Can a region mod keep an Arcade Card Pro from working?

[goldenband]

I have the following:
[ul][li]region-modded CoreGrafx II[/li][li]Turbo EverDrive 1.x[/li][li]Arcade Card Pro (got a few months ago)[/li][li]Art of Fighting original CD (got a few months ago)[/li][li]burned copy of Wonder Boy III (Taiyo Yuden media burned at low speed)[/li][li]CD-ROM² with IFU, recapped and regeared (got two days ago)[/li][/ul]If I load the Turbo EverDrive with the BIOS for System 1.x or 2.x, I'm able to play Wonder Boy III with no problems, and to see the little cutscene that tells me the Arcade Card is required for Art of Fighting. The CD-ROM² seems to be working perfectly, as far as I can tell.

However, if I use the Arcade Card Pro, it boots with the Super System screen and plays audio CDs, but both WBIII and Art of Fighting fail with a "LOAD ERROR". Art of Fighting usually fails after 5-10 sec., but once it tried to work for a while (30-45 sec.) before failing.

I cleaned the contacts and it made no difference; the Art of Fighting disc itself is immaculate, so I doubt that's the issue. Meanwhile, Wonder Boy III fails immediately (after 2-3 sec. of loading) with the Arcade Card Pro inserted.

Clearly the CD-ROM itself works, so does this suggest that the region mod is interfering with the Arcade Card Pro's operation? Is that even possible/likely? If so, is this a known issue?

I guess I may need to get another, unmodified CoreGrafx unit.

[Keith Courage]

It could be interfering but I doubt it. Do you happen to own a Tennokoe bank card? These can sometimes have issues with certain region mods. Meaning if the tennokoe works then I doubt the region mod would be effecting the arcade pro. I would also assume that a super CD card would have issues as well.

Have you maybe tried backing the card out of the slot some? Some card slots have issues reading cards to where backing it out of the slot slightly takes care of the problem.

[goldenband]

Unfortunately, I don't have one (just a broken Tennokoe 2 ). I'll try backing out the card to see if it helps, though so far all my HuCards have worked (I have 7-8 originals plus the Turbo ED).

Does Wonder Boy III copy any data to the System Card? Is it possible that one of the address lines was improperly connected in the region mod, or has some other issue that's somehow corrupting data transfers from the CD to Arcade Card Pro? (But then, why would the EverDrive be working?)

EDIT: My mistake on the previous paragraph, I'd found a reference that claimed the System Cards 1.0 through 2.1 had 64K RAM, but that seems to be 100% false.

[Keith Courage]

have you had any issues loading up any games with the  turboeverdrive? Typically the old version number one like you have would have some trouble with certain region mods. If that seems to work without any problems then most likely the region mod is okay for your arcade card Pro. But I cannot say for sure.

Version 1, version 2, and version 2.1 CD system cards do not actually have any RAM on them at all.

[goldenband]

have you had any issues loading up any games with the  turboeverdrive? Typically the old version number one like you have would have some trouble with certain region mods. If that seems to work without any problems then most likely the region mod is okay for your arcade card Pro. But I cannot say for sure.

Version 1, version 2, and version 2.1 CD system cards do not actually have any RAM on them at all.

Thanks for this. I haven't had issues with any of the games I've tried (probably around 20-30 different titles). Is there any particular game I should try that's more likely to cause problems?

I did most of my HuCard gaming with the Turbo ED and console set to the US region, though I don't know if that makes a difference. (Obviously the console is set to JP mode when I'm using the Arcade Card Pro.)

I thought I remembered reading that it was the newer versions of the Turbo ED that had trouble with region mods -- am I wrong about that? I thought the 1.x versions were pretty free of issues.

Yeah, I was looking at an old post by Breetai (RIP) that said the system cards had the RAM. He must have just gotten things mixed up, and was thinking of the RAM built in to the console hardware itself.

[Necromancer]

It's possible the Arcade Card is borked.  I'd test it in another system before I'd blame the region mod.

[Keith Courage]

have you had any issues loading up any games with the  turboeverdrive? Typically the old version number one like you have would have some trouble with certain region mods. If that seems to work without any problems then most likely the region mod is okay for your arcade card Pro. But I cannot say for sure.

Version 1, version 2, and version 2.1 CD system cards do not actually have any RAM on them at all.

Thanks for this. I haven't had issues with any of the games I've tried (probably around 20-30 different titles). Is there any particular game I should try that's more likely to cause problems?

I did most of my HuCard gaming with the Turbo ED and console set to the US region, though I don't know if that makes a difference. (Obviously the console is set to JP mode when I'm using the Arcade Card Pro.)

I thought I remembered reading that it was the newer versions of the Turbo ED that had trouble with region mods -- am I wrong about that? I thought the 1.x versions were pretty free of issues.

Yeah, I was looking at an old post by Breetai (RIP) that said the system cards had the RAM. He must have just gotten things mixed up, and was thinking of the RAM built in to the console hardware itself.

This actually depends on the type of region mod performed. Some don't work well with the V1 and some don't work well with V2. You would know if there was an issue though. Typically with a V1 everdrive if the region mod is at fault you would see glitchy looking graphics in games.

Like Necromancer said. It could be a bad arcade card. If you don't have another system to test it on or know anyone nearby with a system then you are welcome to ship the card to me for testing. I'm sure the shipping wouldn't be much for the card only.

[SignOfZeta]

I've certainly seen converters f-up Arcade Card functionality so...I guess my answer is "yes" but it's less likely than the newer the mod. Those old 8 pole switches are probably more problematic than the newer IC mods.

[blueraven]

As people have previously said, I would test the arcade card on another JP system.

Zeta is right. It sounds like you're running a lot of variables in that unit. I'd start with the card, and take Keith Courage up on the offer. If that doesn't work, I'd say its something to do with the region mod. 

[goldenband]

Thanks for the replies, all. Keith, I'm definitely going to take you up on that offer -- PM incoming.

I don't have another JP system, unfortunately, but if the culprit does turn out to be the region mod, perhaps I'll have one soon.

Agreed that there are a lot of variables going on. I don't know who originally performed the region mod or when, though it's cosmetically well done. It uses a flat black switch on the right side of the CoreGrafx II, similar to the kind you find on a power strip, if that helps identify the likely modder.

Does anyone have a suggestion of a HuCard game I might try on the EverDrive to "torture-test" this region mod? I've tried at least 20-25 different games without issue, but maybe I've just been lucky so far and haven't picked a game that's used the same address lines that the Arcade Card Pro uses (?).

BTW my Turbo ED is version 1.1, for the record.

[thesteve]

i know the PCE/CG/CG2 are the only versions having issue with the newer chip region mods, and from what ive seen only on the ED1.x
they worked fine on the ED2.3 and every legit card
as your system has no bios, the system3 screen would not run in the wrong region
the fault described is common for bad cd buffer ram, but would effect non ACD titles

[goldenband]

To give closure on this, the issue did indeed turn out to be my CoreGrafx II's region mod. Apparently it was an older mod that didn't supply quite enough voltage for the Arcade Card Pro to work properly.

Keith Courage was kind enough to fix the issue, and now I'm in business! Had a fun session of Art of Fighting, and am looking forward to checking out more CD-ROM² goodness.

[thesteve]

ah, the 2 chip mod did have a voltage issue