FPGA Based Videogame System

[Chronos30]

All they did was remove the turbo mappings? Ha, I guess that explains it. Go back to the 8bitdo firmware I posted. (I guess the guy I bought my nt mini from already did that?)

 

I got stray diagonals on my d-pad too but scotch taping the inner halfs of the contacts seemed to do the trick. (Steady hands necessary; the L and R buttons love to catapult themselves right out of there)

Edited April 19, 2018 by Chronos30

[Riptide]

Is it possible that an 8bitdo firmware update removed this? I have the controller but no turbo on those buttons.

 

This is true for the "Classic" (for NES/SNES classic) retro receivers I have. I have one with older firmware that gets used in the NES Classic whereby the X/Y act as turbo buttons and another with newer firmware for the SNES Classic which treats X/Y properly. My only NES style retro receiver is the one that came with the NT Mini and I've always just used Analogue's firmware. I'd suggest flashing some of the older firmware versions from their website and reporting back, I'd be interested in your findings.

[Jurai]

 

Analogue had a custom version of the 8bitdo firmware that removed the turbo button functionality. I never understood why they did this and their explanation didn't really make sense. IIRC, they wanted it to be more authentic to the original gaming experience. They told me that if I wanted the turbo buttons functional I could change to the regular 8bitdo firmware, but I never bothered because I found the controller's dpad too inaccurate to be usable.

 

Isn't the dpad just innaccurate in general? I know a lot of people were suggesting taping off some of the connectors to improve accuracy

[Andromeda Stardust]

 

This is true for the "Classic" (for NES/SNES classic) retro receivers I have. I have one with older firmware that gets used in the NES Classic whereby the X/Y act as turbo buttons and another with newer firmware for the SNES Classic which treats X/Y properly. My only NES style retro receiver is the one that came with the NT Mini and I've always just used Analogue's firmware. I'd suggest flashing some of the older firmware versions from their website and reporting back, I'd be interested in your findings.

I actually have a very old fimware I downloaded from the 8bitdo forums (now defunct) that maps A to A and B to B on the NES retro receiver. X and Y act as trubos. I can post it here later if you guys want me to. I always preferred using the A/B as opposed to Y/B for some reason. Just look at the dog bone and the dmg gameboy.

[Riptide]

I actually have a very old fimware I downloaded from the 8bitdo forums (now defunct) that maps A to A and B to B on the NES retro receiver. X and Y act as trubos. I can post it here later if you guys want me to. I always preferred using the A/B as opposed to Y/B for some reason. Just look at the dog bone and the dmg gameboy.

Yes plz

[cacophony]

 

Isn't the dpad just innaccurate in general? I know a lot of people were suggesting taping off some of the connectors to improve accuracy

The OG NES dpad is great and doesnt misinterpret down as down-left or down-right.

[Jurai]

The OG NES dpad is great and doesnt misinterpret down as down-left or down-right.

Yeah I specifically meant on the 8bitdo pads

[Riptide]

 

Isn't the dpad just innaccurate in general? I know a lot of people were suggesting taping off some of the connectors to improve accuracy

I'm not sure if inaccurate is the right word; many people report them as overly sensitive to unwanted diagonals. Some people don't notice it at all, while it bugs the hell out of others. I'm guessing the variation in reporting comes from a combination of older versions not being as bad and the problem causing way more issues in some games than others. I have a NES30 which had the problem but became much improved after swapping plastic d-pad and rubber thing with an original NES controller. I also have the older SNES controller from before they had to redesign the exterior and it doesn't seem that bad.

[Kismet]

So my Super Gameboy 2 finally arrived (2 months), pop it in the Super NT.

 

Nothing. So I pull it out and it requires WAY too much strength to pull it out, which makes me thing there is an engineering issue. I put it back in, turn it on, nothing.

 

Switch GB games, nothing.

 

When it's inserted or removed there is a distinct spring squeek noise that isn't heard when putting regular SNES carts into it. So after reseating it 4th time I switched to launch timing, still nothing. The SGB2 has a LED visible through it that is lit when the SuperNT powers up, however it dims a little if the SGB is tilted slightly forward.

