NESRGB board available now

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thchardcore
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by thchardcore »

After convincing myself that the nesrgb v2 install I performed a few months back on my AV Famicom was botched, I performed the install with a new nesrgb board and a new ppu. However, I am still encountering issues.

My issue is that everything is fine for about 10-15 minutes before the sync starts getting wonky and producing visible distortion near the bottom center of the screen. It almost looks like it is power related. Output is Csync with a 470ohm resistor to the composite video pin (original cut).

Here is what I have tried so far:

1. Swap PSU with another known working unit (OEM Nintendo)
2. Install new 7805 regulator (2A)
3. Capacitor replacement - all but small 1uf ones

I'm at a loss. Anything else I should focus on?
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Sirotaca
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by Sirotaca »

I recently installed one of Voultar's FFC kits in my AV Famicom and drilled out the AV grounds as described here, and my sync issues largely went away, as did the jailbars. No more visible jitter (apart from the single line at the top of the frame), and it's no longer freaking out my sync separators. Worth a shot if you're having problems.
thchardcore
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by thchardcore »

Thanks. I will give this a go. What sort of sync issues were you experiencing before you did this adjustment to the grounding?
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Sirotaca
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by Sirotaca »

I alluded to it in my previous post, but there was some subtle but visible horizontal jitter/wobble across the whole screen, and both my EL1883 and ISL59885 sync separators would regularly drop sync at specific points in a lot of games, I guess depending on what the CPU was doing (the LM1881 could handle it, though). Also, OSSC compatibility was significantly worse than my de-jittered SNES before, but now it's more similar.
thchardcore
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by thchardcore »

I removed the transistor and the unused capacitor (the 220uf that originally is too tall for the nesrgb to sit correctly). I also removed an led wired from near the power switch. Low and behold, I no longer get the random shit towards the bottom of the screen after warm up.

Can anyone tell me, with stock 2.2 firmware and the OSSC, do you get the slight wobble/skewing on the top few lines. I see it on about the first 10. Flashing to 2.3 and using the external dejitter produces a much better result, but not perfect. Is this just something you have to love with on the nes/famicom?
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hawaplop
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by hawaplop »

Has anyone been able to reach Tim lately?
Sylph4
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by Sylph4 »

eightbitminiboss wrote:Does anyone have documentation for the AV Famicom audio mod that Voultar does?

As best as I could follow it's:

1) Cut pin 1 on BU3270S (As of June 7th, I've noticed Voultar appears to pull pin 16 and 17 out of circuit now instead of pin 1)
2) Pull R8 from the south side and connect to a via near the NESRGB's J5 with a wire extension.
3) Connect 2A03's pin 1 and 2 to the NESRGB's A and B pads
4) Connect NESRGB's O to audio solder pad near the composite solder pad next to the AV Multiout

Is that about right?
Yeah, would like to know about this method too and how it compares to this mod https://www.retrorgb.com/av-famicom-hvc ... n-mod.html.
stefan927
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by stefan927 »

hi guy's, i think i need some hint in the right direction...
i've a PAL NES freshly modded. now i have some weird color glitches, i have no explanation so far.
it could be video ram or the chip between the ram / ppu but i kind of doubt it.

the console had initially video ram issues, with total garbage on screen, so the video ram is a replacement chip already - stolen from a spare part NES :)

J4 / J7 / J8 is bridged on the nesrgb board and i have build a custom scart cable connecting to an OSSC.
checked signals from the nesrgb board and compared it with a second probe directly on the scart connector, so that is confirmed good.

when i start up the console, and start super mario, the color's are correct.
if i leave it running in the start screen at some point (like a minute or so) it starts kind of fading from blue to white background.
around another minute later the background color is completely white and it does not come back.
i tried a different game cartrige and it has the same weird color issues.

