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MNiceGuy

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Everything posted by MNiceGuy

  1. This weekend I finished my remaining Hi-Def NES Toploader. Everything went smooth but when I powered on the system nothing happened. No light from the Hi-Def NES board, no image on the screen, nothing. When I inspected the install I found that I had the V and GND leads to the Hi-Def board in the opposite positions. In other words, I had polarity reversed. I corrected my mistake and now everything seems to be working great. I tested the system for 4-6 hours and it seems to be stable and free of graphical anomalies. Since I would like to sell this system, I am wondering if there is a potential that I have done harm which just hasn't manifested itself yet. Ideally, the Hi-Def NES board's power regulation hardware would have protection against reversed polarity but I can't seem to find any specific information on it. Am I in the clear or should I be wary of passing this one along?
  2. Hi everyone, I go through a lot of Game Gears and feel that I'm very familiar with them. Recently I acquired a couple, one blue and one grey, which showed "Made in China" on the back label. I found it strange as up until then I was used to seeing Japan, Taiwan, and Malaysia as the country of origin. I opened them up and found they had Japanese VA1 (837-9024) motherboards. The grey one has a different texture on the shell (slightly rougher) but the color is generally the same. The blue one has the same texture difference but is a darker blue than the others I have on hand (Japanese manufacture if I recall). It's bordering on more of a navy blue. Interestingly the screws for the motherboard and shell have a courser thread compared to my other examples. I wasn't aware Game Gears were manufactured in China up until now. I've also never seen another dark blue one in my travels. Everything seems legit and after a full cap replacement they look and work just like any of the others I've refurbished. What's the story on these? I will try to get some pictures up once I get home and get a little time.
  3. I checked D1-D0 with a meter and can confirm there are no shorts on any of those connections at the LCD pads. I did notice D1 and D2 had approximately 3.6V while D0 and D3 had no voltage. If I am understanding your suggestion, this is where my problem lies. There are no shorts with pads 9 or 39 with either of their adjacent pads. I will search further for a solution and thank you McWill for your insight so far.
  4. My apologies as this is not Lynx related but in searching out a solution for my problem I found a post in this thread. I've installed the McWill mod in several Game Gears to date and all are working perfectly as far as I am aware. In one of my recent installs the screen is free of distortion but is VERY bright and has little contrast. Mine looks identical to a forum member who posted about it here http://atariage.com/forums/topic/233632-lynx-lcd-replacementvga-out-by-mcwill/page-24?do=findComment&comment=3283106 I took that McWill screen out and swapped in a known-good unit but the same extremely bright image persisted. It is definitely something on the Game Gear side. McWill's response to that user: I am certain I have the 6 wires routed correctly from the LCD pads to the McWill but I will check again. Should there be any voltage on D0 and D3 under normal circumstances? The Game Gear was recapped and confirmed to be in good, working condition prior to the McWill install. Any other ideas?
  5. I'll definitely check that out. I did find some information where someone basically replicated the front-loaders circuit to get the sound amplified properly but that might be a little beyond my skill/ambition level. If the LM386 just needs 5V, GND, and the audio signal that might just be the ticket.
  6. Thanks for all the great information! I've done a little more digging and I think I know why the front-loader has a little more amplified sound than the top-loader: The front loader uses a hex inverter, 74HCUO4P, to amplify the sound from the CPU while I 'think' the top-loader lacks this chip. I found a Ben Heck blog where he was experimenting with the fake-stereo mod on a front-loader and noticed the sound output was noticeably quieter. In his case he had bypassed the hex inverter. Taking a 'quick' glance at an image of the top-loader motherboard, I don't see this chip, or one of its alternatives, anywhere. This would seem to go along with the claim that the top-loader's sound is not amplified. Here is a series of posts from someone who worked out the hex inverter's purpose and was able to successfully implement it into the fake-stereo mod http://benheck.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=32658
  7. If my Google-fu is working for me - Tim Worthington is the person behind the NESRGB mod yes? I briefly looked into that but I could not find a source that has the hardware in stock. Concerning the traces, I DID in fact reuse the audio connection the RF used to use. I tried the 'stereo' mod by hooking into two pins on the CPU, running that through RetroFixes PCB, then back to the RCA audio jacks. Neat effect but not something I was interested in for the long run. I am getting audio from the RF audio connection and it's clean - just quiet. Could I run the stereo mod as described above and then simply bridge the left and right channels at the RCA connectors to get mixed mono?
  8. The original Xbox is a little difficult to get back together. 1. Check to make sure all cables are tucked in where they should be. Specifically, make sure the ribbon is flat and the hard-drive power cables are tucked nicely in their little channel. 2. Look at the metal shielding on the lid. You will see some 'tabs' around the perimeter; specifically a long row at the back. Slowly lower the lid to the bottom and make sure these tabs are going where they're supposed to. From memory (i.e. don't take this to the bank), I believe the rear tabs slide to the interior of the bottom metal shield. 3. While looking at the front, there are plastic tabs on the ride side that can be problematic. Make sure those are going where they need to go as you lower the lid down. Hope that helps. If you're still stuck I can take a look at one of mine when I get home.
  9. Hello everyone, I've recently completed the A/V mod (via the RetroFixes kit) to an NES top-loader. Everything went smoothly except when I was removing the RF box, I forgot to desolder the audio, video, and ground connections to the motherboard (which is why you don't start such projects late at night after a busy day at work). Thankfully I came to my senses before I could do any real damage and desoldered the connections. They were freed but when I removed the RF box I noticed the copper through-holes came out with it. I chose to proceed with the mod anyway and soldered a lead from the RF audio connection (sans its copper through-hole) on the motherboard to a pair of bridged RCA (I don't care for the 'stereo' mod). The system powers up fine and produces clear sound to both speakers. I did notice the top-loader's sound levels are lower than those of a toaster. I hooked up the newly-modded top-loader alongside a toaster via a composite switch box and flipping back and forth the difference in sound levels was apparent. Sound quality seemed similar. QUESTION 1: I've read that the top-loader does not have amplification on the audio circuit while the toaster does; suggesting my experience is expected behavior. Is that true? QUESTION 2: For the through-holes I pulled the copper from, did I do any lasting damage? I'm assuming the NES-101 board is only dual-layered and from what I can see, the connections I mention (RF video, audio, ground) are only traced on the bottom layer.
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