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Any DECO Cassette System Experts Out There?


Tempest

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  • 11 years later...
  • 2 weeks later...

FYI i started working on this for a friend of mine

https://github.com/ocornut/decocase

 

I hacked a quick deco-casette decoder based on MAME data and the aim is to create an encoder so that games could be re-encoded to work with a different dongle. My friend figured out how to create cassettes I believe. May take a few months until everything emerges.

Edited by smspower
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Has anyone figured out how to make new cassettes though? They look like answering machine tapes but I think they're different. If someone could reencrypt the existing games so they all work with a common dongle (say Burgertime) and make new tapes then a lot of DCS owners would be happy.

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Hey Tempest-

This is RayGunn from DisneyQuest. Ive had a DECO system (at the time I think it was playing Burgertime?- ahh, it was 1982- so it's getting foggy) but I have several modern equivalents that work the same way. In the newer PC based games,that's how they work- software loads off the CD, after being confirmed by the dongle that it has the right software version to run. and 90% of the time, it's the dongle causing the problem. Now,in a previous reply, you had mentioned that the game would load just fine, then crash. Now if I were a betting man, I would say it's the dongle. The software wouldn't just load and start running, then go down if it was a faulty cassette. Also, I'm figuring the dongle would be harder to get than the software, I would replace that first. Just a guess.

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  • 6 months later...

SUCCESS! I disconnected all board connections, reseated the boards, reconnected the ribbon cables and put the vsync pins in the order listed above. THIS is what I get!

IMG_2160_zpsjdoh2lpu.jpg

Thanks for all of the help!

Now I just need to get my hands on either a working BT tape or a full kit (tape & security dongle) for another game. That is until the new multigame board comes out from Darksoft. So stoked right now!

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Quick update: Got three complete kits in from Phetish over at KLOV and tried them out. Pretty sure my tape deck is shot as there was no evidence of any spindle turning. The error message went away, but after messing the the tape deck a bit, I realized that was because the pins that register a tape were depressed, signaling a tape was in place. Once I realized this, I was able to duplicate the disappearing error message by simply depressing the three tape indicator pins with my finger.

So now my search for a working cassette deck begins and/or I wait for the new multi-kits to come out. The saga continues it seems. :)

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  • 3 weeks later...

​So did anyone here grab this off of eBay? http://www.ebay.com/itm/111906862854?_trksid=p2055359.m1431.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&autorefresh=true

 

Too rich for me as I am just looking for the cassette deck and a copy of the BT tape. If anyone here did win this auction and is willing to part with one of the spare cassettes, please let me know.

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Well, picked up a complete BT kit and a "new" (to me) cassette deck and installed them on my Deco BT cocktail. After reseating some boards and reflowing solder to the cassette control connection on the Bios board I no longer have any cassetter error messages. However, the game hangs up on the blue screen with no countdown timer. After comparing the two cassette decks I noticed that the belt on the original one had disintegrated. The belt on the newer deck looks good. Not sure what to do at this point, so if anyone has any suggestions, let me know. I have a series 3 boardset by the way.

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