Capcom ZN-1 / ZN-2¶
Capcom arcade platform (1995/1997), based on the Sony ZN hardware (PlayStation architecture), shared with Tecmo, Taito, Psikyo… A ZN motherboard + a publisher-specific B-board. Star Gladiator, Rival Schools, Street Fighter EX…
Identification¶
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Capcom (Sony ZN hardware) |
| Years | ZN-1 (1995) · ZN-2 (1997) |
| Base | PlayStation (arcade) |
| Structure | ZN motherboard + publisher B-board |
| Media | ROMs (B-board) |
Architecture (≈ PS1)¶
| Block | Chip | Clock | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| CPU | MIPS R3000A | ~33.9 MHz | + GTE/MDEC (like the PS1) |
| GPU | Sony custom (PS1) | ||
| Sound | QSound (Capcom ZN boards); other manufacturers = in-house chips | ||
| Media | B-board ROM (Capcom) / boards per publisher | ZN-1 then ZN-2 (faster) |
ZN = a PS1-based Sony arcade platform, licensed to Capcom (CPS Changer → "ZN"), Tecmo, Taito, Psikyo, Eighting… — hence physically different boards per publisher, but a common PS1 base.
ZN-1 vs ZN-2: the ZN-2 (1997) is a faster revision (optimised bus/memory) for later games, but still an arcade PS1 base.
Notable games¶
- Capcom: Star Gladiator, Rival Schools, Street Fighter EX / EX2, Plasma Sword, Tech Romancer.
- Other publishers (same ZN base): Bloody Roar (Hudson/Eighting), Beastorizer, Brave Blade / Shanghai (Raizing/Eighting), Tecmo golf, Sonic Wings Limited (Psikyo), Taito FX-1…
Security & preservation¶
Some B-boards have a protection / battery → suicide vigilance on those titles. The security relies on the CAT702 chip (common to the Sony ZN family). See also the kinship with the PlayStation.
→ Same ZN base & CAT702 chip on the Taito side: Taito G-NET (mod-BIOS, CF cards)
Faults & preservation¶
- Contacts motherboard ↔ B-board.
- Targeted recap.
- Protection battery depending on the game.
- Emulation: MAME (
zn.cpp); the CAT702 crack (2009) opened up the security understanding (see G-NET). PS1 emulators don't apply (distinct arcade hardware). No FPGA/MiSTer core (a full PS1 base).
EPROM repair¶
PlayStation base (R3000). Program/data on a ROM board (mask ROM + EPROM) per game; CAT702 security. Conversion/de-protection: ZN converts (via Taito G-NET).
Modernisation & mods¶
The common ground for every JAMMA board
Video, power, control panel and upscalers depend on the cabinet rather than the board: everything is centralised in Modernising a cabinet. To run the board outside a cabinet (at home, on a display): supergun.
- Battery 🟢: a save battery is fitted (settings/counters/RTC). ⚠️ On this platform, a dead battery does NOT kill the game — it is a leaking battery that corrodes traces. Check and replace it before it leaks → save batteries.
- Storage 🟡: the game lives in EPROM/mask ROM on the board. Changing or restoring a game means reprogramming the EPROMs (and, for a mask ROM, using a pinout adapter) → EPROM method.
- Media preservation: replacing the original storage, multicarts, ODEs and modern options by family → PCB preservation hub.
- Scan rate 📺: PlayStation-based (Sony GPU) → standard ~15 kHz output, a 15 kHz chassis is fine. (Derived from the platform documented above — the screen configuration lives in the GPU device rather than the driver, so it is not measured here.)
- FPGA / emulation: see the Emulation & FPGA section below.
Repair (technician)¶
- CAT702 protection (ZN security ASIC) + a battery on some B-boards: watch for suicide — a dead board can be a flat key/battery, not a fault. See backup batteries.
- PS1 base (R3000A + Sony GPU): the same fault families as a PS1 (recap, GPU/RAM).
- Sound: QSound (Capcom boards) — diagnose the sound stage.
- Capacitors: recap PSU + audio filtering. Oxidised EPROM sockets: turned-pin socket.
→ Methods: PCB fault-finding · Recap · EPROM · Traces & vias
Photos / assets¶
(To add: ZN motherboard, B-board, battery.)
Sources & attribution¶
- Wikipedia — Sony ZN — CC-BY-SA — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_ZN
Review & corrections
How this space is used
Spotted a wrong value, an outdated procedure, a chip reference that does not match your board? Say so here, with what you observed (model, board revision, serial number, measurement). Every report is cross-checked against a source before anything changes — an unverifiable correction is published as “reported by …, not cross-checked” rather than silently applied.
Reading is open to everyone; posting requires signing in with Discord. Reports from the wiki's declared reviewers are handled first; anyone else's are read too, but go through a human before anything is changed.