Willow to strider.

[Retroman839]

@ lurch
I have original willow if you want to compare

 

[Lurch666]

It does the starting check of roms rams etc but the text is blank so I can't see the results then it goes to a static pattern with no activity or sound.
At work now but will check that stuff tonight.

 

[Jacmar]

Check this link out ... .JED files for all 91634B-2 b-board conversions !!
https://www.arcade-projects.com/threads/cps1-pal-for-conversion-on-b-board-91634b-2.26594/
So the 3 GALS would be ..
"sth63b.1a"
"iob1.12d"
"bprg1.11d"
I think

 

[Lurch666]

So it's the pal at A1 that's connected to the OE of the graphics roms.
I have the original pals in the board as the gals I tried ended up with a blank screen.
Apart from the one at A1 there's one at 11D and one at 12D.
The one at A1 is a GAL so I assume it replaced the PAL when the board was converted.
At 11D is a PAL marked BPRG2 but at 12D the markings are worn. It could say 10B but can only see the upper parts of the letters.

 

[Lurch666]

Just tried the gal from the site @Jacmar posted but just gives a blank screen again.
Verified all the roms and they check out.
Running out of ideas. Might reprogram 22 and 23 back to willow to see what happens with the strider gfx roms in.

 

[Lurch666]

So it runs willow with strider GFX roms. Obviously the screen is a mess but I can see evidence of the game going through demo mode.
Don't understand why strider fails to run after the checks.

 

[Lurch666]

*^&%*%%$%$%$*$!!!!!! ^%*$$$*^$*$%*%$$*%^!!!!

Can't believe it.

Now working.
It was down to dip switch settings.
On willow switch 3 dip C sets number of health bars. It was turned on.
On strider that switch is SCREEN STOP!!!!
With the willow gal at 1A I was getting garbage but it looked like something was happening.
But with the correct gal at 1A it was correctly clearing the screen then stopping so I got a blank screen.
With that switch turned off and the strider gal at 1A the game runs with correct graphics.

 

[Retroman839]

Did you randomly try dips ?
Or look up dip settings ?

Can’t belive it was screen stop !
Is that like a pause ?
that was conspiring against you.😉 good find

 

[Lurch666]

Checked online for the dip settings.
Seen other boards with stop screen dip settings. No idea why they have them.
Figured if it was stopping the game from running it would be stopping willow as well but I was running out of ideas. Good job I checked as I found out the dips are different between different CPS1 games.

 

[Retroman839]

Thats mad!
God knows why it would have a screen stop …
Can it be implemented like a pause any time?

or screen stop just stops game from running .from power up. ?

Works like a Pause any time ?
But Why…. ?
( have a cup of tea come back to your game !

 

[Jacmar]

*^&%*%%$%$%$*$!!!!!! ^%*$$$*^$*$%*%$$*%^!!!!

Can't believe it.

Now working.
It was down to dip switch settings.
On willow switch 3 dip C sets number of health bars. It was turned on.
On strider that switch is SCREEN STOP!!!!
With the willow gal at 1A I was getting garbage but it looked like something was happening.
But with the correct gal at 1A it was correctly clearing the screen then stopping so I got a blank screen.
With that switch turned off and the strider gal at 1A the game runs with correct graphics.

Happy days, and great find !! Didn't even consider dipswitch settings.

 

[r-type]

Well done mate!

 

[Lurch666]

Just adding:
Thanks for all the help dudes especially @GadgetFreak for the cool arcade rom patcher.

 

[Jacmar]

Thanks for the inspiration, just put Final Fight on the spare hooky Chinese 91634B-2 b-board I've had sat empty for months!!
I put the Japan Hack version on where you can play as the bad guy characters if you want to