Megatouch XL CD-ROM to Hard Drive

[orizzle]

I recently acquired an XL cabinet (Super 5000).  Runs off a CD-ROM drive but is incredibly slow and from the sounds of it, I believe the CD drive is going.  I did some Googling and found some people attempting to install the software onto a hard drive but without success.  Does anyone know if this has been pulled off successfully?  If not, I may attempt it myself and post back with my results.

[yotsuya]

Do a search on this topic on klov. I'm pretty sure you'll find some luck. I ended up picking a pre-configured hard drive up for mine to replace the CD ROM drive, and it works great.

Sent from my SM-G386T using Tapatalk

[obcd]

It's possible to use a harddrive. I use a compact flash card with a cf2ide adapter.
From the Merit pc point of view, it's identical to a harddrive.
I once started a tutorial for someone who PM'ed me here with the same question.
He suddenly disappeared, so I never finished and posted the stuff.
First, you will need to copy the cd contents in a folder on your pc.
It's just a regular copy of all the stuff, no need to create an iso.
I used freedos on the compact flash card and booted from there. It gave me more options to experiment with the system.
The Merit XL original boots from a flash disk on it's io card. You can disable that with a jumper on the io board.
Removing JP1 normally does the trick.
Drive letter D was a small ramdisk
Drive letter F was the cdrom drive. I used the freedos subst or assign command to point the folder with the contents of the cd rom to that drive letter. I am sure I can dig up more details if needed.

[orizzle]

Thanks for the info. I wound up playing around with this myself today and got it working.

I installed MS-DOS 6.22 on another machine, created 4 partitions (C, D, E, F), and copied the contents of the CD-ROM to F and the autoexec.bat/config.sys from the flash memory from the ioboard. A couple tweaks and it's running like a champ.

Much faster and the touchscreen even seems more responsive.

[DaddyLongLegs]

It's possible to use a harddrive. I use a compact flash card with a cf2ide adapter.
From the Merit pc point of view, it's identical to a harddrive.
I once started a tutorial for someone who PM'ed me here with the same question.
He suddenly disappeared, so I never finished and posted the stuff.
First, you will need to copy the cd contents in a folder on your pc.
It's just a regular copy of all the stuff, no need to create an iso.
I used freedos on the compact flash card and booted from there. It gave me more options to experiment with the system.
The Merit XL original boots from a flash disk on it's io card. You can disable that with a jumper on the io board.
Removing JP1 normally does the trick.
Drive letter D was a small ramdisk
Drive letter F was the cdrom drive. I used the freedos subst or assign command to point the folder with the contents of the cd rom to that drive letter. I am sure I can dig up more details if needed.

Would you be able to post this guide? Does it require me being able to dump the contents of the socketed chips?

If you could post a step-by-step guide, that would be incredible. I don't want this machine to die on me.

Definitely dig up more details, please

[orizzle]

Do you have a USB IDE external hard drive enclosure? I could probably send you my XL 5000 image, and you would just need to copy your CD over to replace my files.

[DaddyLongLegs]

Do you have a USB IDE external hard drive enclosure? I could probably send you my XL 5000 image, and you would just need to copy your CD over to replace my files.

I actually do have one of those. That is awfully generous of you. So all I would need to do is download your image, dump it to an IDE hard drive, and paste my CD into the hard drive somewhere?

[orizzle]

Yeah, I'll PM you a link to my hard drive image.  Download and extract it (important - do not leave it as a zip file).

You'll need to get a program called USB Image Tool: http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download

When you run it, go into the Options tab and tick "Show non-removable devices (USB hard disk drives)" and then you should see your external drive.  Click it in the left pane.  Click "Restore" and open the image file (should be a .img file since you extracted the .zip) and let it write to the drive.

When it's done writing, you should see 4 more drive letters appear in "My Computer" or Windows Explorer.  Find the drive with all my XL 5000 files on it and delete them all.  Then copy the contents of your CD to the root of this drive.  If all goes well, you should be able to boot from the drive.

There are some jumpers on the ioboard that you might have to play with.  There are 2 jumpers on mine side-by-side.  One is labeled NVRAM and I can't honestly recall what the other one is.  But I believe my jumper on the NVRAM part is on, and the one beside it is off.  Pulling the jumper off the other one will prevent the machine from trying to boot to the ROM-DOS image that's on the flash memory.

Good luck

[DaddyLongLegs]

Yeah, I'll PM you a link to my hard drive image.  Download and extract it (important - do not leave it as a zip file).

You'll need to get a program called USB Image Tool: http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download

When you run it, go into the Options tab and tick "Show non-removable devices (USB hard disk drives)" and then you should see your external drive.  Click it in the left pane.  Click "Restore" and open the image file (should be a .img file since you extracted the .zip) and let it write to the drive.

When it's done writing, you should see 4 more drive letters appear in "My Computer" or Windows Explorer.  Find the drive with all my XL 5000 files on it and delete them all.  Then copy the contents of your CD to the root of this drive.  If all goes well, you should be able to boot from the drive.

There are some jumpers on the ioboard that you might have to play with.  There are 2 jumpers on mine side-by-side.  One is labeled NVRAM and I can't honestly recall what the other one is.  But I believe my jumper on the NVRAM part is on, and the one beside it is off.  Pulling the jumper off the other one will prevent the machine from trying to boot to the ROM-DOS image that's on the flash memory.

Good luck

Thanks so much! I got your PM. I also PMed you the ISO you requested.

Unfortunately my machine won't boot with the IDE hard drive installed. Firstly, it makes the speakers have some really terrible crackling. I am not sure why. Possibly the additional power load? And it won't boot, it keeps rebooting right after it starts up. My guess is that since this is such an old PC, it doesn't know how to handle a 250GB hard drive (it was the only IDE hard drive I had available).

[orizzle]

Do you see messages like starting MS-DOS? The image I sent you was only 1gb...I think even with the old ass bios on those motherboards, it should boot because it doesn't need the rest of the space. I looked at the ISO you sent me. There is no megacdll.exe in the root like on my CD.  I'm guessing the startup sequence is different.

[DaddyLongLegs]

Do you see messages like starting MS-DOS? The image I sent you was only 1gb...I think even with the old ass bios on those motherboards, it should boot because it doesn't need the rest of the space. I looked at the ISO you sent me. There is no megacdll.exe in the root like on my CD.  I'm guessing the startup sequence is different.

I do not see anything about starting MS-DOS. It starts rebooting endlessly as soon as the machine turns on. It barely gets to the part where it lists the devices.

You got me thinking though and I saw this on my disc inside LAUNCHIT.BAT

:runit
d:
f:\delall
copy f:\exec\megacdll.exe d:\
copy f:\thefiles.dat d:\
megacdll
if not exist d:\escape f:\reboot.exe


Could this be my problem?

[orizzle]

You should at least see the startup messages like it's booting into DOS. Are you sure the hard drive is being detected?

[mahkeymike]

There is jumpers on the IOboard you need change so it boots from hard drive instead of CD.

[obcd]

Have you tried cleaning the finger contacts on the IO board?
They are known for bad contacts. As the sound chip is also on that io board, it could explain those issues as well.
I don't think the mobo will recognise a 250GB harddrive. Basically, if you are able to go into bios setup, you could see if the harddrive is recognised.
My PM might not be to the point, as I only noticed these forum topics afterwards.

You should be able to set floppy drive A to none in the bios setup. I don't think it will make a difference.

[DaddyLongLegs]

You should at least see the startup messages like it's booting into DOS. Are you sure the hard drive is being detected?

If I do not plug in the hard drive, it says it's booting into "ROM-DOS". If I *do* plug in the hard drive, if I set the jumpers on the hard drive to limit the drive to 2GB, it goes through the motions but freezes right before it should say "Datalight Pages Memory Disk Installed as Drive C:". The BIOS will in fact show the hard drive name just fine.

If I plug in the hard drive and just set the jumpers to "slave" or "master" the machine just keeps rebooting like crazy within 2 seconds of powering on.

In both scenarios, the speakers make awful noises that are not there when there is no power going to the hard drive. I powered the hard drive on a different power supply and it still refused to boot, but the awful sound from the speakers went away.

You should at least see the startup messages like it's booting into DOS. Are you sure the hard drive is being detected?

The BIOS does show the hard drive while booting if I have the jumpers on the hard drive set to limit the hard drive to 2GB. If I do not have the jumpers set that way, the machine won't even boot with the hard drive in.

Have you tried cleaning the finger contacts on the IO board?
They are known for bad contacts. As the sound chip is also on that io board, it could explain those issues as well.

I did clean the contacts. It is funny you mention that because before cleaning the contacts, I would get a "PLEASE INSERT BOOT DISC" error like 80% of the time. Now that it's cleaned, I get this error instead.

I actually completely got rid of the "riser" board and I just plug both boards into each other directly. This is the full upright Megatouch, and I can put the machine back together with no riser board, so I am not even sure why they included it with this model.

There is jumpers on the IOboard you need change so it boots from hard drive instead of CD.

Which one?

[mahkeymike]

There is jumpers on the IOboard you need change so it boots from hard drive instead of CD.

Which one?

JP1 must be removed i believe.

[DaddyLongLegs]

There is jumpers on the IOboard you need change so it boots from hard drive instead of CD.

Which one?

JP1 must be removed i believe.

If that's the one right next to the NVRAM, yeah I did that. If I leave it in I get "Not ready error reading drive A" which is why I want to bypass everything and just boot from the hard drive. If I pull that jumper out, I get the errors mentioned before.