Image

if it helps, i have an oszi to do some measurements, but i couldn't track it down on my own :(

any help would be really appreciated :)
amd20x6
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by amd20x6 »

Tim's posted information about a new NESRGB V3 on his official store. I see the CPLD was shrunk to an EPM240* due to the chip shortage and it only supports a single palette. I have a few questions- hopefully Tim can chime in!
  • What palette does it ship with?
  • Will alternate palette firmwares be made available?
  • What's J10 for? I don't see it on the previous V2 board.
  • If I'm able to source a 1.8V EPM570* in the future, is there anything preventing me from installing one and using V2 multi-palette firmware? I'd have to do some creative wiring to make up for the lack of palette pads 1&2, but that's acceptable.
jamisonia
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by jamisonia »

Ikaruga11 wrote:Can the NESRGB mod be installed alongside the Hi-Def NES mod on an AV Famicom? Also, is the Hi-Def NES Mod the only way to get digital audio?
I believe, someone please correct me if I'm wrong; that the Hi-Def NES mod simply converted the analog audio to digital using an ADC. You can do this yourself now with something like this https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Hdiwousp ... C90&sr=8-4

You could do it externally or if you wanted you could strip down the board, solder 5V from the console to the this board, and the wires straight to the pads where the RCA jacks mount and you could probably easily stuff this inside the NES or Genesis for that matter. Now ofc you're going to say, that isn't what I want, I want digital to digital audio, and I agree. But I'm not sure the Hi-Def NES ever provided that.
Avalonstar
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by Avalonstar »

I have a v1.4 board installed in a top loader that until yesterday I was very proud of myself for being able to upgrade the firmware on (needed that sweet, sweet Smooth palette). Unfortunately, it seems like the firmware update has turned the board's volume down to 0, or something close to it. I am unable to hear anything unless I jack up my OLED to 100 on a flash cartridge or at least 50 with an original MM2 cartridge.

This seems like an isolated issue, as I haven't found any other talk about this specifically. But the picture is fine (minus wanting to try out the on-board dejitter mod), and I've triple-checked all of the connections. A and B on the NESRGB are attached to pins 1 and 2 on the CPU, etc. So the only thing I can think of is the firmware. That said, I tried downgrading and it didn't solve the problem either.

So is there a way that I can either reprograming the FPGA (sorry I'm very new to this) to bump up the volume or is there something I need to modify on the board to resolve this?
Avalonstar
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by Avalonstar »

So I've done as much reading and searching as I can on the subject and I haven't found anybody else with a similar issue.

Has anybody run into extremely low audio levels running through the NESRGB as opposed to taking the audio straight through the CPU pins? I've wanted to do the expansion audio mod, but if I run the audio through the NESRGB (at levels that are fine when bypassing it), I can barely hear it unless I triple my TV's volume.
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Tempest_2084
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by Tempest_2084 »

Avalonstar wrote:Has anybody run into extremely low audio levels running through the NESRGB as opposed to taking the audio straight through the CPU pins? I've wanted to do the expansion audio mod, but if I run the audio through the NESRGB (at levels that are fine when bypassing it), I can barely hear it unless I triple my TV's volume.
No I've never noticed that. The person who did my mod originally had the sound tapped directly from the motherboard but in doing that I noticed that I didn't get expansion audio. So I ended up getting the sound directly from the NESRGB board (I think it had pads for that) and adding the wire for the expansion audio mixing and it worked and the sound level was exactly the same.
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FBX
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by FBX »

amd20x6 wrote:Tim's posted information about a new NESRGB V3 on his official store. I see the CPLD was shrunk to an EPM240* due to the chip shortage and it only supports a single palette. I have a few questions- hopefully Tim can chime in!
  • What palette does it ship with?
  • Will alternate palette firmwares be made available?
  • What's J10 for? I don't see it on the previous V2 board.
  • If I'm able to source a 1.8V EPM570* in the future, is there anything preventing me from installing one and using V2 multi-palette firmware? I'd have to do some creative wiring to make up for the lack of palette pads 1&2, but that's acceptable.
https://etim.net.au/nesrgb/background_fault/

Scroll down to the 3.0 section for your answers. J10 enables the dejitter filter if you close it, but it's only partially implemented.
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FBX
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by FBX »

Sirotaca wrote:I recently installed one of Voultar's FFC kits in my AV Famicom and drilled out the AV grounds as described here, and my sync issues largely went away, as did the jailbars. No more visible jitter (apart from the single line at the top of the frame), and it's no longer freaking out my sync separators. Worth a shot if you're having problems.
In my testing of this modification, I determined you only need to drill out the top-side annular rings. The bottom side just connect to each other.
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FBX
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by FBX »

Sylph4 wrote: Yeah, would like to know about this method too and how it compares to this mod https://www.retrorgb.com/av-famicom-hvc ... n-mod.html.

