# Neo Geo Mini



## shinrukus (Aug 8, 2018)

Has anyone started the modding process on this? I've seen what appears to be recovery mode try and install on my computer, and the specs for it are pretty on par with a Raspberry pi 3 (except for the low storage)


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## WD_GASTER2 (Aug 10, 2018)

can you take a picture of what the recovery looks like? i am curious.
too bad they are at scalping prices at the moment, otherwise i would love to buy one reasonable priced.


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## MrTea (Aug 11, 2018)

I've seen the tear down videos of the mini and I reckon it won't be long till its hacked. There's enough free space on there to hopefully put most of the neo geo library on their too (so missing games like neo turf masters, svc chaos, neo bomberman, windjammers etc will defo be going on once its doable).

My mini and pad is in the post so won't be long till I get to try it for myself.


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## Glyptofane (Aug 11, 2018)

WD_GASTER2 said:


> too bad they are at scalping prices at the moment, otherwise i would love to buy one reasonable priced.


Ah, damn it, I didn't even realize it had been released already... Too late now, I suppose.


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## fixingmytoys (Aug 11, 2018)

I can’t even find it any shops in Australia to buy it


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## MrTea (Aug 11, 2018)

fixingmytoys said:


> I can’t even find it any shops in Australia to buy it


Only the Japanese version was available to buy(sold out now apart from scalpers on eBay), the international release isn't out till I think September?


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## fixingmytoys (Aug 11, 2018)

Oh that’s way

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Also can you add a joystick to it , I would like to play it on the big telly and sit back ? EDIT yes you can


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## WD_GASTER2 (Aug 13, 2018)

i might mess with it if i manage to get my hands on one for a normal price


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## fixingmytoys (Aug 13, 2018)

WD_GASTER2 said:


> i might mess with it if i manage to get my hands on one for a normal price



I was waiting for that


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## shinrukus (Aug 13, 2018)

So what I've seen I thought was recovery was actually the settings screen (mine just came in), I've tried every possible button combo, I've also tried putting a USB C Cable in the P1/P2 slot while the device was powered on, and Windows doesn't even register a device is plugged in


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## MrTea (Aug 16, 2018)

Neo geo mini has been hacked to use other Controllers (hopefully an adapter will come out for this seeing video shows it's possible): 

The same youtuber had an xbox marvel vs capcom 3 Arcade stick working too on the mini so I guess, seeing the official proprietary Controlers are rare and expensive (scalpers!), this could be a solution to using any controllers on it in the future?


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## shinrukus (Aug 20, 2018)

I wonder if he's gonna share that diagram...


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## MrTea (Aug 24, 2018)

My mini finally turned up in the UK. Some great games on it but I'm hoping it will eventually get hacked to add a few more on


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## StiNKy (Oct 1, 2018)

Ok so if you pull the bottom off of the Mini, you can get access to a button which if you hold while powering up will supply a USB device through the Player2 port. Don't use the USB Type-C cable you get with the Mini for anything other than power as it has no data lines.

I've been trying to communicate with the USB device, as it responds to USB Mass Storage-like commands. I've also been disassembling multiple versions of the firmware writing tool provided by Actions (who supply the chip), but none of the commands the device will respond to other than the identification commands, and some of the commands need some kind of a certificate.

There's also a UART port on the board, which I've hooked up to my console, and you can get plenty of nice information from the Mini as you boot it up, and then you get a linux login prompt. None of the common user/pass logins work for me.

Anyone else poking around their Mini got any good info?


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## Rapidkiller (Oct 4, 2018)

Still not released in many country like France for example.
Wait few days and the scene should be more active on the subject


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## WD_GASTER2 (Oct 5, 2018)

StiNKy said:


> Ok so if you pull the bottom off of the Mini, you can get access to a button which if you hold while powering up will supply a USB device through the Player2 port. Don't use the USB Type-C cable you get with the Mini for anything other than power as it has no data lines.
> 
> I've been trying to communicate with the USB device, as it responds to USB Mass Storage-like commands. I've also been disassembling multiple versions of the firmware writing tool provided by Actions (who supply the chip), but none of the commands the device will respond to other than the identification commands, and some of the commands need some kind of a certificate.
> 
> ...




btw sounds like the uart would be the ticket. the problem is figuring out how to login. lol. that + a powered usb C hub to mount a stick with your games. then it would be a matter of doing transfers with the linux command line. (i dont own one yet, but it sounds like that would be the way to do it)


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## StiNKy (Oct 5, 2018)

WD_GASTER2 said:


> btw sounds like the uart would be the ticket. the problem is figuring out how to login. lol. that + a powered usb C hub to mount a stick with your games. then it would be a matter of doing transfers with the linux command line. (i dont own one yet, but it sounds like that would be the way to do it)



I like your enthusiasm  But guessing that login name AND password.. that's going to be hard. Best bet is to hope that they did something stupid and have a guessable default login that I haven't come across yet.

I've dumped the UART logs here if you're keen on checking it out. You can notice the games have the same filenames as roms you can find online, that's a bit cheeky!


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## fixingmytoys (Oct 5, 2018)

StiNKy said:


> I like your enthusiasm  But guessing that login name AND password.. that's going to be hard. Best bet is to hope that they did something stupid and have a guessable default login that I haven't come across yet.
> 
> I've dumped the UART logs here if you're keen on checking it out. You can notice the games have the same filenames as roms you can find online, that's a bit cheeky!



A bit like Nintendo using ROMS in their Minis same file
Format that backup units  created all those years ago and are used in emus  instead of dumping their own games using their own format,  mind you the content is there so I suppose someone’s done the work for you


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## WD_GASTER2 (Oct 5, 2018)

what are you using to interact with the UART? Putty?


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## StiNKy (Oct 5, 2018)

WD_GASTER2 said:


> what are you using to interact with the UART? Putty?


Yep


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## Tarexmd (Nov 4, 2018)

I really just want a rotating attract mode that rotates between the roms without me having to individually run them....


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## WD_GASTER2 (Nov 21, 2018)

I am scheduled to get mine tomorrow. So i guess ill step up to the challenge and see what interesting things can be done with this. here goes nothing.


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## FreePlayFlorida (Nov 21, 2018)

well as they announced a xmas edition with 48 titles, over the 40, hopefully some way of at least getting those titles on it, nice little device, and hopeful some talented person works out how to add roms to it


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## WD_GASTER2 (Nov 24, 2018)

ok so i can confirm. this thing is password locked.serial communication requires a username and password in order to access it the linux distro in it. since we dont know what it is.... unless the company tells us (lol i doubt it) i doubt this will become the entry point. only other way, is if someone desolders the nand and does a whole dump of it and reverse engineers it i guess. however that is not something i have tools or something i would like to delve into. a shame really.


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## StiNKy (Nov 26, 2018)

WD_GASTER2 said:


> ok so i can confirm. this thing is password locked.serial communication requires a username and password in order to access it the linux distro in it. since we dont know what it is.... unless the company tells us (lol i doubt it) i doubt this will become the entry point. only other way, is if someone desolders the nand and does a whole dump of it and reverse engineers it i guess. however that is not something i have tools or something i would like to delve into. a shame really.


If you're a programmer, I can help you get setup with trying to access it via USB.


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## WD_GASTER2 (Nov 28, 2018)

so you actually managed to get it to interface with a pc via the usb C? thats impressive.


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## StiNKy (Dec 5, 2018)

Yep, I can issue control transfers and bulk transfers. I disassembled some of the firmware writing tools for similar chips to figure out what's sent over bulk transfer, tried some of the commands, but only one it responds successfully to.


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## WD_GASTER2 (Dec 10, 2018)

ill pm you shortly, i have a few questions out of curiosity if that is ok.


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## gothi (Dec 11, 2018)

Is there any reason why you guys can’t discuss it in the open? The more information that’s shared means more people can see what’s been done and potentially build upon it and some progress is made. 

Keeping it to PMs means less visibility and less progress.


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## subcon959 (Jan 7, 2019)

Did you guys get anywhere with this? I really want to get League Bowling on there and refuse to buy that ridiculous looking Christmas edition.


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## subcon959 (Jan 13, 2019)

Since, there is no hack on the horizon I decided to pass the time making it a proper portable. I know you can just plug in a usb power bank but that's not 1337 way to do things. Yes, I'm old and still call things leet :/

Anyway, I used an Adafruit Powerboost 1000C and a 3.7V Lipo. The console has tons of room inside under the pcb for pretty huge batteries if you wanted.

I also stuck a Qi wireless receiver inside so I don't have to mess with cables anymore.

The only actual modding I did was a tiny hole on the bottom for the master power switch.







So, there's a video on Youtube where someone has done this and put everything under the bottom lid. The problem with that is there is not really enough room and if you look at his video closely you will see that the lid doesn't fit flush anymore. I decided to put my Qi receiver inside the back of the console instead. Here it is happily charging away on my Samsung pad..


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## subcon959 (Jan 16, 2019)

Back with another mod. I decided it would be a good idea to have an easily visible indication when the battery was getting low.

Voila, a red LED in a prominent location that doesn't spoil the aesthetics too much..











It works!


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## Rapidkiller (Jan 17, 2019)

It rocks !!!


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## asper (Apr 5, 2019)

Anyone knows the exe process which ask gir login ad boot?


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## WD_GASTER2 (Apr 6, 2019)

*snip*


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## Chindogg (Apr 6, 2019)

Seems like someone has hacked it. Now we just need to edit the burning image which is child's play.


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## TheSnke (Apr 6, 2019)

Chindogg said:


> Seems like someone has hacked it. Now we just need to edit the burning image which is child's play.




How would you go about modifying the image? I can't seem to get into it.

I really only dreamed of NeoGeo and CPS games on this, so I'm cracking up at all these Disney Gameboy game and the like thrown on here 

EDIT: Never mind, I ended up figuring out how to edit the image (it appears to just be a copy of the structure for a portable emulation machine called the Dingoo), but now when I open the app to flash again, it immediately closes before I can even select the vendor file.


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## rrifonas (Apr 7, 2019)

TheSnke said:


> How would you go about modifying the image? I can't seem to get into it.
> 
> I really only dreamed of NeoGeo and CPS games on this, so I'm cracking up at all these Disney Gameboy game and the like thrown on here
> 
> EDIT: Never mind, I ended up figuring out how to edit the image (it appears to just be a copy of the structure for a portable emulation machine called the Dingoo), but now when I open the app to flash again, it immediately closes before I can even select the vendor file.



I haven't tried flashing my device yet, but I've seen the tool saves some files in C:\ProgramData. You can search for files there and try to delete them.
I want to backup my device before flashing this update, but I couldn't find how to do that yet ("Actions Pad" tools doesn't have options for backup and serial UART asks for username/password).

I'm still wondering from where these files came from. I couldn't find the .fw file anywhere in the Internet, it seems the menu was hacked - it can potentially load files from a USB device in the controller 2 port -, and emulators are from Dingoo - but with different versions from what I've found.


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## TheSnke (Apr 8, 2019)

I managed to open up vendor.img and mess around with the files, but I still can't get Actions Pad Tool to stop crashing. This is perplexing to me considering it worked perfectly the first time.


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## MrTea (Apr 8, 2019)

2 player games work great using a pad in second usb port with this hack, just tested final fight out.


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## Chindogg (Apr 8, 2019)

MrTea said:


> 2 player games work great using a pad in second usb port with this hack, just tested final fight out.



Have you figured out how to edit the vendor image then?


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## TheSnke (Apr 9, 2019)

Chindogg said:


> Have you figured out how to edit the vendor image then?



You edit the vendor image by unpacking it with 7Zip, then turning it back into an .img.

However there's an issue where the flashing app crashes when you try to re-flash.


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## MrTea (Apr 9, 2019)

After hacking Has anyone added additional roms just with usb and selecting the usb option in rom folders on the mini?


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## MrTea (Apr 9, 2019)

Chindogg said:


> Have you figured out how to edit the vendor image then?


No I've just used what's been provided. I already have a Japanese neo geo mini so it's got the original games already plus these new titles now (hopefully be able to edit the image at some point). 

