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[vikbez]

Hi;

I recently got my hands on this machine; (had to repair it)
Many things were broken, including the screen, the security dongle of the game, and then even the hard drive broke (I luckily made a copy of the game before that happened)

For now I patched the game executable to ignore the security dongle.

This game is undumped, and I did not found many informations on it.
It's running on an old win98 computer. I don't know if/how MAME wants this ? As it's a "simple" game that runs on a standard windows computer. (+ security dongle and IO board button input board)

How to properly archive everything ? (artwork of the cabinet, etc)
I have access to the machine but it's far away from me so when I will go I would like to know exactly what to do with it.

Thanks !

[Stiletto]

Sorry, missed this.

If you still have the original hardware, some general advice:

- photograph or scan every PCB, good enough to read all the component numbers and printing. If you cannot, jot it all down by hand. An exact motherboard model name and number *may* be good enough.

- dump ANY firmware: motherboard BIOS, video card BIOS, and any other ROMs

- get a list of every component inside the PC, period. Exact manufacturers and model numbers.

- instead of just copying the game files, image the hard drive (if it is still pristine and untouched by you), if via a USB adapter ideally with a write-blocker like "thumbscrew" to prevent whatever host OS you interface it with from writing back to it (Windows 7+ is known to do this for certain). Make a note of the CHS settings in the BIOS and get the exact make and model number of the drive. Linux "dd" can work to make an image. Or WinHex (registered) on Windows. These days we also want to get the ATA ID string when we can.

- also, make a note of the CMOS settings.

The security dongle, if it contains a ROM, will need to be dumped. At the very least, an attempt to disassemble it. Hopefully it is not filled with epoxy.

The button input board might also have a ROM on it or a microcontroller that has internal ROM which will need to be dumped. Unlikely based on your description but we'd need to see.

Some tutorials:
https://wiki.mamedev.org/index.php/How_to_correctly_document_a_PCB
https://wiki.mamedev.org/index.php/Dumping_roms
https://wiki.mamedev.org/index.php/Taking_pictures_and_other_medias

For more in-depth advice you will want to contact The Dumping Union. The best way is via Smitdogg at MAMEWorld: http://www.mameworld.info/ubbthreads/showprofile.php?Cat=&User=2