Dancing Stage Euromix 2 / Extreme Arcade upgrade options

Hi!


I've got this Dancing Stage Euromix 2 arcade standing around. It's currently "upgraded" to "Extreme" of some sort, but I'd like to renew it again. What options are available on the original System 573 Digital hardware? If nothing impressive is possible with that hardware, I'd be happy to throw a PC or CE-box in there and use it instead. Any ideas for putting some new life into this would be appreciated.

If you mean legitimately, then most probably none (the bootleg Extreme will most likely have overwritten and corrupted the original security cassette needed to reinstall EuroMIX 2).

However, the good news is that EuroMIX 2 will run the following hacked mixes (Hacked as in "security cassette checks removed" not as in "LOL Megamix/Extreme+":
DanceDance Revolution 3rdMIX (ver. Japan)
DanceDance Revolution 3rdMIX (ver. Korea 2)
DanceDance Revolution 4thMIX
DanceDance Revolution 5thMIX
DDR MAX ~DanceDance Revolution 6thMIX~
DDR MAX 2 ~DanceDance Revolution 7thMIX~
DanceDance Revolution EXTREME
DanceDance Revolution SOLO 2000*
Dancing Stage EuroMIX Internet Ranking
Dancing Stage EuroMIX 2

I won't tell you where to get the disk images from, sorry. Suffice to say, they are on the Internet somewhere...

* To run Solo 2000 or a PC or a console on the cabinet, you will have to short out the stage I/O PCBs, otherwise you'll find Up and Right arrows will be stuck "on".

If you are a new player (as in, never played the earlier mixes), I'd suggest playing 3rd Korea 2 and Solo 2000 for the lols (and songs that never made it onto later mixes), but if you want sheer good mixes both in terms of good stuff and number of songs, I recommend 5th and 7th.

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I'm not that into DDR, but played the original Euromix 2 quite a lot. The Extreme allowed different difficulty settings for P1/P2 which was nice but the song selection didn't seem to be as enjoyable as on EM2. In that regard I guess In The Groove / Stepmania or even SuperNOVA would be better as far as the songs go. Too bad all of them require newer hardware.

I was worried about the security cassette but tried swapping back and it worked. Replaced the CD, the ROM chip on the mainboard, and the sec.cass. Didn't work at first but I put the flash card in the wrong slot :p Worked fine once the card found it's correct place.

The internet is a big place, I guess the disc images are lying around somewhere ;)

What's needed to play the versions you listed? I guess the card that slots into the rom-chip is needed as it buypasses the need for a sec.cassette? With that in place I can play any disc that runs on the 573 hardware? Also, which one do you think will fit an european audience best?

On PC based cabinet-solutions, how are the pads interfaced to the computer? External IO-boards connected with com? usb? on a PCI-card?

Also, thanx for help and a quick reply. Not that easy finding expertise on this subject online.

Whoa, what would happen itf you had a LEGIT Euromix 2 PCB and a broken Extreme BOOTLEG PCB lying around? Would you be able to swap the discs and the security chip to make the euromix 2 pcb run extreme?

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You don't even need to use the security bypass board, you can run EM2 on unmodified hardware minus the security cassette. (ps it requires the bootleg install set)

there is a procedure to reinstall EM2 again (or any mix with a valid security module paired with the board), it involves building a special install disc which restores the contents to the flash module and onboard. Of course that assumes you removed the security module when installing Extreme, else you'll need to run a bootleg EM2 image.

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I have EM2 and Extreme retail discs. When I swapped back the machine did a whole (15 minutes or so) of "installing to flash".

My EM2 PCB runs extreme with the extreme retail disc, no security cassette is needed, but the ROM on the PCB needs to be replaced. Guess I'll still need the security bypass ROM-board to use any other mixes than EM2 though.

Nope, you can put back the legit 700a01 chip and still play other mixes, the caveat being that it needs the security check patched out and that you need to run it off a CD-R, a legit pressed CD won't work here.

edit: forgot to mention that that means you can reinstall legit EM2 again, in which case you can put that modboard in a safe place, plus you can use a pressed CD which means an easy life for your CD drive. XD

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Glad to hear your legit EM2 security cassette is ok. As someone else has said, if you are going to install boots, unplug it and put it somewhere safe first. I've killed a perfectly good security cassette for 3rdMIX by being careless with installing other mixes.


That's not a "retail" disk, it's a bootleg. No official Konami DDR products require you to replace the boot ROM.