[obcd]

So, in bios you can set both floppy drives to none?
You can set the boot order as C first, A afterwards?
With the jumper installed, what error do you get?
Without the jumper and a harddisk (limited to 2 GB), what behavour do you get?
Sorry to ask again, but with 2 threads going, it's confusing.

[DaddyLongLegs]

So, in bios you can set both floppy drives to none?
You can set the boot order as C first, A afterwards?
With the jumper installed, what error do you get?
Without the jumper and a harddisk (limited to 2 GB), what behavour do you get?
Sorry to ask again, but with 2 threads going, it's confusing.

Don't apologize, you have no idea how much I appreciate you replying to me.

I can set the floppy drive to none and swap the boot order between A and C easily. There is no difference between any of those options though. I get the same errors regardless.

With the jumper I get the error of "Not ready error reading drive A". Without the jumper I get to the part where it gives me the PCI device listing and it stalls there forever (right before it should say "Datalight Paged Memory Disk Installed to C: / Starting ROM DOS"

[DaddyLongLegs]

Yeah, I'll PM you a link to my hard drive image.  Download and extract it (important - do not leave it as a zip file).

You'll need to get a program called USB Image Tool: http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download

When you run it, go into the Options tab and tick "Show non-removable devices (USB hard disk drives)" and then you should see your external drive.  Click it in the left pane.  Click "Restore" and open the image file (should be a .img file since you extracted the .zip) and let it write to the drive.

When it's done writing, you should see 4 more drive letters appear in "My Computer" or Windows Explorer.  Find the drive with all my XL 5000 files on it and delete them all.  Then copy the contents of your CD to the root of this drive.  If all goes well, you should be able to boot from the drive.

There are some jumpers on the ioboard that you might have to play with.  There are 2 jumpers on mine side-by-side.  One is labeled NVRAM and I can't honestly recall what the other one is.  But I believe my jumper on the NVRAM part is on, and the one beside it is off.  Pulling the jumper off the other one will prevent the machine from trying to boot to the ROM-DOS image that's on the flash memory.

Good luck

OK so I got my compact flash card and now for some reason your guide doesn't work for it.

I followed the exact same steps as I did for the hard drive. The only difference is now it's a Compact Flash card. When I am done restoring the image, only one hard drive letter shows up. It has the MS-DOS files in it and is around 50MB. There are no other drive letters and no way to access the partition/drive that has your Megatouch folder in it. Do you know why this could be?

[orizzle]

It's because Windows is crap. No really.

Windows won't recognize multiple partitions on a removable drive. Use your cf ide adapter in the external hard drive and they should show up.

[DaddyLongLegs]

I am so glad this forum is back!

It's because Windows is crap. No really.

Windows won't recognize multiple partitions on a removable drive. Use your cf ide adapter in the external hard drive and they should show up.

 I received a CF to IDE adapter and sadly what you said is not working. In an external USB enclosure it still will only show one hard drive. My Megatouch will not boot with it plugged in    

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[DaddyLongLegs]

I don't know if this can be causing it but...

my 1GB CF card will show up in USB Image Tool if I check "Show non-removable devices" as your instructions state. However, I cannot use this card because it's too small for your image.

If I put in my 2GB CF card, the device shows up EVEN IF I DON'T check  "Show non-removable devices"

Why would this be? And could this be why I am having this problem?

[obcd]

It all depends upon how the cf card was partitionned. Every partition get's a number that identifies what type of partition it is. Removable partitions have a different number compared to fixed ones. If you use the image tool, it will overwrite the master boot record and partition table. Due to that, the CF partitions should behave identical to those the image came from. In fact, a 2Gig CF card can suddenly claim it's only 1Gig if the image came from a 1Gig.

Have you experimented with different harddisk settings on the megatouch bios. You have normal, LBA and large. If that's set incorrectly, the mobo won't boot with your cf card.
Is your cf card recognised as harddisk in the bios startup screen?

I had a CF that refused to boot as well. I never really examined why it was the case, but it looked like my dos was calculating the wrong LBA sector number. It was a 512MB card so I never really examined it any further.

If your CF 2 ide adapter is having a master slave jumper setting, make sure you set it to master.

I have 1 Gig card that should work. I might be able to image it and upload it somewhere for you if orizzle his image keeps refusing to work.  (But prefer not 2 as it's a lot of work)

[DaddyLongLegs]

It all depends upon how the cf card was partitionned. Every partition get's a number that identifies what type of partition it is. Removable partitions have a different number compared to fixed ones. If you use the image tool, it will overwrite the master boot record and partition table. Due to that, the CF partitions should behave identical to those the image came from. In fact, a 2Gig CF card can suddenly claim it's only 1Gig if the image came from a 1Gig.

Have you experimented with different harddisk settings on the megatouch bios. You have normal, LBA and large. If that's set incorrectly, the mobo won't boot with your cf card.
Is your cf card recognised as harddisk in the bios startup screen?

I had a CF that refused to boot as well. I never really examined why it was the case, but it looked like my dos was calculating the wrong LBA sector number. It was a 512MB card so I never really examined it any further.

If your CF 2 ide adapter is having a master slave jumper setting, make sure you set it to master.

I have 1 Gig card that should work. I might be able to image it and upload it somewhere for you if orizzle his image keeps refusing to work.  (But prefer not 2 as it's a lot of work)

Well I would greatly appreciate it if you could upload the 1gb image. The reason being that my 2gb cf card shows up whether or not I click the checkbox  "Show non-removable devices" as per the instructions, but the 1gb does not (it only shows up when clicking  "Show non-removable devices" which is what the instructions say should happen. Unfortunately I can't try it on my 1gb CF card because the image that was given to me is 1.5gb for some reason.

Yep it shows up as a hard drive on the Megatouch just fine. It won't boot it though. it goes through the motions but freezes right before it should say "Datalight Pages Memory Disk Installed as Drive C:". The BIOS will in fact show the hard drive name just fine.

[DaddyLongLegs]

Oh and before I forget, even if the megatouch WOULD finally boot this card, it wouldn't do me any good because there's no way for me to write my CD's files to the CF card and replace the files from his CD's folder because my Windows will NOT show any folder/drive besides the 52mb DOS drive/folder. I can't even get access to the folder to overwrite his files!

Keep in mind I do not have this problem with an actual 3.5" IDE hard drive; only when trying to do this with a CF and adapter! So confusing!

[obcd]

Datalight Pages Memory Disk Installed as Drive C: should only appear if the romdos flashdisk on the io adapter is enabled. You should disable it if you intend to use and boot from a compact flash or harddisk. Do you have a location where I could upload the image? You can pm it if you don't want to make it public. Maybe it will be small enough to find my own upload location. Just give me a little time for this. I use the dos subst command to create the extra drive letters as folders in the only cf partition. So, you shouldn't have your problem with the other partitions in dos. 

[DaddyLongLegs]

Datalight Pages Memory Disk Installed as Drive C: should only appear if the romdos flashdisk on the io adapter is enabled. You should disable it if you intend to use and boot from a compact flash or harddisk. Do you have a location where I could upload the image? You can pm it if you don't want to make it public. Maybe it will be small enough to find my own upload location. Just give me a little time for this. I use the dos subst command to create the extra drive letters as folders in the only cf partition. So, you shouldn't have your problem with the other partitions in dos.

I sent you a PM with the image. Thank you so so much!

[DaddyLongLegs]

So I figured out the issue with my CF  card. For some reason the 2GB Trendnet wouldn't allow me to see the drives after restoring the image, but I just got a 2GB Kingston (one with the white flower on it) and that one did! Who knew there were differences in CF cards like that?

Anyway unfortunately my Megatouch XL still will not boot. I am having the same problem. The  machine just stalls at around the time when "Booting ROM-DOS" normally comes up. Yes I have removed the jumper so it does not try to boot ROM-DOS. I have the card set up perfectly like in the image, and it shows up fine as a hard drive in the BIOS. What else could be going on?  I really want to get this machine working

[DaddyLongLegs]

OK messing with the LBA settings worked. It boots to DOS, however I get an error of "Invalid drive specification" and am then left at a C:

It seems as though in the DOS folder of the CF card is a LAUNCHIT.BAT file and if I open it in notepad it says:

:runit
d:
f:\delall
copy f:\exec\megacdll.exe d:\
copy f:\thefiles.dat d:\
megacdll
if not exist d:\escape f:\reboot.exe


So my guess is that when it tries to launch megacdll.exe it cannot.

Maybe DOS isn't seeing the partitions for some reason? I tried to browse every drive letter besides C: and it would not let me.

Please help!

[obcd]

I assume you have a keyboard connected to the megatouch computer.

Create 2 folders on the c dirive

mkdir c:\ramdisk
mkdir c:\megat
In the autoexec.bat, add the following

subst d: c:\ramdisk
subst f: d:\megat

Copy all the 'megatouch cd' stuff in that megat folder.

Sorry for letting you down with the image (until know). Other priorities in the way.

Maybe you will need to increase the partition size of the C partition. No need for other partitions on the cf card.

Make sure the subst command exists and is reachable. Maybe the freedos version can be used if it's missing.

[DaddyLongLegs]

I assume you have a keyboard connected to the megatouch computer.

Create 2 folders on the c dirive

mkdir c:\ramdisk
mkdir c:\megat
In the autoexec.bat, add the following

subst d: c:\ramdisk
subst f: d:\megat

Copy all the 'megatouch cd' stuff in that megat folder.

