Dragon's Lair Fans - Arcade Lifestyle
General Chat => Galaxian Theater => Topic started by: DarthNuno on September 02, 2008, 06:45:10 PM
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(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/news/galaxian3emulation.jpg)
Well, no game is immortal, and some games such Galaxian³ are so rare. We need to preserve this game, or it will lost forever.
Only Namco has the source of their games, and I doubt they will release Galaxian³ sources in the future :'(
With the time, repairing such arcade games will be very hard, or maybe impossible : no more spare item, no more knowledge or worse : no more interest :-X
Impossible to let die this game !!! I'll do all I can in order to give to the Galaxian³ game the immortality and allows a maximum of gamers to see what the game is.
The bad thing is : I'm not a Mame, Daphne, or other emulator developer but... I'll make all the resources of this game available to them. But I'll keep all the boards and laser disc here. I hope they'll help me to do a good job regarding the roms dump, laser disc capture...
Ok, stop talking.
Let's start to examine how a Galaxian Theater works.
They are three boxes of electronics stuff :
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/bo1.jpg)
Box number 1 :
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/bo2.jpg)
Let's see closer what are these three boards, from left to right :arrow:
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/board1sma.jpg) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/board1big.jpg)
(click on picture for big size)
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/board2sma.jpg) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/board2big.jpg)
(click on picture for big size)
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/board3sma.jpg) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/board3big.jpg)
(click on picture for big size)
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/board4sma.jpg) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/board4big.jpg)
(click on picture for big size)
Did you notice ? All these three boards are the same.
Ok, let's carefully remove one :
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/bo3.jpg)
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/allboardsma.jpg) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/allboardbig.jpg)
(click on picture for big size)
Now, in order to show you all the components, here's more views of this board :
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/View1sma.jpg) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/view1big.jpg)
(click on picture for big size)
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/View2sma.jpg) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/view2big.jpg)
(click on picture for big size)
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/View3sma.jpg) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/view3big.jpg)
(click on picture for big size)
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/View4sma.jpg) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/view4big.jpg)
(click on picture for big size)
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/View5sma.jpg) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/view5big.jpg)
(click on picture for big size)
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/View6sma.jpg) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/view6big.jpg)
(click on picture for big size)
...and if it's not enough, here a scan of the board, in two parts :
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/Commonboard1asma.jpg) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/commonboard1a.jpg)
(click on picture for big size)
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/Commonboard1bsma.jpg) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/commonboard1b.jpg)
(click on picture for big size)
Ok, now the questions for the dumper/developer specialists only please :
- What are the roms to dump on that board ?
- What do I have to buy in order to dump these roms (link to shops) ?
- Other things to do on this board ?
:-*
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Hello, Good luck with this project! I hope it works out great!! I'll bet it will be a little hard due to it being such a complex game though...
Here is the link for the site for MameUIFX.. ( a frontend I really like) I'll bet the Site Admin (MameSick) might be able to help you/give advice? Just drop in on their forum and ask.. He seems to be very smart with emulation!
Good Luck!! :pac: :ghost: :spaceace: :spaceace: :spaceace:
http://mame32fx.altervista.org/home.htm
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I'm not an expert but I recognise 3 roms on this board. It's the 3 in the middle with the stickers on them. I'm in doubt about 2 other IC's but I think they are ram. But I'm definately sure about the 3 in the middle.
I have this eprom programmer/reader here:
http://www.willem.org/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=1_17&products_id=204 (http://www.willem.org/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=1_17&products_id=204)
Can you check the eprom type numbers under the clips. From that number I can tell you if they are 8 or 16 bit eproms. If they are 16 bit you will need an extra adapter with that reader. I had to buy an adapter with my reader: http://www.willem.org/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=1_21&products_id=77
(http://www.willem.org/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=1_21&products_id=77)
You will have to be very careful when dumping the eproms. You have to set dip switches and one mistake can destroy your eprom. And you don't want that!! :ghost: Always triple-check the settings before placing your eprom in the reader/programmer.
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Okay I checked the part numbers and those 2 other chips are neither rom or ram chips.
Check the other boards too if the stickers on the eproms have different numbers?
As Sonic 1992 said it won't be easy to emulate this. I think the Mame developers will not only need the rom's and laser disc, but the whole system architecture and routines...
