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Artlover

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Posts posted by Artlover

  1. Posted

    What kinda cable are you using to replace the original 2600 one?

     

    If I might suggest, maybe make your own using rg-58 or something. I've done it on one console, and it made a big difference. No herringbone rf interference at all, just a nice crystal clear picture. It's seriously made me rethink the need of doing the a/v mod on any of mine.

  2. Posted

    7. MOST of the games can be found used for 3-5 bucks.

     

    I wouldn't say that. Most places you are still going to see $9.95 - $14.95 prices. GameXchange, CompUSA, etc..

     

    BestBuy was the only truly cheap place I knew of, with discounted games as cheap at $5.95. But it's been over a year since I last saw a DC game there. :(

  3. Posted

    Well, I already have an old 2 port, with two mostly working sticks, and a bunch of games I've bought over the years.

     

    I mostly wanted to find a 4port so I could play pitfall and stuff. :)

     

    I was hoping to get some good controllers out of it thou since mine are plagued with bad wiring. But the ones that came with the 4 port seem to have the same issue. :( But atleast the shells & mechanical bits are in good shape. Just gotta replace the cable & db15. Oh well.

     

    I'll probably make the 4 port my primary unit, and retire my old 2 port to storage for the time being.

  6. Posted

    I have 4 of them. All original Sega brand.

     

    3 of the regular kind with display

     

    1 of the 4xMemory kind. It's nothing but a manual bank-switch design. Press the button to toggle which of the 4 banks of memory to use. Never had a problem with it.

  9. Posted

    What is the point of developing a technology that can produce a 96 kHz frequency response when the human ear can't hear past 20 kHz? Perhaps DVDA technology really CAN record audio to a pitch frequency of 96 kHz, but I think it is kind of ridiculous to even talk about that... most speakers can't reproduce those frequencies and the human ear certainly can't hear them.

     

    I suspect there are a lot of reasons.

     

    #: Non-human use. Researchers who record anaimal sounds, and stuff like that.

     

    #: Audiable sub-harmonic effects of higher frequencies. In the real world, sounds arn't neatly limited to the range of human hearing. Sounds use as much range as they need for their sound to be made. Recording all of that sound is the only way to reproduce it correctly with the same fullness and body. Limiting it to the range of human hearing eliminates that mostly inaudiable, but subtle difference.

     

    #: Some people can hear higher then 20khz. Granted not as much as 96Khz, but still more then most formats out there are able to reproduce.

     

     

    I'm sorry... I am not trying to belittle your knowledge of the field.  

     

    No problem. I'm sorry I snapped at you like that. I tend to be overly defencive. 8)

  10. Posted

    It looks to me like you're mixing up the audible frequency range and the sample rate.

     

    It makes no sense to talk about a sample rate with analog recordings... the sample rate is infinite and continuous.

     

    Most humans can hear frequencies in a range (roughly) of 20 Hz to 20 kHz.  The standard sample rate for CDs is 44.1 kHz, which means there are 44,100 sample "slices" per second.  The standard sample rate for DVDs is 96 kHz, meaning 96,000 samples per second.  But those sample frequencies have nothing to do with the audible pitch frequencies they can play.

     

    First, I'm not mixing up anything. I've been working with digital audio for over a decade and am fully aware of the difference between frequency responce and sampling rate.

     

    Second, DVDA is not the same as regular DVD audio. DVDA supports sampling rates up to 192khz providing a max of 96khz frequency responce.

     

    Snippit from DigitalAudioGuide

    The greater the number of bits used for Sample Size and the greater the number of Samples per second (Sample Rate) the more accurately the analog signal can be represented in digital form. With a Sample Size of 24 bits and a Sample Rate of 192KHz (24/192), DVD-Audio is capable of recording an audio signal with a frequency range of 0 to 96KHz with a dynamic range of 144dB.

     

    So I do believe my original post stands correct, thank you.

  12. Posted

    Resolution quick list.

     

    LP = 5Hz to 35KHz. This is assuming you're using a high-end cartridge like a MC AT33 or Shure V15 or something, most low-priced (anything less then a $100) cartridges/needles are typically 20Hz-20Khz.

     

    CD = 0Hz to 20 or 22KHz. Most digital media tends to fall in this limit, including popular file formats like mp3.

     

    DVD-A = 0Hz to 96KHz. This is therotical if using 2 channel @ max bit/rate, but in most typical configurations the high-end resolution is going to be between 20 & 48KHz)

     

    So yeah, DVD-Audio seems like a big step forward for digital audio. Given that it has a decent frequency responce now. I bet zeppelin would sound just as sweet as vinal on this. I'd love to hear it.

