Thursday, August 30, 2018

Operation Wolf c-chip c-omplete!

Background:
Our quest to acquire the Operation Wolf c-chip EPROM content was the most exciting. Since they are relatively common we used a few Operation Wolf c-chips for some early dump attempts. For example, we milled just above the EPROM, cut the wires, and tried to patch in. However, this was deemed too risky with the time and equipment we were willing to put into it.

Next, we explored a badly damaged Bonze Adventure c-chip:


We were able to patch onto the busted EPROM pads and verify the chip was still alive. This inspired us repackage an Operation Wolf die:


This gave us more room to work and resulted in a partial dump. For example, we got this string:

By_TAITO_Copration_On_OSAKA_BUNSHITU._01.Sep.1987_Toshiaki.Kato_Tsutomu.Yoshikawa_4

However, the setup was flaky and we decided it would be better to try something else than improve this method.

We analyzed the c-chip further and came up with a plan to replace the ASIC with external EPROM hookups:


This successfully dumped various c-chips. However, we used all of our Operation Wolf chips during initial testing, and needed another. So someone donated this c-chip:


We soldered it up:



...but it didn't resemble the original Operation Wolf dump! The ROM was much shorter and lacked the "By_TAITO_Copration" (sic) string. We checked our archives and discovered it matched the existing Superman dump! This board was in unknown condition and we suspect someone (unsuccessfully) swapped parts trying to fix one. With the sticker worn off we didn't have a way to verify contents without doing our extraction procedure.

Fortunately our donor had another chip, this time with an intact sticker:


Soldered up:



And got a good dump!

This makes a total of 7 c-chips wired up:



for a total of 6 EPROM dumps.

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7 comments:

  1. Saw that Haze asked for a Rainbow Islands Extra 🌈 PCB for decapping.
    I sent a complete PCB to the Guru for that purpose and as far as I am aware he still has the required chip.
    Regards,
    Ting.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hello,
    I've tried to reach you by email, but got no answer.

    I have a Tetris PCB with an Intel P8749H (currently BAD_DUMP on MAME) and a Cadillac and Dinosaurs PCB with a Microchip PIC16C57 (currently NO_DUMP on MAME).

    Frankly, I don't know if it's worth the trouble trying to dump them, being both bootlegs, but if you want the chips to give'em a try, I can send them to you.

    I also have a "Basic Fun" TV-Game micro console with three officially licensed Atari paddle games (Pong, Beak-Out and Warlords) where maybe we can extract its internal ROM.

    Please, it you read this, contact me (so I can sell the stuff, I'me keeping it only to see if it can be dumped).

    Thanks a lot. Best regards.

    I'm ClawGrip, from the Dumping Union, anyone on the DU list can contact me.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am working on an Operation wolf that has C Chip no response error. I have good voltage and clock signal to the chip, changed the crystal, do these chips go bad?is it psooible to get another one?

    ReplyDelete
  4. This chip anatomy was great. On which machine I could use this?

    Jann

    ReplyDelete
  5. How can I contact you. I feel like Im having an offer for you. There is a chip that needs to be dumped and you seem like the exact person to do it. What'd ya say?

    ReplyDelete
  6. The chips can fry over time. I have experienced the same problem with operation wolf. In terms of replacement parts, they are very hard to find as only enough were made for the games that were released by taito while the c chip was in use with very few surplus chips. Good luck finding another chip!

    ReplyDelete