Mortal Kombat 2 -- So Close, yet so far.....

[crashfuturesound]

Hi everyone, I'm new and looking for some newbie help..

I recently purchased an original MK2 cabinet that had been converted to Tekken 3.  I bought a PCB logic / sound board off ebay and I am attempting to return the game to it's original format.

My question lies with the extra button harness.  I bought this one from ebay and the guy said it was specifically for Mk2.



As you can see it is a 14 pin connector.  Im supposed to install it in the p5 section of the logic board but it is a 15 pin set (Top Left Corner of pic below).



Im unable to simpley line up the proper pins because as you can see the harness i purchased has those 2 little plastic lips that prevent it from fitting properly.  If i shaved down the outside lips and attached the harness so it is lined up properly leaving one pin open (n/c) would that have a negative effect?

Did i get hustled and have to buy a different harness?

Thanks in advance to anyone that can help.

Oh and if anyone knows where i can download the CPO, i would be VERY grateful, i can't find it for download anywhere.

[hunty3000]

dont know how to help you mate, but if ur from the uk i will buy the cab from you

[XtraSmiley]

Well, I think it will work but I can take a picture of mine if noone chimes in with the correct answer by the time I get a chance to take the pic.

I also have a dedicated MK3 cp for sale if it will help you in your restoration.

[crashfuturesound]

When i took the tekken 3 game out the -5V was not attached to the switcher, but it is wired to the jamma pin, should i connect it at the switcher?

[Malenko]

Well, I think it will work but I can take a picture of mine if noone chimes in with the correct answer by the time I get a chance to take the pic.

I also have a dedicated MK3 cp for sale if it will help you in your restoration.

I'd be interested in the MK3 CP, I have an MKII that was converted to UMK3, I wanna restore  the MKII CP and have an MK3 CP to swap. PM me a price, sticks and buttons optional.

to original poster, I've attached a pic of my MKII/UMK3 kick harness it works for both games(I run them both in the same machine for now) since its the same for both except UMK3 has a run button. If you need a better pic lemme know, all I have is a camera phone so it'll be the angles changing not the quality, lol

[Malenko]

Sorry for the double post, but did you MKII come witht he sound board and both ribbons? if not, you'll be playing MKII in mute mode!

[crashfuturesound]

yeah i have both ribbons, i cut the nubs off the harness i bought and slid it on the pcb (i checked with another mk2 kick harness and they are wired the same and the one pin that is open was n/c

Now it's the -5 question that i have stopping me from powering this badboy up, if you could check if it's wired up in your cabinet i would be very greatful.

It wasn't attached when the machine was converted to tekken 3, but i read somewhere online today that midway cabinets require the -5 to be attached

[Crowquill]

As long as there's nothing wrong with the wiring and connectors, the -5V pins should be connected as part of the JAMMA standard. Many JAMMA games don't use the -5V including Tekken 3. On the games that don't use it those pins on the JAMMA edge connector aren't connected to any of the circuitry so it's still not going to hurt anything. Anything built for the JAMMA standard will be fine with -5V connected. I'm not sure if MK2 uses it specifically, but since it was originally connected I'd hook it back up.

[crashfuturesound]

I connected the -5, attached the harness and threw on the power and i got

Revision 3.1

CMOS Invalid -- Factory Settings restored

Using CMOS Coinage

Errors Detected -- Press any key to continue


When i press a button the screen looks like it has a jumbled, unreadable "midway" on the screen (I'm assuming it's midway) then the second light on the pcb turns off again and the game seems to restart, then it comes back and says

Revision 3.1

CMOS OK

USING CMOS COINAGE

and then it just flashes on and off back to that screen with the lower light on the pcb turning off each time.


Any ideas?

[XtraSmiley]

Yes, the CMOS error means the battery is dead.  If you put a new battery in you will get CMOS good message.  After that, there is a problem that is not CMOS related. 

Do you even get to the screen with the RAM checks?  If not you have some type of problem.

[crashfuturesound]

no i haven't, once the second light goes out it seems to reset and then loops and loops.  Sometimes weird lines and colours appear, sometimes nothing happens

[XtraSmiley]

Sounds like a bad board, but it could be your JAMMA+ connection.  Do you have a way to test the board or put another JAMMA game in to test the connector?

I've also heard that the 5v line being off can cause errors.  Do you have a Multimeter to check and see if 5v is coming off of your power supply?

If the answer to most of these is yes, then the board is bad.

Wait, one more thing.  I also see that you have the old style stacked MKII board, check to see that the top half is firmly seated with the bottom half.  You can even pull them apart and reattach them to make sure it's got a good connection.

[crashfuturesound]

When i throw the tekken 3 board back in it fires up no problem.  I don't have a meter to check the 5v line but i attached the -5 as it was confirmed that the game required it.

Looks like i have a bad board, damn ebay

[teknomedic]

I think might have been hustled... I don't even think that's the right number of wires that are installed in the harness?  Not 100% though.  Hope some of the below can help you out.