Sorry for letting you down with the image (until know). Other priorities in the way.

Maybe you will need to increase the partition size of the C partition. No need for other partitions on the cf card.

Make sure the subst command exists and is reachable. Maybe the freedos version can be used if it's missing.

Hi, I do have a keyboard attached. 

Just so I got this right, you are saying I should *NOT* have four partitions on the CF like what I get from the image provided by orizzle? I should just have 1?

Also where in the autoexec.bat should I add those commands? Here is my autoexec.bat:

Code: [Select]

@echo off
rem - Reset output ports
rstports

rem - Load DataLite CDROM extensions
MSCDEX.EXE  /D:banana /L:R

rem Burn In Test will run when DS2 Switch #2 is on at boot up. mda 3-13-97
burn_in

rem Attempt ELOGraphics load
nomouse
elodev 2310,1,9600 -c139,4144,3995,90,1,255
if errorlevel 2 goto done1
if errorlevel 1 goto LoadMT
:done1
mmmerit -m2 -c- -b-
goto done
rem Attempt MicroTouch load
:LoadMT
nomouse -x
mtconfig /C1 /I4 /B9600
dostouch
tchctl2
:done

rem - Check for 2 button clear and/or CD clean
2butclr

rem --- Start up the XL program
deltree /y d:\
copy f:\megacdll.exe d:\
copy f:\thefiles.dat d:\
d:
megacdll


[obcd]

Yes, only one partition is enough. Since you say that the megatouch isn't seeing the other partitions, it should fix your issue.

You will need some partitionning software to delete the extra partitions (if they exist) and to increase the size of your one partition so that the mega cd files fit in.

In your autoexec, remark the MSCDEX line (as you don't have the cdrom connected anymore). You can place the subst commands there. You could als add a
path= %PATH%;c:\dos\xxx before those subst commands if you have subst in a c:\dos\xxx folder.

After the subst commands, you should have a d drive and an f drive. The f drive should have all the megatouch files.

For windows, you could use paragon partition manager free to play with the partitions on your compact flash card. In linux, you can use gparted for that. (You have to do that on a windows pc and not on the megatouch one.

Maybe the buildin windows disk manager could do the job as well. (Pc managment...  storage....disk managment...)

On recent windows (7, 8 , 10) you will likely need to run the program as administrator. Even done so, some card readers can deny access to a partitionning program.

Just be very carefull not to mess with your windows system partitions.

[DaddyLongLegs]

Yes, only one partition is enough. Since you say that the megatouch isn't seeing the other partitions, it should fix your issue.

You will need some partitionning software to delete the extra partitions (if they exist) and to increase the size of your one partition so that the mega cd files fit in.

In your autoexec, remark the MSCDEX line (as you don't have the cdrom connected anymore). You can place the subst commands there. You could als add a
path= %PATH%;c:\dos\xxx before those subst commands if you have subst in a c:\dos\xxx folder.

After the subst commands, you should have a d drive and an f drive. The f drive should have all the megatouch files.

For windows, you could use paragon partition manager free to play with the partitions on your compact flash card. In linux, you can use gparted for that. (You have to do that on a windows pc and not on the megatouch one.

Maybe the buildin windows disk manager could do the job as well. (Pc managment...  storage....disk managment...)

On recent windows (7, 8 , 10) you will likely need to run the program as administrator. Even done so, some card readers can deny access to a partitionning program.

Just be very carefull not to mess with your windows system partitions.

OK thank you. I did exactly as you said but unfortunately I get the error "PRESS A KEY TO REBOOT" and then of course the Megatouch simply reboots. Did I screw something up in my autoexec.bat? Here it is with your recommended changes:

Code: [Select]

@echo off
rem - Reset output ports
rstports

rem - Load DataLite CDROM extensions
rem MSCDEX.EXE  /D:banana /L:R
path= %PATH%;c:\dos\
subst d: c:\ramdisk
subst f: d:\megat

rem Burn In Test will run when DS2 Switch #2 is on at boot up. mda 3-13-97
burn_in

rem Attempt ELOGraphics load
nomouse
elodev 2310,1,9600 -c139,4144,3995,90,1,255
if errorlevel 2 goto done1
if errorlevel 1 goto LoadMT
:done1
mmmerit -m2 -c- -b-
goto done
rem Attempt MicroTouch load
:LoadMT
nomouse -x
mtconfig /C1 /I4 /B9600
dostouch
tchctl2
:done

rem - Check for 2 button clear and/or CD clean
2butclr



rem --- Start up the XL program
deltree /y d:\
copy f:\megacdll.exe d:\
copy f:\thefiles.dat d:\
d:
megacdll

Please let me know if I messed anything up that would be causing this error.

[obcd]

I messed something up

The second line should read
subst f: c:\megat

So, it's c instead of d

Also, make sure the megat folder and ramdisk folder exist on your C
mkdir c:\megat
mkdir c:\ramdisk

after the subst commands, you might also add
del d:\*.*
since d is a ramdisk, upon a reboot, it will be empty.

don't forget to put your cd rom files and folders in the c:\megat folder

If you put a rem in front of the last line of the autoexec.bat file, do you get a dos prompt?

rem megacdll

If so, check if you have a d drive and f drive.

You can manually start the program by typing megacdll.

Sorry for the mistake.

[DaddyLongLegs]

I messed something up

The second line should read
subst f: c:\megat

So, it's c instead of d

Also, make sure the megat folder and ramdisk folder exist on your C
mkdir c:\megat
mkdir c:\ramdisk

after the subst commands, you might also add
del d:\*.*
since d is a ramdisk, upon a reboot, it will be empty.

don't forget to put your cd rom files and folders in the c:\megat folder

If you put a rem in front of the last line of the autoexec.bat file, do you get a dos prompt?

rem megacdll

If so, check if you have a d drive and f drive.

You can manually start the program by typing megacdll.

Sorry for the mistake.

OK so is "mkdir c:\megat" supposed to be somewhere in my autoexec.bat? Because if so, you did not mention it being missing was a problem. I thought you were just telling me how to make directories in DOS. I created those folders in Windows. If that is supposed to be somewhere in my autoexec.bat, please let me know. Anyway I just tried again with your proposed changes and I just get the same "PRESS A KEY TO REBOOT" error.

Please let me know what changes I need to make to my latest autoexec.bat

Code: [Select]

@echo off
rem - Reset output ports
rstports

rem - Load DataLite CDROM extensions
rem MSCDEX.EXE  /D:banana /L:R
path= %PATH%;c:\dos\
mkdir c:\megat
mkdir c:\ramdisk
subst d: c:\ramdisk
subst f: c:\megat
del d:\*.*

rem Burn In Test will run when DS2 Switch #2 is on at boot up. mda 3-13-97
burn_in

rem Attempt ELOGraphics load
nomouse
elodev 2310,1,9600 -c139,4144,3995,90,1,255
if errorlevel 2 goto done1
if errorlevel 1 goto LoadMT
:done1
mmmerit -m2 -c- -b-
goto done
rem Attempt MicroTouch load
:LoadMT
nomouse -x
mtconfig /C1 /I4 /B9600
dostouch
tchctl2
:done

rem - Check for 2 button clear and/or CD clean
2butclr



rem --- Start up the XL program
deltree /y d:\
copy f:\megacdll.exe d:\
copy f:\thefiles.dat d:\
d:
megacdll

Please note that I did add the mkdir commands but I have no idea if I was supposed to or  if they are in the wrong place. Thank you!

[obcd]

The mkdir commands should not be in your autoexec.bat file.
You only needed to execute them once to create the folders on your compact flash card.
If the folders exist, the mkdir commands will simply print an error on the screen and move on to the next instruction, so they are not your problem.
I am a bit confused by your "PRESS A KEY TO REBOOT" message. Is your machine booting into dos? It's the kind of message you would expect when no boot device is found. If you remark the last line of your autoexec.bat file, does it go to the dos prompt?

So, change megacdll into echo megacdll (in your autoexec.bat)
It should boot into a
d:\>
prompt
If you than press megacdll <enter> it should start the game.

 

[DaddyLongLegs]

The mkdir commands should not be in your autoexec.bat file.
You only needed to execute them once to create the folders on your compact flash card.
If the folders exist, the mkdir commands will simply print an error on the screen and move on to the next instruction, so they are not your problem.
I am a bit confused by your "PRESS A KEY TO REBOOT" message. Is your machine booting into dos? It's the kind of message you would expect when no boot device is found. If you remark the last line of your autoexec.bat file, does it go to the dos prompt?

So, change megacdll into echo megacdll (in your autoexec.bat)
It should boot into a
d:\>
prompt
If you than press megacdll <enter> it should start the game.

 

OK it does not seem to be booting into DOS.

When I format my CF card with the image sent to me by the other poster, it boots into DOS.   Using your method is not getting me into DOS. Maybe the CF card has to be defined as a "boot device" or something? It is simply formatted to fat16.

Here is the file list of all the files on my CF card, maybe you can spot something wrong?



In the DOS folder are the DOS files.

[obcd]

It's impossible to know from the files if it boots or not. If you just formatted the cf card in windows, it won't boot.

In early dos days, you booted from floppy and ran the fdisk command to create partitions on your disk (cf card in this case) You had to make 1 partition active that became the boot partition.

Next, you had to format the partition.

