Problem with a jamma harness

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CStarFlare
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Problem with a jamma harness

Post by CStarFlare »

So I got an old supergun along with a slightly messed-up Gradius III board. It connects fine to Gradius, though some issue with the board makes the screen flicker a bit. It's playable, aside from being Gradius III.

I'm having a bigger problem with a Mushi board I picked up a few months back. The connectors won't go as "deep" into the harness, and I'm not having much luck getting it to stay in place without holding it. It's driving me up the walls; at first I suspected something was wrong with the board because no picture would show up (just not a solid enough connection). It boots up fine and all, but it's difficult to play when I'm using two hands to keep the harness in place.

So I have two questions:

1) Is there a reason it fits one board and not another?

2) Any way to loosen this thing up so I'll be able to fit Mushi in there?

Thanks in advance; it'd be great if I could get things working. :3
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rtw
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Re: Problem with a jamma harness

Post by rtw »

Can you please post some pictures of the harness ?

rtw
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CStarFlare
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Post by CStarFlare »

Sure:

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v109/ ... are/jamma/

Hope the quality is good enough and that the pictures show what you were looking for.
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rtw
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Post by rtw »

CStarFlare wrote:Sure:

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v109/ ... are/jamma/

Hope the quality is good enough and that the pictures show what you were looking for.
Connector looks OK, can you measure the depth of the connector in cm's ? I.e. stick in a paperclip and measure the depth.

You might have to remove the white alignment pin to make the connector fit more easily.

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CStarFlare
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Post by CStarFlare »

Approx. .9 cm.

The alignment pin (I assume that's the one that goes in the gap on the PCB connector?) seems to be "thin" enough, but I'm willing to remove it if necessary.
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rtw
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Post by rtw »

CStarFlare wrote:Approx. .9 cm.

The alignment pin (I assume that's the one that goes in the gap on the PCB connector?) seems to be "thin" enough, but I'm willing to remove it if necessary.
Should be deep enough, if you remove the alignment pin you will find it's easier to "wiggle" the JAMMA connector onto the edge connector.

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CStarFlare
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Post by CStarFlare »

Hey, I'm back.

Spent a few months worried about my finances, and seriously considered selling this shit since it wasn't going so well for me anyway. Things have stabilized, so I'm ready to give it another shot.

The pin is soldered in, which means I'll have to go buy a soldering iron to get it out. Any specific type (size?) I should get? How about the actual act of removing it - I don't want to spread the stuff to the other pins inadvertently.
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jonny5
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Post by jonny5 »

sometimes with newer sh3 boards like mushi the jamma connector can be very snug when connecting the harness

now heres the trick(providing you have feet on the pcb):

you have to sort of line up the harness so both corner edges of the jamma connector of the board are slotted a bit into the harness...otherwise its gonna go off on an angle when you push it on......

now with your pinky fingers grab the feet to the left and right of the connector/harness

now with your thumbs grab the left and right ends of the harness(with the jamma connector facing you)....applying equal pressure.. sort of gently, but firmly wobble it very slightly and it will start to slide in...you want to kind of get one end in a bit and then the same to the other end....little bit at a time so it doesnt get jammed

dont be afraid to be a little firm with it...as long as you take it slow you will be fine....just make sure its properly slotted before you start pushing

my buddies mushi-tama board is almost impossible to slot.....gotta really reef on it to get the harness on

take your time and if it jams just pull it off and start again.....once they have gone on and off a few times it gets easier

hth
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dpful
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Post by dpful »

in those pics, it looks like it's not all the way attached. I think it needs to go all they way in- as in it's a problem of the harness being too tight rather than too loose. Just jam it on. Also, the blocker piece, (the key, the call it) doesn't look soldered. It's kind of blurry, but it looks like either a bent over pin, or a pin-based key that I've never seen before. You can take those out by inserting something small and sharp, like a tiny flatheat screwdriver or a needle, down the back of the pin which holds in the barb (that holds the pin in) and the pin just slides out. You can be rough with that part. Just pry it out any old way (if it's blockage really is the problem, of course) and then be extra careful to never put the harness on a game upside down.
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CStarFlare
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Post by CStarFlare »

Took the whole pin out and "widened" the harness out a bit, and I'm able to get it on quite well now. Thanks, guys. It's a thing of beauty. Kind of.

Now I'm working a weird issue with the picture where it's got a yellow tint. Once, while messing around with Gradius III on a large TV (that I can't tate) I got the harness to sit just right on Mushi and it came in just perfect. Can't seem to recreate that now, but maybe without the alignment pin I just haven't mastered the art of getting it right where it needs to be.

There's also no sound, but IIRC there was a whole separate thread for that. :3
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dpful
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Post by dpful »

The green, red, and blue, pins have to connect firmly- if one of those isn't touching, it could look yellow.
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