seastalker

I am having a strange issue and hope others may know something. On my recent 32x hardware purchase, it works... well even! It plays both 32x carts and genesis ones (in good shape) just fine. I thought I had an issue with it at first and am undecided. When using my MegaSD flash cart, I can load up and play a game. I'll check the manual if there is another means to swap games without a power cycle, but for now, if I turn the genesis off then on again, oddly the MegaSD doesn't boot to the menu. If I try again a day or so later, all is fine for one or two sessions and it happens again. I thought this was a 32x heat issue where it needed to cool off before working again. Today I tested it more, and when the problem happens, I am still able to load 32x and genesis original carts just fine. My one guess is that the MegaSD needs a bit of power and gets it from the Sega hardware whereas the original 32x/genesis carts don't. Yet, I can't figure why the MegaSD works the first or second time without issue before a quick power off/on renders it to a state of "wait a while" or "try again tomorrow" even.

Thank you! I will check it out, and I did not know. I'm not a big Android fan (what I have) and I have no interest in supporting Apple products anymore. The heads up I DO appreciate! I may mess around with the android app, but a standalone pocket sized, well... Pocket somehow makes me think I'd use it more. On to the Analogue DAC. I have one on order (just shy of $20 shipping) and am wondering a few things. One, some here say they are getting it in two days. This is a pre-order though. Do you mean you will get it in two days of when it actually releases or do you have a tracking number already? Two: If this is a pre-order and expected to sell out(?), am I alone in being bummed that we can't have the option to hold on shipping it to us to give us the option of pre-ordering the Pocket or the maybe short run of the Nintendo jobbies (or SOON announced Mega SG adapters)? It would be nice to have saved on some shipping in this way. I would have pre-ordered the Pocket WITH the DAC basically. Point Three about the DAC - It is listed as "Compatible with Analogue products only" - I knew this going in, but I would like to know how this is implemented as a lock out if any. I could see if the only devices guaranteed to work were Analogue ones, but what in it would stop ANY HDMI signal be it a dvd player or Mister from outputting video just the same as a MegaSG?

Thanks on the former and agreed on the latter. I didn't use that flux on the monitor, rest assured. I used my liquid pen flux. That disgusting looking flux is a mystery. It just sat sealed in a drawer in a cool dry place. I appreciate SoundGammon's work getting a clean S-Video port, but I only mod the outer shell of anything if I have no other way. That's just me. I already have a S-video to chroma/luma 'y' splitter cable and run that to an S-video switch box for my 800xl and C64 with two spare switch ports (still organizing consoles). I do like being able to plug an Atari Flashback 2 in to the front composite jack or C-64 DTV. I moved my S-Video PC Engine to my big CRT tv so have to consider my S-video only consoles. I have a TI-99 laying around- I'll see what I have the desk space for. Stay tuned for future Commodore 1902 and 1084S recap pics

For those asking for a taco themed game controller, why not just create a taco skin for an original 3 button Sega Genesis controller. This idea is actually feasible on a much simpler scale.

UPDATE: SUCCESS! I went over my 4 problem spots and opted to scrape down to the copper traces and get a sturdy connection and joint. To advanced solderers, it may be elementary, but to me, I had to consider it all and thought jumper wires should be used to patch a broken trace, not for SUPPORT to hold something in place. I hope sharing this will help others (I am not responsible for your safety - watch videos like Retro Tech's channel and Perifractic's Retro Recipes for a start on CRT safety). Then I checked the two fuses on the mainboard for continuity and all systems go. I cleaned the flyback and all cables with IPA, and even added fresh solder to all flyback joints for good measure. The power switch is something normally to replace, but my original is still going strong and I didn't want to wait. I connected everything back except the rear cover to see if I would still get electrical arcing (then a replacement flyback would be my next fix) but several minutes and all was well. I'm guessing I had bad capacitors causing the arcing. I tested it with a C64 Plug N Play (it's a real C64- ask Jeri), and then with an Atari Flashback 2. All was beautiful and the sound really struck me as amazing for mono! Pitfall's vine swing sounded epic as did the C64's famous opening line in Impossible Mission... let's hope this re-capping of my 1702 helps make it "Staaaaayyyy Foh-evvvahhh!" I'm sharing pics in hopes it helps others, because the nearest CRT repair to me is very far and I have to pay a lot for the now niche ability I taught myself to do. Note the scrape marks in pic 2. If anyone has a good method to prevent this (I'm sure the red paint is not just cosmetic) with ZERO sacrifice to personal safety in the process while discharging, please chime in!! I decided not to RGB mod it because I have other Commodore monitors I'm doing that already have RGBi and I avoid cutting into original plastic when I can. I will enjoy its S-video quality and convenient front composite jacks. No more scary electrical arc/popping sounds and bad smells. Is a recapping/cleaning of this 1702 monitor on 2020-02-03 the equivalent of going back in time to view it during it's original manufacture date of October 1984? P.s. I would be happy to know what causes the condition in my flux picture. P.P.S. I plan to do two more and different Commodore monitors and update here on the adventures!!