I'm hoping the usb port will allow me to add roms seeing as there's a usb section on each folder on the added emulators that asks for usb to be inserted on player 2 port? Need to have a play...


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## shinrukus (Apr 11, 2019)

I got Neo Geo roms, added and replaced on the home menu


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## subcon959 (Apr 12, 2019)

Damn, I haven't been paying attention since I thought it would take ages to crack. So, someone finally found a way to add/replace games?

I'm not interested in other systems, I just want to add a few more NeoGeo games.


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## MrTea (Apr 12, 2019)

Using winimage I've been able to add my own games to the image (windjammers, neo turf masters, neo drift out, bomberman, viewpoint, etc) and also remove all the crap that came with It originally. You can also edit all the artwork that it uses in the gui (currently a manual process, but it all works fine).

I've not tried adding any other emulators yet but have my fix of neo geo and cps games now anyway. 

Also using a £1 USB to usb c adapter my new retro-bit sega saturn usb joypad works on the neo geo mini when using any of the added games (although not in the game select gui) and it was pretty cool using a decent dpad on the system ha.


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## shinrukus (Apr 12, 2019)

MrTea said:


> Using winimage I've been able to add my own games to the image (windjammers, neo turf masters, neo drift out, bomberman, viewpoint, etc) and also remove all the crap that came with It originally. You can also edit all the artwork that it uses in the gui (currently a manual process, but it all works fine).
> 
> I've not tried adding any other emulators yet but have my fix of neo geo and cps games now anyway.
> 
> Also using a £1 USB to usb c adapter my new retro-bit sega saturn usb joypad works on the neo geo mini when using any of the added games (although not in the game select gui) and it was pretty cool using a decent dpad on the system ha.



Mr. Tea, I figured out how to add new emulators, I got ngpc and pce working fine as well, its the same process as adding roms to the image itself. I been working to get SVC Chaos working, and I created the cache files based on mvspsp's romconv_mvs script, but it still wont boot. 

Also are you having any issues adding new games? Cause when I get a 42nd file, my machine crashes


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## MrTea (Apr 12, 2019)

shinrukus said:


> Mr. Tea, I figured out how to add new emulators, I got ngpc and pce working fine as well, its the same process as adding roms to the image itself. I been working to get SVC Chaos working, and I created the cache files based on mvspsp's romconv_mvs script, but it still wont boot.
> 
> Also are you having any issues adding new games? Cause when I get a 42nd file, my machine crashes



I'm using this to cache the big games... https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/re...-geo-cps2-and-fba-roms-for-fba-emulator.3825/

...and put the cashed files (.fba) into same folder as my roms. Svc chaos, aliens vs predator etc all working great on my mini.

I've not overwritten the standard 40 games as I want to leave the stock ones on there (so haven't had an issue with over 42 crashing), and I instead have my additional games in a folder (no issues with limits)


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## MrTea (Apr 12, 2019)




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## shinrukus (Apr 14, 2019)

Have you been able to do it via the main home screen? That's where I am having an issue, I can get them all working via the moregames FBA folder


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## shinrukus (Apr 15, 2019)

So now we can use USB drives with this, I dont need to reflash to add games

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------


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## MrTea (Apr 15, 2019)

shinrukus said:


> So now we can use USB drives with this, I dont need to reflash to add games
> 
> --------------------- MERGED ---------------------------



I've just been using the more games folder and have had no problems with adding as many games as I wanted there? I've seen the usb folder icon but couldn't work out how to add that way though? What does the folder structure have to be?


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## shinrukus (Apr 15, 2019)

MrTea said:


> I've just been using the more games folder and have had no problems with adding as many games as I wanted there? I've seen the usb folder icon but couldn't work out how to add that way though? What does the folder structure have to be?



So we have a system.img file that we added a new script to mount the roms, and accept roms from the USB stick, even if you create the folder the right way, it still crashes on you. I'm working with MadMonkey right now to gain root so we can manipulate the /usr folders to change the launch scripts as well... This is more for me, to run SVC Chaos from the main screen. We are also working with a clean dump, trying to gain root.


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## MrTea (Apr 15, 2019)

shinrukus said:


> So we have a system.img file that we added a new script to mount the roms, and accept roms from the USB stick, even if you create the folder the right way, it still crashes on you. I'm working with MadMonkey right now to gain root so we can manipulate the /usr folders to change the launch scripts as well... This is more for me, to run SVC Chaos from the main screen. We are also working with a clean dump, trying to gain root.


That's great something is being worked on! I'm personally happy with the original games being on there though (as they were intended) and that extra folder for more games is just a bonus.

Would the usb metbod potentially run games direct off a usb stick, or would it just be a way to copy roms direct to your mini? If its the latter then I think we'd need a way to also remove roms or else you'd just as well flash the console each time anyway (in case you upload duff roms)?

You mentioned you added pcengine before (dge emulators), have you tried getting mame4all to work for some of the classics not emulated by fba? What version of pce did you get to work?

I also can't work out how to configure L and R for gba games as only A&B appear to work on the stock emulator that came with the vendor img?

Hopefully if this hack is fully expanded then using other external pads for the main GUI game select menu will be doable too?


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## shinrukus (Apr 15, 2019)

MrTea said:


> That's great something is being worked on! I'm personally happy with the original games being on there though (as they were intended) and that extra folder for more games is just a bonus.
> 
> Would the usb metbod potentially run games direct off a usb stick, or would it just be a way to copy roms direct to your mini? If its the latter then I think we'd need a way to also remove roms or else you'd just as well flash the console each time anyway (in case you upload duff roms)?
> 
> ...



Check your misc.img file, there are configuration files there for controllers that aren't actually hacks, those are native... Also the USB folder thing is also native, this is built in functionality. 

For PCE, It crashes right at the menu of Bonk, and Trying Galaga, Bomberman 94, and Daimakamura, all crash upon start. Its Hugo for Dingoo. 

PS3 pads work as well, I am working on that today, getting it to work on the default games, I probably wont use it as much as I would use the NGM pad, but others find it useful, so thats good enough for me.


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## MrTea (Apr 15, 2019)

Delete


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## TheSnke (Apr 15, 2019)

shinrukus said:


> Mr. Tea, I figured out how to add new emulators, I got ngpc and pce working fine as well, its the same process as adding roms to the image itself. I been working to get SVC Chaos working, and I created the cache files based on mvspsp's romconv_mvs script, but it still wont boot.
> 
> Also are you having any issues adding new games? Cause when I get a 42nd file, my machine crashes



Maaan, I spent like 2.5 hours last weekend trying to get a NGP emulator to even show up on the menu. Would you mind helping me figure that out?


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## shinrukus (Apr 15, 2019)

TheSnke said:


> Maaan, I spent like 2.5 hours last weekend trying to get a NGP emulator to even show up on the menu. Would you mind helping me figure that out?


Edit the game.ini in the hacks\local\(language) directory and it'll show. Its just like adding games to the homescreen, it sucks, but its necessary

Also about the working fine, so Games for me are crashing at startup... For PCE, and NGP, I stopped working on it as I was more concerned about the default emulator, but If you look me up in discord (Old Man Rukus) I can help you there.


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## Chindogg (Apr 16, 2019)

I hope someone can just write a better guide to this. My computer isn't recognizing my mini at all when I hold the burn button then turn it on.


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## MrTea (Apr 16, 2019)

Chindogg said:


> I hope someone can just write a better guide to this. My computer isn't recognizing my mini at all when I hold the burn button then turn it on.


I found it to be quite picky with certain usb c leads! Luckily I had a few micro usb to usb c converters (about a £1 on ebay) and had a load of micro usb leads from old phones etc and it worked on a couple of them. The neo geo mini white charging lead that came with the mini didn't work when connecting it to the 2player port to do the mod and I had to use that just for powering the mini.

My advice is to try another lead. At least with the adapters I mentioned above they easily fit into the game ports as I found some aren't long enough!


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## Chindogg (Apr 17, 2019)

Can someone post some instructions on how to add games to the home screen?

Right now it fails every time I try to flash it.


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## neopo242 (Apr 17, 2019)

Over and over again
Can I flush it with an image file
Is it possible to flush only once?


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## Tootyuk (Apr 17, 2019)

Hi All

Ive managed to hack my JPN version but ive now got the weirdest issue, the control stick seems faulty, the directions are moving all over the place without me touching the stick, the buttons arent doing anything just the directions? id not removed the control PCB or anything, but if i remove it from the mainboard then the unit powers up and just sits at the main screen, have i just been unlucky and the control panel has a fault?


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## TheSnke (Apr 22, 2019)

Tootyuk said:


> Hi All
> 
> Ive managed to hack my JPN version but ive now got the weirdest issue, the control stick seems faulty, the directions are moving all over the place without me touching the stick, the buttons arent doing anything just the directions? id not removed the control PCB or anything, but if i remove it from the mainboard then the unit powers up and just sits at the main screen, have i just been unlucky and the control panel has a fault?



This exact joystick problem has happened to mine as well. I only have to barely touch it to make it read as if I'm holding it completely to the left.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------



shinrukus said:


> Edit the game.ini in the hacks\local\(language) directory and it'll show. Its just like adding games to the homescreen, it sucks, but its necessary
> 
> Also about the working fine, so Games for me are crashing at startup... For PCE, and NGP, I stopped working on it as I was more concerned about the default emulator, but If you look me up in discord (Old Man Rukus) I can help you there.



Apparently I need your Discord # to message you!

Which NGP emulator did you download? I can't get mine to show up.


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## Tootyuk (Apr 22, 2019)

TheSnke said:


> This exact joystick problem has happened to mine as well. I only have to barely touch it to make it read as if I'm holding it completely to the left.
> 
> --------------------- MERGED ---------------------------
> 
> ...


Cheers Mate, ok i guess we need to wait for a revised firmware?


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## subcon959 (Apr 22, 2019)

Just wanted to add my intl version joystick is also off calibration after flashing.


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## Samus12345 (Apr 23, 2019)

Looks like it's a known issue with the firmware. I'd recommend that nobody flashes theirs until a fixed version is released.


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## Tootyuk (Apr 23, 2019)

Samus12345 said:


> Looks like it's a known issue with the firmware. I'd recommend that nobody flashes theirs until a fixed version is released.



Thats me


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## MrTea (Apr 23, 2019)

Bad times some of you are getting joystick issues (and it's not a one off?). Have you tried to reflash again to see if it fixes it?

Do we know yet who actually released the hack?... Is it being actively developed as I couldn't find any info on the Web apart from the original YouTube vid that was posted? I know quite a few people that have done it without issues?

Regarding using external controllers (non official neo geo mini ones) it only works in-game for the hacked games and not for the game selection. The official, but not great, pads are only £16 now on amazon, but that's still shit that your mini is playing up.


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## Samus12345 (Apr 23, 2019)

Tootyuk said:


> Thats me



Oh, I missed the user name! Thanks for posting footage of it online and warning us about it!



MrTea said:


> Bad times some of you are getting joystick issues (and it's not a one off?). Have you tried to reflash again to see if it fixes it?
> 
> Do we know yet who actually released the hack?... Is it being actively developed as I couldn't find any info on the Web apart from the original YouTube vid that was posted? I know quite a few people that have done it without issues?
> 
> Regarding using external controllers (non official neo geo mini ones) it only works in-game for the hacked games and not for the game selection. The official, but not great, pads are only £16 now on amazon, but that's still shit that your mini is playing up.



From my scouring of the internet for info, the hack is thought to be a Chinese dev leak of some sort. There are people working on it, but it appears to either be very secretive or low priority (or both). I'm not expecting an improved version any time soon.


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## Tootyuk (Apr 23, 2019)

MrTea said:


> Bad times some of you are getting joystick issues (and it's not a one off?). Have you tried to reflash again to see if it fixes it?
> 
> Do we know yet who actually released the hack?... Is it being actively developed as I couldn't find any info on the Web apart from the original YouTube vid that was posted? I know quite a few people that have done it without issues?
> 
> Regarding using external controllers (non official neo geo mini ones) it only works in-game for the hacked games and not for the game selection. The official, but not great, pads are only £16 now on amazon, but that's still shit that your mini is playing up.


