Information about connecting a JAMMA board in cabinet.

[chux]

Hello there,

I am new to this forum, and got here while searching online for some information.

I own a Midway Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 cabinet (JAMMA+). Soon I will be getting a Tekken 3 (JAMMA) pcb board, and I would like to install this in my cabinet. But the thing is, I've never done this before. Opened my cabinet to have a look inside, but that's about it.

So actually I am wondering if there are some websites orso that give information about connecting a board like this. I have been looking around on the net for days, but can't find anything usefull.

Ofcourse I hope that it will just be plug and play, but I think it will probably not be that simple, so I'd like to be a little prepared.

Thanx in advance..

[tholly]

there is an arcade forum on here to post in, so im sure a mod will move this there

Jamma and Jamma+ are almost the same thing, but not quite

Jamma+ uses some extra buttons and wires and will not work perfectly right off a Jamma connection

[chux]

yeah, that's what I thought and that's why I was hoping that there would be some sort of tutorial on this perhaps.

[ClubNinja]

I own a Midway Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 cabinet (JAMMA+). Soon I will be getting a Tekken 3 (JAMMA) pcb board, and I would like to install this in my cabinet. But the thing is, I've never done this before. Opened my cabinet to have a look inside, but that's about it.

Well, how many buttons does Tekken 3 use? If UMK3 is set up for extra buttons, but Tekken is plain old JAMMA and doesn't need them, then you can just plug and play. The only "downside" is that you'll have some unused buttons, which isn't really a big deal. However, if Tekken uses more than 3 or 4 buttons, then it's going to require an additional wiring harness for extra buttons.

[chux]

aha, tekken uses 4 buttons, umk3 uses 6. so then it shouldn't be that hard to do? just follow all the connectors and put them in sortoff the same place on the other board?

[shawnbo42]

If memory serves, UMK3 is pre-wired through the jamma tail for high punch, high kick, and block. Or maybe the high/low punch and block...I don't remember offhand. Anyways, if your cabinet is a genuine Midway cab (look on the back of the machine, there should be a sticker about eye level from Midway, has all info about what the amps are, voltage, serial number, etc) then it was wired with purple wires for your controls. There SHOULD be an extra wiring harness somewhere that plugs in somewhere on the board for your extra buttons (JAMMA is capable of 4 buttons max, not 6). Your Tekken 3 board uses 4 buttons, it should come with an extra harness as well for the extra controls. I don't remember if Tekken is for the two low kick/punch, or if it is the low/high kick. Anyways, long story short, this is what i would do. Find your extra wiring harness in the UMK3 PCB and unplug it, then play a game. Obviously, you will not have all controls, but this will tell you what IS wired through the JAMAA harness. Now plug in your Tekken 3 PCB (Jamma conector should be keyed so it only connects 1 way) and "play" your Tekken. Again, you will not have all controls, but, same as before, you'll now know what is wired up through the JAMMA harness. Now what you'll have to do is one of two things (depending on how technically proficient you are) 1.Wire the tekken extra harness right into the Midway harness. Easiest way to do this would be right at the switch on the control panel. In otherwords, if on MK3 your low kick is, say, purple wire with a white stripe (or "trace") and it's wired through the extra connector, and your tekken extra coneector also has a low kick wire that's say red with blue trace (not actual colors, just using an example) that's wired through IT'S extra harness, you'll want to wire both wires to the switch. What will happen is that you'll be hitting low kick in MK3 or Tekken, but either way, the extra harness for each game will be disconnnected (obviously, you're not playing both games at the same time) so it will be ok. The other thing you could do is to get some extra switches and wire the Tekken harness outside of the cabinet. I believe that the Tekken extra harness has a ground wire built on to it. If not, it's ok. Look in your manual (if you have one, if not let me know, I do) and see if you can find out where the wires on the extra harness go (what controls they are) and wire a switch to them. What you would have to do (kind of a pain, but keeps the Midway cab wiring more or less original, if you're interested) is every time you switch games, you take the physical switch out of the buttons on the MK3 control panel, and replace those with the switches that are on your tekken harness. I don't mean to leave you lost in the woods here, if you don't understand any of this, or are confused let me know, and I'll do my best to clarify. It's not as hard as it may sound, basically just look at it with a little common sense. The wire comes from the PCB and connects to a button, all you're doing is disconnecting that wire and replacing it with another. I would say the easiest thing to do is wire the tekken harness to the appropriate buttons where it needs to go (if your control panel buttons are soldered connections, just add the tekken wires right on, if they are quick disconnects, then strip the wires on your tekken harness, unplug the connector, stick the wire through the hole on the switch, and plug it back in...it's a tight fit, and not totally pro, but it is more than sufficient for your purposes) and leave the tekken harness in your cabinet. It's not like your selling the game anytime soon, so I would do that. That way when you want to play UMK3, you plug in the board and any extra connections and go. You want to play Tekken, you plug in the board, and the extra kick harness which will be hanging in the cab somewhere, and you're ready to play! Let me know if you need any help with this, I will try my best. Last word of advice though, before you disconnect ANYTHING (if you're not very technically proficient) WRITE DOWN exactly what you disconnected, what color/s the wire was, and where it was connected to. That way, it's easier to find your way back to where you were. I have never seen your machine, so I do not know if it is an original or a conversion, so I CANNOT help you if you tell me you pulled the green wire and don't know where it goes...I don't either!! Anyways, sorry to take up your whole day here, hope this will help you get your Tekken 3 up and running!!
-S

[chux]

Wow, thank you so much for your detailed help!
My cabinet is an original Midway. I got the tekken board of ebay, so I've never seen it before. Plus I've never really took a that close look at the board and stuf inside my cabinet.
But this week (hopefully) I will receive my tekken board, and as soon as I get it I will print out your reply, and just follow the things as you discribe them. Thanks for the explanations and tips. This is even better info than what I expected to find on the net, this is totally focused on my situation, great!!
For now, thanx again!! and I will let you know if I get it up and running.

kind regards,
-chuck