I am looking into RGB modding it too, and only see three ICs on the mainboard - 4H1 HA11247 https://elcodis.com/parts/5775883/HA11247.html 4H2 HA11244 (TV Sync Processor) https://html.alldatasheet.com/html-pdf/91358/HITACHI/HA11244/246/1/HA11244.html 4D2 HA11401 (TV Video Amplifier) https://datasheet4u.com/datasheet-parts/HA11401-datasheet.php?id=543988 Looks like the first one has the r,g,b signals

Today I was brave and after viewing tons of safety videos and obtaining 'overkill' protection (funny word for working on CRTs), I recapped my entire Commodore 1702 monitor. It sat for over a year but I still had gloves and boots, discharged, etc. I have more to do, but before I plug in for smoke tests, I hope to share pics and discuss some potential weak points. When I got the 1702 in a lot sale, it 'worked' but I heard some scary periodic power arcing and turned it off. There was a small burning smell and I waited about a year, thinking something fried. In that time, I learned the basic mechanics of a CRT, and opened my 1702 today. After recapping, my paper plate of old caps had leaking liquid but it is hard to determine which one(s) were the culprits. I hope all caps being replaced will fix any previous problems. I air sprayed the mainboard and all daughter boards and then washed all with Electronics cleaner. I will likely isoprop any white residue the cleaner left and hope to get this back up and running. *Interestingly, Commodore made an error on the silkscreen on some 1702s at capacitor C101 (like mine) as documented by Console5: https://console5.com/store/commodore-1702-cap-kit.html and their wiki: https://console5.com/wiki/Commodore_1702 where I printed my checklist and maps from. All PCBs look like the business end is only on the bottom. Questions: Should I replace anything other than the caps? Voltage regulators? What caused the arcing before? bad caps? The power switch is solid. Should I RGB mod? Replace the power cord to one with a ground? I will do a multi-meter continuity test on all fuses. Also, I may have cracked or lifted three traces/pads so advice on my repair plans is appreciated: Mainboard Problems: C201 (10uF 16v)- Negative pad lifting C204 (3.3uF 50v) - Bipolar (BP) lifting on one leg C603 (10uF 50v) - lifting pad Power Board: C905 (100uF 25v) - NOTE the red patch wire is for visual reference and can be desoldered easily. Also, I will not plug it back in the wall until I am certain all is well (and it is sealed up!) In some of these intended fixes, the plan is to use a wire if the path between points may contact unintended places. Otherwise, for a straight shot, I like the remaining clipped capacitor legs. Note I have yet to clip the legs on the spots in question so I have visual aid when finishing. Also, how precise should I consider gauge size when I use such short wire runs? My guess is the power board may matter more in this thinking. I do hope this project will fix the arcing issues (please don't be a tube problem itself), and restore this 1702 to day one original glory!

Best quote ever. I can't predict demand, but comments here make me think to press my order button as soon as I get an email. I don't know if I would wish for a pre-announcement announcement or if it would be better to just get the email. I REALLY need one of these as a tool for music production first. Atari Lynx is a big plus though and after that, NGP and Gamegear. Oh and I hear there was a thing called Gameboy that had a niche fanbase in the 1990s.

derFunkenstein, THANK YOU! I did see the article on RetroRGB and actually came here to post about it! I did not see your first link so I will read it, thanks again. My recapping is based on the kit from Console 5, so I will look at the surface mount thing (I didn't know if was a capacitor) on the daughter board as well as play around with the cap on the main (ok, well, TOP board). I will post my findings and if I have a positive outcome I may also contact Console 5 about it to suggest it. Maybe it will improve the kit for future buyers. I have some more 32x hardware now to experiment on which is always great to pinpoint a problem. The bigger question I had when reading that the tech news originated with Kevtris is if he is working on an Analogue 32x solution? With firmware upgrades and new consoles, I can't imagine him having the time to devote towards the 32x otherwise. This is ALL respectful speculation on my part though. Call it "respectulation" if you will.