MK 2 Manual... has wiring diagram, should be able to help you at least figure out which pin has which connection:
Manual Link

Found this:
Link

and found this:
eBay Link

Some MKII NOS items here...

http://www.usamusement.com/nos_list.html

M-43 -- Mortal Kombat & Mortal Kombat II Control Panel Lexan Protectors  26 5/8 x 13 1/4  14.95
M-44 -- Mortal Kombat II Control Panel Overlay  26 5/8 x 13 1/4 49.95
M-116 -- Mortal Kombat II DCS Sound Board pn A-17319-40029 59.95
M-45 -- Mortal Kombat II Marquee (ded)  25 x 7 1/2 24.95
M-46 -- Mortal Kombat II Marquee (kit)  25 7/8 x 10 1/2 24.95
M-47 -- Mortal Kombat II Side Art  29 3/4 x 15 3/4 Right side only 19.95

[crashfuturesound]

^^ Much appreciated, seems i have bigger problems than a malfitting kick harness

[XtraSmiley]

You can also try without the kick harness attached to check things out to see if they work.

How much did you pay for the MKII?  I have an extra board I would sell if the price is right.  Mine works of course

I also have the hacked ROMS with it that let you play the crazy harder version of MKII.

[Malenko]

where are you at crashfuturesound? if you're close to elkton maryland, you can bring your board set to my house and plug it into my MKII cab and see if it works.

[crashfuturesound]

^^^^ That's really nice of you man, I'm in Toronto but i appreciate the extended niceness.

*** Now when i turn the game on it does this loops from CMOS warning screen, to scrambled title screen, to all white screen, then i hear a click or switch sound from inside the cabinet and the loop repeats.**

[Malenko]

I don't know if this will help, but this is the dip switch settings I use on my board:

UJ1
1 (off) Violence off (off on this turns violence on, weird huh?)
2 (off) Blood Off (off turns blood on)
3 (off) Low blow off (off turns this on)
4 (off) attract sounds off (off turns them on)
5 (off) comic book offer off (off turns it on)
6 (off) Bill validator
7 (off) do powerup test
8 (off) 2 circuit board

Ive read that 7 and 8 should always be off

UJ2
1 (on) Use CMOS for coinage
2 (on) used for coinage setting
3 (on) used for coinage setting
4 (on) used for coinage setting
5 (off) country setting (USA)
6 (off) country setting (USA)
7 (off) one counter
8 (off) TEST switch


have you replaced the battery on the CMOS? its the first thing I do when I get a new board

[crashfuturesound]

I matched your dip switch settings and it did get me past the cmos coinage screen and to the board test, which unfortunetly revealed this...

[XtraSmiley]

Well that could be the top part of your PCB.  Did you try to reseat them?

[crashfuturesound]

No I haven't, I've been hestitant to pull the smaller top board off the pcb for fear of damaging it, I will try it tonight.

Thanks for all the help and advise to you and everyone else in this thread, It's clear that I'm newer than new but i really appreciate all the tips and especially patience/understanding.

[Malenko]

the following info is with the JAMMA pin to the top left.

UJ14 through UJ23 are down the left side under the secondary board
UG 14 through UG 23 are right next to those to the right of the UJ row
the other 8 red ones are on the underside of the secondary card.



reseating the roms is your only hope because the majority of those roms arent actually on the daughter cards.
I've attached crappy camera phone pix.

to remove the daughter board just squeeze the plastic pin and gently but firmly lift straight up on the pin side of the board.

[XtraSmiley]

Another cheaper option for repair this this.  The reason you have the stacked PCB is that it is two sections of 4meg ROMS.  The later versions of MKII included 8meg ROMS and did away with the top part of the stack.  I think, and I'll say think because you'll have to research this, you can just get 8meg ROMS burned with MKII and just fill half those slots and get it working.  Of course this is taking into account your PCB itself still works right.

If you were close to me I would just bring my ROMS and PCBs over to help you out, but alas, it's never that easy.

[crashfuturesound]

alright well here's a dumb question, when you said reseat the roms did you mean physically poppinig them off the pcb and sticking them back in or were you just referring to reseating the pin connection from the mother to daughter board.

[XtraSmiley]

Both.

[Malenko]

Both.

yeap, both.  make sure you clean out the dust and clean the legs of the ROMs too.

[XtraSmiley]

To save you some time, just do the stacked PCB and one of the EPROMs that way you won't waste your time if there is some other problem.  If you do one and it goes from red to green, you know you can fix it and you can do the rest.  Doing them all at once is prob a waste of time.

[crashfuturesound]

I took them all off, cleaned all the pins off and cleaned out the sockets with compressed air and plugged them all back in.  When i power the machine up it goes to the test screen and all the roms turn green.  Then however it goes to the screen that says "the cmos is invalid, press any key to continue."  But when i press any key the game starts up normally.  The picture on the opening screens is great, the gameplay is kinda messed up and there is a weird green line along the bottom of the screen.  Also the sound is working well but it very quiet, these original cabs should boom.

Getttttting closer....

[XtraSmiley]

Great news!  Sound is easy, in the game menu turn the sound up.  It's always set really low.  Of course it won't save without a new battery.  It also sounds like one of the ROMS still needs cleaning or replacing.

