Aging Computer Hardware

I've created a new page to keep track of the parts I've replaced in the DDR machine here. I'm waiting for a package from Grainger with the rest of my spacers for the L-Bracket screws. Once I get it the pads will be essentially complete.

I removed the smooth/slippery coating from the top of the foam tape on the L-brackets and covered them with electrical tape. I was finding that the arrows moved slightly when I hit them on an angle, making the pads feel slippery. I found someone else online had tried using electrical tape to get a better grip, so I tried it out. The arrows do seem to grab electrical tape better, so I'd recommend this mod to others.

I thought I had a bad sensor on the right pad (right arrow, left sensor) but after swapping it for another one I've found that the sensor was actually working fine and there is some other problem causing that area not to work. I'm not sure if it's the wiring, I/O board, or something else yet. I'll have to check into it more.

The pads got a lot of play over the weekend and they seem to be working pretty well. The cabinet (specifically, the 573 hardware) might not be in as good of shape, however. When booting, it sometimes reboots a few times immediately following "READ PROGRAM" (right after it checks the CD drive). I've also had it freeze a couple of times loading some songs (strangely - only on songs beginning with the letter 'A' but not all songs that start with 'A'). I think this is pointing towards an issue with the CD-ROM drive, so I'm going to swap it with an old LG GCR-8523BI to see if it gets any better. I've read that the machine is very picky about CD-ROM drives, but it looks like that LG one is on the white list and is available used for $3.

I messed with the disc first, thinking maybe the Betson disc was going bad (it's written on a Maxell CD-R), but even my own copies have the same boot-loop. At least this problem allowed me to learn new things about the machine. First, the 573 hardware is based on Playstaion 1 hardware (which explains the PSX.exe boot loader on the game discs). Also, EEPROMs are a thing, and they are actually pretty complicated when it comes to DDR machines. In my machine, the original Konami EEPROM was swapped for a single-mix Betson one:

You can see it there - upside-down - having the DDR Extreme logo stickered to it. Apparently, this EEPROM will get around security carts (which explains the presence of the DDRUSA cart), but it tries to lock the machine down to using only the Betson-supplied DDR Extreme disc by changing the boot loader name from the standard PSX.exe to QSY.dxd. Possibly, renaming the PSX.exe file on other discs will get around the Betson-imposed lock out, but I just ripped the existing disc and changed it myself to add 0.5x/Brake/Wave. Trying other DDR Extreme discs before learning this renaming trick caused the system to reboot with a hardware failure on the CD-R during every boot.

In other news - I've ordered parts to start creating the Stepmania PC replacement. Once I get that working I'll post the parts I'm using. I'm using this as a general guide.