I wish him the best. Schnuth, I hope you had permission from him to share such details here. If not, I wish I could un-read your comment.

Funny timing here, but I saw Jan Beta's new video called C64 Component Video Mod Prototype Testing. I remember the RetroRGB article too and like not having to mod the plastic on the case. This sparked an idea that maybe this prototype can have a version where we might desolder the s-video jack on the MKII and have this Component mod.

Does anyone suggest a good drop-in replacement fan? It is too loud for my tastes. I did the Noctua fan mod on my dreamcast and it is whisper-quiet. I do have the early model, the FZ-1, and I just recapped it and put in a new battery so I'm in the modding mood.

Looks like he is at least back in one place: https://twitter.com/TheJohnPerry Maybe he will bring back his channel? Even his Twitter feed shows that his subscriber base was doing so well by the end of the year. Pezz, please come back and do more MiSTer videos if you can!

Yes, the DIN is the same. I use a Commodore 1084S monitor where I have plugged in a y cable that goes from S-video female input to the separate chroma and luma. This makes it easier to NOT have to reach around the back. I also found a cheap video switcher also works well. You link is an interesting tool though and I may look into that. Even if there is no fix commonly known yet, I wonder if anyone knows what the actual problem with it is.

So, my real C64 weapon of choice is my MKII reloaded board currently (hmm, is MKII a reference to the game 'Snatcher'?). The S-video on the standard DIN connection works fine, but one of the most enticing features for me was being able to output via a true S-Video port and not have extra messy wires for separate Chroma and Luma. Unfortunately, the S-Video port on mine looks absolutely terrible, and I only recently learned mine is not an isolated issue. So far a search online (and video search) does not yield a fix for the issue. The video "works" but the image is very muddy compared to its DIN counterpart, rendering it currently useless. Has anyone looked into this issue or know how to repair the issue with a little solder, wire, amp, capacitor or resistor, etc.?

Hello again! The game was indeed called "Chicken Out" - I remember that crystal clearly and that was also before I ever saw that there is a mystery game with the title on the Atarimania page as linked earlier in the thread. I did go thru the video, and the closest it might resemble would be the simple blue background (like Atari Basic) seen in 'Barrier' at the start but with the simplicity and path sizing somewhere in the range of 'Tron II' and 'Zip!' Such a simple game could likely be recreated very easily but it is a shame that the game (for now) has a lost in time status when it so nearly wasn't. Maybe if someone with a big following on youtube can mention a search for this title? You never know, someone might view it and say "oh sure- right here" and then send it off to be preserved or maybe upload it.

I'm going all in on this. I tested two patch cables and looked up their intended direction orientation. Not the problem. I swapped the new custom M3 PSU with an original OEM one and no change either. I plan to get a replacement 32x as I am suspecting it is the lower board since there were two revisions: The MK-84001 and then the MK-84001A, where both upper boards are the same but the lower board has a revision from VA0 to VA1, which it is said, fixes a lot of issues. I suspect on mine, a specialty chip on the lower board is going bad. If I photograph and then desolder wires, I can take the lower board from a new one and put it into my current one to update it to the new revision, and better, NOT have to re-cap the other 32x. This will allow me to pinpoint the problem. Maybe I can then donate one to a FPGA dev. The 32x has so many OFFICIAL garbage solder hacks with wires, resistors and patches that really is an insight into how short-viewed Sega was and expected the lifespan was short before the Saturn. If not a FPGA, a redesigned 32x would be amazing where you could even just take the lower board with the special ICs and put it in a new cartridge with possibly a micro daughter board if need be. Probably the ultimate would be a Saturn that could play 32x and genesis right from the cartridge slot.