Good luck with the project! ;)
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You should contact "The Guru":
http://www.mameworld.net/gurudumps/ (http://www.mameworld.net/gurudumps/)
Contact info:
http://www.mameworld.net/gurudumps/comments.html (http://www.mameworld.net/gurudumps/comments.html)
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Ok, now the questions for the dumper/developer specialists only please :
- What are the roms to dump on that board ?
- What do I have to buy in order to dump these roms (link to shops) ?
- Other things to do on this board ?
:-*
Hi Bruno,
The only rom to dump are the 3 chip with "GLC XXXXX" sticker on them.
Some pal are there too, but i bet that namco have "secured" them (dumpable with the right toys...)
Mame can "work" also without them.
Any rom reader can handle them, the Willem can do it with right adapter, at first look they seem 1to4 Mbit 16 bit ones.
Or if you want to post them i can do it, or we can do it in November...
The board is unique, not used in any other games, but maybe it's related to system 21, we will see when you show the video board :)
Each board seem to control 2 player and you can fine adjust the gun volume for guns. (Guess)
Other notable chip is the Namco C139 witch is a serial conroller, maybe to sync with other CPU board, quite sure.
Let us know :)
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Great :) Following the responses I got here and by mail, the dump should not be the major problem ;) And the interest about this project it very good, so let's go further on it ;)
Here's a better view on the EPROM :arrow:
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/epromzoomsmall.jpg) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/epromzoombig.jpg)
(click on picture for the full size version)
Now you can read the specs on it. Is it a common EPROM by the way ? What is the purpose of the small plastic part I've removed on that Eprom ?
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Now I can see the type of EPROM used. It's a 27C1000 as you can see, I haven't seen these much on arcade pcb's; in fact, I can't remember if I have ever seen them on arcade pcb's. They have a capacity of 1 Mbit each, in an 8-bit configuration.
If you want to dump these with an eprom programmer, you'll have to loop up these specs and set the dip switches according the manual. (so you don't destroy your eproms)
I made this mistake the first time I ever used an eprom programmer.... :pac::ghost:
There was 1 bad eprom on the vigilante board and of course I destroyed a perfectly good one...:oops::oops: Luckily Vigilante was already dumped for mame so I could take a new eprom and burn the file again.
Good luck with the dumping process!!! Someday maybe everybody may experience G³ in mame thanks to you!
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I looked up the datasheet and it's the same eprom as 27C1001 which is very common.
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Great :) Following the responses I got here and by mail, the dump should not be the major problem ;) And the interest about this project it very good, so let's go further on it ;)
Here's a better view on the EPROM :arrow:
Now you can read the specs on it. Is it a common EPROM by the way ? What is the purpose of the small plastic part I've removed on that Eprom ?
The eprom is 1mbit 8 bit... I was wrong :( very comon and every programmer can handle that.
The plastic clip is just used to secure the chip in it's socket.
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Are those the only three boards used by the game or are there more in the other boxes?
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Are those the only three boards used by the game or are there more in the other boxes?
Hi Phil,
Nope, there are 12 (yes ...TWELVE :shock:) other boards in the second 'boards rack'. I'll update the post with the pictures of them soon ;)
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Today, let's examine what's inside the 2nd 'rack' of boards.
Entire view of it :
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/2ndbox1.JPG)
Closer, for left to right :
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/2ndbox2.JPG)
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/2ndbox3.JPG)
So they are 12 boards inside that box.
Let's name it :
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/2ndbox4.JPG)
1) CRAM
2) ???CPU (Japanese team please ?)
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/2ndbox5.JPG)
3) RSO
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/2ndbox6.JPG)
4) SOUND
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/2ndbox7.JPG)
5) ??-?CPU (Japanese team please ?)
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/2ndbox8.JPG)
6) OBJ
7) PGN
8) DSP
9) OBJ
10) PGN
11) DSP
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/2ndbox9.JPG)
12) VMIX
There are also two big wires :
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/2ndbox10.JPG)
...named :
- ??????1 (Japanese team please ?)
- ??????2 (Japanese team please ?)
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2) is "Master CPU".
5) is "Slave CPU".
Two big wires are "Projector 1" and "Projector 2".
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Hi,
Any chance of some nice hi res photos of the individual boards?
bfn,
mungler
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2) is "Master CPU".
5) is "Slave CPU".
Two big wires are "Projector 1" and "Projector 2".
