MVS compatibility issues

[smork]

Perhaps I am getting bad at google in my old age, or because MVS is too short of a search term here, but I can't find any list anywhere that shows what MVS carts are compatible with what hardware.

I have a 4-slot mobo and recently I've come across problems with 3 games that I got, 2 in large auction lots and one at a PCB shop.

First is Sengoku 3 - if I pop it in with other games the mobo just cycles past it like it's not there. If I load it alone it just gives me garbage -- garbage that sort of looks like the game, but garbage nonetheless. Someone told me this doesn't work on a 4-slot, but I can't find any list of what it will work on, or if any hacks can 'upgrade' my mobo to make it compatible.

Next is Last Blade 2 - it just doesn't seem to work at all. Maybe it just needs cleaning, I dunno, but it won't power up in my mobo.

The last is Puzzle Bobble -- this gives problems similar to Sengoku 3 but with even more garbage. It's an older cart so I can't imagine there's a hardware problem with the 4-slot.

Any ideas? Any lists of what carts work with what hardware? I knew Rage of the Dragons and Matrimelee didn't work on the 4-slot (only the MV-1C?) but I didn't know what, if anything else, didn't.

[JohnnyA]

Clean the heck out of them.

[skaar]

I've had that problem on my 6 slot board. I've come to the conclusion that either some of the carts are bootlegs or there's something going on with compatibility.

I ended up rotating the carts around until I found an order that all games worked and PB was first. PB gave me the most problems, come to think of it. If it wasn't the first game in I'd lose games 5/6.

[Joe West]

games should work, sounds like you have a "hardware problems" best way is if you put your carts in another 4 slotter & see if it works

[skaar]

Also, Last Blade 2 works in my 6 slot.

[RadiantSvgun]

4 and 6 slots generally have problems. Clean the mobo and the carts thoroughly. If I were you, I would get or borrow a 1 slot board to test the carts in question.

[Flack]

I have a one-slot board that I was getting ready to sell -- or, I have a one-slot cabinet as well, if you want somebody to test them for you.

[madman77]

As mentioned, clean everything, also clear the MVS's save ram, this will generally clear up a lot of issues. Multi slots often have problems with games combined in various slots, so moving them around may help too. If they are bootlegs, that will also cause some of these issues...but generally speaking cleaning them and clearing the save ram are the best remedies.

[RyoGeo]

A lot of good information here.

I have a four slot myself, and can offer another suggestion. I have found that with some games I have to adjust the depth to which I insert the cart into the slot. For example, My Mark of the Wolves cart I insert all the way into the slot, and then pull it back out ever so slightly. If I don't nest it slightly less than, as far in as it will go, my board skips over it in the same way you have described.

Also, to the point of some of the other posters, a few of my games like a particular slot less than others. My slot 1, for example, is less reliable with high meg count games than 2, 3, and 4.

Hope some of this helps you!

[Vectorman0]

All of the suggestions thus far are very good.

I've played Sengoku 3 on a 4 slot board before. Also, there is a very big chance your Puzzle Bobble is a bootleg, it's basically the most bootlegged cart on the system.

I second the suggestion of inserting the carts all the way, then pulling them back out a tiny bit. I know this helped me with finicky carts in the past.

As you are trying to get these to work, I would suggest clearing the RAM and then testing them while only having one cart in the system at a time.

[Captain Wrong]

Open the carts up and check for EPROMS, especially in Puzzle Bobble. You may have boots and they may be corrupted. (guess vectorman0 just said as much, heh.) Seriously though, that's my first check when things go wrong on the MVS.

[smork]

Everyone, THANK YOU for the excellent replies!

I did some testing -- I tried each cart in different slots with no other cart slotted in. I think part of the problem must lie in my slot 1, as I was eventually able to get each cart working in slots other than 1. I did have both PB and LB2 slotted into slots other than 1 when I tested before, but there was a cart in 1, so maybe that was the issue.

Sengoku 3 didn't like slot 2 very much -- it started up and I was able to play for a minute, then it glitched and sent me back to the attract screen. It seems to work fine in slot 4 -- I saw a minor graphical glitch but only for a second. Possibly it needs some cleaning.

guess the next step is to clean all the carts and my mobo completely -- maybe that will fix my slot 1 problem.

Oh, and I popped open both LB2 and Puzzle Bobble -- PB is a boot as several of you suggested. At least it's a working boot now! I've attached a few pics of the board.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3209/3022744222_f4cce6ac08.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3154/3022744234_73c2baf545.jpg?v=0

[XianXi]

The 4 and 6 slot MVS boards are picky. You need to find different cart combinations to get them working properly. First start with 1 cart in slot 1 and then boot, if it works add a cart to slot 2, if it still boots keep going until all 4 or 6 slots are filled. This is a pretty sure fire way to fix it.

[Vectorman0]

That PB looks like a legitimate cart. I could be wrong though. I think pretty much every PB/BAM cart has at least one EPROM, and other than that I don't see any signs of it being a bootleg.

[RadiantSvgun]

That looks my puzzle bobble cart, and mine is not a boot.

[Captain Wrong]

It looks like my PB cart also, but I always assumed mine was a boot. Granted, it's much neater than most of the boots I've seen, so I really don't know. I know some real MVS carts have EPROMS.

You'll be amazed what cleaning the heck out of all the contacts can do for these things. I always assume these have been on location in a smoky dive bar for 15 years and clean everything like that's the case. Some of those carts took a lot of scrubbing to come clean, but they played perfect afterwords.

[Darren870]

I have LB2 and PB and its always worked fine in my 4 slot. Sounds like a problem with the carts/board.

Like everyone else said...clean away.

[MonoTekETeA]

Glad to see you got it working, sorta. They can be real finicky at times, and other times very reliable.

What Xian Xi said, I know to be correct. Some carts in the four and six slot boards, just won't work in certain combinations. We have one in next level, and when ever we try to replace a cart in the four slot, we end up just removing all the carts and putting them in one by one, then pulling them out again, and over, just to get a combination that works.

[ANONPLOX]

Glad to see you got it working, sorta. They can be real finicky at times, and other times very reliable.

What Xian Xi said, I know to be correct. Some carts in the four and six slot boards, just won't work in certain combinations. We have one in next level, and when ever we try to replace a cart in the four slot, we end up just removing all the carts and putting them in one by one, then pulling them out again, and over, just to get a combination that works.

I think this is the very reason I decided not to get a consolized 4 slot mvs and am gona get the converter for my Neo.