Here is what happens on all games be they sega genesis or 32x. The music is great and the games load otherwise. The video is just flicker city. This is not in the common problem sections of online troubleshooting when one can load both 32x and genesis titles with sound and picture but the gfx are scrambled. Maybe one of the special chips on the 32x side of the board are bad?

I had a chance to test each and every pin on both 20 pin white ribbon cables for continuity and all is fine (I also tested the ribbon cable in my Saturn successfully). Is that conformation that the cables are not the problem or does a scenario exist where you could get pin continuity on a damaged pin depending on if the cable is flat vs in its factory establish c-shaped state of rest in the console? I'm checking the connection points on the 32x too.

I really look forward to the Satiator ODE or the other new one, Fenrir so I can finally play this thing. I put this project aside for a while since buying a replacement laser. Still no go. The best I get is the "Checking Disc Format" when I put a clip on the drive door (see photo above) this post. Funny thing is I get that regardless of if the ribbon cable and 5 pin are connected to the cd drive daughter board. When all are plugged in normally, the new replacement laser at least seeks on the rails to center as well as moves up and down. It is the spindle of the motor that doesn't move. EDIT: I tried GadgetUK's AA battery test trick and can get the spindle to spin perfectly. [used a new battery] Other than that, I can only think of bad caps, or bad controller chip on the CD daughter board (I have a chip that says "622002 M56754SP". Any other ideas? Maybe I will re-cap the whole saturn and if that doesn't work, replace the PSU with a pico one. (EDIT: I found a video about solder blob on some lasers- mine has two separate solder dots so I am good) I may have to recheck the new laser's pot If I replace the whole drive unit, any compatibility to watch out for? EDIT AGAIN: Thinking outside of the box, what if a previous owner adjusted the cd board pot for unknown reasons. Is there a way to reset this to factory default?

A while ago I asked my brother about it too. I found out about it merely by just having it back in the day. It was the 80s in upstate NY. He said it was not a type in game but something we got from a bargain bin, probably at a mall's computer store, probably at a Babbage's or Electronic's Boutique. I don't ever remember a box, cover art, nor disk label and I do for most every title I had since we didn't have a ton of games. I think a store used to have a circular clearance bin of software titles like Aztec Challenge I think I got actually for 25 cents. He was able to edit the text displayed in the game when a player crashed 3 times and died. We would laugh at writing something inappropriate only adolescent siblings would find funny. Apparently,my brother found an interesting bit of code in the game he copied which made it easier to make a menu of software titles display on a disk or maybe auto-boot a title on his own work. I did find a video that displays the basic gameplay, though it is obviously neither the title nor Atari 8-bit platform shown. Imagine playing the following game on an 800xl, essentially using the regular blue boot up background and the two lines were white (maybe 2nd player was a darker shade): It's such a shame that this title was so nearly preserved, and I only have my personal memory and a mention on Atarimania anymore to verify it even existed. Maybe it was actually a local coder made the game and got a test of copies into a store that didn't sell and my family bought maybe the only copy?

Bringing back this older thread for newer eyes, any chance this title "Chicken Out" for the Atari 8 bit computer line was found since 2018? Sadly, I do not see it yet on Atarimania.

Is there anyone in the TG16-mini camp we can contact to request they do a mini SuperGrafx version? Even if the gamelist was the same, I'd be ok with it. The SGX had the coolest look of all of them and was and is beyond the justifiable price point for most both then and now. Maybe they can pull from the Neo-Geo mini playbook and release it as a special edition/Christmas, etc, and actually include the small library of SGX titles? The standard releases are including some CD games so this is such a lost opportunity.

Sadly, I did not find a result there. Ebay options are some guesswork unless you buy another broken 32x that may have the same problem. I wonder if I might make an odd "cable" by soldering wires directly from point to point, or to the ribbon cables' exterior with enough of each pin to be seated. I have to look at the connections again. The former option might be better so nothing gets unseated.

A Hyperspin complete set is about 94 GB, so even if you added any non-game titles they may have had, you probably could fit the whole collection on a 128GB SD card. This console is ripe for an ODE replacement like the NeoGeo CD SD Loader or Gamecube equivalent. The GC I can play off USB on my modded wii, Neo Geo has MiSTer AES/MVS options, put Panasonic has no other system or platform (yet). It is emulation or the hardware. Yes, there is the option by 3do-renovation, but I will wait for something more cost effective or even better, a MISTER core.