Can not get Player 2 buttons to work when using Jammaboards.com MVS to JAMMA Inline Adapto

[greedostick]

I have a dedicated one slot cabinet with a 4 slot board installed. I use this adaptor I purchased from Jammaboards.com many years ago...

http://www.jammaboards.com/store/neogeo-mvs-to-jamma-inline-adapter-mvs2jamma.html

I don't ever remember having issues getting the player 2 buttons to work before, but I did have the board unhooked for quite awhile and had ProGear installed. Player one works fine just player 2 will not start. So I am unsure if it is just the start button, or the whole player 2 panel.

I have the 4 pin molex sound connector from my cabinet going into the JAMMA board. Because when I plug it in the adaptor it sounds weird. Plus the adaptor says JP1 & JP2 must be removed if I use the stereo cable so I just don't use it.

Now in the pictures in the link on the adaptor there is 10 pin connector which I am not using. Honestly I have no idea what, if anything is suppose to go into that. As far as my cabinet goes the only molex plugs I have are the 4 pin stereo, and the 2 molex connectors that go in player 1 and 2 on the Jamma board. I am unsure if maybe one of these go in the 10 pin connector on the adaptor and was scared to try. that may be the issue.

Now, I just tried ProGear a few hours ago and player 2 works fine. So I am thinking either I am hooking something up wrong, or maybe my adaptor crapped out. But it does look good so I don't know.

On a final unrelated note will I get beter sound by removing JP1 & JP2 and using the 4 pin molex connector on the adaptor, or am I fine just using it plugged directly in the 4 slot motherboard?

I really need to get this sorted out, I have people come over sometimes and we haven't been able to play any 2 player games because lack of player 2 controls working. Pretty frustrating.

 

[shadows]

Check for broken traces on the adapter and give the edge a good cleaning. The 10 pin connector is just there to make it easier to hook up the extra buttons, since a "pure" Jamma cab would only had 3 buttons. But it wouldnt prevent the start button from working at all.

For the sound, if you use the 4 pin connector (with the jumpers removed) you will get stereo sound. If you use the sound coming from the edge (jumpers on) you get mono sound. The left and right channel are mixed together.

 

[Xian Xi]

If all the buttons aren't working then it's a ground issue, make sure the 2 player side has it connected.

 

[greedostick]

There is indeed a broken connection on the back. I had no idea the blue covering was so thin. The wires are barely poking out on both side but I can't get them to touch. Is there a way to repair this? JAMMABOARDS.com is sold out, I'm not even sure they make these anymore

If I use the standard JAMMA edge connector to hook up to my 4 slot motherboard do I run a risk of breaking my board? I thought MVS had a slightly different wattage.

 

[shadows]

Youd need a soldeing iron and a piece of wire.

If you plug a MVS board into a JAMMA cab , the sound will come out distorted.

 

[greedostick]

Youd need a soldeing iron and a piece of wire.

If you plug a MVS board into a JAMMA cab , the sound will come out distorted.

I have that. I change batteries and install holders in all my games. And i'm sure I have some extra wire lying around. Could you give me a brief explanation how to do it? Do I just cut a small piece, then solder them at the broken points? The wires are so small I don't think I could twist them together.

 

[Terot]

Hey, if you have not gotten this fixed let me know and I can provide additional guidance.

 

[greedostick]

Hey, if you have not gotten this fixed let me know and I can provide additional guidance.

That would be great! I haven't got to it yet. The wires are very small. Should I post a pic tomorrow?

 

[Terot]

That would be great! I haven't got to it yet. The wires are very small. Should I post a pic tomorrow?

Yes, post a high resolution picture if possible.

 

[greedostick]

Completely forgot about this until I went to play my cab today. I imagine the repair requires somehow connecting these 2 wires. But they do not touch and are so small. I can not see things up close with my contacts in, and without them I can't see anything. Hopefully I can make this happen. I may have to send it to someone who isn't blind as a bat and has a some experience with this sort of stuff. I can change batteries and install holders in games, but if it's going to be harder than that i'm not sure if I can do it.

you can clearly see the broken connection right in the center. I am assuming that is my issue.

If I do manage to get this working, would it be a good idea to line the back of this thing with electrical tape? I know this happened because when taking out my 4 slot it bumped against the wooden opening in the cabinet.

 

[Terot]

The trace that is broken is for ground and really should not be causing any issues as it is superfluous (just a design choice they made for their adapter). However, it looks like the trace was burnt rather than broken. This could mean there are other serious issues with your mother board or cabinet wiring. Just for your info the pin that the trace goes to on the PCB side is Video Ground and it connects with Audio Ground and Common Ground on the cabinet side. Repairing it should not fix your issues with player 2 buttons. If you want to try just to be sure just solder the wire directly from the leg of the audio header pin that is up and to the left of the broke trace to the hole directly below the break. PM me if you need additional help.