I've got an official pad coming (courtesy of CEX credit) so ill give it a whirl and maybe try a re-flash too, i was too pissed off with it after the first time so it went back in its box hahaha

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------



Samus12345 said:


> Oh, I missed the user name! Thanks for posting footage of it online and warning us about it!
> 
> 
> 
> From my scouring of the internet for info, the hack is thought to be a Chinese dev leak of some sort. There are people working on it, but it appears to either be very secretive or low priority (or both). I'm not expecting an improved version any time soon.


Yeah ive not found any "official" source either, im just hoping the chap on here is still looking at it with madmonkey, my assumption would be there are looking to extract the keys from the hack and use them to create their own custom firmware, or re-engineer the current one?


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## Glyptofane (Apr 24, 2019)

Christ, me a few years ago would have flashed this bitch as soon as I discovered this. I really hope this gets sorted out for everyone. 

This is a pretty cool mini despite being kind of shit through HDMI and all the common complaints.


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## WD_GASTER2 (Apr 24, 2019)

to all affected users: is this only happening when using the japanese version?


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## Samus12345 (Apr 24, 2019)

Glyptofane said:


> Christ, me a few years ago would have flashed this bitch as soon as I discovered this. I really hope this gets sorted out for everyone.
> 
> This is a pretty cool mini despite being kind of shit through HDMI and all the common complaints.



Yeah, the reason I got one is the mini arcade cabinet look. I can play Neo Geo games on my Pi, so I don't care about the NG mini's HDMI out. I'd really like to be able to remap the buttons in all games, though.



WD_GASTER2 said:


> to all affected users: is this only happening when using the japanese version?



subcon959 said above that his International version has the issue, but this guy's Japanese version seems fine:



Apparently it's not limited to one version or the other.


----------



## alkar (Apr 24, 2019)

I was that close to flash mine but the joystick issue scares me off...


----------



## alkar (Apr 24, 2019)

Tootyuk said:


> Hi All
> 
> Ive managed to hack my JPN version but ive now got the weirdest issue, the control stick seems faulty, the directions are moving all over the place without me touching the stick, the buttons arent doing anything just the directions? id not removed the control PCB or anything, but if i remove it from the mainboard then the unit powers up and just sits at the main screen, have i just been unlucky and the control panel has a fault?



you said "JPN" version but the video shows the INTERNATIONAL one... ?


----------



## Samus12345 (Apr 24, 2019)

alkar said:


> you said "JPN" version but the video shows the INTERNATIONAL one... ?



No, it's the Japanese one. Notice the power light on the bottom right.


----------



## alkar (Apr 24, 2019)

My mistake I was mistaken with another video. So I guess it affects JAP units too :/ but seems random or appearing over time cuz for sure some videos on youtube doesnt have this issue after flashing.. Really weird?


----------



## Samus12345 (Apr 24, 2019)

alkar said:


> My mistake I was mistaken with another video. So I guess it affects JAP units too :/ but seems random or appearing over time cuz for sure some videos on youtube doesnt have this issue after flashing.. Really weird?



Yeah, it seems like only certain units get the issue after flashing, even if it's re-flashed. No idea what the pattern is!


----------



## alkar (Apr 24, 2019)

I guess until we can do our own backups it's risky and playing with fire.. Oh well I wish I could hack mine but would really suck to kill the joystick... That being said I guess whenever our own backups are possible, someone will prolly share a fix...

Should be also related to a file / a config from the config.xml maybe? could be fixed messing with it maybe


----------



## MrTea (Apr 25, 2019)

Samus12345 said:


> Yeah, the reason I got one is the mini arcade cabinet look. I can play Neo Geo games on my Pi, so I don't care about the NG mini's HDMI out. I'd really like to be able to remap the buttons in all games, though.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



That's my vid :-)

To those affected I think at least try to reflash as you have nothing to lose.


----------



## wiewiec (Apr 25, 2019)

Nice now this is time to buy mini


----------



## Samus12345 (Apr 26, 2019)

MrTea said:


> That's my vid :-)



Haha, man, the group of people online who are interested in hacking the mini is incredibly small!



wiewiec said:


> Nice now this is time to buy mini



Probably a good idea to wait to hack it, though, unless you can afford to possibly mess it up and need it fixed later!


----------



## Tootyuk (Apr 26, 2019)

I can confirm if you've flashed it and you have the control/calibration issue using the external pad works


----------



## MrTea (Apr 26, 2019)

Tootyuk said:


> I can confirm if you've flashed it and you have the control/calibration issue using the external pad works



Have you tried reflashing it see if that fixes it?

You do know you can already take all the games and emulators you don't want on there (edit the vendor.img with winimg) and put your own games on you want (check my vid)?


----------



## wiewiec (Apr 26, 2019)

Samus12345 said:


> Haha, man, the group of people online who are interested in hacking the mini is incredibly small!
> 
> 
> 
> Probably a good idea to wait to hack it, though, unless you can afford to possibly mess it up and need it fixed later!



So for now reflashing original firmware is not possible?


----------



## Samus12345 (Apr 26, 2019)

wiewiec said:


> So for now reflashing original firmware is not possible?



Correct. The only one that can currently be flashed to the system is the hacked Japanese version that was released.


----------



## wiewiec (Apr 26, 2019)

Samus12345 said:


> Correct. The only one that can currently be flashed to the system is the hacked Japanese version that was released.



Ok, big thanks for info  I will be tuned to read this thread for progress. I like Neo Geo tittles, currently I only have hacked Neo Geo X nice system with arcade stick and even handheld have microswitches - shame that NG not added it to Mini - but you could search Ben Heck portable mod of Mini witch microswitches by Ben Heck on YouTube.


----------



## alkar (Apr 26, 2019)

Tootyuk said:


> I can confirm if you've flashed it and you have the control/calibration issue using the external pad works



you should try to reflash it who knows, as much as i doubt it would change anything..Can't hurt


----------



## subcon959 (Apr 27, 2019)

alkar said:


> you should try to reflash it who knows, as much as i doubt it would change anything..Can't hurt


In my case, I've flashed several times and it's exactly the same each time. The joystick registers a left push almost without touching it, and it doesn't register a right push until you move it as far as it can go. Makes it very difficult to play a lot of the games. I wonder if the joystick calibration info can even be changed in software, because it doesn't really make any sense for this to happen otherwise.


----------



## alkar (Apr 27, 2019)

Too bad  yeah doesn't make sense considering the problem is random and seems worse on that other guy video than yours..


----------



## Cozmic (Apr 30, 2019)

Hi,

Skipped from my GP32 to hacking my Neo Geo Mini,

I am now trying to find a pattern for the calibration issue before i take the risk of flashing my INTL appearing mini.

I watched a few stills on youtube and checked all screenshots from sites where i can read the type number on the back of the systems that claimed to have succesfully hacked the mini.

I assume that the chinese/foreign video's dont have the calibration issue (i cannot understand chinese but i guess you don't post the result when you system glitches.),  
i see the following (non?) pattern;

Seemingly working (flashed):
FM1I1X1800     INTL Appearance
FM1J2X1800     JP     Appearance
FM1I1X1800     INTL Appearance
FM1I1X1800     INTL Appearance
FM1I1X1800     INTL Appearance
FM1J2X1800    JP     Appearance
?                     INTL Appearance
?                     JP     Appearance Mr. Tea (Youtube and this forum)

Not working (flashed):   
?                    JP     Appearance Tootyuk (Youtube, and this forum)
?                    INTL Appearance Subcon959 (this forum)
?                     ?     Appearance TheSnke (this forum)

I Own (not flashed):
FM1J1X1800    INTL Appearance 

I deliberately say INTL APPEARANCE since the I of J in after the FM1 might say something about the internals. 
F.e. my system appears INTL but has a J in the code.

Maybe Tootyuk , Subcon en TheSnke can post their type numbers?


----------



## alkar (May 1, 2019)

Interesting but not sure it's the pattern, we need indeed these guys to confirm their codes. Mine is jap and is FM1J2X1800 but I didn't flash it (yet)... Maybe all JAP are FM1J2X1800 ? Need the others to confirm or not


----------



## subcon959 (May 1, 2019)

There's a pic of mine showing the number on page 2 of this thread. I don't think it's a reliable pattern to use.


----------



## alkar (May 1, 2019)

Right... Is it possible that guys damaged the stick while removing the bottom of the case? Doubt it but who knows


----------



## Cozmic (May 1, 2019)

Hi,

@subcon959 Thanx, so you also own a FM1J1X1800. So for now:

Not working (3x):
1x FM1J1X1800 Intl.
1x ?
1x ?

Working (5x):
3x FM1I1X1800 Intl.
2x FM1J2X1800 Jap.

Could Tootyuk and TheSnke also have a FM1J1X1800?

The damange to the stick, no according to this youtube reply and assuming he didn't damage the controller twice:
_
Jacob Schaefer 1 week ago
I am pretty sire it IS anissue with the firmware flash. After flashing my first unit, I went to Gamestop, bought a second unit, tested and confirmed the joystick was working perfectly, immediately flashed it, and the same exact issue manifested. Hopefully this can be fixed in future firmwares, luckily my second one developed it a little less severely, and is still playable, but my first unit is literally unusable at the moment._

_
_


----------



## Tootyuk (May 2, 2019)

Hi 

Mines a - FM1J2X1800 JPN version



Cozmic said:


> Hi,
> 
> Skipped from my GP32 to hacking my Neo Geo Mini,
> 
> ...



--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------



alkar said:


> Right... Is it possible that guys damaged the stick while removing the bottom of the case? Doubt it but who knows



The best test to prove/disprove this would be to have a flashed non working unit and to swap the controller PCB out for a known either flashed or non flashed unit, that way you will know 100% if its the flashing thats caused the controller issue or if we have somehow damaged to the controller pcb (possible)


----------



## subcon959 (May 2, 2019)

I can't speak for other people but I'm pretty sure mine's not a hardware problem. I've had mine open and in bits a lot of the time to do various mods and there has never been any effect on the joystick calibration. I've actually been searching around to see if there are any replacement parts but nothing. If I ever get another one then the first thing I would do is to swap in the control pcb to see what happens.

As already mentioned, if you plug in a joypad it works as intended, so maybe there is a convoluted way to fix it by taking connections from the usb port. That would be pretty silly though and I'm sure there is probably a way to do it in software that we are unaware of yet.


----------



## alkar (May 2, 2019)

Ah too bad. Thansk for the information though guys, now I'm definitely waiting before I flash it, the jap unit is harder to get for me to risk it.


----------



## MrTea (May 3, 2019)

Cozmic said:


> Hi,
> 
> Skipped from my GP32 to hacking my Neo Geo Mini,
> 
> ...


Mine is FM1J2X1800.

I'm happy I got mine working with the games I wanted when I did as sadly my laptop has died so I've currently got no pc to use for editing images and roms. Hopefully sorted within the next few weeks though.


----------



## alkar (May 3, 2019)

All jap are FM1J2X1800 so seems it's not the culprit


----------



## subcon959 (May 3, 2019)

My issue could be fixed by increasing the deadzone. I really hope such a setting is hidden away somewhere waiting to be discovered.


----------



## Cozmic (May 3, 2019)

Hi,

Thanx everybody. There seems to be no pattern indeed.
Only thing i can see is that FM1J1X1800 is not seen succesfully hacked.

Not working (3x):
1x FM1J1X1800 Intl. (Subcon959)
1x FM1J2X1800 Jap. (Tootyuk)
? ? Appearance        (TheSnke)

Working (6x):
3x FM1I1X1800 Intl.
3x FM1J2X1800 Jap.  (1x MrTea)


@Tootyuk;
I may not be needed to research if the controllers were broken in the process;
See this text from Youtube:

_Jacob Schaefer 1 week ago
I am pretty sire it IS anissue with the firmware flash. After flashing my first unit, I went to Gamestop, bought a second unit, tested and confirmed the joystick was working perfectly, immediately flashed it, and the same exact issue manifested. Hopefully this can be fixed in future firmwares, luckily my second one developed it a little less severely, and is still playable, but my first unit is literally unusable at the moment._

So Jacob bought 2 consoles which both died after flashing.. seems to me that cannot be a coincidence.


