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The Official Turbografx 16 Thread!


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18 hours ago, Tanooki said:

I'm watching, that's where I am on it.  I have an everdrive that I got direct from SAG so it is called the PC everdrive.  Only one I ever bought new off them, but I'd replace it if they could cleanly run all that nice CD level stuff, bonus if they got the game saving routines down on games that would have used the ten no koe device or something similar (or the internal battery of the duo.)

The Super SD System 3 allows you to save games the traditional way and is Tennokoe Bank compatible, but you can also set it to create a dedicated memory bank for every single game.

 

The dedicated save banks appear on the sd card as a single file that you drag and drop onto a computer. So you have unlimired saving potential and could archive save points for games like for RPGs and digital adventures.

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The Super SD System 3 allows you to save games the traditional way and is Tennokoe Bank compatible, but you can also set it to create a dedicated memory bank for every single game.
 
The dedicated save banks appear on the sd card as a single file that you drag and drop onto a computer. So you have unlimired saving potential and could archive save points for games like for RPGs and digital adventures.
The UperGrafx UGX-02 now does this, though the Super SD System³ still has it beat. You pop the SD card into your PC and the UperGrafx Control Panel application backs up all of your per-game saves to the folder you specify. You can then reload them whenever you want to roll-back or restore. You can save over them with updated saves whenever you want. While it requires their application (same one used to transfer games), at least they made it easier to manage than drag and drop.

The main advantage the SSDS³ has in regards to per-game saves is that you don't have to worry about the save being written to the SD card before turning off the system. UGX will detect that the RAM has changed and will save it to SD card at the next moment that the SD card is available, but it can't save it while the game is still playing CD audio or something since it is streaming that from the SD card. It can save it the moment a track changes or repeats, so you see a yellow bar at the bottom of the screen until it copies the backup RAM to the SD card.

You don't have to worry about the save being written to the SD card when you are just saving to one of the shared banks on the UGX, since it does have that feature too. To back that up requires a USB cable, which is not very convenient. I do wonder if a save that was interrupted and didn't make it to the SD card will still be there when you resume the game and, thus, can copy itself to the SD card later.
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2 hours ago, Black_Tiger said:

The Super SD System 3 allows you to save games the traditional way and is Tennokoe Bank compatible, but you can also set it to create a dedicated memory bank for every single game.

 

The dedicated save banks appear on the sd card as a single file that you drag and drop onto a computer. So you have unlimired saving potential and could archive save points for games like for RPGs and digital adventures.

See that second option there, sd card being used as a storage puppet basically by forming its own file is exactly what I was hoping perhaps krikzz could end up doing on an everdrive update.  I'd buy into that to avoid passwords.

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I posted this in the Classic Gaming General forum, but feel I might get more views here.

Brand new Turbografx 16 RF Modulator Replacements are not working.

I have 2 TG16 units that do not display via their RF output. They both display fine if I tap into their composite pins. I read somewhere that RF modulators going bad in TG16 units are not unusual. I ordered a few and tried twice on 2 units with 2 separate, brand new, RF modulators. It doesn't seem to fix the issue. I can see a very scrambled picture of the game being displayed, but that's it. They are very easy to install, so I don't think that is the problem. Is there something else on the board that would be causing this issue. Even switching the switch (Ch 3 or 4) on the modulator does not seem to make any difference, same image appears. It is also not the RF cord for I have multiple and have tested them with a working unit. In the image below I have R-Type playing, and sometimes I can make out the title screen, if I look really carefully.