Thanks REVO :-* :-* :-* :-* :-* :-*
Any chance of some nice hi res photos of the individual boards?
mungler
Hi Mungler and welcome on this board :-*
Yes, it's the next step ;) It's coming soon 8)
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OK, it's time to look closer these 12 boards from the second rack 8)
1. the "CRAM" board
You can see it on the left :arrow:
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/cramcpu1.jpg)
As you can see, there are two cables linked to the front of the "MASTER CPU" board. I remove these two cables and the "MASTER CPU" board, but they are two another cables hooked at the back of the "CRAM" board, look :arrow:
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/cramcpu2.jpg)
I dunno where these 2 cables are going to... it's behind the backplane :-\
OK, now I'm able to remove the "CRAM" board. General view :arrow:
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/cramcpu3.jpg) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/cramcpu3big.jpg)
[click to zoom]
Closer :
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/cramcpu4.jpg) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/cramcpu4big.jpg)
[click to zoom]
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/cramcpu5.jpg) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/cramcpu5big.jpg)
[click to zoom]
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/cramcpu6.jpg) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/cramcpu6big.jpg)
[click to zoom]
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/cramcpu7.jpg) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/cramcpu7big.jpg)
[click to zoom]
Zoom on one of the two 'Processors" (not sure if they are processor, chip, ram, others) ?
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/cramcpu8.jpg) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/cramcpu8big.jpg)
[click to zoom]
Both are similar, but they are different inscription near them.
Near the first one :
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/cpuramcpujap1.jpg)
Near the second one :
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/cpuramcpujap2.jpg)
Any idea what the difference is (Japanese team please ?) ?
2. the "MASTER CPU" board
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/Mastercpu1sma.jpg) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/mastercpu1.jpg)
[click to zoom]
Closer :
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/Mastercpu2sma.jpg) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/mastercpu2.jpg)
[click to zoom]
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/Mastercpu3sma.jpg) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/mastercpu3.jpg)
[click to zoom]
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/Mastercpu4sma.jpg) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/mastercpu4.jpg)
[click to zoom]
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/Mastercpu5sma.jpg) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/mastercpu5.jpg)
[click to zoom]
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/Mastercpu6sma.jpg) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/mastercpu6.jpg)
[click to zoom]
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/Mastercpu7sma.jpg) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/mastercpu7.jpg)
[click to zoom]
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3. the "RSO" board
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/rso1.jpg)
General view :
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/rso2sma.jpg) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/rso2.jpg)
[click to zoom]
Zoom :arrow:
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/rso3sma.jpg) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/rso3.jpg)
[click to zoom]
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/rso4sma.jpg) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/rso4.jpg)
[click to zoom]
4. the "SOUND" board
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/sound1.JPG)
General view :
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/sound2sma.jpg) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/sound2.JPG)
[click to zoom]
Zoom :arrow:
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/sound3sma.jpg) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/sound3.JPG)
[click to zoom]
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/sound4sma.jpg) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/sound4.JPG)
[click to zoom]
ps : sorry for bad quality of the pictures (done with a flash in a dark room, no daylight :-\). I'll do some better ones if needed.
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5. the "SLAVE CPU" board
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/SlaveCPU1sma.JPG) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/slaveCPU1.JPG)
[click to zoom]
General view :arrow:
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/SlaveCPU2sma.JPG) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/slaveCPU2.JPG)
[click to zoom]
Zoom :arrow:
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/SlaveCPU3sma.JPG) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/slaveCPU3.JPG)
[click to zoom]
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/SlaveCPU4sma.JPG) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/slaveCPU4.JPG)
[click to zoom]
6. the "OBJ" board
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/objboardsma.jpg) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/objboard.jpg)
[click to zoom]
General view :arrow:
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/objfullsma.jpg) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/objfull.jpg)
[click to zoom]
Zoom :arrow:
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/objzoom1sma.jpg) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/objzoom1.jpg)
[click to zoom]
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/objzoom2sma.jpg) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/objzoom2.jpg)
[click to zoom]
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7. the "PGN" board
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/pgn1.jpg)
General view :arrow:
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/pgn2sma.jpg) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/pgn2.jpg)
[click to zoom]
Zoom :arrow:
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/pgn3sma.jpg) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/pgn3.jpg)
[click to zoom]
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/pgn4sma.jpg) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/pgn4.jpg)
[click to zoom]
8. the "DSP" board
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/dsp1.jpg)
General view :arrow:
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/dsp2sma.jpg) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/dsp2.jpg)
[click to zoom]
Zoom :arrow:
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/dsp3sma.jpg) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/dsp3.jpg)
[click to zoom]
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/dsp4sma.jpg) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/dsp4.jpg)
[click to zoom]
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9. the "OBJ" board
This second "OBJ" board is exactly the same than the first one (see 6. the "OBJ" board)
No difference at all, even the jumpers position.