----------



## MrTea (May 3, 2019)

alkar said:


> All jap are FM1J2X1800 so seems it's not the culprit


When this was released I checked videos and The firmware being flashed seemed to be the original Japanese one (same games and menus) which is why I was happy risk running the modified image it on my Japanese model.

With no known source it is a bit of a risk running code we have no idea really where it came from or how to recover if it was bad? Hopefully not too long till we get some answers?


----------



## subcon959 (May 3, 2019)

I wouldnt consider mine as broken or non-working. Its definitely still 90% playable. I guess its even stranger that the joystick issue is so variable.. in fact, I really dont understand whats going on :/


----------



## Cozmic (May 3, 2019)

It could of course be that there are slightly different controllers in different console production batches with slightly different calibrations.
The manufacturer then has to adjust the calibration setting per batch, and inject a slightly differtent firmware / controller setting into that console batch.


When you overwrite the calibration settings with the hacked firmware (and thus other calibration settings), it could decalibrate because of that.


----------



## subcon959 (May 4, 2019)

Cozmic said:


> When you overwrite the calibration settings with the hacked firmware (and thus other calibration settings), it could decalibrate because of that.


Yes, that seems logical but the problem is we can see all the files we're flashing and there doesn't appear to be any with joystick calibration data.

There are other partitions that haven't been dumped yet that could contain it, but then how can they be affected when we aren't overwriting those files :/


----------



## Cozmic (May 4, 2019)

Imho the best option is to try and get the original fw back.

Does someone know how to contact the author ?


----------



## subcon959 (May 5, 2019)

Just a heads up for anyone messing about with this stuff. After tons of successful flashes, I finally had one fail and the mini appears to be bricked as it won't show up on PC anymore and just stays black screen. I think it got to around 40% and flaked out so just be aware this isn't a totally safe method.


----------



## alkar (May 5, 2019)

subcon959 said:


> Just a heads up for anyone messing about with this stuff. After tons of successful flashes, I finally had one fail and the mini appears to be bricked as it won't show up on PC anymore and just stays black screen. I think it got to around 40% and flaked out so just be aware this isn't a totally safe method.


That sucks. Any idea what happened ?

Surprised though though the boot loader wasn’t touched by the image.


----------



## subcon959 (May 5, 2019)

alkar said:


> That sucks. Any idea what happened ?
> 
> Surprised though though the boot loader wasn’t touched by the image.


I havent had time to look into it much. All I know is the flashing failed around 40% and the app no longer detects it. The only thing I edited that particular time was some cover art so it wasnt the files.

When I get a chance I'll try a few more things like drivers etc (Windows did update a couple time that day).


----------



## subcon959 (May 8, 2019)

A quick update.. it was actually just the usb cable that died not the console 

Managed to re-flash my image with turf masters instead of top players golf..


----------



## Chindogg (May 11, 2019)

subcon959 said:


> A quick update.. it was actually just the usb cable that died not the console
> 
> Managed to re-flash my image with turf masters instead of top players golf..



How do you replace the games on the main screen?


----------



## subcon959 (May 11, 2019)

Chindogg said:


> How do you replace the games on the main screen?


Do you have flashing setup? It's easy to semi brick the console if you don't have a fully compatible usb cable and drivers working properly already.

I can probably come up with a little guide to swap out a game like I did for the Playstation classic.


----------



## Chindogg (May 11, 2019)

subcon959 said:


> Do you have flashing setup? It's easy to semi brick the console if you don't have a fully compatible usb cable and drivers working properly already.
> 
> I can probably come up with a little guide to swap out a game like I did for the Playstation classic.



Yup. I flashed it once already successfully with the iso in the youtube link I posted.


----------



## alkar (May 14, 2019)

Chindogg said:


> Yup. I flashed it once already successfully with the iso in the youtube link I posted.


no joystick issue?


----------



## Cozmic (May 14, 2019)

subcon959 said:


> A quick update.. it was actually just the usb cable that died not the console
> 
> Managed to re-flash my image with turf masters instead of top players golf..



Nice to hear! so the risk is only limited to having a decalibrated joystick


----------



## Chindogg (May 14, 2019)

alkar said:


> no joystick issue?



I didn't seem to have one, but I have a Japanese mini.


----------



## alfatech (May 15, 2019)

I hope there will be an update because I also have a problem with the joystick


----------



## alkar (May 15, 2019)

alfatech said:


> I hope there will be an update because I also have a problem with the joystick


Jap model or international?


----------



## Chindogg (May 19, 2019)

subcon959 said:


> Do you have flashing setup? It's easy to semi brick the console if you don't have a fully compatible usb cable and drivers working properly already.
> 
> I can probably come up with a little guide to swap out a game like I did for the Playstation classic.



I would really like to know how to edit the firmware to add games to the main screen please.


----------



## subcon959 (May 19, 2019)

Chindogg said:


> I would really like to know how to edit the firmware to add games to the main screen please.


Unfortunately, I haven't had time to do a proper guide so I'll have to just give you a quick overview of how to edit the main screen games.

Use something like WinImage to open the vendor.img file. The files you are interested in are:

```
\res\local\English\games.ini - Edit the entry for the game you want to swap and point it to the new game
\res\roms\ - Add the new game rom zip file here
\res\image\games\ - Folder for each game containing the icons
```

There is also a cache folder, but I would suggest trying a small game first that doesn't need a cache, like Puzzle Bobble or League Bowling. I'll add the extra information about cache when I can.

For now, don't even mess with icons. Just add the rom, example lbowling.zip to the roms folder. Then edit games.ini and change one of the entries

Example

```
[GAME]
[ID]=0
[TYPE]=3
[NAME]=AGGRESSORS OF DARK KOMBAT
[DIR]=aodk
```
Change it to

```
[GAME]
[ID]=0
[TYPE]=5
[NAME]=LEAGUE BOWLING
[DIR]=lbowling
```
Then save and flash. If it works then you can make it nice with proper icons etc. If it doesn't then you might not be using the proper FBA romset.

*Note: If you're like me then the first thing you want to do when you open the vendor.img is delete the "hack" folder. I have zero interest in emulating other systems on my Neo Geo.*


----------



## dclaneta (May 21, 2019)

hi people, on 5 or 6 days ago i find a neogeo mini on a super market on my city, the first thing i do with my NGM its the battery mod but during the mod process i find that stick problem occurs to many people after flashing their units so i decided to wait and no screw my new unit so a 2 days later one guy comes to my electronics workshop with a after flash joystick problem, well i don't promise a fix for his unit and after he's accepted my condition the first step to do and works for that dude are the joystick replace for a ALPS analog stick we used a lot for fixing xbox 360 controllers, i don't believe how crappy are these sticks that are using SNK on their neo geo mini elaboration, you need to mod the alps stick cutting the microswitch pines. 

sorry for my english, i only registered on this forum for helping people with the stick fault i don't expect credits for this hehe.


----------



## subcon959 (May 21, 2019)

dclaneta said:


> hi people, on 5 or 6 days ago i find a neogeo mini on a super market on my city, the first thing i do with my NGM its the battery mod but during the mod process i find that stick problem occurs to many people after flashing their units so i decided to wait and no screw my new unit so a 2 days later one guy comes to my electronics workshop with a after flash joystick problem, well i don't promise a fix for his unit and after he's accepted my condition the first step to do and works for that dude are the joystick replace for a ALPS analog stick we used a lot for fixing xbox 360 controllers, i don't believe how crappy are these sticks that are using SNK on their neo geo mini elaboration, you need to mod the alps stick cutting the microswitch pines.
> 
> sorry for my english, i only registered on this forum for helping people with the stick fault i don't expect credits for this hehe.


Your English is good. Can you show a bit more detailed guide for replacing the stick? I'm sure it will be very helpful to someone.


----------



## tcbkilla420 (May 24, 2019)

So there is a hack on YouTube that showed up a couple days ago that allows you to add 80 games with the tile art. Only problem is that it's in Portuguese. If someone could make a English tutorial out of that video it would be amazing.


----------



## subcon959 (May 24, 2019)

tcbkilla420 said:


> So there is a hack on YouTube that showed up a couple days ago that allows you to add 80 games with the tile art. Only problem is that it's in Portuguese. If someone could make a English tutorial out of that video it would be amazing.


I don't think the hack is any different, it's more just a custom image with only Neo Geo games instead of all the other systems.


----------



## tcbkilla420 (May 24, 2019)

subcon959 said:


> I don't think the hack is any different, it's more just a custom image with only Neo Geo games instead of all the other systems.



From what I understood from the video,(which wasn't much granted) it seems like he shows how to add your own roms of your choosing from a website, or gives you the option of the image with the 80 games he chose. Either way it would be nice to have a proper tutorial.


----------



## subcon959 (May 24, 2019)

tcbkilla420 said:


> From what I understood from the video,(which wasn't much granted) it seems like he shows how to add your own roms of your choosing from a website, or gives you the option of the image with the 80 games he chose. Either way it would be nice to have a proper tutorial.


The method is exactly the same as I outlined a few posts above.


----------



## tcbkilla420 (May 24, 2019)

subcon959 said:


> The method is exactly the same as I outlined a few posts above.



So I can follow the same method as any of the other YouTube videos and apply this 80 game image instead of the one with all the random systems roms?


----------



## subcon959 (May 24, 2019)

tcbkilla420 said:


> So I can follow the same method as any of the other YouTube videos and apply this 80 game image instead of the one with all the random systems roms?


Yes, other than the roms the images are exactly the same. Unfortunately, that also means there is the same chance of getting the joystick issue.


----------



## tcbkilla420 (May 24, 2019)

subcon959 said:


> Yes, other than the roms the images are exactly the same. Unfortunately, that also means there is the same chance of getting the joystick issue.



That only effects the mini arcade joystick correct? I have two controllers for it and play on the tv so I wouldn't be to worried about that.


----------



## dclaneta (May 24, 2019)

Hi everyone! I can't upload the tutorial for fixing the control stick issue  when I wrote all the tutorial and clicking on post reply they show a message that i not have the permission for upload links content here.


----------



## Cozmic (May 30, 2019)

dclaneta said:


> Hi everyone! I can't upload the tutorial for fixing the control stick issue  when I wrote all the tutorial and clicking on post reply they show a message that i not have the permission for upload links content here.


Nice to hear you wrote a tutorial for fixing the controller issue (by swapping it?) But can't you just copy paste it here?


----------



## jidatui (Jun 6, 2019)

HELP! There is a problem with the stick after hacking. The dead zone of the left direction is 0%, but the other three directions are all about 50%. Therefore, the stick is wasted.


----------



## jidatui (Jun 6, 2019)

The stick bug occurs on every hacked NEOGEO MINI. If the stick is pushed just a little bit toward left, the left direction wiil be triggered. It is a disaster, because all the fighting games are in a weird feeling. Why cant you see this bug？


----------



## shinrukus (Jun 6, 2019)

- my NGM using Unibios on homescreen games

For the record, i've never had the joystick bug on any of my custom roms...


----------



## shinrukus (Jun 6, 2019)




----------



## andyhappypants (Jun 6, 2019)

Damn, I need to get me one of these. Does the hack for all region NGM?


----------



## shinrukus (Jun 6, 2019)

The publicly released ones work with all regions but forces you to boot in Japanese. And the games default to Japanese


----------



## shinrukus (Jun 6, 2019)

this is for the people who get the Joystick Bug


----------



## Glyptofane (Jun 6, 2019)

shinrukus said:


> this is for the people who get the Joystick Bug



Lucky dude. I'll never try the hack as long as this bug exists as I love this mini too much.


----------



## WD_GASTER2 (Jun 7, 2019)

A lot of people are failing to read that this CFW can render the joystick useless...
people need to learn to read.