[Malenko]

replace that CMOS battery, just pop the old one out and take it to staples or something, they should have it.  Can you take a picture of the messed up game screen?


Also, go to test menu and let the game run at least 1 successful burn in loop

[crashfuturesound]

I have officially thrown in the towel on this board, thanks to everyone for their help.

If anyone see's a working mortal kombat 2 pcb for sale let me know (privately, im watching ebay 24/7)

Thanks guys

[XtraSmiley]

Really?  What happened?  I thought you were so close.  If you do get another board, swap the EPROMs to see if the PCB itself works.  If so, EPROMs are cheaper to reprogram/replace and you will then have two working boards.

As an aside, how much for a working MKII board with MK Challenger ROMs as well as the newest ones from Midway?

I play UMK3 a lot more than 2 and have been thinking about selling my boardset.

[crashfuturesound]

I've grown beyond frustrated.  Everytime i plug it in something different happens, i've cleaned and reseated the roms twice, i've checked the transformer to make sure it's gettng the right power, and when i put the tekken pcb on the harness it fires right up.  Sometimes the game fires up and the test screen says all the roms are ok, then it goes to a screen that says errors found press any button and when i do the game starts.  The intro screens looks great but the game play screens have many horizontal line issues.

Then i'll turn if off and back on and i'll get only one pcb light and nothing on the screen at all.

Im not technically inclined enough to set new sockets for the roms, so at this point i'd rather just buy a new one, 2 months of waiting for thiis game has gotten to me

[oceancube]

darn bummer, do you have a front picture of your mortal kombat2, i wish you luck in finding another board, let me know if you want  i can have my vendor here look for a working board here in san antonio and i will ship it to you at cost!! let me know! meanwhile im having a blast playing one of my 2 mortal kombat2 machines, great game! and killer instinct is coming in a couple days .. im so sited!!!lol

[Malenko]

I've grown beyond frustrated.  Everytime i plug it in something different happens, i've cleaned and reseated the roms twice, i've checked the transformer to make sure it's gettng the right power, and when i put the tekken pcb on the harness it fires right up.  Sometimes the game fires up and the test screen says all the roms are ok, then it goes to a screen that says errors found press any button and when i do the game starts.  The intro screens looks great but the game play screens have many horizontal line issues.

Then i'll turn if off and back on and i'll get only one pcb light and nothing on the screen at all.

Im not technically inclined enough to set new sockets for the roms, so at this point i'd rather just buy a new one, 2 months of waiting for thiis game has gotten to me

I PM'ed ya, keep your head up

[crashfuturesound]

I brought the board into a shop today and then threw it in a sf2 machine and it fired up.  The sound didn't work other than the loud startup ping but the game itself was flawless.

So now i'm confused, How is it that it keeps failing in the original cabinet but works in another jamma cabinet, keeping in mind that a tekken 3 board fires right up when put in the MK dedicated cabinet. 

it's not the -5, its connected and i check it with the multmeter...

*pulls hair*

[Malenko]

check all the voltages you can there must be a problem in the jamma or power supply in your cab. Certain games are slightly more tolerant of voltages then others.  As for volume, entering the CMOS and turning up the volume will let you hear the game play. Since your battery is dead you can't save the higher volume settings so it has to be adjusted each time you power up.

It may be in your best interest to just buy a new JAMMA harness and wire everything up new...at least it is what I'd do. I still wish you the best of luck in this and if you need any help at all, feel free to PM me.  Is your tekken board for sale =)

[crashfuturesound]

Once i get the MK2 working i will unload the tekken 3 board, it will be a package with the marquee and the 2 peice bezel thingy with the characters and their moves on it.  Not sure if Im gonna ebay it or private list, not ready to let it go till the mk works

[crashfuturesound]

So I turned down the knob on the power supply and now the game boots up fine everytime and the picture is 100%.  But for some reason now the sound won't work.  (Yes i checked and turned up the volume)  When it boots up the light on the sound board turns on but once the test screen is over and the game should be making noise, the light turns off.  If i run a test of the board the light comes on and it says the soundboard is ok, but once there is supposed to be any kind of sound the light turns off again.  Sporadically the game will "BONG" and the light will turn back on until again, something with noise happens and it shuts off.

So close, so close, and i have had the sound working on this game before when the picture was messed up, occaisionally the game would sound sick but with a crappy picture.

Any ideas?

[XtraSmiley]

Yes, see above!!!!  Check chips, and connections.  Reseat everything and especially check the power cable.

Go into the test menu of the game and check to see if sound works there as well.

So close...

Oh, an I KNEW it could be a power supply problem, MKII is picky!

[crashfuturesound]

Sound does not work in the test menu but a diagnostic of the boards says it's ok

[Malenko]

maybe adjust the power level back the other way perhaps the sound card isnt getting enough juice?

personally I'd check the power cord and the ribbon cable that goes from the main board to the sound board its most likely the problem if the voltage from the power supply is adequate.

[SirPeale]

Have you checked the voltage with a multimeter?