 

[Xian Xi]

If all the buttons aren't working then it's a ground issue, make sure the 2 player side has it connected.

When I said this, I meant on your control panel, not the adapter.

 

[greedostick]

When I said this, I meant on your control panel, not the adapter.

By ground on the control panel, what exactly do you mean? Is there a ground wire that I may not have noticed that grounds all the 2 player buttons? I already tried making sure all the wires on the jamma harness were connected before posting here, and checked all the quick disconnects on all the buttons.

You all have me worried stating my cabinet or 4 slot may be broken. I'm kind of scared to turn it on now. I'm going to take some pics of my cab and post them this weekend. I've owned this cab about 10 years, the only maintenance that has been done is installing all new buttons, and a fella installed a new flyback for me.

Are there any common tests I can do before messing with this adaptor to make sure my board and wiring is ok?

 

[greedostick]

Also I forgot to mention, how could a ground issue on the 2 player controls allow the buttons to work when the mvs is hooked directly into the Janna harness, and not work when the mvs board is hooked into the mvs to jamma adaptor?

 

[Terot]

Also I forgot to mention, how could a ground issue on the 2 player controls allow the buttons to work when the mvs is hooked directly into the Janna harness, and not work when the mvs board is hooked into the mvs to jamma adaptor?

This is very strange sounding... The adapter looks like it is only 2 layers but it is possible it is 4 layers and they are doing something strange with the ground wire on the inside. Upon further examination of the picture it does look like they went very stingy with the solider on the edge connector as well. Try the fix I have illustrated below.


If this does not work you can send me the adapter and I will check it out (but it would really be better if there was someone more local to you).

 

[Xian Xi]

Also I forgot to mention, how could a ground issue on the 2 player controls allow the buttons to work when the mvs is hooked directly into the Janna harness, and not work when the mvs board is hooked into the mvs to jamma adaptor?

Most likely because your grounds aren't all connected. All cabinets and supergun should have all ground points common among each other to avoid these types of problems.

The picture of the adapter just shows a burnt trace that is for ground going to the extra service, test and video ground. The problem with the adaptor is that player 2 ground points aren't connected to the other grounds. That's the problem with the jammaboards adapter. All you need to do is run a wire for the player 1 ground on the adapter to the other side for player 2. Solder a wire from pin 28 and connect it to pin Af on the opposite side. While you are at it, fix the ground for video ground.

 

[greedostick]

Most likely because your grounds aren't all connected. All cabinets and supergun should have all ground points common among each other to avoid these types of problems.

The picture of the adapter just shows a burnt trace that is for ground going to the extra service, test and video ground. The problem with the adaptor is that player 2 ground points aren't connected to the other grounds. That's the problem with the jammaboards adapter. All you need to do is run a wire for the player 1 ground on the adapter to the other side for player 2. Solder a wire from pin 28 and connect it to pin Af on the opposite side. While you are at it, fix the ground for video ground.

OK, I got it working. But am still having a few weird issues which I will explain in a minute. I thank you 2 very much.


@ Xian Xi

I listed the pinouts below I think you are referring to. Not sure what you mean by Af? Do you mean solder 2 seperate wires to pins A and f from pin 28? because on the JAMMA pinout I do not see a contact called Af. I think the problem is I am unsure which grounds on the pinout are player 1 and 2 ground since they all are just labeled ground. And by opposite side do you mean solder the wire to pin 28, and then feed the wire on the other side of the adaptor? Like flip the whole adaptor over and solder it there correct?

28 Parts Side = Ground

Af= ground and ground

Video pinouts... I see 14 is video ground but unsure what to do to fix iit.

14 = video ground

I appreciate the patience. I'm still pretty new to learning about circuitry.

As for the weird issues now. There are a few.

1. On the player 2 controls now when I press "A" 2 things happen. The first is pressing "A" now inserts a coin for player 1 also. When I was testing on last blade for some reason I would hit A and and noticed I had to select a character for player 1 and 2 because player 1 had a coin inserted as well. Same thing happened for Metal Slug 3 and Samurai Shodown V Special.

2. When I press "A" my cabinet keeps clicking like I inserted a coin. Now even though these issues may be linked. This specific issue is not new. But is slightly different. I always had this problem when running my unibios in Home Cart mode. So I always just played in MVS mode. But now it is doing it in MVS mode as well.

3. Now I must run the sound with my 4 pin molex adaptor directly into the 4 Slot Board. If I try and run the audio cable to the adaptor the sound is set at one volume, and the knob on the 4 slot does nothing in terms of raising or lowering the volume. I am guessing with my adaptor blowout I may just have to deal with that and run directly off the board now.

 

[Xian Xi]

You need to either clear your backup RAM or change your bios region.