----------



## jidatui (Jun 7, 2019)

It seems that the bug is not 100% to occour. Maybe we used a problem fw. Can anyone provide a perfect fw, thanks a lot!


----------



## WD_GASTER2 (Jun 7, 2019)

jidatui said:


> It seems that the bug is not 100% to occour. Maybe we used a problem fw. Can anyone provide a perfect fw, thanks a lot!


thats not happening until someone figures out whats causing the issue though.


----------



## MeteK (Jun 7, 2019)

i've followed the tutorial on YT, and everything ok for me ... no joystick issue.


----------



## WD_GASTER2 (Jun 7, 2019)

depends on the model or joystick part being used probably.


----------



## jidatui (Jun 7, 2019)

We just flashed a fw with 80 games.
But the stick bug was still there.
Here is a video demonstrating how to test the stick bug.
The left direction is easy to trigger, but the other three directions are not.

bilibili    com

We hope all the players should test your hacked NGM.


/video/av54833970/

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

the title is     bilibili dot com


----------



## jidatui (Jun 7, 2019)

the website is bilibili dot com

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------



jidatui said:


> the website is bilibili dot com


/video/av54833970/


----------



## shinrukus (Jun 7, 2019)

jidatui said:


> the website is bilibili dot com
> 
> --------------------- MERGED ---------------------------
> 
> ...


 
Just sent you a PM


----------



## shinrukus (Jun 7, 2019)

Out of curiousity, has anyone in the US has gotten the Joystick Bug? Everyone I keep hearing about it, has been from a European country, and if thats the case, I think im gonna buy one direct from Europe. I know they are the same as the US version (thats evident) but something's not adding up. I flashed over 40 yesterday from various people who wanted it flashed, along with my 3 Internationals and 1 Christmas Edition. I have yet to have seen this Joystick Bug actually happen.


----------



## alkar (Jun 7, 2019)

shinrukus said:


> Out of curiousity, has anyone in the US has gotten the Joystick Bug? Everyone I keep hearing about it, has been from a European country, and if thats the case, I think im gonna buy one direct from Europe. I know they are the same as the US version (thats evident) but something's not adding up. I flashed over 40 yesterday from various people who wanted it flashed, along with my 3 Internationals and 1 Christmas Edition. I have yet to have seen this Joystick Bug actually happen.




People got it on the jap version too


----------



## shinrukus (Jun 7, 2019)

alkar said:


> People got it on the jap version too


I'm actually working with a user now who had it once, hopefully our work together will get it resolved


----------



## dclaneta (Jun 10, 2019)

Hi, late night yesterday I made a short video tutorial for fix the joystick trouble, sorry for my bad English but its all I can do for helping people with this issue



En español


----------



## jidatui (Jun 11, 2019)

dclaneta said:


> Hi, late night yesterday I made a short video tutorial for fix the joystick trouble, sorry for my bad English but its all I can do for helping people with this issue
> 
> 
> 
> En español




Thank you very much, Sir. The method is to replace all the four 10K resisters by 5K. I got it and I will have a try.

But, why is it a hardware bug. I used to think it should be a software bug.

I will replace it as soon as possible, and I will let you  know the result.


----------



## jidatui (Jun 11, 2019)

I am getting to know why it is a hardware problem, because there are at least three different hardware version of the joystick motherboard. Thus, the system config must be modified to adjust the prameter of the dead zone for each version.


----------



## shinrukus (Jun 11, 2019)

jidatui said:


> I am getting to know why it is a hardware problem, because there are at least three different hardware version of the joystick motherboard. Thus, the system config must be modified to adjust the prameter of the dead zone for each version.View attachment 169649




That actually explains a LOT... the ones I've flashed all have just the ngm-v1.0 tag on it Also I have seen this in the actual mvsnjemu code:




Which i've worked to modify and i'm in the process of compiling. Also i'll open up my Christmas edition today and get you the controller of that as well. 


Side note, i've also added in a bios selector, and controller config menu... if that works out, you may not need to mess with the controller hardware itself, so wish me luck


----------



## shinrukus (Jun 11, 2019)

Also I created a fork of the original ngm menu. This is open source code btw no piracy. 

https://github.com/shinrukus/neogeominimenu


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## shinrukus (Jun 12, 2019)

You guys want some useful info that I dumped from my ngm?

rootfs on / type rootfs (rw,relatime)

tmpfs on / type tmpfs (rw,relatime)

proc on /proc type proc (rw,relatime)

tmpfs on /tmp type tmpfs (rw,relatime)

sysfs on /sys type sysfs (rw,relatime) (this is your system.img)

tmpfs on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw,relatime)

/dev/actc on /vendor type vfat (ro,relatime,fmask=0022,dmask=0022,codepage=cp437,iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,errors=remount-ro) .  (this is your vendor.img)

/dev/actb on /usr/local type ext4 (ro,relatime,barrier=1,data=ordered)

/dev/actd on /data type ext4 (rw,relatime,barrier=1,data=ordered)

/dev/sda1 on /tmp/media type vfat (rw,relatime,fmask=0022,dmask=0022,codepage=cp437,iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,errors=remount-ro) (this is my hard drive)


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## subcon959 (Jun 12, 2019)

@dclaneta  Are the resistors 0805?


----------



## Cozmic (Jun 15, 2019)

Great News that we have a lead for fixing this issue once and 4 all, and that you guys are already working on it!


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## shinrukus (Jun 17, 2019)

Hey Guys, I now have root access into the NGM, here's a vid of me running the entire thing from USB


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## shinrukus (Jun 17, 2019)

(deleted)


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## WD_GASTER2 (Jun 17, 2019)

cool. care to share how that was achieved?


----------



## shinrukus (Jun 17, 2019)

WD_GASTER2 said:


> cool. care to share how that was achieved?



So the vendor.img is mounted on /dev/actc, I dismounted that, and mounted /vendor on /dev/sda1


Root access was achieved by using the script the NGM uses to load the menu in the first place, wiping the password thats currently on it, and being able to run whatever command I want via UART. 

I don't have my device hooked up to UART atm, i'll do it tomorrow to demo the functionality.


----------



## jidatui (Jun 17, 2019)

good news!!!


----------



## Cozmic (Jun 17, 2019)

Hell yeah!

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------



shinrukus said:


> Also I created a fork of the original ngm menu. This is open source code btw no piracy.
> 
> https://github.com/shinrukus/neogeominimenu



The link doesn't seem to work


----------



## shinrukus (Jun 17, 2019)

Cozmic said:


> Hell yeah!
> 
> --------------------- MERGED ---------------------------
> 
> ...



https://github.com/shinrukus/neogeominiemu


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## Chindogg (Jun 18, 2019)

Glad to see the flood of progress being made! Now is there a way to add more than 40 games to the NGM without the need for a USB?


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## shinrukus (Jun 18, 2019)

Chindogg said:


> Glad to see the flood of progress being made! Now is there a way to add more than 40 games to the NGM without the need for a USB?


the most I've gotten on mine is 110 before USB. I also removed all the FBA related references as well for more space, and less startup time.


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## shinrukus (Jun 19, 2019)

Hey anyone here with a NGM and isn't hacked yet, want to attempt a limited flashing Situation?


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## hackotedelaplaqu (Jun 19, 2019)

I'll gladly be your guinea pig if this can help to solve the joystick bug. 
Mine is actualy hacked with your latest system.img (USB redirection).
European International Neo Geo Mini. 
Thanks.


----------



## andyhappypants (Jun 19, 2019)

Awesome progress peeps! Im still to get me a NG mini but its gonna happen.


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## shinrukus (Jun 19, 2019)

hackotedelaplaqu said:


> I'll gladly be your guinea pig if this can help to solve the joystick bug.
> Mine is actualy hacked with your latest system.img (USB redirection).
> European International Neo Geo Mini.
> Thanks.



I'm building a dumper image now. Get a Flash drive, preferrably exFAT formatted thats 4gb or higher. USB 3.0 takes a little less than 30 minutes, while USB 2.0 drives take around 2-3 hours. I dumped mine using a USB3.0 Portable SSD, and it took around 20 minutes, while my USB 3.0 Flash drive takes 28


----------



## hackotedelaplaqu (Jun 19, 2019)

shinrukus said:


> I'm building a dumper image now. Get a Flash drive, preferrably exFAT formatted thats 4gb or higher. USB 3.0 takes a little less than 30 minutes, while USB 2.0 drives take around 2-3 hours. I dumped mine using a USB3.0 Portable SSD, and it took around 20 minutes, while my USB 3.0 Flash drive takes 28



But I guess I'm screwed for the backup since I already flashed the 80 games modded nand over the original one.

BTW, the joystick bug can't be related to the emulator since it happens with fba and other emulators too.


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## shinrukus (Jun 19, 2019)

hackotedelaplaqu said:


> But If guess I'm screwed for the backup since I already flashed the 80 games modded nand over the original one.


yep lol I'm hoping now that because the system.img doesnt have the controller drivers for your system, the misc.img does, I can replace whats in the misc.img with whatevers in the international system. When mine gets here Friday, i'm gonna dump the international system's misc and vendor partitions so I can finally get to the bottom of the controller driver issue, and hopefully its just a matter of whether or not I can just replace drivers. But in my house now I have 6. 4 Ints, 1 Japanese, and 1 Christmas edition, none of them have the bug, and all have been flashed. Now that I think about it, I should just get a new Christmas Edition and dump that info...


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## shinrukus (Jun 19, 2019)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mFYvwUW6HSYd8vWpWsHefoEHB_eJaonF/view?usp=sharing


This system.img is for dumping your NGM.





Make sure your settings look like this before flashing, after picking the firmware file. Obviously the location of the image is where you put it, but erasing the Flash, and formatting the data and cache will kinda defeat the point. Make sure when you do this you have a flash drive formatted as fat32 or exfat and then you'll have your backup. 

If you have NEVER flashed your system before, after you dump your rootfs.tar file (which will be in the neohack\dump folder on your flash drive) let me know, and i'll work with you to get your vendor and misc partitions flashable for your machine. I'm sharing this in the hopes that you guys with international and Christmas Editions who have never flashed your machines will have clean data so I can replace the joystick drivers and hopefully fix the joystick issue.


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## madturbo123 (Jun 20, 2019)

I've got a fresh jap if you require a dump of the sys.img. only problem is I don't have a USB c to USB type b with me atm. I'll be home in about a fortnight though, if you still need it then.


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## shinrukus (Jun 20, 2019)

madturbo123 said:


> I've got a fresh jap if you require a dump of the sys.img. only problem is I don't have a USB c to USB type b with me atm. I'll be home in about a fortnight though, if you still need it then.



when you flash the image it'll replace your system.img, but it will give me a fresh misc and vendor, but the misc is the important one. When you dump, I can pull it from the rootfs.tar


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## hackotedelaplaqu (Jun 20, 2019)

Which tool do you use to rebuild system.img ? 
Both tool unpack Repack and MTK_Extractor fail on me to produe an ext4 150Mo partition.
Thanks.

BTW hat I'm trying to do is to swap aotg_init_3g.ko and aotg_init1_3g.ko modules in system.img.


----------



## shinrukus (Jun 20, 2019)

hackotedelaplaqu said:


> Which tool do you use to rebuild system.img ?
> Both tool unpack Repack and MTK_Extractor fail on me to produe an ext4 150Mo partition.
> Thanks.
> 
> BTW hat I'm trying to do is to swap aotg_init_3g.ko and aotg_init1_3g.ko modules in system.img.



I dont use a tool, I just mount it in Linux... But are you trying to change the port for OTG? Cause you can already mount /dev/sda1 anywhere


----------



## FreePlayFlorida (Jun 20, 2019)

I have a UK (international) version completely untouched, fired it up once and thats it, if you still need img files? lmk


----------



## shinrukus (Jun 20, 2019)

FreePlayFlorida said:


> I have a UK (international) version completely untouched, fired it up once and thats it, if you still need img files? lmk


 VERY much so, I'd appreciate it! Just follow my instructions on Page 9, and then upload the rootfs.tar somewhere and PM me when you got it to a good area.


