Divingboard / Arcade Card / glitch question

[Overand]

So this is a multi-part "let's get to the bottom of this" thing.

To start - I have a US NTSC TG-16, plus TG-CD.  In general, everything works.  The CD drive is touchy, and I have to poke it sometime to start (new gear needed I suspect - different thread I suppose), but when I pop in the system card and Ys or Valis, everything works.

I also have a "Diving board" style adapter - long, yellowish-green.  It works great with my Hu-cards, but here's where it gets funny.

I've burned several backup copies of some of my Super CD / Duo games - and have used my Arcade Card Pro with the diving board adapter to try to start them.

The results are... inconsistent.  Now, before I go into the Super CD game part, I'll mention that my burned backup copy of Splash Lake loads, and more-or-less works.  (The music dies a second after the first boss - odd).  It also works regardless of if I use the TG-CD card or the divingboard adapter & Arcade Card.  It does seem that the system's not thrilled about that CD, though.

Now, trying to use the backup copies of my Super CD games is a different story.  4-in-1 starts up, and during the 'Peeewwwww' falling-down-screen start, there's a brief graphical glitch.  After that, I've variously had Bonk talk and gotten the menu w/minor glitches,  had bonk load and the menu be a huge mess, or get stuck with a spotlight and no bonk.

The Bonk 3 burned backup CD also behaves oddly - first time I tried it, I got intro music, but no game; just a black screen.  The second time, not even that.  (I've only tried twice).

So, here are my thoughts.

The CDs are 650 MB golds, Kodak media (Maxell branded, but they wereburned at 8x, the lowest I can go so far.
The "diving board" adapter doesn't have all pins connected, and from what I've read, some adapters don't work with "Arcade Card" games, due to the system not being able to use the RAM on the card.

I do *not* know if the diving board works iwth SUPER CD games, though.  I'm fairly good with electronics, so I can certainly describe the pin paths on the diving board, relative to the pinout guides out there.

Also, I have no idea if the Arcade Card Pro itself works properly!  I'm not sure if I've ever used it with a Duo game successfully, but I do seem to recall having done so a number of years ago, which makes me wonder about the whole RAM/pins thing  But, my memory is NOT the best.

Unfortunately, what I don't have is a single real Super CD game to test with.

So, what are some thoughts / suggestions?  Should the Arcade Card work with a Diving Board adapter on Super CD games?  Do the issues described sound like they could just be a fiddly CD drive plus media that's not-quite-right?

Unfortunately, all of my original Super CDs are lost, stolen, or destroyed - it's absurd.  (Had my Duo, a large collection of Duo & TG16 games inc Ys, Shadow of the Beast, Bonk 3, Bomberman '93, 4-in-1, etc, plus SNES, 3DO w/games and several other things along with a car stereo stolen a number of years ago.  Sigh).

Of course, if any of you live in Maine in the US, I'd love to try out each other's equipment, mixed!  (I'll even stick the FreeMcBoot bootloader / "softmod" onto your PS2 memory card, if that's your sorta thing).

[DeshDildo]

Dropping audio is typically a read problem.  The other weird glitches don't seem typical of a read error.  With that being said, I'd recommend cleaning the lens and adjusting the pots on the CD Rom  (info can be found on the above stickies).

Burning at 8x shouldn't be a big deal but I thought I read somewhere that some had issues with gold discs (I could be wrong).  Anyways, I would start with doing some maintenance to that drive and go from there.

[Overand]

Ys Books I and II - (actual original CD) works perfectly fine, audio and otherwise.  Load times generally seem pretty good too.

I'm going to put up a video of the glitchy behavior.

I *am* curious to know if anyone else has used a divingboard adapter on a CDROM2 system w/Arcade Card to play Super CD games!

[HailingTheThings]

I've been using Mitsui 74m gold discs burned at 8x on a new internal model sata plextor (sadly, things happened to my old ide plextor).

Haven't had any issues so far with my Duo-R.

If I start having any problems, I'm totes gonna try to find a new old stock ide plextor cd writer that will go as low as 4x like my old one. Also an ide to sata adapppppt.

[DeshDildo]

I've been using Mitsui 74m gold discs burned at 8x on a new internal model sata plextor (sadly, things happened to my old ide plextor).

Haven't had any issues so far with my Duo-R.

If I start having any problems, I'm totes gonna try to find a new old stock ide plextor cd writer that will go as low as 4x like my old one. Also an ide to sata adapppppt.

I found me a kick ass TEAC external CD burner.  It connects via USB and even included all of the original paperwork and the 3.5" floppy install disc.  It burns as low as 2x and only cost $20.00 on fleabay.

To the OP.  I actually have been using cheaper Memorex 700MB discs which aren't ideal but I already had a stack of them.  I haven't had a single issue using them.  If you want, PM me and perhaps I can send you a known good burn of an SCD game so you can compare.

[HailingTheThings]

I've been using Mitsui 74m gold discs burned at 8x on a new internal model sata plextor (sadly, things happened to my old ide plextor).

Haven't had any issues so far with my Duo-R.

If I start having any problems, I'm totes gonna try to find a new old stock ide plextor cd writer that will go as low as 4x like my old one. Also an ide to sata adapppppt.

