Neo Geo debug mod

[kendrick]

Just picked up my first Neo Geo AES system. I've wanted one for a while, but the price has always been a deterrent. This weekend, I traded copies of Panzer Saga and Shining Force III for one, so I think I'm in karmic balance now. :)

This thing already has most of the so-called 'Mega Neo' mods on it, including the power light and the A/V and S-video outputs. Anybody have anything positive or negative to say about the installation of a debug BIOS chip? I know that the hardcore fans can't live with the omission of violence in some games, but it really isn't that big a deal to me. However, being able to read the text in RPG's and sports games is starting to become a chore. :) Thanks for any thoughts.

-KKC, who has a wireless headset and work and can now wander around doing things while stuck in teleconference meetings. Yay.

[Hojo_Norem]

I would suggest the Universe BIOS (found here).  I have one in my MVS and it is just brilliant! ^_^

[kendrick]

Whoa, that Universe BIOS is pretty cool. It doesn't appear to say so on the page, so I'll ask here... What varieties of EEPROM will work in the AES? I think it's finally time for me to invest in a burner and a UV light.

-KKC, who's been putting off the inevitable entry into the ROM and PIC world for too long now...

[Hojo_Norem]

Just DL the ROM from the site and the readme.txt tells you what EPROM to use.  But if you don't fancy the chances of picking the wrong chip then there is a purchasing service available on the Uni. Bios page where you specify what machine you have got and you are almost guaranteed to be sent the correct chip with the added bonus that if you provide your machine's serial number he will write that into the bios for you.

[viletim!]

kendrick,
You can tell which (e)eprom you need by the size of the binary file. eg for a 64kb binary file: 64kbyte = 512kBit so you could use a 27512 (nmos eprom), 27c512 (cmos eprom), 28c512 (cmos eeprom), or 28F512 (flash rom).

Btw, a pentium motherboard along with the bios flash utility makes a great cheap flash programmer. It only does one size chip though.

[kendrick]

So just to be clear, this is a standard Amtel-type 32-pin four-sided flash ROM like they use on modern motherboards and on Intel-based NIC cards? Or is it a standard IC with two rows of pins? I should just open up the damned Neo when I get home and look at the chip myself...

-KKC, who ordniarily just buys one piece of hardware for every region variant, but that's obviously not easy to do for the AES gear...

[D-Lite]

The bios is a 40-pin standard 0.6 offset IC.  1024 I believe.
You have to desolder the original from the board and it'd be wise to install a socket for future upgrades.

And Razoola (the guy that does the Unibios) gives you a serial number for the chip.  There is only one version of the Unibios for both AES and MVS and for any serial number or region machine.  You don't need your system's serial number.

[ash]

Btw, a pentium motherboard along with the bios flash utility makes a great cheap flash programmer. It only does one size chip though.

interesting....