See the 2 boards side by side :arrow:
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/bothOBJsma.jpg) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/bothOBJ.jpg)
[click to zoom]
Only ONE difference :arrow: A number written on a kind of sticker, applied under the name of the boards.
T0085 for the first one, T000086 for the second one. A kind of serial number for the boards I would say ?
10. the "PGN" board
This second "PGN" board is exactly the same than the first one (see 7. the "PGN" board)
No difference at all, even the jumpers position.
See the 2 boards side by side :arrow:
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/bothPGNsma.jpg) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/bothPGN.jpg)
[click to zoom]
Only ONE difference :arrow: A number written on a kind of sticker, applied under the name of the boards.
T0082 for the first one, T000081 for the second one. A kind of serial number for the boards I would say ?
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11. the "DSP" board
This second "DSP" board is exactly the same than the first one (see 8. the "PGN" board)
No difference at all, even the jumpers position.
See the 2 boards side by side :arrow:
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/bothDSPsma.jpg) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/bothDSP.jpg)
[click to zoom]
Only ONE difference :arrow: A number written on a kind of sticker, applied under the name of the boards.
T0084 for the first one, T000083 for the second one. A kind of serial number for the boards I would say ?
12. the "VMIX" board
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/vmix1.jpg)
General view :arrow:
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/vmix2sma.jpg) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/vmix2.jpg)
[click to zoom]
Zoom :arrow:
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/vmix3sma.jpg) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/vmix3.jpg)
[click to zoom]
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/vmix4sma.jpg) (http://www.arcadelifestyle.net/G3/emulator/vmix4.jpg)
[click to zoom]
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Update : details of the :arrow: 2. the "MASTER CPU" board now available.
Did you see it... 68020 Motolora powered 8)
Update : details of the :arrow: 3. the "RSO" board now available.
I've used a scanner for the zoomed views. I hope it's not dangerous for the eproms ?
Update : details of the :arrow: 4. the "SOUND" board now available.
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Good luck with the project Nuno.
Maybe the Daphne crew can make a simulation of the game vs an exact emulation. ;)
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Good luck with the project Nuno.
Maybe the Daphne crew can make a simulation of the game vs an exact emulation. ;)
Thanks :-*
Once I'll describe all the boards, It'll be the 'roms dumping process', laser disc rip ...and of course help from everyone will be welcome :-*
I use to take snapshots for each boards, but 'scanning' the boards give better result in term of quality/picture.
Question : Is is dangerous to put a board on a scanner ? Any risk to damage eprom or something else on the board if I do that ?
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eeprom are UV sensitive. They are erased using a UV insolator.
despite this, the risk of erasing such eeprom is very minimal.
to be more precise, eeprom needs to be isolated several times before erasure becomes effective.
Add to this that you still have the UV protector lable on it and then you can conclude by yourself...
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hello to all, including Darth-nuno..
Well, guess what landed in my lap earlier this evening... a complete 'spares' set of pcbs for a galaxian 3... that means i have one pcb of every type from the game, that means 11 pcbs in all, in order to have a full set i'd need another 6 i think. The guy i got them from says he scrapped a whole g3 theatre machine, i'm hoping he kept the pcb set and laserplayers/discs at least from the machine, but he's not sure he has anything left :|
Darth, are you in a position to fire your game up? i wondered if i have any hope of getting something running with just the pcbs i have..
If nothing else, you might want the roms Darth? seeing as yours is Zolgear and mine appears to be a straight Galaxian 3.... I will be duimping the roms over the next few days.
I look forward to seeing how yours goes back together, if ever :)
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First of all, welcome here P-man, and many thanks for 'reacting' on this topic :) :-* :-* :-*
AWESOME :o :-*
Ok, i didn't really mention it but here's what I have now :P :arrow:
Of course, I have a complete Galaxian Theater, fully equipped with the upgrade kit 'Attack of the Zolgear'. It means :
- 3 pcb in the first box :arrow:
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/bo2.jpg)
- 12 pcb in the second box :arrow:
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/emulator/2ndbox1.JPG)
- 2 laser discs 'Attack of the Zolgear' (one for each laser disc player)
The entire Theater was working when we dismantled it, except the laser disc players (we can see the game running on this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRM-IbuOYhg)).
