lazy for a while and leave the coin door unlocked and activate the switch "short the two wires" by pressing the switch every time you need a credit.

Care: If you haven't already and you want to keep it running with out problems sooner than later. Check your caps for bulges; check your monitor caps. Inspect your board for abnormalities you said you changed the battery thats good. Check your power supplies caps and check the voltages using a multi-meter. Other than that you wont need to much more maintenance. If the contacts are dirty on the edge connectors for the JAMMA and Carts ofc clean them i think you know that already you seem active enough. Joysticks if they get sticky its not hard to fix that just grease them up a bit. The buttons might go out in time but in a home use environment its likely to not happen as quickly. Semitsu and Sanwa are really nice buttons and joys. Changing the Sanwa micro switches isn't difficult at all a child could do it. If the cabinet is a original SNK cab with the little game windows you might have a hard time finding a replacement for the lighting on them apparently they use some funny thing to light them that is not made anymore there are work around for this.

Thats about it that I can think of off my head right now have fun!

Edit: I dont think anyone replied about your question about the joystick dismantling. Yes you can its quite simple to do arcade machines are built to be serviced so pretty much every part can be serviced the buttons can even have the swtiches removed from them. Just youtube about dismantling a joystick of your type. Someone mentioned its likely semitsu? Its not hard i done it a few times and you wont need to do it often at all they are durable things.

 

Thanks for pointing that out! I've just noticed that it would indeed be possible to connect the JAMMA connector upside down! I totally didn't take notice of which side was up originally, so how do I tell which is correct? You mention the power wires, would these be the group of red and black wires on one side of the connector? I'm actually surprised this connector isn't keyed like all the others connectors in the machine.

Hmmm, seems like mine can be adjusted. Can't seem to get it to accept 1 yen coins so far.

 

Once again, it is NOT a JAMMA connector - it is most likely wired for MVS. If you plug a JAMMA board into your MVS cabinet, you will probably damage the amp.

They are usually marked PARTS and SOLDER. The parts side, IF you were connecting a JAMMA board and it was wired correctly, goes the side that has components. The non-parts side is all solder.

Again, you most likely won't be able to use 1 yen coins in your mech unless it has a learning feature. They were never used in cabinets, so nobody bothered to program them.

 

My bad! The "main connector" as the manual calls it. I didn't notice any parts or solder markings on either the connector or the board, but I've noticed that the connector on the board itself is keyed and although the socket itself isn't, there is a row where there's no wires plugged into the contacts. I'd say this is and indication of which way is up, do you agree?

That's true about the 1 yen coins, guess it's free play for me!

 

Sorry guys it was my understanding that the MVS used JAMMA or a form of JAMMA that might have specific NEOGEO pin outs. ANYWAYS yes most certainly your red wires on that harness are power and black are ground IF it is JAMMA They are right next to each other pretty much and apparently people are saying its not??

Then from my experience with my JAMMA harness and research power and ground are isolated to the smaller section keyed (notched) off on the edge connector.


|power/ground| key notch| everything else |

That is how i remember it the power and ground bits are isolated from the controls and i/o pins. As long as i have the power edge of the connector to the power bit on the board there is no way to get it upside down.

Right then with that said i think we are done with the redundant discussion of the edge connector. It might seem overwhelming all this arcade info at first that is how it was for me for a few days but just research and ask questions you will learn it pretty quick.

>>>>OK UPDATE people have a reason to bitch at me YES IT IS JAMMA BUT ITS NOT STRICTLY JAMMA meaning some of your pin outs are in different places (apparently in the I/Os aka your buttons and stuff). BUT taking some quick looks it appears your power pins are all in the same spot as Jamma. So just use the method I mentioned above and you wont get it wrong. (check the link below too so you are familiar with which end is the power end xD) There should be 4 black wires 4 red and 2 yellow.

(Technical stuffs )
The small edge is pins 1,2,3,4,5,6 A,B,C,D,E,F They are used for power in the same pin numbers as the JAMMA Standard pin out. It is as follows :


| 1,Ground 2,Ground 3, 5v+ (red) 4, 5v+ (red) 5, 5v- (not used in MVS) 6, 12v+ (yellow) | KEY | I/Os |
|A,Ground B,Ground C, 5v+ (red) D, 5v+ (red) E, 5v- (not used in MVS) F, 12v+ (yellow) | KEY | I/Os |

I hope this solves some confusion if anyone disagrees with this method or information provided correct me!

(Second Note: MVS does not use the -5v line but according to the note from the source below it should not matter as the MVS should not have traces to use these lines in the first place.)

Source: http://www.hardmvs.com/manuals/Jamma2NeoGeo4SlotPinout.pdf


edit: Lastly before people say i didnt say this. IF your using a stock NeoGeo harness setup in your cab you will need an adapter if you ever want to play standard JAMMA pin out pcb's.

 

Yes, I was thinking I'd like to try running a normal JAMMA game in this cab at some point. In addition to the adapter, I'd also like to get some kind of splitter so I can leave the MVS plugged in.

Hmmm. I'm still not entirely clear on if plugging in the harness is still a hazard for my MVS. I'd probably need to take a closer look at the connector when I get home, but it appeared to be possible to plug it in upside down. From the looks of the diagrams you posted, voltage stuff is on the side of the key with less contacts, so I'd just need to make sure the red and black wires are being connected to this set of contacts.

 

If it's not *strictly* JAMMA, it's not JAMMA. Simple. The specification covers not just the physical connector, but the pinout and power requirements too.

It's a bit like calling your TP ethernet network connectors RJ45.

 

Checked the connector and the harness just now. In one orientation, the "notch" perfectly lines up with a row of contacts that don't have anything wired to them. In the other orientation, the "notch" lines up with some contacts that DO have wires running from them, so obviously this orientation is the wrong one since these wires would be wired up to thin air

I've also gotten the coin mechanism to accept 5 yen coins, I just needed to move a few adjustable parts around and there we go! These coins aren't as common as 1 or 10 yen coins, but I couldn't get the machine to accept 1 yens and the slot itself is too small for a 10. I think this is for the best, obviously I'm not wasting high value coins and the 5 yen coin is my favorite coin