Third, you needed to run sys c: which transferred the 2 hidden sys files and the commmand.com to the harddisk. If I remember well, the 2 hidden sys files needed to be on a specific location of the harddisk. (You couldn't just copy them over)

After this, the harddisk became bootable.

I see no other option anymore besides providing my bootable image. It's a bit of a chicken egg story. Without a bootable medium, you can't make the compact flash partition bootable.. 

[ed12]

ok I have a question if I may
I get that windows cannot do this
but could the @ drop to cmd prompt and do it ?
or is best to boot his computer to dos and do the subsets ?

ed

[DaddyLongLegs]

It's impossible to know from the files if it boots or not. If you just formatted the cf card in windows, it won't boot.

In early dos days, you booted from floppy and ran the fdisk command to create partitions on your disk (cf card in this case) You had to make 1 partition active that became the boot partition.

Next, you had to format the partition.

Third, you needed to run sys c: which transferred the 2 hidden sys files and the commmand.com to the harddisk. If I remember well, the 2 hidden sys files needed to be on a specific location of the harddisk. (You couldn't just copy them over)

After this, the harddisk became bootable.

I see no other option anymore besides providing my bootable image. It's a bit of a chicken egg story. Without a bootable medium, you can't make the compact flash partition bootable..

OK could you please, please provide me with your bootable image when you get a chance?

[obcd]

Ok. let's try again.

Convert a megatouch XL from cdrom to harddisk or compact flash.

Needed:
A harddisk with pata (ide) interface (Something between 1 and 10 Gig should do) or
A compact flash card of at least 1 Gigabyte and a compact flash 2 ide adapter.
A method to transfer an image to that cf card or harddisk. (A usb cf cardreader or usb 2 ide (pata) harddisk enclosure)
A program to transfer a raw image to a disk.
The files from your original cd disk. You can simply copy all contents of the cdrom to a folder.

The work:

Get my freedos bootable image.

http://www.mediafire.com/download/9w93x1vbjzaq959/megaxl_1g.zip

It's based upon freedos, so it doesn't contain any copyrighted material. (That's why I post the link here)
unzip that image to a folder. It should become an image file of nearly 1Gig (A bit smaller)

Transfer the image to your destination harddisk or cf card. Be carefull not to choose your windows drive as it will wipe out all it's contents. (I often use winhex for that. The raspberry pi website has some tools for that as well.)

remove and re insert the cf card or drive. It should come up as a drive letter.

copy all the cdrom files and folders to the mega folder of that drive letter.

Install the disk or cf card with adapter in your megatouch. Do a quick pray to your God and hope it boots...

My megatouch bios settings has all harddisks set to auto and no floppy's installed.

The drive detection is set to LBA capacity 1025
CYL 993 HEADS 32 and SECTORS 63

My mobo is a Telco.

Good luck.

[ed12]

my god that is simple
thank-u

ed

[obcd]

I forgot 3 small details.

1. In the autoexec.bat you will find a "keyb be...." line that will set the keyboard to the belgium layout. You might change that to the keyboard layout you are using.

2. A warm reboot using <CTRL> <ALT> <DEL> isn't working. You need to power cycle the megatouch pc for a proper reboot. This is likely a motherboard bios issue and has nothing to do with the compact flash image.

3. The romdisk on the io board needs to be disabled. This can be done with the removal of jumper JP1 marked eprom enable.
JP2 is marked NVRAM Enable and shouldn't be touched. (It keeps the high scores and setup between reboots.)
JP3 is marked MFG and shouldn't be touched either.

[orizzle]

Part of the problem I've noticed with my CD vs. yours is that the binaries have different names....so my script would be trying to execute something that doesn't exist.  I'm not sure of obcd's image takes this into account.

The reason my image was 4 partitions was because I was using MS-DOS and it doesn't have the subst command that obcd is using.

[obcd]

Mine is launching "launchit.bat" from the f folder.

I noticed on the autoexec daddy posted that the contents of that bat file seemed to be in his autoexec.bat file.
It copied 2 files to the d drive and launched megacdll.

I left the launchit.bat from my cd in the mega folder. So if it's not on his cd, it's not a problem.
If it's there, mine will simply be overwritten.

Can't remember if my launchit.bat is running the same megacdll.exe, and I am 2 lazy to go look it up.

In worst case, the launchit.bat will need to be edited to launch the correct file.

The major reason I posted my image was to resolve the issues that the other partitions didn't show up in windows as drive letters (To my understanding) I could use a good backup as well.

I removed the mega files, shrinked the partition and zeroed the remaining unused space on the cf card.
Next, I increased partition size again and took the image. Due to the fact that all unused partition space contains zeros, it's possible to seriously reduce the image size using pkzip.

[DaddyLongLegs]

Thank you so much for the image! I gave it a shot but while I did make some progress, it wouldn't boot.

It said "FREE DOS" with a blinking cursor and then nothing would happen after that. So at least it sees the drive and it sees freedos, but it never boots. Just sits at a blinking cursor.

I did follow your directions step by step but when I copied over my CD to the mega folder, it asked me if I wanted to overwrite launchit.bat, and I said no. I figured if you had one already in the mega directory that it's probably the one you want me to use, but please confirm when you get a moment.

Also I have JP1 removed so it completely ignores the onboard ROMDOS or whatever.

Thanks for any suggestions/help!

[obcd]

Can you tell me what program you are using to transfer the image to the compact flash card?
Have you checked the HDD auto detection in the bios?
What parameters does it show you for your Compact Flash card?
It's ok to use your own launchit.bat file. I wasn't sure if you would have one. That's why I left mine there. They might contain the same instructions.
What os are you using to transfer the image to the card?
The behavour you see is what you get if the drive parameters in the bios are incorrect. You could try a manual setup with the settings I posted. I'll check tomorrow what the working options are.

[DaddyLongLegs]

Can you tell me what program you are using to transfer the image to the compact flash card?
Have you checked the HDD auto detection in the bios?
What parameters does it show you for your Compact Flash card?
It's ok to use your own launchit.bat file. I wasn't sure if you would have one. That's why I left mine there. They might contain the same instructions.
What os are you using to transfer the image to the card?
The behavour you see is what you get if the drive parameters in the bios are incorrect. You could try a manual setup with the settings I posted. I'll check tomorrow what the working options are.

Thank you so much. It must be the drive parameters because I don't even know where in the BIOS to go to change it or what to change them to. I think I am one step away from finally solving this thanks to all your help!

[obcd]

I just tested again myself. When I restore the image on a 4Gig CF card, I get the same behavour as yours.
It freezes only showing FreeDOS_ on the bottom of the screen.

I'll try it on the original 1Gig card again to make sure it's not a problem with the image.

Next, I'll see if it's fixable when you alter the bios HDD settings.

What size is your CF card?

[DaddyLongLegs]

I just tested again myself. When I restore the image on a 4Gig CF card, I get the same behavour as yours.
It freezes only showing FreeDOS_ on the bottom of the screen.

I'll try it on the original 1Gig card again to make sure it's not a problem with the image.

Next, I'll see if it's fixable when you alter the bios HDD settings.

What size is your CF card?

Luckily I bought a 1GB and a 2GB, so I can try the 1GB no problem if you need me to

[obcd]

I just tested the image on my 1Gig, and it's not booting either. 

Thee image must have gotten corrupted during the proces of taking and shrinking it. I'll do the proces over again. I already restored the full image on a 4Gig card, and it boots again. So far So good. Will test it a bit better this time. My apalogies for this misery.

[obcd]

New image for the die hards that are still with us

http://www.mediafire.com/download/9w93x1vbjzaq959/megaxl_1g.zip

Took it from a 1 Gig card and restored it to a 4Gig

Tested the 4Gig, and it booted into the game.

Hopefully right this time.

[DaddyLongLegs]

New image for the die hards that are still with us

http://www.mediafire.com/download/9w93x1vbjzaq959/megaxl_1g.zip

Took it from a 1 Gig card and restored it to a 4Gig

Tested the 4Gig, and it booted into the game.

Hopefully right this time.

OK good news is FREE DOS finally boots and I got a bit further this time.

Bad news is I get a completely new error:



Any idea what I can do to fix this?

[obcd]

I assume you didn't forgot to copy the files of your cd to the mega folder. Maybe you created a subfolder under that mega folder and all stuff is in there?
First, you need to abort that error loop. You can do so by pressing <CTRL> c. So just press and hold the <CTRL> button and press c at the same time. It should give you the message:
Wilt u batchbestand 'f:\launchit.bat' be-eindigen (Ja/Nee/Alles) ?
Simply hit the j button and you should be prompted with
d:\>
First we might check if both d and f are created properly.
dir d: <cr>
dir f: <cr>
These commands should show you the contens of d and f

My d contains 2 files. My f contains 52 bestanden (files)  and 42 dir(s) (folders)

Next, you could try dir  f:*.exe

This should show you all files on f with the exe extension. Those are files you should be able to run in dos.
My cd has 2 such files.

delall.exe
megacdll.exe

The freedos autoexec.bat launches f:\launchit.bat
The contents of that file:

:runit
d:
f:\delall
copy f:\megacdll.exe d:\
copy f:\thefiles.dat d:\
megacdll
if not exist d:\escape goto runit

As you can see, it tries to launch megacdll, which in your case doesn't seem to exist.

You can modify the launchit.bat to remove the error loop:

:runit
d:
f:\delall
copy f:\megacdll.exe d:\
copy f:\thefiles.dat d:\
megacdll
echo if not exist d:\escape goto runit

echo will simply print that line on the screen. It will disable the loop in launchit.bat.

