I havent seen many pictures of the inside of a TypeX / TypeX2 case, and i was wondering if it was really just a standard PC with some software and a dongle on it, or if it has a custom motherboard too. Or if anyone has some pictures of the inside, thats nice too
Type X : http://www.system16.com/hardware.php?id=677 Type X+ :http://www.system16.com/hardware.php?id=678 And yes, basicly it's a PC. Games are on HDD.
I know its pc-BASED and it is "basically" a PC. I am just wondering how much of a PC it is... if you could replace the motherboard with a stock PC motherboard, if the videocard is a standard ATI card or not, etc. In other words if you make a ghost image of the drives and get the security module (i presume it uses some sort of USB dongle) would it work?
It probably would work just fine. When i said basicly a PC, i meant " a PC with some security firmware" (At System 16 it even mentions the OS being a customized Windows XP). The videocard are regular ATI's, the motherboard chipset is a regular Intel ( more info HERE ), ... I don't think anyone tried to replace any of the stock parts of the kit, but i'm almost 100% sure they are just regular PC parts, since it wouldn't make sense making custom stuff these days. But there's probably a security thing on it.
I dont know about Type X specifically but I would imagine that unless its a custom BIOS (which it might be), its probobly just a stock PC. The security stuff might be a USB device or a PCI card.
Based off a picture from Flickr I can't locate at the moment, I'm pretty sure the X-2 uses this motherboard with custom branding and blue lacquer: http://www.dfi.com.tw/products/ProductDetails.jsp?productId=6528&mainCategoryId=1&subCategoryId=9#. The one for the Type X is different, but probably made my the same manufacturer. ArcadeOtaku's wiki mentions that the Type X cannot boot a standard OS installation, possibly due to the use of a proprietary MBR. It also mentions that the BIOS is locked with a password that's NOT stored in CMOS memory, meaning that pulling the battery will not reset it. Type X info: http://wiki.arcadeotaku.com/w/Taito_Type_X Type X-2 info: http://wiki.arcadeotaku.com/w/Taito_Type_X²
Custom BIOS that is password-locked and cannot be reset by the usual tricks, custom XP install & software that require very specific hardware or refuse to run (without extensive hacking of dll/exe files), encrypted game data which requires decryption keys stored on a USB dongle to run.... the short version is: no The long version is: yes, with a lot of work. You can already download decrypted games that are hacked to run on standard PCs and there are multiboot drives floating around for the real hardware.
The loaders for the leaked games produce quite a lot of input lag, so personally I'd buy a real TTX input board and use the game's original IO DLLs.
Its a regular pc . the IO board plugs in com2 and needs a +5v. Jvs is rs485 protocol, so its pretty much a rs232 to rs485. Typex2 mobo is a tops main board with taito branding and a locked out BIOS. Funny konami also use the same tops main board for gti club 3. Good thing on the konami is it has stock BIOS. Tops is toshiba brand.