DSC01175.JPG

DSC01174.JPG

Edited by livingonwheels
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Hey guys I have something I need your help with, tried looking online for about an hour and can't find anything about the issue i'm having. I just got my turbografx cd unit repaired professionally and when I tried to use it on my set up, the cd games seem to be reading fine for a minute or so, then the game will just crash. Happens to each game at the exact same spot usually. I tried Valis 2 for example and you can run to the right but not kill anything, if you happen to touch a monster in the wrong way the game just locks up and the music keeps playing. Something like this happens to all of the games I own, some won't get passed the intro or if they do they will just lock up as soon as I hit start or if I manage to play for a few minutes in Sherlock Holmes then the game just resets to the title screen without me doing anything special. One thing I noticed was when I played JB harold murder club there was a lot of interference in the music, like a humming noise during the police station intro to the game. I can use the dock on it's own perfectly fine without the cd unit attached, like if I just want to play Nueotopia on the tg16 by itself, I can save, load the same save from days ago. The video and audio are clean on all of the hucard games i own and they play with no problem/no freezing. Could it be an issue with the dock itself, the cd system card or maybe the power supply unit? I got this dock second-hand so I have no idea what it's history is, same thing for the cd system card. The power supply I'm using is a sega genesis model 1 power supply, could it not be supplying enough power? Any help is appreciated, I've invested a lot of time and money and really want to see this thing work :( . Thank you everyone! 

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I posted this in the Classic Gaming General forum, but feel I might get more views here.
Brand new Turbografx 16 RF Modulator Replacements are not working.
I have 2 TG16 units that do not display via their RF output. They both display fine if I tap into their composite pins. I read somewhere that RF modulators going bad in TG16 units are not unusual. I ordered a few and tried twice on 2 units with 2 separate, brand new, RF modulators. It doesn't seem to fix the issue. I can see a very scrambled picture of the game being displayed, but that's it. They are very easy to install, so I don't think that is the problem. Is there something else on the board that would be causing this issue. Even switching the switch (Ch 3 or 4) on the modulator does not seem to make any difference, same image appears. It is also not the RF cord for I have multiple and have tested them with a working unit. In the image below I have R-Type playing, and sometimes I can make out the title screen, if I look really carefully.
DSC01175.thumb.JPG.b12998e529dd052e7089791177c16ade.JPG
DSC01174.thumb.JPG.21ed41ece0693bfd09726c716fba2d9b.JPG


Hmm... I also bought some brand new ones from Console5 a few months ago but I haven't tried any in a PC Engine or TurboGrafx yet. Been meaning to since the listing didn't seem too sure about whether or not they work with TG16, but I think I bought the last of them anyway so I didn't feel the need to hurry. They definitely fit at least.

Anyway, perhaps a better option is a mini-DIN RGB mod where the RF jack used to be. Doujindance sells a kit for the original white PC Engine but it's expensive and you'd probably need to adapt/extend the QSB to reach the TG16's EXT port... which I believe would have a backwards PCB footprint anyway due to the way it's mounted on the PCB upside-down. Frank Strasser made a DIY kit on OSHPark but deleted it when he started getting grilled by dbElectronics about attribution (it was based on the dbGrafx Booster). Though Rene (db) seemed to find the attribution he was looking for was already there, Frank had already responded by blocking him on Twitter and, thus, it may be lost forever. *SIGH*

MobiusStripTech shared and others have shared PCB mounts to fit the mini-DIN if you want to just wire up straight composite, audio, and RGB, but I would at least suggest Mobius' audio amp so you won't have to crank the volume.

Hey guys I have something I need your help with, tried looking online for about an hour and can't find anything about the issue i'm having. I just got my turbografx cd unit repaired professionally and when I tried to use it on my set up, the cd games seem to be reading fine for a minute or so, then the game will just crash. Happens to each game at the exact same spot usually. I tried Valis 2 for example and you can run to the right but not kill anything, if you happen to touch a monster in the wrong way the game just locks up and the music keeps playing. Something like this happens to all of the games I own, some won't get passed the intro or if they do they will just lock up as soon as I hit start or if I manage to play for a few minutes in Sherlock Holmes then the game just resets to the title screen without me doing anything special. One thing I noticed was when I played JB harold murder club there was a lot of interference in the music, like a humming noise during the police station intro to the game. I can use the dock on it's own perfectly fine without the cd unit attached, like if I just want to play Nueotopia on the tg16 by itself, I can save, load the same save from days ago. The video and audio are clean on all of the hucard games i own and they play with no problem/no freezing. Could it be an issue with the dock itself, the cd system card or maybe the power supply unit? I got this dock second-hand so I have no idea what it's history is, same thing for the cd system card. The power supply I'm using is a sega genesis model 1 power supply, could it not be supplying enough power? Any help is appreciated, I've invested a lot of time and money and really want to see this thing work [emoji20] . Thank you everyone! 


