ShootTheCore

I'm pleased to announce that I've worked with @p0rchio to assume web hosting for JAMMArcade.net - the site will live on! I'll also taking over as "editor-in-chief", so if anyone wants to contribute retro console, computer or arcade repair write ups, hit me up!

@wickerwaka Thanks for the info!

@_ShootTheCore I’m using Claude Code and tend to favor command lines tools and python. Makefiles for building and deploying code to picorom. Python api for the debug link so it’ll generally write python code to do that. I’ve also told it to use pywellen to analyze traces.

This weekend I did an experiment with AI-assisted reverse engineering that worked out pretty well. Agent had the ability to write 68000 code and run it, communicate with that running code via a serial-like link and capture and analyze signals with the logic analyzer.

@alamone Answered. Sorry I didn’t see your DM until now - X didn’t light up my Inbox icon for some reason.

@_ShootTheCore I sent a DM, could you take a look thanks

@takeme2hobbiton Starfox and Saros in the last week.

i think we can all agree that PlayStation's move sucks, but I'm curious to know: When was the last time you bought a physical copy of a game that can also be bought digitally?

@J_Lee_Design I buy physical games for my PS5 whenever possible. I played Saros off the physical disc last night.

Genuine question- When was the last time you actually put a disc in your PS5 and what’s your ratio of digital games to physical ones?

@PlayStation @PlayStation Discontinuing physical discs for games is a horrible decision and I hope you reconsider.

Important updates: News on physical discs for new games - play.st/4v86Wg3 News on PlayStation Store on PS3 and PS Vita - play.st/4vEN9FX

「kiban.alamone.net」を公開しました。アーケード基板の中古相場をまとめた非営利サイトです。 ヤフオク・ショップ・Internet Archiveから価格を継続的に収集し、基板ごとに価格の推移(希望価格／落札価格を分けて)をグラフで確認できます。日本語・英語対応、広告・トラッカーなし。 今後はハイスコア(ゲーメスト／アルカディア／JHA系)、改造・修理・DIP設定などの情報、高画質の基板写真へと、各タイトルの総合情報ページに育てていく予定です。 kiban.alamone.net

@iequalshane Well done!

I finally found and fixed the last ADPCM bug in the Sega Pico core and now all the games and audio seem to work great. Time to clean this up and backport the fixes to the MiSTer core and probably migrate to the Nuked MD core.

Repaired a Cave CV1000 #arcade board with faulty color amps, resulting in a dim picture with a yellow tinge. Thankfully, the amps are off-the-shelf parts, and one swap later, now the image is bright, colorful and tinge-free. Detailed write up at jammarcade.net/cave-cv1000-bo…

@nic0344 @Cruzlink2 Great job tracking down that damaged trace!

The Rev 3-6 console of our “mystery guest” has been having a sound issue for a while. He handed me his beloved machine for diagnostics — cartridge slot already cleaned, several carts tested, no improvement. Shoutout to him, he’ll know who he is 🙏 This type of fault usually has two possible origins: a broken trace around the cartridge slot, or a chip issue (YM3016 / YM2610 on the digital audio side). First: general inspection under the microscope + power check. All good. Full visual of the motherboard front and back — a few corrosion spots here and there, no direct link apparent… but experience says that rarely means good news ahead. We swap the oxidized power connector while we’re at it. 🔧 Next step: isolate digital vs analog. The YM3016 converts the YM2610’s digital output into an analog signal — when that conversion goes wrong, you get partial or full audio crackling. Tested mono and stereo → same result both ways. Experience points strongly toward a broken trace between the cartridge slot and a custom chip. Out come Illusionrip’s diagnostic PCBs, paired with the AES Rev 3-5 schematic on GitHub. Clean probing of every cartridge connector pin, tracing nets back to the custom chips without risking any damage. 🛠️ Audio signals run through the right side of both front and rear cartridge slots — that’s where the continuity sweep focuses, targeting the YM2610 specifically. Pin 10 of the YM2610 reads as isolated. Traced back on the schematic: it’s SDRAD7, an audio address bus line supposed to reach pin B-39 of the rear cartridge slot. Root cause: moisture corrosion, as usual. A tiny spot right on the trace path, close to the NEO-D0 — same origin as the marks spotted early in the diagnostic. Moisture deposit that slowly cut the trace. Nasty little thing. 💀 Fix: cleaned the spot, wire patch. Continuity restored between YM2610 pin 10 and pin B-39. Immediate test with Samurai Shodown 2 — samples back, full intro playing. Done. ✅ Short microscope repair video 🔬 — 0.04mm wire, 50/65x zoom #neogeo #aes #repair

@DanmakumanG Irem craves your quarters. 🤑

I've tried the arcade version of Ninja Spirit for the first time. Only played the PC Engine port so wanted to compare. And let me tell you it's one of the hardest games I've ever played. Like almost impossible 😆

@Cruzlink2 Great job tracking down those faulty LS245 parts!