According to Ace and Tianfeng, Voultar's method runs into issues with phase inversion as well as cart amp scenarios. In order to properly restore audio balance for expansion, you have to do Ace's method. Although note I am going to do a new guide with a better method that taps points on the top-side of the mobo and are only 1.5 inches long:

Image

Image
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Danexmurder
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by Danexmurder »

Any word on when the next batch will be available?
pausuri
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by pausuri »

Hi there, I just finished mod my AV Famicom with Ace’s audio balance restoration mod (using FBx alt points) everything went well but I’ve noticed that games with expanded audio (like Castlevania 3) sounds significantly lower that regular games after the mod, Has anyone experienced a similar issue after doing this mod?

Cheers

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Lopenator
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by Lopenator »

I been checking everyday. I think it was thought to be available sometime this month. Anything can happen though.
viletim
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by viletim »

Version 4 of the NESRGB will go into production shortly. The estimated time when boards are available again is 4-5 weeks from now.

This version will have more palettes (probably 5 or 6). Ability to change palette and reset the console via the controller. De-jitter is fully implemented. There is also a test mode (with LED data monitor) to aid troubleshooting faulty installations.
KPackratt2k
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by KPackratt2k »

viletim wrote:Version 4 of the NESRGB will go into production shortly. The estimated time when boards are available again is 4-5 weeks from now.

This version will have more palettes (probably 5 or 6). Ability to change palette and reset the console via the controller. De-jitter is fully implemented. There is also a test mode (with LED data monitor) to aid troubleshooting faulty installations.
Cool. I look forward to ordering a V4 kit once they're in stock from the US Distributor. The extra palettes might not be of use to me (at least depending on what it would take to use the feature and customize palettes), but the test mode certainly sounds useful in the event something goes wrong with the install.
copy
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by copy »

Hi Tim - Will the Version 4 still allow for mechanical palette switching somehow, or is it only via controller now?
viletim
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by viletim »

copy wrote:Hi Tim - Will the Version 4 still allow for mechanical palette switching somehow, or is it only via controller now?
It will still support mechanical switches like previous versions. There are six palettes available in V4, so you would only be able to access three of them by this method.
letsgome
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by letsgome »

Love all the new features! Definitely picking one up the day they are available. I have two questions about the new board; if you are able to answer them I would very much appreciate it.

- Is the wiring for the new features of the board such as changing pallets & resetting via controller the same or similar to the NESIGR board?
- Have you decided on what the palettes pre-flashed to the board are going to be? I don't have any in particular that I want to see, but I am still kind of curious as to what they are since there are 6 included.
retroMCR
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by retroMCR »

Hey Tim,

The us distributor NESRGB board was supposed to be in stock on the 29 but it seems it went in stock this morning and is already out of stock (sad face). is there going to be more stock soon?

Thanks.
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VEGETA
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by VEGETA »

I have NESRGB installed on Twin Famicom and took CPU pin 1 and 2 to A and B, then O signal to 3.5mm audio jacks... I am using N8 Pro but I found that expansion audio doesn't work this way, but when using N8 Pro on an unmodded Twin Famicom via composite and original audio jack it worked perfectly fine.

how can I get expansion audio?

notice that I removed original CVBS and mono audio jacks to fit the new video and audio jacks in the plastic shell....

Since I am taking audio GND signal from NESRGB board, and it should be the same as other GNDs... can I just wire the original audio from original audio jack pin (or RF modulator audio pin) to 3.5mm and get the perfect sound with expansion audio?
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Lopenator
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by Lopenator »

Just installed my nesrgb. I love this thing!ImageImageImage
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Lopenator
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by Lopenator »

Does anybody know why my NES will randomly change colors during play? Sometimes it will revert back to normal and sometimes it doesn't.ImageImage
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vol.2
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by vol.2 »

Lopenator wrote:Does anybody know why my NES will randomly change colors during play? Sometimes it will revert back to normal and sometimes it doesn't.
That could be a lot of things, but it doesn't have to be the mod. I've seen color issues just from dirty games or dirty cartridge slots making poor connection. I guess it could also be a bad solder joint somewhere or (worst scenario) one of the chips could be getting flaky.
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Lopenator
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by Lopenator »

The everdrive is clean. The pin connector was boiled. Cleaned with alcohol and toothbrush and I bent the pins up. It's a tight grip but definitely not a death grip. All of the pins are not perfectly even albeit close. Maybe that can be causing a bad connection. I have a brand new aftermarket connector. Maybe I should try that.
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