BUT I GOT MORE ::) ;D :P :arrow:
- 11 pcbs from the original game 'Project Dragoon' :-*
- 1 of the two laser disc 'Project Dragoon'...but ... this laser disc contains footage for left and right screen 8) ... yes ... the laser discs to insert in the left LD player and the right LD are the same 8) So we won't stuck for the video footage with only one laser disc.
But I still have a question regarding the number of boards (I'm only speaking about the second rack of boards) :
- 'Attack of the Zolgear' uses 12 boards
- You and me have only 11 boards for 'Project Dragoon'
Two solutions ::) :arrow:
- One board is common on both game, that explain what I (and you) have only 11 boards
- You and me have one missing board... If we are lucky, the missing one is not the same and we will be able to complete the set ;D
By the way, can you list (maybe with pictures) your 11 boards, so we can see if they are the same than mine ?
But I'm almost sure it's the first solution ;) The guy who gave you the boards probably scrapped (:ghost: :evil: :twisted: :shock: :-[ :-X) the Theater equipped with the kit 'Attack of the Zolgear' and he kept the original 'Project Dragoon' boards in a box ;)
Can you tell us where that Galaxian Theater was located by the way ?
I'm really happy to see you'll dump the 'Project Dragoon' roms :-* :-* :-* Of course I'll provide the 'Attack of the Zolgear' roms and also the video footage.
YEEEESSSS !!! :-* :-* :-* :)
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ok, i started to dump the roms, but i have other stuff to get done for monday so i'll finish dumping them later in the week...
here is what i worked out from your pictures:
2x backplane pcbs
2x CPU pcbs (one with master MST roms, one with slave SLV roms)
1x CRAM pcb
1x RSO pcb
1x SOUND pcb
2x OBJ pcb
2x PGN pcb
2x DSP pcb
1x VMIX pcb
3x PERSONAL pcbs
This make 17 pcbs in total needed for a complete set... I have 11pcbs, that is, one of each type listed above, with the exception of the CPU pcbs where i have 2, one with MST roms, one with SLV roms. There are 7 pcbs containing unique romsets, there are an additional 4 pcbs that are duplicates and have identical roms..
Because Zolgear and G3 are essentially just rom swaps, the set i have is not the result of someone upgrading by swapping out all the pcbs.. It is an unused set of pcbs that were obviously purchased as a backup for a machine, the theory would be, identify the bad pcb in your machine and swap in a whole pcb straight away, zero downtime. Expensive no doubt, but it means instant fixes when the game was in operation.
So, the pcbs that i am missing are :
2x Personal pcbs
1x backplane pcb
1x DSP
1x OBJ
1x PGN
I think that i might be able to poach DSP/OBJ/PGN pcbs from another system 21 game perhaps, but maybe the personal and backplane pcbs might be hard to find...
I am assuming your backplane pcbs are identical? if this is the case, i might be able to modify another backplane from another game to run the bus cards, the major i/o goes through ribbons from CRAM to slave cpu from what i can see. I'm hoping that the 'personal' pcb might allow just 2 players, and the other 2 pcbs are not needed to run the game..
anyhow, there's an update for you..
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ok, i started to dump the roms, but i have other stuff to get done for monday so i'll finish dumping them later in the week...
That's a fantastic new :-* Great :-*
Because Zolgear and G3 are essentially just rom swaps, the set i have is not the result of someone upgrading by swapping out all the pcbs.. It is an unused set of pcbs that were obviously purchased as a backup for a machine, the theory would be, identify the bad pcb in your machine and swap in a whole pcb straight away, zero downtime. Expensive no doubt, but it means instant fixes when the game was in operation.
I think it's not the same script for me. When I got that GT-6, I also got this box :arrow:
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/G3/various/4japteam1.jpg) (few details here (https://www.dragonslairfans.com/smfor/index.php?topic=451.0))
...I didn't check closely yet, but this is a set of 11 boards + one 'Project dragoon' laser disc, and the name of the eproms looks different than the ones for Zolgear. In addition, they looks absolutely brand new. When the operator got that GT-6, it was loaded for playing 'Project Dragoon', and (I presume) he quickly upgrade it to 'Attack of the Zolgear', store the 'Project Dragoon' boards...that explain with the boards look new like new.