That is odd. What are you using as a system card? A Turbo Everdrive needs special patched BIOS files to avoid memory bus fighting and bus fighting could cause issues like you describe.

It's definitely worth trying another power supply before doing anything drastic. I can try my Triad 1300mA PSU from Console5 to see if that works.

I've seen numerous examples of TurboDuos and PC Engine CD setups that have problems loading until you unplug other devices that aren't even powered on (often not even in the same power outlet) so it seems that the NEC hardware can be really we sensitive to other interference on the power line. Here's one example (caution: foul language):


Do you get audio buzzing with the drive installed while playing HuCard games? If so I would suspect a capacitor got installed backwards or something. Most professionals offering the service are using non-polarized ceramic caps wherever they can get away with it because they never go bad but I don't think they should (different electrical characteristics).

I will also try my TrueTone 1Spot since it has more amps than the original.
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On 11/10/2020 at 6:44 PM, CZroe said:

 


Hmm... I also bought some brand new ones from Console5 a few months ago but I haven't tried any in a PC Engine or TurboGrafx yet. Been meaning to since the listing didn't seem too sure about whether or not they work with TG16, but I think I bought the last of them anyway so I didn't feel the need to hurry. They definitely fit at least.

Anyway, perhaps a better option is a mini-DIN RGB mod where the RF jack used to be. Doujindance sells a kit for the original white PC Engine but it's expensive and you'd probably need to adapt/extend the QSB to reach the TG16's EXT port... which I believe would have a backwards PCB footprint anyway due to the way it's mounted on the PCB upside-down. Frank Strasser made a DIY kit on OSHPark but deleted it when he started getting grilled by dbElectronics about attribution (it was based on the dbGrafx Booster). Though Rene (db) seemed to find the attribution he was looking for was already there, Frank had already responded by blocking him on Twitter and, thus, it may be lost forever. *SIGH*

MobiusStripTech shared and others have shared PCB mounts to fit the mini-DIN if you want to just wire up straight composite, audio, and RGB, but I would at least suggest Mobius' audio amp so you won't have to crank the volume.



That is odd. What are you using as a system card? A Turbo Everdrive needs special patched BIOS files to avoid memory bus fighting and bus fighting could cause issues like you describe.

It's definitely worth trying another power supply before doing anything drastic. I can try my Triad 1300mA PSU from Console5 to see if that works.

I've seen numerous examples of TurboDuos and PC Engine CD setups that have problems loading until you unplug other devices that aren't even powered on (often not even in the same power outlet) so it seems that the NEC hardware can be really we sensitive to other interference on the power line. Here's one example (caution: foul language):

 

 



Do you get audio buzzing with the drive installed while playing HuCard games? If so I would suspect a capacitor got installed backwards or something. Most professionals offering the service are using non-polarized ceramic caps wherever they can get away with it because they never go bad but I don't think they should (different electrical characteristics).

I will also try my TrueTone 1Spot since it has more amps than the original.

Hello CZroe, just got a new power supply and it was tested and works great on the doc, the buzzing sounds in some of the games is gone too, but the games still crash. I am including a couple of pictures of what is going on in Valis II and Monster Lair, maybe the system card is bad or should I just start looking for a new dock? Some of the games like Magical Dinosaur Tour seem to run fine, I don;t think that ever crashed on me, but the games that are action based do. Thanks for your help. 

 

 

monster lair.jpg

Valis iii.jpg

valis II.jpg

Edited by INTVCruise
Additonal Info added.
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On 11/10/2020 at 6:44 PM, CZroe said:

 


Hmm... I also bought some brand new ones from Console5 a few months ago but I haven't tried any in a PC Engine or TurboGrafx yet. Been meaning to since the listing didn't seem too sure about whether or not they work with TG16, but I think I bought the last of them anyway so I didn't feel the need to hurry. They definitely fit at least.

