ST-V Motherboard help

[lawnspic]

just got my MB today, now i need some info.

1 Whats with the battery? and what exactly does it save

2. How can i tell for sure that its a Jap MB, the guy who sold it to me says it is but want to be sure. I dont want to get RS only to find out i can only use three weapons

3. There a two tactile switches on the board marked SW1 and 2, what up with that

4. what is the best way to protect the board(i was thinking to build a box to house it, and line it with antistatic material)

5. anything i missed and some startup tips

Im gonna use it with a M Ross SG

Thanks


well just saw this

http://www.system16.com/files/manuals/stv_manual.pdf

explains alot, but this is new to me and exposed electronics aint cool, better get some antistatic gloves

very interesting tidbit

----Are the ST-V->Saturn conversions perfect, all the time?
Well, yes. ST-V to Saturn conversions are practically flawless, with winners
like Baku Baku Animal, Astra Superstars, Batman Forever, Elandoree, etc. In fact,
Radiant Silvergun was originally made on the Saturn, then converted to the ST-V arcade
platform!!

[dpful]

1. I know that it at least saves info about the last cart used

2. there might be some region info in the menu settings (just guessing)

3. the buttons are test and menu switches, press one to access menus and the other to navigate

4. if it's in a box, probably don't need antistatic shield (anti-static shield only needed for stuff it touches- assuming your using PCB feet)

5. You can find people selling bios chips that come with a switch so you can switch regions. STV rules, my favs are RS, Shienryu, Soukyugurentai

[PC Engine Fan X!]

For lawnspic,

That CR-2032 button-cell type battery on the Sega Titan ST-V mobo is for the real-time clock/calendar + saving of high scores of last ST-V game booted up in the cart slot -- remove the said ST-V game cartridge and it's "bye-bye" for your high scores... ^_~

ST-V PCB Tip: Please install a fresh brand new CR-2032 battery and you're good to go when firing up the ol' ST-V mobo -- no worries about losing your precious high scores (only if you don't remove the last booted up ST-V game cart, of course). The loading times are instaneous on such a ST-V mobo setup -- can't say that for the double-speed endowed CD-Rom drive based Sega Saturn console though... ^_~

To find out what country region ST-V mobo you do have, it should say "Use for Japan Only" would indicate that it's a JPN region version upon powering it up and booting up the inserted ST-V game cart...

If you do have a USA region ST-V mobo, then you can change the country region BIOS to "Japan" if you have a Multi-Bios ST-V Mod chip installed -- this special chip won't work with a native Japan region ST-V mobo though...

You can output the BGM tunes and sound effects in true stereo if you use an RCA stereo adapter harness on an ST-V mobo -- sounds much better than the usual "mono" output piped through a Supergun/arcade cabinet setup...

The ST-V arcade game cartridges had to be reprogrammed to work properly on the ST-V mobo -- is a different beast compared to the Sega Saturn console. Even Treasure had to do some reprogramming just to get Radiant Silvergun to work properly on a ST-V mobo -- is considered a "meaner & leaner" no-frills version of RSG made for the arcade scene..... ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[lawnspic]

can you tell me a little more about the RCA adapter harness for stereo sound

[PC Engine Fan X!]

can you tell me a little more about the RCA adapter harness for stereo sound

On the ST-V mobo, where it says "SW 24" pinout, that's a 4-pinout for the stereo output...and by using a 4-pin CD-audio plug (taken from an old PC tower) and endowed with RCA audio adapter plugs on the other end, you're good to go.

[lawnspic]

got one more question, are these boards bootlegged at all. i got mine off ebay for 55+ship. i ask this because my bios chip is made in singapore and the serials dont show up on system 16's site for known bios chips. but all the other chips are either stamped NEC, Sony, and Sega. i ask this because i just started to read up on MVS carts and saw the horror stories. just wondering

[rtw]

got one more question, are these boards bootlegged at all. i got mine off ebay for 55+ship. i ask this because my bios chip is made in singapore and the serials dont show up on system 16's site for known bios chips. but all the other chips are either stamped NEC, Sony, and Sega. i ask this because i just started to read up on MVS carts and saw the horror stories. just wondering

ST-V carts were not bootlegged, take a picture of your ST-V BIOS and post it here please.

rtw

[lawnspic]

[rtw]

Don't worry you have the one of the first boards which did not have the
MASK rom but the EPROM instead. Sadly that means you can't
use a dual BIOS unless you make a piggyback.

rtw

[lawnspic]

thanks rtw, i dont know what that means completely, but i dont plan on any US ST-V carts. but i thought the Jap boards were the only one you could do a dual bios chip

[lawnspic]

rtw why is my chip like the one in this dual bios setup, is my chip not original, it does not say sega

http://home.online.no/~tjaberg/stv/dual ... socket.jpg

http://home.online.no/~tjaberg/stv/dual ... k_bios.jpg

[rtw]

rtw why is my chip like the one in this dual bios setup, is my chip not original, it does not say sega

http://home.online.no/~tjaberg/stv/dual ... socket.jpg

http://home.online.no/~tjaberg/stv/dual ... k_bios.jpg

Your chip is a 27C4002, the one used for the dual BIOS is a
27C800. They are not the same.

Initially SEGA used a normal 27C4002 as the BIOS but after
a while they started making MASK ROM's to save money. The
MASK ROM has a different pinout that the 27C4002.

The question is which BIOS do you have ?

rtw