You can make the changes on your windows pc, but even on the megatouch itself with the keyboard connected.

simply run
edit f:\launchit.bat <cr>

the upper menu bar can be accessed with the <alt> key.
<alt> F opens the file menu which you need to save the file and quit the program.

Don't worry to much, you are almost playing it again.

I have the impression when I look at your screen picture that your screen voltage is a little 2 high,
but you should get the thing going first before you look into that.


 

[DaddyLongLegs]

OK I guess there is something different between your CD and mine or something. I do have MegaCDLL.exe except mine isn't directly in the mega folder. It's in Mega/EXEC. So I did dump the CD correctly, but there is no MegaCDLL.exe directly in the root of my CD-ROM like it is on yours.

So I dumped the entire contents of the EXEC folder into the root of the MEGA folder and now I get a new error:



"Hard Drive Shock Mount Failure"?? What on earth does that mean?

[obcd]

Copying the contents of the exec folder to the root was a bad idea. We really need to find out what your cd needs to boot.

So, is it having a launchit.bat in it's root or maybe another bat file.

You can try
dir f:\*.bat<cr>
to find that out.

A better way to deal with the megacdll.exe in the exec folder would be changing the launchit.bat file

:runit
d:
f:\exec\delall
copy f:\exec\megacdll.exe d:\
copy f:\thefiles.dat d:\
megacdll
echo if not exist d:\escape goto runit

This assumes that delall.exe and megacdll.exe are in the exec folder and thefiles.dat is in the root folder.
Maybe it's not like that on your cd.

You could try to run the megacdll.exe directly by using the following command:

f:\exec\megacdll.exe<cr>

I'll take a look at the other image if it might reveil how it needs to be started.
Maybe it needs an exec subfolder on the d ramdisk. Right now, All I can do is guess, and that's not good enough.

I just checked your image. It also has a launchit.bat that seems to copy the megacdll.exe from the f:\exec folder.
So maybe, try your file and see if it works with that.

:runit
d:
f:\delall
copy f:\exec\megacdll.exe d:\
copy f:\thefiles.dat d:\
megacdll
if not exist d:\escape f:\reboot.exe

You might add an echo in front of the last line, as it will reboot the system in case of an error. It might not give you the time to analyse the error.
so:

rem if not exist d:\escape f:\reboot.exe

[DaddyLongLegs]

OK I used the exact launchit.bat configuration that you recommended. I also wiped the CF card and wrote the image again.

It tries to load megacdll.exe and I get the same error

"Hard Drive Shock Mount Failure"

[obcd]

I restored the image on the 4 gig CF card and copied your image to the mega folder.

It gave me the exact same "Hard drive shock mount failure" message.

I am clueless about this. It works on my XL version and also on an older US version I once bought on Ebay.

Maybe someone else knows the meaning of this error. It's coming from the megacdll.exe as I can locate the text in that file.

If you are willing to post the image link you got from the other forum member, I can test with that to see if it behaves any better.

[DaddyLongLegs]

I restored the image on the 4 gig CF card and copied your image to the mega folder.

It gave me the exact same "Hard drive shock mount failure" message.

I am clueless about this. It works on my XL version and also on an older US version I once bought on Ebay.

Maybe someone else knows the meaning of this error. It's coming from the megacdll.exe as I can locate the text in that file.

If you are willing to post the image link you got from the other forum member, I can test with that to see if it behaves any better.

OK at least it's not just me then. Sent you a PM with the image he sent to me. Thank you so much.

[obcd]

I downloaded the image and transferred it to my 4Gig cf card.
In windows, it only showed the first partition.
So, started my virtual debian and made my cardreader usb available to it. I got the 4 partitions.
Wiped the /dev/sdb7 clean and transferred your files to that partition.
Installed the CF card in my megatouch XL. It booted dos, but could only see the c partition.
So, I ran fdisk and noticed that it showed no logical partitions in the extended partition.
So, I deleted the extended partition and created a new one of approx 1 gigabyte.
I created 4 logical partitions into that extended partition. 3 of 50 MB and the fourth using the rest of the available space.
After a reboot, I formatted the D, E  and F drive.
Connected it back to linux. Struggled a bit to mount it writable

sudo mount -tvfat -o user,umask=0000 /dev/sdb7 /home/xxx/mount

finally did the trick.

copied your files over to that partition.

Installed the cf card back in my megatouch.

It booted into dos and....

Hard Drive Shock Mount Failure !!!

This is starting to irritate me....

Next test will be with the files again that originally where on the F partition. (Out of curiousity...)

[DaddyLongLegs]

Maybe the Megatouch somehow can detect that nothing is resting on the CD-ROM caddy? I have no clue. I don't even know why the program knows to ask about a hard drive considering it was a CD game.

Maybe Orizzle can chime in on how he got the error to not show up when he made his XL 5000 run from a CF?

[obcd]

I just tried with Orizzle his files and they give a
ERROR   Invalid Key !!!
Which is pretty much expected behavour.

I noticed that there are some zero length files in his folder with some strange names like AAADDIDC.
There is no such thing with your files.

They could figure out that the files are transferred from cd to harddisk as they are no longer having the "read only" attribute set.

So, I basically have 3 cd versions that run normally from a compact flash card and yours that gives a
Harddrive shock mount failure.

I'll do one final test with your files all set to read only. It's just a wild guess, but who knows.

[obcd]

http://forums.arcade-museum.com/archive/index.php/t-69913.html

The second post talks about using a harddrive and says that it's not possible with the gold edition...
So, they put something in to prevent a harddrive copy from working.
If it's not documented somewhere, only reverse engineering the code could give a clue how the conversion to a compact flash card is detected.

[DaddyLongLegs]

http://forums.arcade-museum.com/archive/index.php/t-69913.html

The second post talks about using a harddrive and says that it's not possible with the gold edition...
So, they put something in to prevent a harddrive copy from working.
If it's not documented somewhere, only reverse engineering the code could give a clue how the conversion to a compact flash card is detected.

OK so I am willing to use the CD-ROM drive. Never in a million years did I think this thing could detect a hard drive and prevent it from booting but here we are. Anyway, is there a way we can make my CD-ROM bootable? That way I will simply keep using the CD-ROM. Maybe put FREEDOS somewhere on the CD?

[obcd]

I am afraid this is not possible. The bios of the TELCO motherboard doesn't detect cdrom drives and doesn't allow to boot from them.
You could try to make it boot from compact flash card and have it run it's software from the cdrom.
It seems possible for freedos to mount a cd image file from harddisk and use it like a real cd in a drive. Maybe this approach won't be detected.
In order to test such an approach, I would need an iso created from your cd. I am unsure if the cue and bin could be converted.
There is a free tool cdburner xp that might be able to take such an image.
I'll check later on if your image can be converted for that purpose.
Is your security dongle a black rectangular block or something that looks like a thick coincell? It's on the io board in the upper right corner. (Same side as the dipswitches)

[obcd]

Tried mounting the iso in dosbox emulation and I am getting a

Invalid Key!!!

Will try on freedos again with the shsucdhd and shcdx33e to mount that iso. Hopefully it works there as well.

[DaddyLongLegs]

Tried mounting the iso in dosbox emulation and I am getting a

Invalid Key!!!

Will try on freedos again with the shsucdhd and shcdx33e to mount that iso. Hopefully it works there as well.

You are a saint.

My security key looks like a battery with a tab sticking out. Also I PMed you the ISO

[obcd]

shsucdhd and shcdx aren't doing the job.
There seems to be a memory conflict with the 3m dostouch tsr.
Further, it increases loading times which almost double.
I am just reading about a tool called fakecd that might be able to do the trick.
If that doesn't work, I have reached the bottom of my magic trick box.

[DaddyLongLegs]

shsucdhd and shcdx aren't doing the job.
There seems to be a memory conflict with the 3m dostouch tsr.
Further, it increases loading times which almost double.
I am just reading about a tool called fakecd that might be able to do the trick.
If that doesn't work, I have reached the bottom of my magic trick box.

Oh wow yeah, FakeCD seems to be a CD emulator. Hope that works. Thank you SO MUCH!!

[obcd]

Right, the results with fakecd look good.

Download the fakecd zip. It should at least contain fakecd..exe and infocd.exe

I mounted your iso with virtual clonedrive (The original disk in a drive should work as well)
I opened a command prompt.
Next, I ran infocd d:\mega e:
d:\mega is a folder on my harddisk
e is the drive letter containing the cd (virtual clonedrive drive letter in my case)
It should create a fakecd.dat file in the folder you specified.

delete the contents of the mega folder on the compact flash card.
copy the fakecd.dat file to the mega folder on the compact flash card
copy the mega cd files and folders to that mega folder as well.

The reason I delete and copy them again is because I am afraid that previous tests might have altered something to the files that could trigger the shock error.

copy the fakecd.exe file to the c:\fdos\bin folder.

edit the c:\autoexec.bat file

find the following lines:

SET PATH=%PATH%;%DOSDIR%\DOG;%DOSDIR%\MERIT
swsubst f c:\mega

and change to:

SET PATH=%PATH%;%DOSDIR%\DOG;%DOSDIR%\MERIT
lh c:\fdos\bin\fakecd c:\mega /L:F

The last lines of the autoexec.bat are:

rem --- Start up the XL program

call c:\launchit

:donemega


So, I copied the c:\mega\launchit.bat to c:\launchit.bat

And I tweaked it a little:

:runit
d:
f:\delall
copy f:\exec\megacdll.exe d:\
copy f:\thefiles.dat d:\

megacdll
pause
echo if not exist d:\escape f:\reboot.exe

This gives the opportunity to read possible errors.