 

So I clean the contacts on the SGB2 and the GB cart... Still nothing. I'm at a loss here. I'm also not sure why it's so hard to remove from the Super Nt, it's almost as if it's catching something on the left side of the Super NT, or the SGB2's PCB is just a hair too wide thus not having any wiggle room.

 

Edit 1:

So I took the shell off and stuck it in the Super NES. Nothing. Damn, must be broken, and then I decide to clean the GB slot when I notice something. The GB cart isn't going all the way down.

 

There is a 3mm lenght of graphite (pencil lead) stuck in the GB cart slot. So I excise it with a screw driver and now the GB cart's are flush with the cart.

 

Still, no signal from SNES. So I clean both the GB cart and the SGB2 cart edges a second time. SNES produces a signal but no picture. Good enough it's not dead. So I put the naked PCB back in the Super NT, Still no picture. Hmmmmm. Crap this was a mistake, I can't pull the PCB out because it's too tight. So I used the security bit screw driver as a lever and gently pull the pcb up.

 

I put the SGB2 PCB back in the SGB's shell, and notice one more thing, there is a small piece of the shell that had been broken (by me?) that might just be enough to prevent it from sitting flush in the cart slot, along the PCB edge, so I snap it off and put the shell together, and then stuck the thing back in the Super NT. Oh look, this time I get the Gameboy screen. Still not GB game running.

 

So that's where I am right now. I think the pencil lead probably marked up the GB carts so I need to clean them a few times, but it might actually work now.

 

However I still want to point out that the SGB2 is very tight, and it feels like I'm going to rip the cart edge connector from the system when I try to remove the SGB2.

 

Edit 2: No matter what game I stick in it, it is stuck at the Gameboy screen without booting the inserted game.

 

Edited April 19, 2018 by Kismet

[phoenixdownita]

So my Super Gameboy 2 finally arrived (2 months), pop it in the Super NT.

 

....

Was it sold as is? Working? For parts?

 

Also I venture you don't have a real SNES to test it with? To rule out your SuperNt just in case. They are pretty cheap.

[Kismet]

Was it sold as is? Working? For parts?

 

Also I venture you don't have a real SNES to test it with? To rule out your SuperNt just in case. They are pretty cheap.

 

Did you miss the part where I said I put it in the SNES? I had to take the shell off of it otherwise I'd have to modify the SNES. The first two times I put it in the real SNES it just sat there at a black screen, but the second time the SNES had a signal, but the screen was still black.

 

That's the item:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/232510647828?ul_noapp=true

 

It gets to the same point on the SNES:

 

If I tip the SGB2 forward a little sometimes it advances to the ® and I've seen the Super Gameboy 2 splash once, the rest of the time it just becomes garbage or a solid pink, green or yellow screen. I think it's just worn out and not making good contact, It's been cleaned a dozen times already and it hasn't improved once since I got the boot border.

[ErebusMaligan]

I tested my SGB2 since I can't remember if I ever did or not. Mine is not excessively tight on my super NT cart connector. If anything due to the curved shape of it being a JP cart, it's a bit loose overall in the slot, but the actual grip on the connector board seems the same as any other cart.

 

While some people will recommend against this due to stripping off the top layer of plating and making the contacts more prone to oxidation or whatever later, I have had pretty good luck fixing unplayable carts by scrubbing the contacts with brasso and then wiping down with alcohol. Saved a couple of badly corroded NES carts this way.

[Forsaken]

All they did was remove the turbo mappings? Ha, I guess that explains it. Go back to the 8bitdo firmware I posted. (I guess the guy I bought my nt mini from already did that?)

 

I got stray diagonals on my d-pad too but scotch taping the inner halfs of the contacts seemed to do the trick. (Steady hands necessary; the L and R buttons love to catapult themselves right out of there)

Some Polyamide (Kapton™) tape would be much better for that application. It's made for electronic stuff like that, and won't leave a gooey residue, and the adhesive won't ooze out from under the tape.

[RetrogamerX]

Bought my Super Gameboy 2 a few weeks back and it worked perfectly. Fits well also. Its the luck of the draw sometimes.