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## hackotedelaplaqu (Jun 20, 2019)

The driver is located in the system.img (modules/joydev.ko) not the misc.img.
You'll overwrite it even with partial systèm.img don't you think?


----------



## shinrukus (Jun 20, 2019)

hackotedelaplaqu said:


> The driver is located in the system.img (modules/joydev.ko) not the misc.img.
> You'll overwrite it even with partial systèm.img don't you think?



True... very possible youre right.

I can at least get the vendor.img from an international version...


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## hackotedelaplaqu (Jun 20, 2019)

shinrukus said:


> True... very possible youre right.
> 
> I can at least get the vendor.img from an international version...



We should be able to add jscal script on system.img or via putty uart command. Seems calibration issue is very common on linux with joydev driver.


----------



## shinrukus (Jun 20, 2019)

hackotedelaplaqu said:


> We should be able to add jscal script on system.img or via putty uart command. Seems calibration issue is very common on linux with joydev driver.



i've found other versions of that joydev.ko driver, and I understand how its loaded, but the problem is, there are 3 different versions of the joystick i've seen, and 2 of them are almost identical. The bigger issue is I've never run into the joystick problem either, so I'm not a good test. 

I'm very interested in attempting to swap out that joydev.ko driver, with another one to see if that fixes the issue. At most I can attempt it on one of mine and see if it breaks it completely. Either way, i'll post up the system.img for this. 

Also keep in mind, I learned Linux in the middle of April fully, for this purpose... I knew basics of using Ubuntu, but I've never gone to the extent I've done for Linux before, so every piece of information you guys give me, I use for this purpose lol


Side note, I learned C++ to be able to work with the source of mvsnjemu.... still cant run a good make, but at least i'm able to spot problems now


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## hackotedelaplaqu (Jun 20, 2019)

I don't mind beta test the driver Swap, even if there a risk of brick. Mine is already broken so don't take the risk and PM me the modded IMG file.
Just  to be sure, the other drivers are based on Mips architecture too ?


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## Bubbypop (Jun 20, 2019)

I got the joystick bug give us a shout if you need some testers


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## shinrukus (Jun 20, 2019)

Problem, joydev.ko needs to be compiled for every device its on, that could work in our favor for using other mips based


hackotedelaplaqu said:


> I don't mind beta test the driver Swap, even if there a risk of brick. Mine is already broken so don't take the risk and PM me the modded IMG file.
> Just  to be sure, the other drivers are based on Mips architecture too ?



I'm actually working on that now, what I wound up doing is grabbing the dingux source, and running a build on it, and since its already a mips based linux firmware, hopefully i'll be able to use the drivers, if not port it to the ngm


----------



## shinrukus (Jun 21, 2019)

hackotedelaplaqu said:


> I don't mind beta test the driver Swap, even if there a risk of brick. Mine is already broken so don't take the risk and PM me the modded IMG file.
> Just  to be sure, the other drivers are based on Mips architecture too ?



so I had to build from scratch Opendingux as it had the drivers compatible with the mips architecture, JUST to get the driver, and insmod script, but I got it, and compiled it in the system.img

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xWDTw3dR2K7jAXnynpMyA9X_Y9WmlHpB/view?usp=sharing

This system.img however is also based on my USB Redirector script, so if you use it, dont erase your whole flash, just the data and cache partitions, and put your /res folder from the vendor.img to the root of your flash drive/portable hdd, and call the drive NEOGEO


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## shinrukus (Jun 21, 2019)

So sorry to tell you guys, I got a confirmed no go on that new driver :/


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## Bubbypop (Jun 21, 2019)

Just tested doesn't change nevermind guys


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## hackotedelaplaqu (Jun 21, 2019)

I'm starting to doubt that the issue is related to the joydev driver or faulty resistors in joypad board. 
Indeed, I made new tests : booting the NGM WITHOUT the joystick's card plugged. The bug still occurs !!! Cursor is moving automatically to the left or simply blowing to the pins make it moves and stop. Maybe the main motherboard was damaged in the flashing process ?

I'm thinking about buying a new one and making a dump the hard way. But where are located the tx rx and gnd pins in in the international rev ?


----------



## shinrukus (Jun 21, 2019)

hackotedelaplaqu said:


> I'm starting to doubt that the issue is related to the joydev driver or faulty resistors in joypad board.
> Indeed, I made new tests : booting the NGM WITHOUT the joystick's card plugged. The bug still occurs !!! Cursor is moving automatically to the left or simply blowing to the pins make it moves and stop. Maybe the main motherboard was damaged in the flashing process ?
> 
> I'm thinking about buying a new one and making a dump the hard way. But where are located the tx rx and gnd pins in in the international rev ?



I don't know if you are on the discord with us, but the person who dumped the rom, didnt use the uart port. But, the port slot is right by the power. 

But that also gets me thinking, MAYBE its a power issue?

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------



hackotedelaplaqu said:


> I'm starting to doubt that the issue is related to the joydev driver or faulty resistors in joypad board.
> Indeed, I made new tests : booting the NGM WITHOUT the joystick's card plugged. The bug still occurs !!! Cursor is moving automatically to the left or simply blowing to the pins make it moves and stop. Maybe the main motherboard was damaged in the flashing process ?
> 
> I'm thinking about buying a new one and making a dump the hard way. But where are located the tx rx and gnd pins in in the international rev ?



Now that I think about it, it sounds more and more like a power issue... Try using your NGM in a powerstrip... that would also explain why changing the controller board would fix it because its a different board, so power conducivity issues wouldn't effect it. That also explains why I haven't gotten it at all flashing 100s at this point, because i'm using a Monster Power Strip that cleans and cycles power.


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## hackotedelaplaqu (Jun 21, 2019)

Found the pins in the back of the main board. Thanks. Trying power strip doesn't solve the issue saddly.


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## shinrukus (Jun 21, 2019)

hackotedelaplaqu said:


> Found the pins in the back of the main board. Thanks. Trying power strip doesn't solve the issue saddly.


i don't know if it'll help you, but I can give you a passwd -d root script that should get you UART access


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## shinrukus (Jun 22, 2019)

So I dumped the rootfs of the international edition, and created a new vendor.img out of the vendor partition. it is NOT the same as whats currently out there, its different, and as such won't boot with the system.img thats currently available. So tomorrow im gonna buy ANOTHER one... and attempt to flash the newly dumped vendor.img on that one and see how it rolls.


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## shinrukus (Jun 23, 2019)

So I have 2 confirmed international vendor.img flashes with no joystick bug (3 if you count my new one). Something I learned (the hard way) is that there are more languages on the International Version's vendor.img then the Japanese one.


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## subcon959 (Jun 23, 2019)

Thats great, do you think it could reverse the joystick bug on an international edition?


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## hackotedelaplaqu (Jun 23, 2019)

Could you share the International Vendor image please ? 
Thanks.


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## shinrukus (Jun 23, 2019)

subcon959 said:


> Thats great, do you think it could reverse the joystick bug on an international edition?


I think in combination with a system.img from the international edition I think it will help, the problem is getting the /usr directory...

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------



hackotedelaplaqu said:


> Could you share the International Vendor image please ?
> Thanks.


Can't share it here man, it does contain roms


----------



## shinrukus (Jun 23, 2019)

So some notes

1) the international edition does not like new games. Either replaced or added, it will not load it
2) It is definitely locked by filesize AND crc. If CRC's don't add up, its not gonna run
3) I'm now convinced the hack itself, is a hack to Dmenu itself to ignore all of the crc checks. Its a linux computer, FBA is gonna run, and Open Dingux being a elinux system as well explains why the emus work.


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## subcon959 (Jun 24, 2019)

shinrukus said:


> So some notes
> 
> 1) the international edition does not like new games. Either replaced or added, it will not load it
> 2) It is definitely locked by filesize AND crc. If CRC's don't add up, its not gonna run
> 3) I'm now convinced the hack itself, is a hack to Dmenu itself to ignore all of the crc checks. Its a linux computer, FBA is gonna run, and Open Dingux being a elinux system as well explains why the emus work.


If that was the case, could you not just use the dmenu binary from the hacked version to bypass crc checks?


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## shinrukus (Jun 24, 2019)

subcon959 said:


> If that was the case, could you not just use the dmenu binary from the hacked version to bypass crc checks?



Yes and no, If we had access to a system.img from the int version, we probably could get away with just swapping the dmenu_ln and Minarcade files


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## Bubbypop (Jun 24, 2019)

Update on joystick bug...
Apparently if you put ear buds in the glitch goes away.but I haven't tried it for myself yet.


----------



## subcon959 (Jun 24, 2019)

Bubbypop said:


> Update on joystick bug...
> Apparently if you put ear buds in the glitch goes away.but I haven't tried it for myself yet.


Is this a joke lol


----------



## Bubbypop (Jun 24, 2019)

subcon959 said:


> Is this a joke lol


No dude straight up


----------



## shinrukus (Jun 24, 2019)




----------



## hackotedelaplaqu (Jun 24, 2019)

Bubbypop said:


> No dude straight up



Already tested this before but doesn't work.


----------



## Bubbypop (Jun 24, 2019)

hackotedelaplaqu said:


> Already tested this before but doesn't work.


Works for my international


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## hackotedelaplaqu (Jun 24, 2019)

I'll try more ear buds and report hère.


----------



## Bubbypop (Jun 24, 2019)

hackotedelaplaqu said:


> I'll try more ear buds and report hère.


I made a video on YouTube


----------



## hackotedelaplaqu (Jun 24, 2019)

Bubbypop said:


> I made a video on YouTube



Trie d with 3 other ear buds. Works with one of them I Can confirm! Great! Now
another issue, removing it makes the ngm boot loops until power off.


----------



## Bubbypop (Jun 24, 2019)

hackotedelaplaqu said:


> Trie d with 3 other ear buds. Works with one of them I Can confirm! Great! Now
> another issue, removing it makes the ngm boot loops until power off.


No way.hope someone can fix this bug it's really p#@*ing me off lol


----------



## shinrukus (Jun 24, 2019)

So with all of that said, I have a theory...

if someone wants to try this theory follow these steps. 

Open your misc.img and back up the config.xml.
Replace the config.xml with the one in the rar I've included and save the image (I use Winimage) 
burn the misc.img to the NGM don't erase the flash, but format data and cache. 

Backout plan:
Take the config.xml you replaced, and delete the one I provided. 
Reburn the images, the system and misc and erase the flash (vendor too if you aren't booting from USB)


----------



## hackotedelaplaqu (Jun 24, 2019)

shinrukus said:


> So with all of that said, I have a theory...
> 
> if someone wants to try this theory follow these steps.
> 
> ...



Black screen after neo geo #2 logo.


----------



## Bubbypop (Jun 24, 2019)

Yep me to

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Didn't work for me gutted


----------



## shinrukus (Jun 24, 2019)

Well I gave it a go lol, technically it should've just killed your sound, but as I originally thought, whatever checks were modified to be ignored on dmenu, aren't applicable to the FAT_Misc partition


----------



## hackotedelaplaqu (Jun 24, 2019)

Sorry if it sounds stupid but the jack thing makes me think about ground issues. What if we flash it again but with ear buds plugged during adfu?
I have no time to test this these evening, if someone wants to test it?


----------



## Bubbypop (Jun 24, 2019)

Ok Ile av a bash

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

No still there


----------



## shinrukus (Jun 24, 2019)

hackotedelaplaqu said:


> Sorry if it sounds stupid but the jack thing makes me think about ground issues. What if we flash it again but with ear buds plugged during adfu?
> I have no time to test this these evening, if someone wants to test it?



To go with this, can anyone try changing the cable?


----------



## Bubbypop (Jun 24, 2019)

Which cable


----------



## Bubbypop (Jun 24, 2019)

No didn't work

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------



Bubbypop said:


> No didn't work


----------



## MeteK (Jun 25, 2019)

shinrukus said:


>



Great image thanks !

But how to make one with our own game selection ?