In my case it says

Invalid Key !!!

Normally, yours should  behave different.

I hope I didn't forgot a step.

Good luck..

[DaddyLongLegs]

OK well I got a bunch further and guess what? Now I get an "Invalid key" error.

I completely pulled out the Dallas chip and put it back in. I also tried cleaning the "battery" key thing and making sure it was seated properly.  Still "Invalid Key" error. I have no idea how this thing worked absolutely fine last year and now the DOS ROM chip dies and the Dallas key dies, but I am pretty much going to toss this thing in the trash sometime next week. You gotta love when anti-piracy measures lock out legitimate owners!

Thank you anyway everybody's help even though it didn't end up working in the end. I really, really wanted this thing to be part of my home.

[ed12]

invalid key error
even though it is annoying
could be as easy as crap in your cf card that never got cleaned off
and or a hiccup in your iso

ed

[obcd]

I already was afraid of this.
You likely have a problem with your unit io card. Basically, that card combines a number of things.

1. The boot flash drive. (Which you have disabled at the moment)
2. The nvram which is memory mapped in segment C800 (If I remember correctly) (For the highscores)
3. A soundcard with buildin amplifier
4. An interface to the security dongle.
5. An interface to the coin acceptor and the test and service button. (Should be able to drive a mechanical counter as well)
6. An interface to the 16 dipswitches on the board
7. An interface to additional in and outputs that can be used to connect buttons (currently unused)
8. A serial interface that can be used to connect a pc

If you have a problem on your io board, it can affect one or more than one of it's functions.
In your case, the boot flash drive is failing, and probably the interface to the security dongle as well.
It wouldn't suprise me that none of the other functions are working either.
I have one lying in front of me with similar symptoms.
A common problem are the pcb finger contacts or the riser card finger contacts. You cleaned those already, so you are facing other issues.
I have a couple of test programs to read and write the nvram. They can be used to test it's functionallity.
You could try to find a second hand io board on Ebay if you are willing to go on with the unit.
If you are not, I am interested in buying the security dongle and it's small interface pcb (the board that connects to the 5 pin on the io board).

[DaddyLongLegs]

I already was afraid of this.
You likely have a problem with your unit io card. Basically, that card combines a number of things.

1. The boot flash drive. (Which you have disabled at the moment)
2. The nvram which is memory mapped in segment C800 (If I remember correctly) (For the highscores)
3. A soundcard with buildin amplifier
4. An interface to the security dongle.
5. An interface to the coin acceptor and the test and service button. (Should be able to drive a mechanical counter as well)
6. An interface to the 16 dipswitches on the board
7. An interface to additional in and outputs that can be used to connect buttons (currently unused)
8. A serial interface that can be used to connect a pc

If you have a problem on your io board, it can affect one or more than one of it's functions.
In your case, the boot flash drive is failing, and probably the interface to the security dongle as well.
It wouldn't suprise me that none of the other functions are working either.
I have one lying in front of me with similar symptoms.
A common problem are the pcb finger contacts or the riser card finger contacts. You cleaned those already, so you are facing other issues.
I have a couple of test programs to read and write the nvram. They can be used to test it's functionallity.
You could try to find a second hand io board on Ebay if you are willing to go on with the unit.
If you are not, I am interested in buying the security dongle and it's small interface pcb (the board that connects to the 5 pin on the io board).

OK thank you. Unfortunately nobody on eBay is selling an i/o board. Just the motherboard which I don't need

Should I just suck it up and buy something like this? Seems ridiculously expensive:  http://www.ebay.com/itm/Megatouch-XL-to-Maxx-Ruby-2-Upgrade-Update-Kit-5000-6000-Gold-Platinum-etc-/361121547775?hash=item54148585ff:m:m2_55DvZeZXmuziQoTOz4xw

[obcd]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MERIT-I-O-BOARD-FOR-XL-MACHINES-MEGATOUCH-TOUCHSCREEN-/302061223463?hash=item4654407e27:m:mGMUnVP13FiFlH2g7Q4xmxQ

Even better. motherboard included:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Telcovision-486-Motherboard-Replacement-for-Megatouch-XL-with-I-O-Board-/151413170044?hash=item2340ed9f7c:g:ZJ4AAOSwGvhUGFJT

 
The upgrade kit is expensive. It's a full pc motherboard and a harddisk, but nevertheless..

It's up 2 you how much you are willing to spend.

[DaddyLongLegs]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MERIT-I-O-BOARD-FOR-XL-MACHINES-MEGATOUCH-TOUCHSCREEN-/302061223463?hash=item4654407e27:m:mGMUnVP13FiFlH2g7Q4xmxQ

Even better. motherboard included:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Telcovision-486-Motherboard-Replacement-for-Megatouch-XL-with-I-O-Board-/151413170044?hash=item2340ed9f7c:g:ZJ4AAOSwGvhUGFJT

 
The upgrade kit is expensive. It's a full pc motherboard and a harddisk, but nevertheless..

It's up 2 you how much you are willing to spend.

OK I bought it. Thank you. I will let you know how it goes. Hopefully this thing doesn't crap out in a year as well...

[mahkeymike]

I am a bit too late, but you are better off doing a classic force conversion. You could have upgraded for less then $100 with your existing hardware. You put soo much effort into this XL, and i commend you for it, but its just a waste of time and money in my opinion.

[DaddyLongLegs]

I am a bit too late, but you are better off doing a classic force conversion. You could have upgraded for less then $100 with your existing hardware. You put soo much effort into this XL, and i commend you for it, but its just a waste of time and money in my opinion.

Hi, can you explain what a classic force conversion is and what it entails?

[mahkeymike]

I am a bit too late, but you are better off doing a classic force conversion. You could have upgraded for less then $100 with your existing hardware. You put soo much effort into this XL, and i commend you for it, but its just a waste of time and money in my opinion.

Hi, can you explain what a classic force conversion is and what it entails?

an i810 compatible mobo, a force or ion ioboard , an exii microtouch controller (serial or usb) and a force key.

Now that i think about it, you could upgrade to ion for even less going by current ebay prices. The only issue is your monitor res. You need to disable hi res games.

[obcd]

I really would like to see the links to the ebay auctions that make it possible to upgrade from maxx to force or ion for 100 dollar.

You will need a motherboard with cpu and ram.
You will need an io board
You will need a harddisk and security key.
You will need another touch controller.
You will probably need another power supply as the maxx supply is AT style and more modern motherboards will likely need ATX style that also output 3V3 (I could be wrong about this.)
You will need the knowledge to wire it all together. (It won't come with step by step instructions)

Ok, I have proven myself wrong.

http://www.benl.ebay.be/itm/Merit-Megatouch-Force-Complete-Motherboard-PCB-Set-WORKING-/152248388426?hash=item2372b60b4a:g:17QAAOSwmfhX2yyy

125 US$ + shipping cost. Seems like the prices start to drop rapidly.

Still, will require time and knowledge to wire it all together...

So, I think you will end up spending 400 dollars or even more, but would like to be proven wrong.

[DaddyLongLegs]

The one thing I don't get is how this works: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Megatouch-XL-to-Maxx-Sapphire2-Upgrade-Update-Kit-5000-6000-Gold-Platinum-/201281981039?hash=item2edd574a6f:m:m2_55DvZeZXmuziQoTOz4xw

Aren't those games higher res too? How can an XL go all the way up to the Maxx Sapphire 2?

[mahkeymike]

You really only need a compatiable mobo and the ioboard and a key and a exii microtouch controller. Other then that, you need a spare power supply. Who doesnt have a spare 250W or higher power supply laying around in and old computer. Hell, i could head to the nearest salvation army and pick up an old computer tower for $5 and gank the psu out of it.

For ION, you can use a asus a7n8x-la mobo. I see a few on ebay right now for like $30 and come with cpu and ram. I also see Ion ioboards for $25 and keys for less then $10

[lilshawn]

I've thrown away countless numbers of those Asus boards... they used them in a defunct touch jukebox brand that we converted to our own system. It wasn't until later I found out they could be subbed for the ECS ion board. I wish I had hoarder tendencies I have at home, at work. At work... it's immediately in the trash.

[ed12]

ah
hind site

ed

[mahkeymike]

The one thing I don't get is how this works: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Megatouch-XL-to-Maxx-Sapphire2-Upgrade-Update-Kit-5000-6000-Gold-Platinum-/201281981039?hash=item2edd574a6f:m:m2_55DvZeZXmuziQoTOz4xw

Aren't those games higher res too? How can an XL go all the way up to the Maxx Sapphire 2?

You can convert a 13 inch XL all the way up to 2011 Force. Its simple, the software detects it as classic force and disables the high res games option. With Ion, you need to manually disable the high res games option because there never was a Ion version that ran on a 13 inch. Its not too difficult, you can disable it by manually editing a script or you can disable it in the opsetup menu.

Also, want to mention that the upright XL cabinets had i believe 17 and 19 inch monitors and can handle the high res games so thats another reason why XL can go up to Maxx and Force.

[DaddyLongLegs]

OK so it looks like I unfortunately bought a new motherboard and I/O board with Dallas key and everything, for absolutely no reason.