I found me a kick ass TEAC external CD burner.  It connects via USB and even included all of the original paperwork and the 3.5" floppy install disc.  It burns as low as 2x and only cost $20.00 on fleabay.

To the OP.  I actually have been using cheaper Memorex 700MB discs which aren't ideal but I already had a stack of them.  I haven't had a single issue using them.  If you want, PM me and perhaps I can send you a known good burn of an SCD game so you can compare.

Sounds hot, not plextor hot, but hot nonetheless. mewmewmwmewm,rewnwmekujktydkrykietudfuck

Kinda want one... or maybe I should fork over the dough to get an external plextor... hmmm.....

[LostFlunky]

My TGCD will not play backups of most SCD's and ACD's... Plays originals and backups of TGCD's fine though.. It was recently restored with a new laser and gear.  It wouldn't play backups before it failed either - back in the late 90's...

I guess my point is, I don't think it is your diving board, although those do tend to have a high rate of failure.

[Overand]

My TGCD will not play backups of most SCD's and ACD's.

That is super, super odd.  So it plays original SCDs fine, but not backups of SCDs?  I wonder what the reason for all of that could be!  Is that a common thing - people not being able to play backup SCD games on their TG16/CDROM2 setup, but being able to play the originals fine?

[NightWolve]

If it did get a new laser and still doesn't play some CD-Rs you probably would've benefitted from an expert tweak of the 3 CD related pots with an oscilloscope. Should've sent it to a trained electrical engineer like Steve. Other than that, you could try other CD-R brands and see if that helps. How many brands have you tried ? Also, always burn at the slowest speed permitted by your burner.

[Overand]

For me, the big question remains:

If you use the Arcade Card Pro in a TG-16 with the Divingboard adapter specifically, will it play Super CDROM2 games?

My divingboard works great for my Japanese HuCard games, and the arcade card *boots* (and will play standard CD games), but I've been unable to get a Duo / Super CDROM2 game to work, (but only have been able to test it with CD-Rs so far).

My understanding is that you can't use the diving board with Arcade Card games, because it doesn't allow access to the RAM on the card.  That's why I'm guessing it won't work for Super CDROM2 games either.  (I'm very, very tempted to take a PCB pen to this thing and get the remaining pin connections out to an accessible spot!)

• Works fine with official TG-CD games, with CD-ROM System Card, or with Arcade Card Pro w/Diving Board
• Works "iffy" with burned TG-CD games
• Glitches during startup of Super CDROM2 Games

[SignOfZeta]

Among the myriad of diving board converter problems is Arcade Card jankiness. It doesn't effect most AC games and should work perfectly with every CD/SCD. All your issues just sound like mediocre burns and/or laser issues to me. Back in the day people used diving boards without issue (this issue anyway, it sticking a foot out from your machine is another problem) for years and only leaned how much the things sucked when they got Saphire or Mad Stalker.

Solution: throw all your non licensed junk in the trash and pay someone to tune up your CDROM2.

[esteban]

Among the myriad of diving board converter problems is Arcade Card jankiness. It doesn't effect most AC games and should work perfectly with every CD/SCD. All your issues just sound like mediocre burns and/or laser issues to me. Back in the day people used diving boards without issue (this issue anyway, it sticking a foot out from your machine is another problem) for years and only leaned how much the things sucked when they got Saphire or Mad Stalker.

Solution: throw all your non licensed junk in the trash and pay someone to tune up your CDROM2.

Yup: tune-up is in order. Excellent techs here that you can trust.

[besthegreat]

Are using this?  If so, it won't work with Super CD Roms or Arcade.



It's possible with a MOD trick but you could just pick up a PC-Henshin.

Looks like they are back in stock!

http://www.db-elec.com/home/products

[SignOfZeta]

Why is it that back in the 90s you could get these stupid things for $5 or "free with game" but now they are $65-80. I buy handmade electronics now and again and usually I get a lot more for my money than swapping 4 pins.

[esteban]

Why is it that back in the 90s you could get these stupid things for $5 or "free with game" but now they are $65-80. I buy handmade electronics now and again and usually I get a lot more for my money than swapping 4 pins.

A lot of the import games were very expensive. Just sayin...if it's not one thing it is another.

[SignOfZeta]

That would explain why the new ones aren't free, but the cost of PCBs has not tripped in the past 20 years, in fact it's plummeted to nearly nothing.

[Overand]

There are two reasons the converters are expensive.

• The slot component is hard to find - out of production, by most accounts
• Because people will pay that much. (Capitalism!)

[Overand]

In case anyone's curious, I region-modded (halfway, that is, no switcher yet) my "spare" TG16, and tested out some Japanese HuCards with it; works great.  Popped the Arcade Card in, loaded said CD, and got the exact same behavior as I did with the US-stock TG16 w/diving board & arcade card.

[clackattack]

Are you using Aracade Card PRO or Arcade Card DUO? You need PRO for the TG16/SCD setup

[SignOfZeta]

I think he knows that. It won't even boot with a non-Pro.

[Overand]

Yeah, it's a Pro.  And it's not the divingboard.  (It *could* still be an issue with my Pro card, bad memory or such).

But given my recent other experiences, I'm beginning to suspect haunted CD-R media and two or three haunted burners.