This one is another one from Angel Correa marvel super heroes that would not review. Tried many keys and gave an error with a scrambled image. I thought maybe it is one of the LS245S . The hunch was right 3 bad ones by the battery, swapped and she's back to life.

@Tailsnic_Retro Agree 100% 👍

Es importante tener recambios. Ha sido productivo verificar que dispongo de 3 tríos completos de procesadores de SEGA System 16B funcionales, además de una base principal (sujeto de pruebas), aparte de mis 3 juegos completos: Cotton, Golden Axe y Wonder Boy III

@jeffqchen 🫡

Just so you know, making a Vortex MVS cart for the first time is a very involved process🫠

@iFixRetro Worth it. 😎

Ren and Stimpy has died for Tengen's sins for having a shitty pcb cartridge. Grind Stormer game chip has been transplanted onto another cartridge pcb for the Sega Genesis! The game wasn't booting at all due to the traces rotting out and failing on the cartridge pcb, so I used another sacrificial cartridge and swapped it over and it's back up and running again!

@leo__oliveira @jeffqchen @tigheklory Thankfully these days the factory decryption can be reinstated so that running modified decrypted ROMs is unnecessary. I ran Phoenixed ROMs for years though. 🫡

@jeffqchen @tigheklory My process was manual disassembly of MAME RAM dumps or XOR files diff in a thing called interactive disassembler, looking for proper MC68000 code. It was manual and prone to mistakes.

As long as they rinse it well and toss them into an oven to dry fast, it’s fine practice😌 …But I don’t think there is an oven in every Brazilian repair shop😂

@nic0344 @Cruzlink2 Great repair! Those rusty trace breaks can be tricky to locate.

#neogeo #aes console repair: minor click-of-death + some corrosion 🧵 The console was bought through a proxy, arrived non-functional (blue/white screen). A previous tech had simply reflowed the LSPC2-A2 and called it a day. What’s a click-of-death? The console tries to boot, detects something’s wrong (missing data/address line, stuck signal, missing key signal…) and reboots in a loop. Causes vary: dead chip, broken trace, incorrect signal state polluting a bus. First step: power supply & power connector check ✅ Connector replaced as a precaution. Previous rework was clean — lead-free solder, less ideal to work with, but neatly done. Microscope inspection: clean, original board. One prior repair top-right near the upper palette RAM. A patch was there but oversized for my taste, and one via looked corroded. Cleaned and repaired the area. Key insight on click-of-death: It’s often tied to corroded traces. The address/data bus is critical on this platform — it touches many chips, including the 68000 CPU. When I spot corrosion anywhere, I sweep a 5–10cm zone around it. Moisture enters through the vents — if the console sits vertically with the power button down, it can creep in through the cartridge port 🙂 On AES, this is essential to check. A large majority of faults trace back to this. Scope check around: NEO-B1 ✅, cartridge port top/bottom ✅, 68000 zone… 💥 Bingo. little corrosion spot hiding... The break targets address line A5, connected to the 68000, work RAM, BIOS, NEO-E0, and both cartridge ports. A critical line for everything — console and games alike. The bus wasn’t reaching the CPU. The watchdog (frame counter, managed by NEO-B1) handles resets when it’s in a specific state or not updated in time: 👉 wiki.neogeodev.org/index.php?titl… Fix: 0.04mm copper wire + UV lacquer. Done ✅ Slapped a NeoPass on it and let it run! 🎮 #retrogaming #arcade #neopass

@usa_retro 😭

A CRT's soul leaving its corpse.

@Tailsnic_Retro @Cruzlink2 Very cool. 😎

Qué preciosidad para girar el cartucho de seguridad en las CPS3, xD

@Cruzlink2 @pr4m0d Great repair! 👍

Raiden Fighters arcade board came in from an arcade projects forum member. Graphical issues and sound issues. Saw no bad legs or traces anywhere. Pressed on customs and found the SEI400 at U048 was the issue, a reflow solved that. The sound was a dirty eprom socket and chip U0528