Substituting DVD drives for Namco Tekken 4 and Soul Caliber II

[channelmaniac]

The following LG brand DVD read/write drives have been tested to work as a replacement for the hard to find original Toshiba DVD drives.  While I have only tested them for both Tekken 4 and Soul Caliber 2 (II), they will probably work for other Magic Gate games like Tekken 5, Time Crisis 3 etc.

LG GSA-H42N
LG GSA-H55N

Tekken 4's original drive was a Toshiba SD-M1502 but an SD-M1402 will also work.

For SCII, it used a Toshiba SD-M1612 but the 1502 and 1402 will work.

For Tekken 5, it used a Toshiba SD-M1712 but the 1612, 1502, and 1402 will work.

Please note the LGs are black face plate drives.

CJ

[Peri]

              Yup, indeed it was helpful but i somehow got some more input on this ,here are they :-
   

    * There are 2 main versions of the Namco System 246 hardware. The newest one being smaller. The older hardware won't run the newer games. The newer System 246 comes in a smaller metal box and as a single custom PCB. Mostly likely the rest of it remains the same, capability-wise. System 256 is essentially the same thing with smoother graphics and is also a single custom PCB instead of a factory PS2 unit bolted onto a custom I/O board. S256 will actually run S246 and S256 games by changing a jumper which is clearly labelled on the PCB inside the unit.

    * DVD Drive: There are rumours spread by people who have no idea what they are talking about, that the DVD drives have special firmware and regular PC DVD drives won't work. Those rumours are totally incorrect and those people should do a little more 'independent research' before they blurt that crap all over the internet! Regular DVD drives do work in System 246 units but not all DVD drives are compatible. The most likely reason for a replacement DVD drive not working is nothing to do with custom firmware, it's more a case of getting a drive with a compatible chipset or at least compatible ATAPI command set. I have proven that other drives do work, so any drive that is marked as working below or most models from the working manufacturers should be fine (i.e. Hitachi / LG / Samsung / Sony / Toshiba)
      Note in the table below that '(Factory Supplied)' means those drives were found in System 246 games. All others are regular PC drives.
      These drives have been tested and are CONFIRMED.... (updated 3rd Dec. 2008)

      Hitachi / LG
      H-L Data Storage LG GSA-4164B Super Multi DVD Drive (September 2005) - WORKING
      H-L Data Storage LG GSA-4082B Super Multi DVD Drive (February 2004) - WORKING
      H-L Data Storage LG GCC-4120B CD-RW/DVD-ROM Drive (April 2002) - WORKING
      Lite-On
      Lite-On IT Corp DVD-ROM/CD Re-Writable Drive LDW-451S (March 2004) - NOT WORKING
      Pioneer
      Pioneer DVD-106S/2 Slot Load DVD-ROM Drive (May 2002) - NOT WORKING
      Samsung
      Samsung SD-616 DVD-ROM Drive (December 2001) (Factory Supplied) - WORKING
      Samsung SD-M1802 (Factory Supplied) - WORKING
      Samsung SD-816 (Factory Supplied) - WORKING
      Sony
      Sony DW-U10A (May 2003) (Factory Supplied) - WORKING
      Toshiba
      Toshiba SD-M1612 DVD-ROM Drive (January 2003) (Factory Supplied) - WORKING
      Toshiba SD-M1712 DVD-ROM Drive (November 2003) - NOT WORKING

               

[Jamie]

Hey guys new to the site

My question today is what ROM drive can I purchase as of today brand spanking new for my system 246 Tekken 4 ? I'm an operator and don't have time to screw around with used 5 year old ROM drives that work only when they feel like it.

My second question is does it matter what position The ROM drive is placed ? does it prefer to be parallel or facing up ? I've got one that seems to like to only work when it's parallel to the ground.

[jay]

The vetical or prone position depends on the drive.
I have a rather older CD ROM that has clips on the top of the drive to stop the disk from dropping. Crude but effective.
Sorry I am not going to be much help on answering your DVD question related to suitability.

[Jamie]

thanks anyways

[Jamie]

I'm currently using the LG model GDR-8162B that I could of sworn it came factory supplied for this game.