  13. Posted

    I like the original big controllers better then this second generation controller they got.

     

    On the 2nd gen controllers, the White & Black buttons are damn near impossible to use in game since you gotta shift whole hand to reach them.

     

    Also think the original controllers have a stronger rummble effect.

  16. Posted

    So someone who buys the Xbox hardware, modifies it into a general-purpose computer and does not buy Xbox games potentially undermines not only Microsoft but also the personal computer industry. But that is not how some Xbox hackers think about it.

     

    I'm not sure the PC industry in general wil be hurt, and quite frankly, I'm not sure Microsoft will be all that hurt either.

     

    If hacking the xbox was mainstream, and "everyone" did it, then yeah, Microsoft would finally collapse. The effect on the computer industry I don't think would be that great. Maybe regarding preassembled systems, they will problaby have a drop in sales, but will still easily survive.

     

    The problem is that it will never happen on mass enough scale to be of any threat. Yes, it's fairly easy. But not quite. There are some finer details that will stop most people.

     

    #1) Not really being able to find a clear start to finish "this is how you modify your xbox for free" tutorial. You gotta read about 30 different messages of incomplete info to come up with a working game plan.

     

    #2) You need a way to move files to the thing. You could hot-swap the HD to your PC to copy the files. Requires opening the thing and messing with stuff while it's live. Buy an Action Reply, but now it's getting out of the "free" range. Know someone with a hacked xbox. I've owned an xbox since they first came out, and I've only just now met someone else who has one, and it's not modified.

     

    #3) At this point, you are still left with two choices. Tedious boot-disc method which requires activating this game-save exploit from the HD with the original game, then swapping CD's. But this can easily take over a minute start to finish, and is annoying. Modify the Xbox which requires soldering two jumpers. Simple enough. Except if you've ever looked at a xbox mother board, and the points you have to solder, it's not an easy job for a part time solder, and not a job at all for someone who's never soldered before. Then flashing the on-board bios with something else. Not really a big deal, but mighty intimidating to a noob.

     

    #4) The newest Xbox's are designed a little different, and are less forgiving when it comes to flashing the bios. It can still be done, but you are limited in what you can do, and have no easy way to recover if flashing goes wrong (you would need a 3rd party mod chip just to beable to fix the original bios).

     

     

    Yes, if you know what you are doing, and have some moderate skills, this is easy, and you can do it in about 15-20 minutes.

     

    But most people out there are not going to beable to figure it out and/or will not have the skills needed to do everything. Go to the Xbox hacking sites, and you will see the forums flooded with noob's asking for "detailed" instructions, or whining "I broke my xbox".

     

    Plus, I forsee the next revision of Xbox's not having a flashable bios chip at all, and going to a PROM or something.

     

    It's just not something I see "the masses" doing.

     

     

    "Especially in Europe, computers are more expensive than they are here, and the Xbox is the cheapest computer you can get," Andrew Huang, author of a new book called "Hacking the Xbox: An Introduction to Reverse Engineering," said in a telephone interview. "Basically," he added by e-mail, "once you have Linux, you have everything."

     

    This is probably more true then anything else. Hardware hacking and soldering iron savvy have always been more present overseas then here. And prices are generaly more expencive. But I still doubt that there will be a great number of people doing this.

  18. Posted

    Ah, but there is SO much more to this.....

     

    Two words: TSOP Flashing.

     

    Why bother with a modchip when you can flash the Xbox's own on-board flash bios with whatever valid bios image you want. Be it a modchip bios, or linux boot bios, or whatever.

     

    With the 007AUF trick, and an Action Replay, you can effectively drop the xbox into a linux shell. Telnet in from a PC or something, run a linux based flash app, and "woot, there u go."

     

    Depending on which revision Xbox you have, you can even do a switched multi-bios with the stock xbox flash bios chip.

     

    It's not that hard to find all the resources on the net.

     

    Let's just say, I know it can be done & works. :D

  19. Posted

    And don't use the original formula Goof-Off for trying to clean anything plastic.

     

    One of my Commodore 1541 disk drives now has a vent hole in the top from trying to clean some marker off of it with that stuf. :|

     

    Thou it doesn't effect the plastic case's Atari used for the 400/800 computers, 810 interface, etc.. Thou the 800XL cases & later tended to melt too.

  20. Posted

    I have a Promenade C1 programmer for my C-64/128. :)

     

    It was just sitting in a box with a C-128D, 3 1541's drives, a joystick, and some other loose crap that I don't remember. Paid like $15 bucks for it all. :D

  21. Posted

    It's been awhile since I opened an Atari 2600 PS.