----------



## subcon959 (Jun 25, 2019)

Just gonna repeat what I posted on the reddit...

From what I noticed in the video, it didn't fix the issue but it did seem to reduce it to the same level that I experience with my machine.

So I guess it all depends which of the 3 joystick boards you have. You will either have no issue to begin with, a minor issue (which in my experience isn't improved by this), or a larger issue which is brought down to the same level as the minor issue by plugging in headphones.

What a bloody weird console lol.


----------



## Bubbypop (Jun 25, 2019)

Has anyone who got the joystick bug tried turning the volume off completely to see if the bug stops?


----------



## hackotedelaplaqu (Jun 25, 2019)

Bubbypop said:


> Has anyone who got the joystick bug tried turning the volume off completely to see if the bug stops?


Yep didn't work. Unplugging both speakers too. And I repeat myself, the bug occurs even with controller motherboard removed so it can be related to the model of it.


----------



## Bubbypop (Jun 25, 2019)

Oh ok worth a try


----------



## Bubbypop (Jun 25, 2019)

Update I turned my volume off completely and the joystick bug is completely gone tested 5 times now


----------



## Bubbypop (Jun 25, 2019)

So if you have the volume off or on low setting the bug is completely gone


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## hackotedelaplaqu (Jun 25, 2019)

Onto something right now :


----------



## Bubbypop (Jun 25, 2019)

Sweet did you try the volume


----------



## shinrukus (Jun 25, 2019)

hackotedelaplaqu said:


> Onto something right now :


Check in the dmenu code for all references to /res,  i'll grab it too and we can browse it together. If we work on this together, we can easily create a new dmenu script for loading whatever we want.


----------



## hackotedelaplaqu (Jun 25, 2019)

Something very strange here. I made many tests and flashes this evening. On one of them the bug disappeared. I thought it was because of my changes in the finition I posted here but another flash and the bug comes back again. That and the sound's correlation and jack audio seems to confirm a power issue (or damage during flash process). I'm using a micro USB otg and a cheap micro USB cable. I'll look for a better USB C cable. Who was using an otg here? And was it a success or joystick bug?


----------



## hackotedelaplaqu (Jun 25, 2019)

Double post sorry


----------



## shinrukus (Jun 25, 2019)

Also i'd just like to say that all the progress we made, the only real dev to help with this cause was MadMonkey... This should also show those guys who keep asking for hacks, that if you just read a book or google sometimes, you can make your own hacks and progress


----------



## jidatui (Jun 26, 2019)

My NGM is a Japanese version，and neither the headphone nor the volume off did not work for the bug.


----------



## jidatui (Jun 26, 2019)

jidatui said:


> My NGM is a Japanese version，and neither the headphone nor the volume off did not work for the bug.


I tried to replace the resister. It shows that only one resistor needs to be replaced. For the left direction, 15k or 20k may work. For the right direction, 7k may work. I am still testing.


----------



## jidatui (Jun 26, 2019)

This is the resister controlling the left direction. It is a Japanese version. Two days later, I will replace it with 15k or 20k.


----------



## shinrukus (Jun 26, 2019)

hackotedelaplaqu said:


> Something very strange here. I made many tests and flashes this evening. On one of them the bug disappeared. I thought it was because of my changes in the finition I posted here but another flash and the bug comes back again. That and the sound's correlation and jack audio seems to confirm a power issue (or damage during flash process). I'm using a micro USB otg and a cheap micro USB cable. I'll look for a better USB C cable. Who was using an otg here? And was it a success or joystick bug?




I tried yesterday using as cheap and as low powered as possible, and many different cables, USBC to USBC, USBC to USBA, USBMicro with a USBC Adapter, and then I tried using 3, 5, 10, and 15w power supplies, I flashed using Windows XP, Vista, 7, 7 VM, Ubuntu with Qemu... I cannot replicate getting the bug...


----------



## alkar (Jun 26, 2019)

shinrukus said:


> I tried yesterday using as cheap and as low powered as possible, and many different cables, USBC to USBC, USBC to USBA, USBMicro with a USBC Adapter, and then I tried using 3, 5, 10, and 15w power supplies, I flashed using Windows XP, Vista, 7, 7 VM, Ubuntu with Qemu... I cannot replicate getting the bug...



don't mute your systems


----------



## Bubbypop (Jun 26, 2019)

I'm using international ngm something else I noticed the higher the volume the more crazy the joystick bug goes


----------



## shinrukus (Jun 26, 2019)

alkar said:


> don't mute your systems


 I've tried them all at max volume, no go


----------



## Bubbypop (Jun 26, 2019)

Ok cool


----------



## MeteK (Jun 26, 2019)

MeteK said:


> Great image thanks !
> 
> But how to make one with our own game selection ?


?


----------



## Cozmic (Jun 26, 2019)

Indeed, looks to me like the joystick bug is getting triggered by a grounding problem. When the volume is down there is not much current to go to ground (because nothing is being transferred into the speakers and thus the system). When up, the current is missing ground and interfering with the resitors of the controller.

It looks that this can be worked around by changing the resistors (the xbox 360 resistor fix), but this doesnt change the source of the problem (grounding) 

What do you guys think?


----------



## shinrukus (Jun 26, 2019)

Cozmic said:


> Indeed, looks to me like the joystick bug is getting triggered by a grounding problem. When the volume is down there is not much current to go to ground (because nothing is being transferred into the speakers and thus the system). When up, the current is missing ground and interfering with the resitors of the controller.
> 
> It looks that this can be worked around by changing the resistors (the xbox 360 resistor fix), but this doesnt change the source of the problem (grounding)
> 
> What do you guys think?



Actually theres someone here a couple pages back that tells you how to fix that. My theory is power related, but grounding still seems the more culpable culprit...


----------



## Cozmic (Jun 26, 2019)

Yes i read that, but it also seems people are doubting that the grounding problem is the root cause.


----------



## Bubbypop (Jun 26, 2019)

I just left a mobile phone usb c charger in player1 slot and the bug has gone

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------



Bubbypop said:


> I just left a mobile phone usb c charger in player1 slot and the bug has gone


Not plugged in or switched on

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Hi I just found out if u leave a otg and usb flash drive in player1 slot the bug completely gone


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## shinrukus (Jun 26, 2019)

Cozmic said:


> Yes i read that, but it also seems people are doubting that the grounding problem is the root cause.


Here's the thing, there's more and more mounting evidence that its power, not to mention fixing power conductivity does fix the bug... but we dont understand HOW some people get it, and some dont. I'm lost on this one


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## Bubbypop (Jun 26, 2019)

Ok I've tried every usb slot in the house and the only one that lets me play ngm with sound up and no joystick bug with a otg and flash drive is a little TV upstairs


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## shinrukus (Jun 26, 2019)

Bubbypop said:


> Ok I've tried every usb slot in the house and the only one that lets me play ngm with sound up and no joystick bug with a otg and flash drive is a little TV upstairs


what kind of TV is it, lets try and examine USB specs


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## Bubbypop (Jun 26, 2019)

Ok 2secs

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------



Bubbypop said:


> Ok 2secs
> 
> --------------------- MERGED ---------------------------


There you go


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## jidatui (Jun 27, 2019)

I think it is a rare hardware problem caused by flash. The replacement of resisters might be a good method.

About the Japanese version, the increase of the resistence value of the LEFT resister will increase the dead zone. Thus, I am trying to find the proper resister now. Maybe 15k, maybe 20k.


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## jidatui (Jun 27, 2019)

Finally, the bug was resolved, after I replaced with a 0805 13k resister. It is the final solution for the Japanses version. Thank all of you!

Now I am going to post this method on a famous game vedio forum in China.


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## subcon959 (Jun 27, 2019)

@jidatui did you use a 0805 resistor?


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## jidatui (Jun 27, 2019)

subcon959 said:


> @jidatui did you use a 0805 resistor?


Yes, I used 0805, but it is a little bigger than the original one.


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## alkar (Jun 27, 2019)

it's amazing how flashing can create a hardware issue. Then you guys seem to believe flashing back the original image (if it was available to begin with) would fail the same.


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## jidatui (Jun 27, 2019)

alkar said:


> it's amazing how flashing can create a hardware issue. Then you guys seem to believe flashing back the original image (if it was available to begin with) would fail the same.



Even if the bug was caused by flashing or hardware problem, it still could be eleminated by software methods. I think there must be a config file in the system.img that is controlling the dead zone of each direction, because it is an analog stick.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Hardware modification is an awkword solution for the bug. However, some of the Chinese players are now suffering from the bug in the worst situation, because the stick is moving forward left AUTOMATICALLY!

I think a perfect software method will come at last.


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## Bubbypop (Jun 27, 2019)

Well that's positive mate let's hope that a software mod is doable

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Saying that my friend old man rukus tried to edit the config.xml in the system.img but with no luck

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Take a look


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## jidatui (Jun 28, 2019)

I just tested the 13k resister, and it was perfect.

I had 5k, 10k, 11k, 12k, 13k, 14k, 15k and 20k. 

Now I can wait for the software solution in peace.


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## MeteK (Jun 28, 2019)

No one wants to answer me ?


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## Bubbypop (Jun 28, 2019)

MeteK said:


> No one wants to answer me ?


Hi mate what's up


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## MeteK (Jun 28, 2019)

MeteK said:


> Great image thanks !
> 
> But how to make one with our own game selection ?


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## dclaneta (Jun 28, 2019)

So, still have the stick trouble after Changing the 10k resistors to 5k? Don't forget the 10k resistor between the middle and the left pin of the y axis potentiometer 

I got the 5k resistors from a dead Xbox 360 slim Trinity board


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## Bubbypop (Jun 28, 2019)

dclaneta said:


> So, still have the stick trouble after Changing the 10k resistors to 5k? Don't forget the 10k resistor between the middle and the left pin of the y axis potentiometer
> 
> I got the 5k resistors from a dead Xbox 360 slim Trinity board


What about using a 13k resistor someone a few pages back has done the hard mod

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------



Bubbypop said:


> What about using a 13k resistor someone a few pages back has done the hard mod


 And it worked


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## Bubbypop (Jun 28, 2019)

Will this work on the international joystick mother board


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## MeteK (Jun 28, 2019)




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## dclaneta (Jul 3, 2019)

Update to my joystick fix! 

Some consoles have a voltage interference,I saw that issue with another costumer with the same joystick issue after installing the cfw with 80 games, when you high the volume the self moving to the left bug its more persistent, so searching the components on the control board and changing a ceramic capacitor the issue has GONE! 






You need to remove the ceramic capacitor from the upper corner and replace with a 4.7u ceramic capacitor


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## hackotedelaplaqu (Jul 3, 2019)

I'm still not convinced because if I remove the whole board and boots the mini, it moves itself to left alone. So the main board in involved too with those interference issues.


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## jidatui (Jul 4, 2019)

We tried to exchange the motherboards of the joysticks between a hacked NGM and a new NGM. The bug was still in the hacked one, but not in the new one. It shows that the bug is in the main motherboard, which might have been damaged by the flashing. The fix of the joystick motherboard is a very awkward solution, but useful.


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## legolas119 (Jul 10, 2019)

Hi, i would like to hack the neogeo mini with the latest firmware available. And i'm interested only to add in the main menu additional Neo geo games, not others emulators. Where can i find a guide in order to hack it with latest firmware and add only neo geo games?

Is it possible to add all the Neo geo games available? Or how many neogeo games is it possible to load?


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## Chindogg (Jul 24, 2019)

Did anything come out of this? It's been quiet the last couple of weeks.


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## Cozmic (Jul 26, 2019)

No one really seems to know what the problem is.. including me...


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## bns_snake1985 (Jul 31, 2019)

Hi everyone, I'm a newcomer and yesterday I bought the Neo Geo mini  
If I've well understood the console can be hacked, but I wasn't able to find a step by step guide. Could you please help me?


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## wiewiec (Jul 31, 2019)

bns_snake1985 said:


> Hi everyone, I'm a newcomer and yesterday I bought the Neo Geo mini
> If I've well understood the console can be hacked, but I wasn't able to find a step by step guide. Could you please help me?


