Neo Geo:Chip Replacements

The NEO-BUF chip on some motherboards can go bad. There is a drop-in replacement for these chips found on Tindie.

Symptoms

• Random reboots during gameplay, particularly on a 161-in-1 cart.
• Green screen on boot, and it's not a calendar error.

Installation

1. Remove the faulty NEO-BUF chip with hot air.
2. Remove the remaining solder on the PCB pads with solder braid if the surface isn't perfectly flat.
3. Clean up the eventual flux residue with IPA.
4. Place the NEO-BUF replacement board in the right orientation (see pin 1 mark), align it precisely, and solder the 4 corners using a generous amount of flux.
5. Drag-solder all the sides or solder each pin individually. The small castellated contacts will "attract" solder by capillary action. Make sure none of the contacts are bridged.