     

    Most cheap transformers that output DC have a small half-wave bridge rectifier inside of them. Sometimes they go bad, in which case replacing it will fix it.

     

    Some power supplies also have thermisiters to shut them off if they get too hot. These also go bad sometimes. They can also be replaced, but I generaly just bypass them all together. (Bypass at your own risk.)

     

    If the actual transformer is bad, it could also be replaced I suppose, but at this point it would be cheaper to buy a new unit, and would be pointless to bother with.

     

     

    Cheap power supplies suck. Thats all there is to it. Commodore made some really bad ones, then filled the things with that potting compound. Egads, I hated that crap. 1581 power supply was like that. First, it used a conventional 1watt to-220 case 5+ volt regulator as a rectifier instead of a bridge rectifier or diode network. To bump the voltage up to 5volts (running AC into a regulator produces less output voltage), they put a resisitor between the regulator & ground. Needless to say, these things typicaly burned out within 6 months. I cracked the case open, spent hours chipping away the potting compound till I got to the board, copied the circuit board (which I broke into 4 pieces), re-used all the good parts I didn't break, and made my own, with 3 minor changes.

     

    #1: rectified the voltage before the 5+ regulator.

    #2: used a 3watt to-3 cased regulator.

    #3: used a big plastic quick-box to mount it in w/no potting compound.

     

    Has worked for the last decade with no problems. :)

  23. Posted

    hmmm well xcuse me- i didnt had no idea what could be done- after all it was only made to be gaming console for home and online play :roll:

     

    Sorry, but your "why would anyone want to do whatever because I don't, and I think it's stupid" is very counter productive and impairs advancement.

     

    Just because whatever is designed and marketed with one specific purpose doesn't automaticly exclude any other suitable use.

     

    Xbox was designed to be a gaming console. Yeah, basicly. In as much as if MicroSoft tried to market a PC, they would get slapped with another anti-trust lawsuit. Nor would marketing a PC make sence if you are trying to get into the game-console market.

     

    Lets say I bought all the PC hardware & junk needed to build a killer game machine, have it load whatever OS, and auto-start a joypad controlled menu system to run whatever games I have installed on it. Put in a TV out card, pop-rivit the case closed, then sell it with only a Joypad and power cable. Does that automaticly mean that this machine should not be used for anything else?

     

     

    Would we be having the same debate back in the early and mid 80's during the days of 800XL hacking?

     

    "Hey, the Atari 800XL was meant to have 4 channel mono sound, 64k ram and use floppy drives. Why would anyone want to add a second Pokey or extra memory, or connect a Harddrive to it? You want more memory, buy a 130XE." Or even the more shocking bios replacements (like my UltraSpeed/OS). "My god, who would want faster IO speeds, or more accurate math, or convienent built in features. That's not what Atari intended."

     

    And of course chainsaws were meant to cut up logs, not create ice sculptures, and so on and so fourth.

     

    It's about using whatever you have to it's fullest potential. Using an Xbox just to play games and watch a movie now & then makes abou as much sence as using a Lamborghini Diablo for weekly runs down to the supermarket. It can do it just fine, but it's capable of so much more. Even all the way down to an Atari 2600, you can make it do more then it was originaly designed for, and thats NOT a bad thing.

     

    Thats basicly it.

     

    As for these kids and blacking mailing MS. Point taken, that was stupid, but in a way, it's understandable too. How else do you deal with a company that doesn't even bother to follow federal court rulings against them.

     

    MS doesn't care about much. All they care about is market dominance in all markets they can get themselfs into. Control is the only way to do that. If they allowed a Linux (or ANY os for that matter) for Xbox, it would cause the collapse MS because everyone would be buying Xbox's instead of PC's, but no games (which is all they have off-set the tremendious loses involved in the sale of every xbox.).

     

    In the end thou, don't let it concern you what people are doing with their Xbox's because the general fact is that the techie's make up only a small percentage of computer users out there now adays, and MS is not overly concerned with these hacks because they know most people arn't going to do it.

  25. Posted

    and what consumer demand would there be for Linux to run on a xbox? i didnt read a petition for it - and what point would there be to run it anyway. WHY is the big question - seems like a real waste of time to me :roll:

     

    To build a regular PC with the same capabilities as an Xbox would cost signifigantly more then an Xbox does. That's reason enough to try to run any OS on it.

     

    Not to mention that Linux is the second most popular OS, with around 30% of the market.

     

    Gee, I sure have no idea why. :roll:

     

    Linux on the Dreamcast is pretty useless thou since it doesn't have a HD, and most don't have boadband. :/

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