I think there is no proper and safe hack right now


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## bns_snake1985 (Jul 31, 2019)

wiewiec said:


> I think there is no proper and safe hack right now



This is really a bad news, I thought there was just some lack of documentation 
On the other hand, I think I can wait since I have 40 games to play


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## Samus12345 (Aug 1, 2019)

There's a risk of messing up your joystick input so it constantly moves left. It doesn't happen all the time, and I don't think anyone figured out how to determine if your NGM is at risk. It's the main reason I haven't tried modding mine yet.


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## shinrukus (Aug 5, 2019)

dclaneta said:


> Update to my joystick fix!
> 
> Some consoles have a voltage interference,I saw that issue with another costumer with the same joystick issue after installing the cfw with 80 games, when you high the volume the self moving to the left bug its more persistent, so searching the components on the control board and changing a ceramic capacitor the issue has GONE!
> 
> You need to remove the ceramic capacitor from the upper corner and replace with a 4.7u ceramic capacitor



This explains why flashing with certain computers I get the bug, and flashing on newer computers I dont...


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## shinrukus (Aug 6, 2019)

So I hacked the International Version of the NGM today...


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## ArugulaZ (Aug 7, 2019)

Thanks, but I do wonder why the UniBIOS is so slow. What's under the hood of this system?


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## shinrukus (Aug 7, 2019)

ArugulaZ said:


> Thanks, but I do wonder why the UniBIOS is so slow. What's under the hood of this system?


I dont think its the system so much as the emulator. MVSPSP handles Unibios just fine, but its just that, it handles Unibios when Unibios is expected. I think because something in Unibios requires additional handling by the emulator, when it doesnt expect it, you get this result. In this case, in the Int version, its actually faster than it is on the Japanese version, but the int version is still expecting neo-epo.bin to do neo-epo.bin stuff, not unibios stuff lol


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## jidatui (Oct 21, 2019)

The replacement of 10k with 5k did not work for the international version. Finally I figured out that it is the same as the Japanese version. Only the 10k controlling the left direction should be replaced with 14k. I also uploaded a video on bilibili.


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## subcon959 (Oct 21, 2019)

jidatui said:


> The replacement of 10k with 5k did not work for the international version. Finally I figured out that it is the same as the Japanese version. Only the 10k controlling the left direction should be replaced with 14k. I also uploaded a video on bilibili.


Can you show a pic of the correct one to replace?


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## subcon959 (Oct 24, 2019)

@jidatui or anyone else, the pcb on the international version has a lot more resistors than the japanese so can you indicate which is the correct one to replace for just left movement?


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## jidatui (Nov 6, 2019)

The resister in the middle should be replaced with 14k or 13k.


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## ArugulaZ (Nov 6, 2019)

Jida, can I ask what system that is in your avatar?


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## jidatui (Nov 20, 2019)

All the systems show the same bug. I am now using the 88 games version released by Mr. Sinrukus.


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## WillFarnaby (Nov 26, 2019)

Hi guys,

I will receive my machine (international) tomorrow and read this thread.  It looks like you already did a lot of work and research, thanks for that! But as far as I understand the controller issue still remains. I would love to add additional games and especially emulators to the NGM, even though this might risk damaging the machine. Can you please confirm that it works normally with the external controller (which I also ordered). And do you know how likely it is to damage the machine? Is there an image available for the extra Neo Geo games and the emulators?     Sorry for all the questions.


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## VmprHntrD (Dec 2, 2019)

I see someone else woke this up days ago and I was thinking the same.  I've got one of the international units and I've been wanting to correct a wrong for a long time and make a better game list out of this since they hid some real gems split between both regions.  I don't care to add other consoles, handhelds, whatever wonk people are cracked out over.  I'd just like to make a better list of legit stuff, perhaps even just strip the thing and add the 30 legit boards I own (have a MVS 2 slot cabinet) for a handheld version of my big boy.


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## evers (Jan 3, 2020)

hello does the hack work with neogeo mini haohmaru version ?


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## xinistri (Jan 4, 2020)

If anybody has a copy of the original International vendor.img I'd be extremely grateful if you could please provide it to me. I want to revert back to the original 40 games, menu style as well as the English bios.

TIA


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## legolas119 (Jan 11, 2020)

Hi, I would like to add only neo geo games. Can anyone help me with a quick guide? I don't want to add additional emulators and games, only neo geo.
thanks


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## silverthornne (Mar 7, 2020)

I created an account just to thank Jidatui. His fix worked for both my International and Japanese Neo Geo Minis! I have different images on them and both got the left joystick blues after the hack.

I used a 13k ohm resistor bought at Amazon. If you're new to soldering, please watch some SMD soldering tutorials before proceeding. I did not remove the existing solder after removing the original resistor. I just heated it up a bit, pulled it out with tweezers and then installed the new resistor using the existing solder


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## Cozmic (Apr 25, 2020)

@silverthornne now that is good news. Can we then carefully conclude that replacing the resistor as mentioned above, should fix the problem for everyone?


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## Carlanga (Apr 30, 2020)

I bought a ngm yesterday from amazon on the cheap, will have to wait almost two weeks to get it, but I was reading on the issue of the joystick drift since I'm considering hacking it and have you guys considered the brand/quality of USB C cable you are using? Meaning, many cables aren’t compliant with the USB-C specification and have a bad resistor value and can cause hardware damage or it could be an adapter issue. Thus causing a spike and damaging hardware. I also wonder if one that is 3.0 vs 2.0  or even if its 3A would make difference in the issue.


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## ArugulaZ (May 1, 2020)

Got one of these myself... at $30 it was hard to resist. Not sure if I'll hack it, but in all honesty I wish there were a few games they had included.


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## ArugulaZ (May 12, 2020)

jidatui said:


> The resister in the middle should be replaced with 14k or 13k.
> View attachment 185291



What model of resistor would I need for this?


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## shinrukus (May 15, 2020)




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## shinrukus (May 15, 2020)




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## shinrukus (May 16, 2020)

So just to let you guys know, we’ve officially fixed the joystick bug via software... if you are having issues with your NGM, and haven’t used resistors to fix, let me know, I’ll provide you a fix


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## shinrukus (May 18, 2020)




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## subcon959 (May 19, 2020)

shinrukus said:


> So just to let you guys know, we’ve officially fixed the joystick bug via software... if you are having issues with your NGM, and haven’t used resistors to fix, let me know, I’ll provide you a fix


I didn't get round to doing the resistor swap yet so would love to try the software fix if you have a spare minute to hook me up :-)


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## shinrukus (May 19, 2020)

subcon959 said:


> I didn't get round to doing the resistor swap yet so would love to try the software fix if you have a spare minute to hook me up :-)


Check your PM


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## ArugulaZ (May 19, 2020)

The system flasher (1.05.02) started acting really weird on me lately. It's possibly related to installing IMGBURN, but I needed that to change games in vendor.img. Anyway, it opens briefly, then closes without giving me a chance to interact with it. When it does work, it has a nasty habit of giving me a division by zero error, and I can't explain why. Anyone got any guesses? The news of a fully decked out Neo-Geo Mini is terrific, but I don't want to mess with my system until the flasher problem is sorted out, even if it's limited to my own computers.


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## DefourmisDecorum (May 20, 2020)

shinrukus said:


> So just to let you guys know, we’ve officially fixed the joystick bug via software... if you are having issues with your NGM, and haven’t used resistors to fix, let me know, I’ll provide you a fix


I`m in the middle of hacking 2 for me and a buddy of mine.I haven`t been able to get it the Laptop to notice the NGM but that`s just a problem with the type c cables I`m using. But when I do get them hacked I`m gonna assume I`m gonna have the joystick drift problem so any software fix you have would much appreciated. for when I have to cross that bridge. Thanks man.


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## shinrukus (May 21, 2020)

DefourmisDecorum - Shoot me a PM

Side note I been working on Bios Selection:


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## ArugulaZ (May 22, 2020)

I heard something about TV Out getting fixed. Care to elucidate?


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## shinrukus (May 22, 2020)




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## shinrukus (May 22, 2020)

ArugulaZ said:


> I heard something about TV Out getting fixed. Care to elucidate?


Check out Johnny Liu's youtube, he fixed the icons.


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## ArugulaZ (May 23, 2020)

He told me to contact you, actually! But okay, I guess it's an icon thing, not a fix for the bilinear filtering.


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## shinrukus (May 25, 2020)

ArugulaZ said:


> He told me to contact you, actually! But okay, I guess it's an icon thing, not a fix for the bilinear filtering.


ooo No, its not that filtering issue yet, its on the Agenda though


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## shinrukus (Jun 6, 2020)




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## jidatui (Jul 7, 2020)

I made a video showing how to put a rechargable battery inside the NGM.
The key point is the battery board that can support a constant 5v all the time.
Remove the fuse of the positive pole and insert the bettery. 

https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Uz4y197WM/


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## shinrukus (Jul 7, 2020)

jidatui said:


> I made a video showing how to put a rechargable battery inside the NGM.
> The key point is the battery board that can support a constant 5v all the time.
> Remove the fuse of the positive pole and insert the bettery.
> 
> https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Uz4y197WM/


You know we've made a TON of progress on the Neo Geo Mini and ASP since my last vid lol


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## netpipe (Jul 30, 2020)

was wondering if you can post the rooting script and instructions ?


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## shinrukus (Jul 30, 2020)

netpipe said:


> was wondering if you can post the rooting script and instructions ?


Look in Youtube for HyloStick/Hylostick Mini


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## boccon (Sep 22, 2020)

I also have the joystick problem. how can i do to solve? is unusable ..

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------



shinrukus said:


> So just to let you guys know, we’ve officially fixed the joystick bug via software... if you are having issues with your NGM, and haven’t used resistors to fix, let me know, I’ll provide you a fix


help me please!!


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## shinrukus (Oct 1, 2020)

boccon said:


> I also have the joystick problem. how can i do to solve? is unusable ..
> 
> --------------------- MERGED ---------------------------
> 
> ...



Check our youtube and Telegram channels, with our HS Mini for NGM we've made a ton of progress.


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## Beaps (May 3, 2021)

Hi All,

I am trying to get this latest version but its saying I need to sign up to Telegram or something, I anit cool in doing that. Does anyone have an alturnative way to grab these files please.


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## djricekcn (May 26, 2022)

I know this is an old thread but only got the NGM(international) recently..how do I add roms to this?  I actually do own few Neo Geo carts and made roms of them previously and it's missing some of the games that  I own and want on there, mainly being Kof 99', 8man and Puzzle Bobble


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## Swilson190 (Jul 3, 2022)

subcon959 said:


> Unfortunately, I haven't had time to do a proper guide so I'll have to just give you a quick overview of how to edit the main screen games.
> 
> Use something like WinImage to open the vendor.img file. The files you are interested in are:
> 
> ...


I need help with this, I keep [utting metal slug 4 on the neogeo mini international and hte icons show up but the game is just a black screen.


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## Cart00nHead (Oct 24, 2022)

Beaps said:


> Hi All,
> 
> I am trying to get this latest version but its saying I need to sign up to Telegram or something, I anit cool in doing that. Does anyone have an alturnative way to grab these files please.



Same I'm looking for a usb solution can anyone help us?


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## kientructayho (Oct 24, 2022)

I wonder if he's gonna share that diagram...


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## SieKensou (Oct 30, 2022)

Hi! I bought a NeoGeo Mini international edition recently and I would like to keep the original firmware (same stuff, same banners, artwork, etc..) but just adding the "official" games that are present in the other editions of the NeoGeo Mini (japan, christmas limited edition, etc...). Is it possible? Is it done in a "clean" way with no weird stuff or creators logos at the begining? I would like that it would look like it originally is with no emulators and something like that. I don't know if this is possible because there is not much information about this. I don't mind if the emulator stuff is added if it only runs if you connect a pendrive, but if you use the machine with nothing I would like to have all the original stuff, as I said, just adding the other games of other editions. Thanks in advance.


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