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Update : details of the :arrow: 5. the "SLAVE CPU" board now available.
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well, i don't know whats going on really..
Have you got a technical or operators manual for Galaxian 3? that would answer a lot of questions for me..
I spoke to the guy again today about the G3 he scrapped, he said that he kicks himself for not removing all the other boards, he said he didn't have time and just loaded it all into skips without removing anything. He's still not sure if he has the laserdisc players or not but will check tomorrow for me for anything at all that is left. He only scrapped it 6 months ago too :(
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Have you got a technical or operators manual for Galaxian 3? that would answer a lot of questions for me..
Well, I just have the 'The Installation Manual (https://www.dragonslairfans.com/smfor/index.php?topic=503.0)', but I have to scan it. But I don't think it'll really help for the understanding of the electronic parts. Anyway, It includes a lot of A3 pages (I'll buy an A3 scanner for that :wink: ).
I spoke to the guy again today about the G3 he scrapped, he said that he kicks himself for not removing all the other boards, he said he didn't have time and just loaded it all into skips without removing anything. He's still not sure if he has the laserdisc players or not but will check tomorrow for me for anything at all that is left. He only scrapped it 6 months ago too :(
Oh... my ... God :-[
Let's hope he'll found back some boards or other parts :roll:
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ok, i finally documented the boards and dumped the romset..
you can download it here:
http://www.andysarcade.net/pix/G3PD.RAR (http://www.andysarcade.net/pix/G3PD.RAR)
My pcbs are probably going to be put into storage now for a rainy day, i have way too much on to do anything with them right now, still, the documenting and dumping is done...
enjoy.
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YOU DID IT !!!
(https://www.dragonslairfans.com/news/pddumped.jpg)
'Project Dragoon' code is now safe... for eternity :-* :-* :-*
I'll take pictures of the boards from the *spare* box I got, in order to compare with the pictures from your set, and define if I've a Project Dragoon set inside the box.
Regarding the emulation, I'll finish to take pictures from the remaining boards of course :)
So many things to do... but ... let's do it step by step :) :-*
THHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNKKKKSSSSSSSS Again :-* :-* :-*
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I have a feeling I know P-man and have met him twice :) :) He's THE man for this job :)
Bruno, please tell me you only will emulate this for keeping it safe for the future. Since your machine is running, it really deserves to be fixed in it's original form !
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Bruno, please tell me you only will emulate this for keeping it safe for the future. Since your machine is running, it really deserves to be fixed in it's original form !
Of course :) There is no reason to emulate something working 8) As far as I remember, only the laser disc players are broken, but there are a lot of specialists here and there ;)
But emulation could be the only way to play 'Project Dragoon' mission by example (my GT-6 is loaded for playing 'Attack Of The Zolgear' only), and I'm not sure to have a complete set for 'Dragoon' :P
But hey, we are still very far for an *working* emulator anyway ;)
Maybe the biggest challenge for the emulation scene ? ::) ;)
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Update : details of the :arrow: 6. the "OBJ" board now available.
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Bruno, please tell me you only will emulate this for keeping it safe for the future. Since your machine is running, it really deserves to be fixed in it's original form !
Of course :) There is no reason to emulate something working 8) As far as I remember, only the laser disc players are broken, but there are a lot of specialists here and there ;)
But emulation could be the only way to play 'Project Dragoon' mission by example (my GT-6 is loaded for playing 'Attack Of The Zolgear' only), and I'm not sure to have a complete set for 'Dragoon' :P
But hey, we are still very far for an *working* emulator anyway ;)
Maybe the biggest challenge for the emulation scene ? ::) ;)
That's great to hear :) ! Yes this definitely needs to get emulated of course. How will it be played on a normal system ? Would it require 2 screens I guess ?
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Update :
details of the arrow 7. the "PGN" board now available.
details of the arrow 8. the "DSP" board now available.
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Update :
details of the arrow 9. the "OBJ" board now available.
details of the arrow 10. the "PGN" board now available.
details of the arrow 11. the "DSP" board now available.
details of the arrow 12. the "VMIX" board now available.
So... YEEESS !!! All the boards pictures from 'Zolgear' are now available.
Next step... dumping + documentation the ROMS; like it has been done for 'Dragoon' (see here (https://www.dragonslairfans.com/smfor/index.php?topic=538.0))
:)