Edited April 20, 2018 by RetrogamerX

[SanfordSeven]

Update: changing the firmware on my 8BitDo NES Controller from the Analogue (no turbo version) to the standard 8BitDo firmware brought back the turbo capability to the controller.

 

I will have to agree with the sentiment of some others here that the D-Pad on the 8BitDo NES controller doesnt perform as good as the OEM. However it is still a good piece of equipment.

[Kismet]

I tested my SGB2 since I can't remember if I ever did or not. Mine is not excessively tight on my super NT cart connector. If anything due to the curved shape of it being a JP cart, it's a bit loose overall in the slot, but the actual grip on the connector board seems the same as any other cart.

 

While some people will recommend against this due to stripping off the top layer of plating and making the contacts more prone to oxidation or whatever later, I have had pretty good luck fixing unplayable carts by scrubbing the contacts with brasso and then wiping down with alcohol. Saved a couple of badly corroded NES carts this way.

 

I wanted to make sure that I didn't damage the Super NT, so I tried the SD2SNES, StarFox and Sailor Moon (SFC) carts in the Super NT and they all still work, so that death-grip on the SGB2 just didn't seem right and hearing the springs make noises made me wonder if the PCB was thicker than a normal cart, these were produced two years AFTER the N64 went into production (1998 copyright).

 

At any rate, I might just try buying a new one off amazon for the rip-off price of 120$. Seems like trying to buy one off eBay is bound to result in another dud.

[Shin_K]

 

 

that list is not pal exclusive but games released in pal territory not available in na. popntwinbee asterix and others definitely came out in japan and are likely cheaper than their pal equivalent, and should run fine on north american snes, at 60hz. the list gets much smaller when you remove titles released in japan (that dont present a language barrier) and moreso when you remove europe centric sports titles.

 

NO WAY, REALLY ? DBZ Hyper Dimension, Parodius, Lufia, Pop n Twin Bee, SailorMoon, Bobmberman 3, Terranigma, etc came out in japan too ?! you just blew my mind, man, thank god you're there, spreading the knowledge on us plebs

[Lost Gaijin]

 

 

Seems like trying to buy one off eBay is bound to result in another dud.

Can't you return it or get a refund? There's an eBay gurantee for lemons last time I bought something there I think.

 

Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk

[Kismet]

Can't you return it or get a refund? There's an eBay gurantee for lemons last time I bought something there I think.

 

Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk

It took two months to arrive. So it's entirely possible it worked when it was sent (which is what the seller said) but maybe something happened to it during shipping.

[F34R]

Update: changing the firmware on my 8BitDo NES Controller from the Analogue (no turbo version) to the standard 8BitDo firmware brought back the turbo capability to the controller.

 

I will have to agree with the sentiment of some others here that the D-Pad on the 8BitDo NES controller doesnt perform as good as the OEM. However it is still a good piece of equipment.

You can put scotch tape on the contacts that aren't needed for each portion and it will work really well.

[RetrogamerX]

You can put scotch tape on the contacts that aren't needed for each portion and it will work really well.

 

Contacts that aren’t needed for each portion? Explain?

[Jurai]

Here's an imgur album about the 8bitdo dpad scotch tape 'fix'

 

https://imgur.com/gallery/7T7Mi

[RetrogamerX]

Here's an imgur album about the 8bitdo dpad scotch tape 'fix'

 

https://imgur.com/gallery/7T7Mi

 

 

Awesome. Will do this tomorrow. Cheers Jurai

[Toth]

I have a super gameboy 2 and it feels about the same as any other game as far as how tight it is. I didn't have to mess with it or anything when I tested it. I bought it from a US seller that charged like twice the Japan price. I was impatient though and didn't want to wait. I paid $65 https://www.ebay.com/itm/Super-Gameboy-2-Boxed-SFC-Game-Boy-Nintendo-Super-Famicom-Japan-Import-US-Seller/162893183601?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649.

Edited April 20, 2018 by Toth

[Andromeda Stardust]

 

 

There is a 3mm lenght of graphite (pencil lead) stuck in the GB cart slot. So I excise it with a screw driver and now the GB cart's are flush with the cart.

 

 

 

Graphite is a fairly good conductor of electricity. Are you sure it didn't short out the cartridge contacts?