I am still getting "Invalid Key!" even with a brand new motherboard and a brand new I/O board.

[mahkeymike]

OK so it looks like I unfortunately bought a new motherboard and I/O board with Dallas key and everything, for absolutely no reason.

I am still getting "Invalid Key!" even with a brand new motherboard and a brand new I/O board.

Sounds like the battery in your key is below 2.7v or is dead. I can repair these. Its not easy, and most definately not worth the cost of getting a new key, especially an XL. If it was a 2014 Ion key  like i recently fixed for a member on klov i would say its worth it.

You are most likely going to need a XL key of the same version since XL upgrade discs are damn near impossible to find. Or you will need to upgrade to a newer XL version that comes with the hard drive and key.

Personally, i would cut your losses and upgrade to Ion. I offer XL 13 inch CRT to 15 inch LCD drop in conversion kits if you are interested. Here is a pic of one of my conversion kits.

[ed12]

key free
code $$$

> like i recently fixed for a member on klov i would say its worth it.<

dallas jig ? for u for me

ed

[DaddyLongLegs]

I am not sure how both keys could be dead? This one I just got in the mail looks brand new.

So let me get this straight...the key that I got new, will not work with the CD-ROM that I have because that one is only tied to a single board and CD? Basically this CD I have will never, ever work with a different key or I/O board even though they are both legit?

[mahkeymike]

I am not sure how both keys could be dead? This one I just got in the mail looks brand new.

So let me get this straight...the key that I got new, will not work with the CD-ROM that I have because that one is only tied to a single board and CD? Basically this CD I have will never, ever work with a different key or I/O board even though they are both legit?

Its either dead or the wrong key for the version software.

Regardless if its new or not, your talking about a key that has been sitting on a shelf for almost 20 years, the batteries have a shelf life of 10 years.

[DaddyLongLegs]

OK this entire machine is junk then. Nice that I have legitimate software and cannot play it due to intrusive copy protection that screws over even legitimate owners. Oh well

Thanks anyway for all the help guys. To the garbage dump she goes.

[mahkeymike]

OK this entire machine is junk then. Nice that I have legitimate software and cannot play it due to intrusive copy protection that screws over even legitimate owners. Oh well

Thanks anyway for all the help guys. To the garbage dump she goes.

Its not complete junk. You should just upgrade it like i mentioned. Before you throw it in the trash, maybe part it out. I would be more then happy to buy the plastic bezel.

[obcd]

This really s.cks.

Let's resume the facts.

Your machine didn't boot from it's io board flash rom. Due to that, it was disabled and a compact flash boot setup was made.
Besides a couple of bad images (From me), the maxx gold update detects that it's running from a harddrive (cf disk) instead of a cdrom and comes up with an error message.
We found some software that fixes this issue.
Next, it showed an invalid key message. This made me assume that the io card was defective causing the initial rom dos boot problem as well.
A new motherboard and io board doesn't fix the issue..... Another protection key came with it. It gives the "invalid key" as well.

Maybe, the issue is caused by the conversion from cd to compact flash as well. After all, the other error message you got first doesn't exist on older versions either. (I don't have it and the other member that gave you his image isn't having it either.)

I assume that the new mobo and io card are booting from the io board rom dos card.
So, one thing you could try is a setup with the new io board and a cdrom again.
I am not aware of any serial numbers that might pair the motherboard or iocard to a specific software version and protection key.
As the io board is having an nvram chip, it's perfectly possible to use that to determine what software it was used 4 before. The chip is in a socket, so you could use the one from your io board on the new one.
There exist different eprom versions for the io board as well. You could check the stickers on those to see if they are identical.
You can't switch the flash chip, as yours probably is corrupt.
It's hard to believe that your io board flash chip and security dongle died at the same time. It doesn't mean it's impossible.
The software can even write to the security dongle.
Do you have some numbers on your security dongles? There even should be some engraved on the dongle coin.
Normally there is also a sticker with a number that can be used to figure out for which software it can be used.
I can understand if you have no interest in testing any further.
As said above, you can always part the system and sell the parts. Their value would increase if we could get it running.

[DaddyLongLegs]

This really s.cks.

Let's resume the facts.

Your machine didn't boot from it's io board flash rom. Due to that, it was disabled and a compact flash boot setup was made.
Besides a couple of bad images (From me), the maxx gold update detects that it's running from a harddrive (cf disk) instead of a cdrom and comes up with an error message.
We found some software that fixes this issue.
Next, it showed an invalid key message. This made me assume that the io card was defective causing the initial rom dos boot problem as well.
A new motherboard and io board doesn't fix the issue..... Another protection key came with it. It gives the "invalid key" as well.

Maybe, the issue is caused by the conversion from cd to compact flash as well. After all, the other error message you got first doesn't exist on older versions either. (I don't have it and the other member that gave you his image isn't having it either.)

I assume that the new mobo and io card are booting from the io board rom dos card.
So, one thing you could try is a setup with the new io board and a cdrom again.
I am not aware of any serial numbers that might pair the motherboard or iocard to a specific software version and protection key.
As the io board is having an nvram chip, it's perfectly possible to use that to determine what software it was used 4 before. The chip is in a socket, so you could use the one from your io board on the new one.
There exist different eprom versions for the io board as well. You could check the stickers on those to see if they are identical.
You can't switch the flash chip, as yours probably is corrupt.
It's hard to believe that your io board flash chip and security dongle died at the same time. It doesn't mean it's impossible.
The software can even write to the security dongle.
Do you have some numbers on your security dongles? There even should be some engraved on the dongle coin.
Normally there is also a sticker with a number that can be used to figure out for which software it can be used.
I can understand if you have no interest in testing any further.
As said above, you can always part the system and sell the parts. Their value would increase if we could get it running.

I definitely don't want to throw it out. I just figured I am all out of options since buying new hardware did nothing.

OK so here is what is up: everything you wrote is correct except for the fakeCD part. I never got to try fakeCD because it requires a machine running Windows 98 or older, which I do not have. The reason I started getting "Invalid Key" errors instead of "Hard drive shock mount error" errors is because another forum member was kind enough to edit the MEGACDLL.EXE somehow that made it get rid of the "shock mount" error.

I am able to boot ROM DOS with the new board since those chips are good I guess.

As for the security dongle ID numbers, this is what I have:

The one that used to work with my Megatouch Gold with no issues: SA3039-02
The one the new motherboard and I/O board has: SA3046-02

[ed12]

hence the problem
>The one that used to work with my Megatouch Gold with no issues:
 SA3039-02
 ^^^^^^^
The one the new motherboard and I/O board has: SA3046-02
                                                                          ^^^^^^
<

ed

[DaddyLongLegs]

hence the problem
>The one that used to work with my Megatouch Gold with no issues:
 SA3039-02
 ^^^^^^^
The one the new motherboard and I/O board has: SA3046-02
                                                                          ^^^^^^
<

ed

Which game is  SA3046-02 good for?

Also that does not explain why my SA3039-02 doesn't work with Gold.

[mahkeymike]

Which game is  SA3046-02 good for?

Also that does not explain why my SA3039-02 doesn't work with Gold.

SA3046 is Platinum.

Did you at least try your old key with the new mobo and IOboard and your gold software?

[ed12]

in case for some reason u missed the point ?
the key #'s are software specific
so my reply pointed u right to the answer

ed

[DaddyLongLegs]

Which game is  SA3046-02 good for?

Also that does not explain why my SA3039-02 doesn't work with Gold.

SA3046 is Platinum.

Did you at least try your old key with the new mobo and IOboard and your gold software?

Yep! My old key with new mobo and IOBoard and my gold software still gives "Invalid key" error.

[ed12]

then it might be a  safe bet to say your key is dead..as has been pointed out
they do have a 10 year life span >look them up on the dallas site<.
what u could do ,  if u are up to it is load it with the software the new key expects.
this will then tell u your hardware is at least good to go.

ed

[DaddyLongLegs]

People seriously have not figured out a way to crack these things yet? I'm not a pirate but what the hell, these machines are just going to die on paying customers? The company isn't even in business any more so we are all truly screwed with our machines when the Dallas keys just die.

Surely somebody must have figured out how to patch these games, or how else could this be sold? http://www.ebay.com/itm/MEGATOUCH-62-GAME-XL-Titanium-Video-Arcade-Quiz-kit-UPGRADE-hard-drive-/121923357645

[mahkeymike]

People seriously have not figured out a way to crack these things yet? I'm not a pirate but what the hell, these machines are just going to die on paying customers? The company isn't even in business any more so we are all truly screwed with our machines when the Dallas keys just die.

Surely somebody must have figured out how to patch these games, or how else could this be sold? http://www.ebay.com/itm/MEGATOUCH-62-GAME-XL-Titanium-Video-Arcade-Quiz-kit-UPGRADE-hard-drive-/121923357645

They have. They just ain't releasing it publicly for obvious copyright reasons. I can tell you there is a keyless maxx version on a ftp you can find over at klov.You need a maxx or force (i810) mobo to get it to work but maybe it will work with your XL mobo, atleast its worth a shot.

[ed12]

mike correct me here
I thought it was only ibutton ?

ed

[ed12]

so
as I chk the ftp "full no key chk ".img" should be just copy   as just such..
the question is dumb down for the thread. of course I know what it means. but I want it clear for the mass.
so save to your hard drive
copy to the new drive
use your best iso writer "data"
carry on
no key required
as I read it
gives u a working mega touch ?
my lord that's 4 ways for this @ through this thread to date

ed

[mahkeymike]

mike correct me here
I thought it was only ibutton ?

ed

ed, I have no clue what you are saying.