Anyway, perhaps a better option is a mini-DIN RGB mod where the RF jack used to be. Doujindance sells a kit for the original white PC Engine but it's expensive and you'd probably need to adapt/extend the QSB to reach the TG16's EXT port... which I believe would have a backwards PCB footprint anyway due to the way it's mounted on the PCB upside-down. Frank Strasser made a DIY kit on OSHPark but deleted it when he started getting grilled by dbElectronics about attribution (it was based on the dbGrafx Booster). Though Rene (db) seemed to find the attribution he was looking for was already there, Frank had already responded by blocking him on Twitter and, thus, it may be lost forever. *SIGH*

MobiusStripTech shared and others have shared PCB mounts to fit the mini-DIN if you want to just wire up straight composite, audio, and RGB, but I would at least suggest Mobius' audio amp so you won't have to crank the volume.



That is odd. What are you using as a system card? A Turbo Everdrive needs special patched BIOS files to avoid memory bus fighting and bus fighting could cause issues like you describe.

It's definitely worth trying another power supply before doing anything drastic. I can try my Triad 1300mA PSU from Console5 to see if that works.

I've seen numerous examples of TurboDuos and PC Engine CD setups that have problems loading until you unplug other devices that aren't even powered on (often not even in the same power outlet) so it seems that the NEC hardware can be really we sensitive to other interference on the power line. Here's one example (caution: foul language):

 

 



Do you get audio buzzing with the drive installed while playing HuCard games? If so I would suspect a capacitor got installed backwards or something. Most professionals offering the service are using non-polarized ceramic caps wherever they can get away with it because they never go bad but I don't think they should (different electrical characteristics).

I will also try my TrueTone 1Spot since it has more amps than the original.

Also, just noticed one more thing, now that I finally got some time to sit down and test this whole unit with a good power supply that is in spec with the 10.5 V and 1.5 Amps. When I played for about 15 minutes straight I noticed that the power to the LEDs began to turn off. After about 5 minutes the first went, then another 10 and the second went too. Also, previously I thought that the intro cinemas were playing correctly, but I just noticed that JB Harold is actually immediately messed up. Audio seems to be fine, but the scrolling images are missing large pieces or crooked. Both in and out of the dock the 2 pieces of the LEDs go out, if I turn the system off for about 20 minutes they both go back to normal, but go out rather quickly again. Including some pictures below. Thank you. 

pc messed up.jpg

murder club 2.jpg

jb harold.jpg

8 messed up.jpg

pc messed.jpg

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Throwing out a video of me playing through Bonk's Adventure.  I timed myself and submitted it to speedrun.com.  It's not super fast and it takes me about twice as long as the number 1 spot, but I figured I'd do it anyway... you know, for s and g...

 

 

 

Edited by Eltigro
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  • 4 weeks later...

Anyone know where I can buy region mod boards for PC Engine/Duo these days other than Doujindance on eBay? The OBEY board doesn't seem to be available anymore and GameTechUS only has the one he made that fits TurboGrafx (different from the one he made for Duo and everything else).

I'm trying to help a friend by proxy-buying a junk PC Engine Duo for him since the seller wouldn't ship to Canada. Since I have an extra cap kit on-hand and the equipment/experience to do the job, I'll be hooking him up with that along with a appropriate PSU, AV cable, etc. He was planning on paying some guy in Canada to do all that but it just makes sense for me to do it since I already have extra power plug tips that fit, extra controllers, etc.

The only thing I don't have that he wants is extra region mod boards. I mean, I do have two of the boards from Doujindance and I will throw one in if I can't buy another somewhere, but they are meant to be paired with the RF box replacement kits and RetroGameRestore clear replacement shells for two other PC Engines I have. Indeed, they are much too expensive to order alone, possibly due to DHL shipping during the pandemic.

I recall GameTech sold them through StoneAgeGamer a while back but I'm not seeing those anymore either. I looked for a schematic to DIY one but I'm only finding the two-chip solution and I'm not sure if Arcade Cards and such will work with that one.

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@CZroe Not really helpful, I know, but I've heard a ton of awful things about Doujindance's work. There are several videos on Youtube where people fix his shoddy work. Supposedly he's gotten better with time, but I wouldn't trust him based off the reviews I've seen. There's a Proboards PC Engine forum with some good techy people there who might be in a better position to answer if you don't get a good answer here, though.

