Question about 573 cab upgrade

So, in the arcade near my house they got a DDRMAX2, I've been playing that for almost 3 years since the first time I took DDR seriously in 2008.

Okay so, I'd like to convince them to upgrade that machine to EXTREME, I found a torrent of DDR EXTREME AC CD with "2 disc hack" (Install CD and Game CD) and it doesn't require security cassette and it requires legit 700A01 boot rom or universal mod board.

The question is, if it's running MAX2, does it has 700A01?

BTW on the readme, it says:

1. Remove the security cassette if present and ensure the legit 700A01 boot rom or universal mod board is present
2. Insert the EXTREME install CD and turn on the machine. Allow the installation to complete
3. Insert the EXTREME game CD and turn on the machine.

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You will have to look at the chip within the 573 to tell if it does have a 700A01 eeprom. If the game is running a bootleg eeprom to run MAX2 then you will be out of luck.

Otherwise the game will install when you put in the disc and then when you put in the game disc it will boot. You will most likely not need to use the cassette ever again unless you want to run MAX2 again.

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Could someone take a picture of which one is the chip, the cassette, and the CD ROM Drive? I have no idea right now because I have never looked inside a DDR machine

Anyway, I think it's not a bootleg MAX2 so~ most likely it'll has the 700A01

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I am sure if you dig around the internet a little bit you will find a picture of what the chip looks like. I am not going to just waltz over to my machine and open up the 573 just to show you what the chip looks like, its just too time consuming. Its very easy to spot though. You just open the 573 and look for the chip that says 700A01. If its not there you most likely have a bootleg.

The cassette is easy - its a giant blue cartridge that is on the side of the 573 and sticks out of it. I also fail to see why you would need a picture of the cd-rom drive. Like... Its blatantly obvious what that is and what it looks like.

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It's the only socketed chip inside the case (just left of the middle in this pic):


If it's a bootleg, it won't have a chip, but instead a small PCB with multiple chips on. Trying to work out if it is a single disk bootleg (in which case the disk images you have found won't work) or a multi-disk bootleg (in which case they will) is non-trivial.

Careful when opening that case; you'll need to remove the PCMCIA card (it's red, and plugged in the right had side near the blue security cassette) first, and it must go back in the same slot when you put it back.

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If it so happens that the MAX2 is a single bootleg, let me know. I'll get you sorted with a pair of disks that will work

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Doh.. Can someone point it out with mspaint or something? lol I have no idea

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it's the one with the really obvious pins, long vertical rectangle above all the wires.

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Ok wait, this one?

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Yes, that's the one - it's easy to spot in real life, it is the ONLY chip that you could remove from the board without a soldering iron - it's in a socket. It may have had some hot glue applied to it to keep it in place.

For further reference, if you have a bootleg EPROM* board it'll look like this.


* I'm not sure where and when people started calling these bootleg circuits-that-replace-the-boot-ROM EEPROMs, all the ones I've seen have always had a UV window for erasing. And the 700A01 chip is not an EPROM of any type.

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lol I was told that was what it was called and was corrected several times by someone. Guess its not an Eeprom then I actually dont know too much about this chip itself and exactly what it does either. All I know is that the chip is needed to boot the game and thats pretty much it.

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Don't sweat it If they have a UV window, they are typically EPROMs, EEPROMs are more like primitive flash memory in that they are erased electronically (and can be done so in circuit), instead of by shining UV light on 'em. Maybe some of the bootleg boards used EEPROMs, who knows?

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Every modboard I've seen has EPROM chips (with UV stickers and all that) fwiw.

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Thanks for the help guys, will try it this weekend or next week. I'll get back to you guys after I take a look at the board and do the install

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