[yotsuya]

mike correct me here
I thought it was only ibutton ?

ed

ed, I have no clue what you are saying.

Welcome to BYOAC, you must be new here.

[ed12]

mike
ibutton refers to the type of dallas key
u know this as well as I do
it looks like a button battery. hence the term

ed

[mahkeymike]

mike
ibutton refers to the type of dallas key
u know this as well as I do
it looks like a button battery. hence the term

ed

I know what its called. I just don't know wtf you are asking.

[ed12]

ok

ed

btw I was not asking
it was a statement as I understand it (that only the ibutton can be by-passed) and or copy-ed with the proper dallas interface)

[lilshawn]

Nice that I have legitimate software and cannot play it due to intrusive copy protection that screws over even legitimate owners. Oh well

you just described literally the entire videogame industry. 

[DaddyLongLegs]

Nice that I have legitimate software and cannot play it due to intrusive copy protection that screws over even legitimate owners. Oh well

you just described literally the entire videogame industry. 

haha I know right? Thank heaven for people who crack software or else 95% of video game history would have been gone forever!

[mahkeymike]

Nice that I have legitimate software and cannot play it due to intrusive copy protection that screws over even legitimate owners. Oh well

you just described literally the entire videogame industry. 

haha I know right? Thank heaven for people who crack software or else 95% of video game history would have been gone forever!

Not trying to play devils advocate  , but its a double edged sword. Had people not cracked software, companies wouldn't had gone through so much trouble protecting it.

[ed12]

yes but this time it is a matter of necessity
merit never made for on going owner ship
even though they knew 10 years was the normal life of the key fobs

ed

[mahkeymike]

yes but this time it is a matter of necessity
merit never made for on going owner ship
even though they knew 10 years was the normal life of the key fobs

ed

Yes, and I had already mentioned its possible to repair them. And there is multiple ways to do this.
#1: backup data before battery dies
#2: if batter is low, backup data, replace battery, reprogram data.
#3: if battery is completely dead, replace battery and reprogram previously backed up data.
#4: hack software
#5: buy new key and repeat steps 1-3
 

[DaddyLongLegs]

You really only need a compatiable mobo and the ioboard and a key and a exii microtouch controller. Other then that, you need a spare power supply. Who doesnt have a spare 250W or higher power supply laying around in and old computer. Hell, i could head to the nearest salvation army and pick up an old computer tower for $5 and gank the psu out of it.

For ION, you can use a asus a7n8x-la mobo. I see a few on ebay right now for like $30 and come with cpu and ram. I also see Ion ioboards for $25 and keys for less then $10

I found an asus a7n8x-la mobo with CPU and RAM. But I cannot find an IO board anywhere for the ION. I see one but it's $100. Can you show me where you found one for $25? If I buy the 2008 key, can I play the 2006 ION games as well? Only asking because I really prefer the XL series version of Photo Hunt.

Also the ION motherboard will work even with my touch screen controller from the XL? I can't believe they are compatible!

Though to be honest, I would probably prefer the MAXX.

[mahkeymike]

You really only need a compatiable mobo and the ioboard and a key and a exii microtouch controller. Other then that, you need a spare power supply. Who doesnt have a spare 250W or higher power supply laying around in and old computer. Hell, i could head to the nearest salvation army and pick up an old computer tower for $5 and gank the psu out of it.

For ION, you can use a asus a7n8x-la mobo. I see a few on ebay right now for like $30 and come with cpu and ram. I also see Ion ioboards for $25 and keys for less then $10

I found an asus a7n8x-la mobo with CPU and RAM. But I cannot find an IO board anywhere for the ION. I see one but it's $100. Can you show me where you found one for $25? If I buy the 2008 key, can I play the 2006 ION games as well? Only asking because I really prefer the XL series version of Photo Hunt.


Also the ION motherboard will work even with my touch screen controller from the XL? I can't believe they are compatible!

Though to be honest, I would probably prefer the MAXX.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/merit-touchscreen-ion-i-o-pcb-board-NOS-ARCADE-GAME-PART-SFh-/151407454157?hash=item23409667cd:g:kKkAAOSwd4tUEMxR
Has a make offer. I think this seller jacked his price since lat time i bought them.

XL touch screen controller is only compatiable with ion 2012+ Anything lower you need a ion or force controller.

I suggest you just buy a i810 mobo and use that sapphire image. I can sell you a i810 mobo that will work with that sapphire image.

[DaddyLongLegs]

You really only need a compatiable mobo and the ioboard and a key and a exii microtouch controller. Other then that, you need a spare power supply. Who doesnt have a spare 250W or higher power supply laying around in and old computer. Hell, i could head to the nearest salvation army and pick up an old computer tower for $5 and gank the psu out of it.

For ION, you can use a asus a7n8x-la mobo. I see a few on ebay right now for like $30 and come with cpu and ram. I also see Ion ioboards for $25 and keys for less then $10

I found an asus a7n8x-la mobo with CPU and RAM. But I cannot find an IO board anywhere for the ION. I see one but it's $100. Can you show me where you found one for $25? If I buy the 2008 key, can I play the 2006 ION games as well? Only asking because I really prefer the XL series version of Photo Hunt.


Also the ION motherboard will work even with my touch screen controller from the XL? I can't believe they are compatible!

Though to be honest, I would probably prefer the MAXX.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/merit-touchscreen-ion-i-o-pcb-board-NOS-ARCADE-GAME-PART-SFh-/151407454157?hash=item23409667cd:g:kKkAAOSwd4tUEMxR
Has a make offer. I think this seller jacked his price since lat time i bought them.

XL touch screen controller is only compatiable with ion 2012+ Anything lower you need a ion or force controller.

I suggest you just buy a i810 mobo and use that sapphire image. I can sell you a i810 mobo that will work with that sapphire image.

Great. I sent you a PM.

That is kind of weird about the XL screen controller. It works with ION 2012 but not ION 2009? Isn't that kind of backwards?

[mahkeymike]

Great. I sent you a PM.

That is kind of weird about the XL screen controller. It works with ION 2012 but not ION 2009? Isn't that kind of backwards?

I think they either stopped trying to black list XL/Maxx controllers, or they used a updated version of the linux kernel that had built in support for the old legacy controllers (XL/Maxx)

[ed12]

no
that's was just merit
when they ran out of the 1 touch screen controller
they re enter the proper Linux kernel
so the older gen 1's would work again

they did the same thing with hard drive branding (merit-001)
once they ran out and it was no longer. they had no choice but to un lock the branding

plus it did not hurt that a wack of Linux coders told them what end of the boat to get off and how fast to paddle

ed

[tandrews]

I have patched the XL Gold file to run on a HD/Compact Flash card. If you're interested, let me know. I can send the file.

[ice2921]

Hi all looks like going the way of the hard drive is my only option. I've posted about my troubles here http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,152843.0.html
Could someone help me with this? I really don't want to give up on this.

[MomoneDk]

Hi Tendrews, which file did you patch for the Gold version ?
I have a "hard drive shock mount failure" when the cd is in a compact flash and with the correct directory in launchit.bat.

[emospt]

I already was afraid of this.
You likely have a problem with your unit io card. Basically, that card combines a number of things.

1. The boot flash drive. (Which you have disabled at the moment)
2. The nvram which is memory mapped in segment C800 (If I remember correctly) (For the highscores)
3. A soundcard with buildin amplifier
4. An interface to the security dongle.
5. An interface to the coin acceptor and the test and service button. (Should be able to drive a mechanical counter as well)
6. An interface to the 16 dipswitches on the board
7. An interface to additional in and outputs that can be used to connect buttons (currently unused)
8. A serial interface that can be used to connect a pc

If you have a problem on your io board, it can affect one or more than one of it's functions.
In your case, the boot flash drive is failing, and probably the interface to the security dongle as well.
It wouldn't suprise me that none of the other functions are working either.
I have one lying in front of me with similar symptoms.
A common problem are the pcb finger contacts or the riser card finger contacts. You cleaned those already, so you are facing other issues.
I have a couple of test programs to read and write the nvram. They can be used to test it's functionallity.
You could try to find a second hand io board on Ebay if you are willing to go on with the unit.
If you are not, I am interested in buying the security dongle and it's small interface pcb (the board that connects to the 5 pin on the io board).

OK thank you. Unfortunately nobody on eBay is selling an i/o board. Just the motherboard which I don't need

Should I just suck it up and buy something like this? Seems ridiculously expensive:  http://www.ebay.com/itm/Megatouch-XL-to-Maxx-Ruby-2-Upgrade-Update-Kit-5000-6000-Gold-Platinum-etc-/361121547775?hash=item54148585ff:m:m2_55DvZeZXmuziQoTOz4xw

Hi.
Are still looking for a I/O Board, for your Megatouch?
I am 2 .
Thnks

[Megatouchmike]

Points for necropost. Extra points for off topic. Cheers bro

[Chrisnigh]

Im not sure if this was ever answered for a Megatouch Gold as I am trying to bypass the invalid key error with a bootable hard drive. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

[gavinlew]

Im not sure if this was ever answered for a Megatouch Gold as I am trying to bypass the invalid key error with a bootable hard drive. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

Hi
I have just had a Megatouch XL delivered running Gold software booting from a CD Drive.

Before I break it down I can image the CD , the security key still has life in it too.

Ta


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