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@CZroe Not really helpful, I know, but I've heard a ton of awful things about Doujindance's work. There are several videos on Youtube where people fix his shoddy work. Supposedly he's gotten better with time, but I wouldn't trust him based off the reviews I've seen. There's a Proboards PC Engine forum with some good techy people there who might be in a better position to answer if you don't get a good answer here, though.
Those same people who make videos fixing his old work fully endorse his work now but that isn't the take-away most people get when they watch the videos fixing up his old work. Doujindance has been around a long time. Even then, their criticism has to do with him using protoboard/perfboard, bubble wrap, and epoxy, which obviously has no bearing on this:


...especially when you consider that I bought the DIY kits and will be doing it myself. ;)

He's been doing it since before the competition was offering nice professional-looking PCBs anyway, so without a time machine that part seems like an unfair criticism. Granted, he was slow to transition because he was doing what had worked for him for years before the competition showed up and raised the bar. His use of epoxy probably had less to do with his soldering skill than it did with buyers damaging his work when they'd take a peek inside and then blaming him or international shipping, forcing him to pay for round-trip repairs (he operates in Japan).

Seriously: Watch that video and tell me if you've ever seen anyone do it better. :) Dude has responded to criticism the right way and responded by raising the bar again. Totally redeemed himself.
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Well, browsing the forums today has sure been a new experience to get used to! I haven't seen this mentioned but thought there might be those interested in something like this. A pretty well known chiptune artist known as 'REMUTE' has released several of his chiptune albums on actual cartridge format to be used in actual systems. I have his Genesis one he made about 2 years ago, and his SNES one he released about a year ago. Well, his newest album will release with either a PCE HuCard or TG-16 HuCard option. However, the TG-16 HuCard option is only available until January at which point only the PCE version of the HuCard can be purchased. I actually opted for the PCE version since I use an actual JPN TurboDUO as my main PCE games system anyway. But I do feel that the TG-16 version of the HuCard will be the more rarer variant in the end.

 

For those interested...here is the link to purchase this rather unique HuCard:

 

https://remute.bandcamp.com/album/electronic-lifestyle

 

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Also, just noticed one more thing, now that I finally got some time to sit down and test this whole unit with a good power supply that is in spec with the 10.5 V and 1.5 Amps. When I played for about 15 minutes straight I noticed that the power to the LEDs began to turn off. After about 5 minutes the first went, then another 10 and the second went too. Also, previously I thought that the intro cinemas were playing correctly, but I just noticed that JB Harold is actually immediately messed up. Audio seems to be fine, but the scrolling images are missing large pieces or crooked. Both in and out of the dock the 2 pieces of the LEDs go out, if I turn the system off for about 20 minutes they both go back to normal, but go out rather quickly again. Including some pictures below. Thank you. 
1242900692_pcmessedup.thumb.jpg.94aacaf5a2d8c659209789a65cf6ee09.jpg
806180056_murderclub2.thumb.jpg.bb04d8c8ff04300d25dadab58fbc63ef.jpg
1340446098_jbharold.thumb.jpg.27bb432230ccee570c3606f3cde16c94.jpg
1333882338_8messedup.thumb.jpg.5fee4def5acf91f9925c5392aa208e13.jpg
1826948677_pcmessed.thumb.jpg.8d6aee49c5e3dbfe6115991518cffb9b.jpg
That's bizarre. I can only imagine that there must be some problem with voltages if some LEDs aren't even coming on at some points even though they are demonstrably functional.
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Any of you guys know where this overlay comes from? I saw this one on ebay, and it reminded me I had one like this in my controller box (I had two with overlays actually, both different).

s-l1600.jpg

Don't know but Grafx Gear or whatever he's called is supposed to start selling replica overlays this month. Would be cool if he had this one too. atariage_icon_smile.gif

 

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Ok there, that hits it.  I can't read kanji and my kata in general is miserable since I can't ever use it anymore with anyone.  So it was probably some Famitsu magazine give away sticker for the controller and that would make sense.  Maybe those little characters were like mascots or something of them like 30 years ago.

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