upgrade to family 20

[themosher]

How hard would it be to go from Family 14 games to Family 20 games on my g23 cabinet?

[idesign]

I have done it.  It's best to swap out the SSD from the CPU first so you don't have to erase what is on it and it's easier to go back to Family 14 that way.

You need the BIOS Boot chips, OS and Ascent install thumb drives.  In order to set the machine up and install the OS and Ascent you will need a family 20 Diagnostic thumb drive (commonly called a Blue Kangaroo).  That's the basics.  You still get to use your Ekey 7 to do setup and install games and other functions very similar to the way it is done in family 14.  The down side is there are no Show Boot Bios chips for the G23 so you must have the license dongle for each game. Complete game sets (installer and dongle) are difficult to find. 


I have a couple extra sets of the BIOS boot chips plus the OS and Ascent thumb drives if you want to get into Fam 20.  Last time I looked there was a couple of Fam 20 Diagnostic drives on ebay, but no games for it though.

That's about it.

[themosher]

Thanks...hopefully more games will be available in the future and I'll think about the upgrade.


 

[RodneyK]

After switching SSD and boot chips start with family 20 diagnostic and ekey? Wipe everything and then install OS first and then Ascent using those drives and the ekey (hard load)? Set up machine after that using ekey? Am I close?

[idesign]

Yes, and you can also install games while you are at it using the diagnostic after installing the OS and Ascent.  Later on you can install/add a game with the manage packages menu of the ekey.

Be aware that many of the Fam 20 games out there do not play on a G23 though.  They look for the 4.0 CPU and/or the touch pad.

[RodneyK]

Thank you. I’m using a universal slant so I’m sure the same applies with looking for 4.0 and touch pad on many games. I will have to avoid those games  Can you recommend some games to start with?

[idesign]

Actually there are other considerations depending upon which OS you are using and the version of the Diagnostic.  The 400 series of the OS with matching Ascent work fine for a few games like Zillion Gators & Farmer Daughter.  The Early Diagnostics up to 106 are compatible, but once into the 500 series OS and matching Ascent you should be using version 112 or above.  Also, some games will want a 500 series OS and not play on a 400 series OS.

One other thing, there is a limit to haw many license dongles you can plug into the backplane, even when using a dongle farm. Your CPU will have some impact too (660 is best), whether using on board video or the video card as well as how much ram, and an SSD in lieu of a HD.

So your mileage may vary depending upon several factors.

[RodneyK]

I am going to be using a 660 with SSD and 4gb. It is starting to come together. Thanks for all the info!