And in answer to someone else's question: no, you can't just stick in the CD and security cassette into another System 573 - the security cassette is tied to the machine it was originally installed on (technically, the Digital I/O board that is inside the box)


There's only one place that all the cool kids go to pirate music game stuff. If you ask around, I'm sure someone here will tell you.


Just the bootleg install/play disks. More modern bootlegs don't require stupid hardware bypass EPROMS (which, for the record, were just so the bootleggers could make money selling the upgrades). Though if you'd like one, I have one sitting here that will play any mix that cost me the best part of £250 just a year ago (the only redeeming feature of it is that it allows me to play Disney's Rave should I choose to), and that I'd let go for 1/5th of the purchase price!


If you mean in terms of making money, that would be Dancing Stage EuroMIX (the original one, not EM2). Of course, the morality of making money from bootleg versions is another issue - if that matters, I'd suggest just going back to the original EM2 that the cab was.

If you mean in general playability, none of the mixes are really non-Euro friendly (EXTREME is the most Japanese, tbh). 5thMIX comes to mind as a particularly good one.


That depends.
For ITG: The ideal way would be just to use a real BoXoR with an ITG I/O board to interface with the pad lights.

For DIY stuff: They would be interfaced through the JAMMA edge connector using a device such as a jpac (and by shorting the stage I/O boards as I've already mentioned). It's too much effort to get the pad lights working without an ITG I/O or the like, tbh.


Yep, but you only need that for the older mixes, typically (like 3rdMIX). The newer ones *should* in principle realise the ROM checksums are different and force a reinstall, but YMMV.

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Just like to point out that the preferred mix (which will in all honesty usually be EM1/EM2) is not always EM1. Speaking to my local arcade operator, he told me that EM2 >> EM1 in our area, so much so in fact that EM1 was struggling to make double-digit credits a week. I guess it's about knowing your audience.

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Hmm, I could have sworn that the disc was retail, it certainly looks legit. It's not a burned disc sent through a label-printer, but a pressed one so if it's bootlegged it's been mass-produced.

Pics:

DDR Extreme bootlegs were mass produced, and that looks exactly the same disc that came out of our old Extreme bootleg.

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Your DDR Extreme is a bootleg :{

Before you consider which piece of software to load onto it, are you planning to play it privately, or put it on location, and charge money to play it? That makes a huge difference in affecting what your best options are. If you're using it as a coin-op, then the location you put it in also makes a huge difference.

As far as I'm aware this Extreme CD is legit (no modboard, needs a valid security cartridge etc) just for comparison.

Legit Extremes are as rare as hens teeth unfortunately :/

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You really can't tell by looking at the CD alone, though. Several of the bootleggers did a very good job on the CDs when it came ot EXTREME (and a bad job on the banners, mostly).

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Tried going back to Extreme by swapping CDs, removing the security cassette, putting back the modded ROM, but it fails to boot, I get an error saying "Error 132 Cassette error (1)". Any ideas? Got some complaints regarding the EM2, the songs are better but both players need to use the same difficulty setting, that's bad.


Also, I got an offer to buy an boXor from roXor (God those names are awful).

I asked him what was needed to use this in my current EM2 dedicab, got the following answer:

What I am selling is a boxor for dedicated PIU or ITG machines.

the differences are:
- upgrade kits include an "ITG-IO" Board, mine has a "PIU-IO" board.
- there may be incompatibility for monitor display output. the boxor i sell has
31 khz vga output, the DDR cabinet monitor has 15 khz input
and i have no idea how the upgrade kits convert for this.
- audio may be an issue, since the DDR cabinets also have their own proprietary
solution, but i couldn't find exact info about it.
- coin mech should be jamma standard, should be no problem i think.

i am not exactly sure if this is what you are looking for.


- So I can run Pump It Up, but not In The Groove?
- Is there some conversion hardware available so I can use the 31k output with my 15k monitor? (I guess all EM2 dedicabs are 15k?)
- Audio isn't really a problem, getting amplification from line out to the speakers can easily be patched together.
- What about other connections like the pads and lights, plug and play via Jamma?

I don't know why you're looking into a Pump It Up kit; for starters it's not a 4 panel game and more importantly it's not Jamma, nor does the connector carry video signals.

edit: ITG2 Dedicab is (afaik) the same as a Pump It Up mk5 so yeah, unless you were to do some hackery it'd remain electrically incompatible with a jamma connector on a DDR cab.

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Ok, I'll have to look at that later..

What about the Cassette error I got when trying to boot the Extreme disc? Is there some sort of trick to getting it to start?

Is that the CD they use for Extreme AC's?

Yes.

That's so awesome. You can tell it's meant for the arcade since it isn't all colorful and artsy like regular CS cds are.