GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

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SCARTicus
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by SCARTicus »

Ryoandr wrote:GBS might detect Vsync which makes it less reliable.
Is there a way to only use Csync on the Syncstrike
The WebGUI reports something about RGBHV, so maybe that has something to do with it. The SyncStrike outputs CSync over screw terminal, I could use that with the 5-pin input on the GBS8200.

I tried enabling 15KHz downscaling, but it did not seem to make a difference. I did not install a clock generator. Is it necessary? We really need a wiki, this thread is just too long to browse.

I fried my MCU a few minutes ago. I wired it to the DC pins on the GBS and it popped and smoked, probably because I was using a 9V supply on the GBS, I don't know. I'm going to order a new one, but it looks like I'm out for a few days on this
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NoAffinity
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by NoAffinity »

Greg2600 wrote:
8bitgasm wrote:SyncSlayer dude here.... I am going to start offering these with the clockgen installed (as an option) and the 100ohm resistor next week (waiting on more board units via DHL).

Trying to keep the price reasonable as all I'm doing is assembling other peoples findings; but want anyone without the skills to be able to own one of these amazing units. (currently $65 USD with the 8200 + MCU + acrylic and a PSU); may have to add a few dollars for the clockgen, to bump to $75.
This outputs YUV (YPbPr) Component at 480i right?
in pass-thru, possibly. But I dont think component output supports pass thru. Anybody know for sure?

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Greg2600
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by Greg2600 »

NoAffinity wrote:
Greg2600 wrote:
8bitgasm wrote:SyncSlayer dude here.... I am going to start offering these with the clockgen installed (as an option) and the 100ohm resistor next week (waiting on more board units via DHL).

Trying to keep the price reasonable as all I'm doing is assembling other peoples findings; but want anyone without the skills to be able to own one of these amazing units. (currently $65 USD with the 8200 + MCU + acrylic and a PSU); may have to add a few dollars for the clockgen, to bump to $75.
This outputs YUV (YPbPr) Component at 480i right?
in pass-thru, possibly. But I dont think component output supports pass thru. Anybody know for sure?
I'm looking to go from VGA 31Khz to component YPbPr. I thought the GBS did that.
Ryoandr
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by Ryoandr »

passthrough works with either input.
there are still ADC/DAC operations, but not scaling. In my experience it can also help with problematic sync console display combinations
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Greg2600
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by Greg2600 »

Ryoandr wrote:passthrough works with either input.
there are still ADC/DAC operations, but not scaling. In my experience it can also help with problematic sync console display combinations
This would not be passthrough, I've been looking for something to downscale the VGA into Component and was told this would do that.
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Chipnetics
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by Chipnetics »

Thought I would drop a note that I got 15 clockgens in today from DHL :) I've updated the Tindie store to reflect. Thanks everyone!
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Chipnetics
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by Chipnetics »

retrorgb wrote: Would you consider selling the case "kit" as well?: Acrylic, screws, feet...pretty much everything people would need. I know a bunch of people who'd enjoy making their own, but also want a small, compact case.
I was able to figure out how to Modify the listing for a "Acrylic and Standoff only" option. Thanks for the suggestion Bob.
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NoAffinity
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by NoAffinity »

Greg2600 wrote:
Ryoandr wrote:passthrough works with either input.
there are still ADC/DAC operations, but not scaling. In my experience it can also help with problematic sync console display combinations
This would not be passthrough, I've been looking for something to downscale the VGA into Component and was told this would do that.
It is transcoding but still passing thru the signal at native resolution. Downscaling from vga input does not work well. Downscaling from 480p/i component input to vga 240p output works great. However, in your original post on this subject you said you wanted to output 480i. The only conceivable way to get 480i out of the gbs would be the pass thru profile (with or without transcoding).

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intrepidbreak
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by intrepidbreak »

So far I've had a lot of luck (and fun) getting just about every console I own working with gbs-control. Thanks rama for all your work on this.

While I've had success with a consolized Neo Geo MV1C (using sync from the jamma edge), I can't seem to get a 3-4 AES working reliably at all.

Currently, my AES 3-4 is pulling sync from pin11 of the CXA, then through a 470uf->75ohm to pin 7. Pin 7 is isolated (I removed the existing cap/resistor pair to decouple the pin from the CXA.) If I play with Syncwatcher a bit, I can sometimes get it to sync properly but it's never quite right. This console works properly on all my other equipment/scalers.

Anyone else have luck with sync on the AES (or specifically the 3-4)?
Ryoandr
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by Ryoandr »

I can confirm a trouble with my AES (3-4 with restored csync signal pin), at best I get upper skew and jumpy pic, at worst I have no sync and diagonal scroll.
They are the same symptoms I have on an specific MVS (MV1FZ), so I suspecting a graphical chip (LSPC2 or NEO-B1) is either glitchy and/or is deteriorating and is sending some parasitic spikes into the sync.

MVS was test with and without clockgen, AES was tested without clockgen.
whatthefusch
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by whatthefusch »

I am a new GBS Control maker and user. I'd like to discuss which settings or fixes might solve the strangely distorted YPbPr image I'm getting on my old CRT TV. I hope this is the right place to talk about it.

PC VGA 640x480@60hz --> GBS Control --> CRT TV YCbCr ports.

Only way I've found to get any semi-working image is to enable "Low Res: Use Upscaling". That's the best I've found so far, and it gives a very shaky but almost legible image, with a shivering set of horizontal green "barcode-like" lines on the leftmost 10% of the screen.

Is there any knowledge about what the cause might be?
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Greg2600
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by Greg2600 »

NoAffinity wrote:
Greg2600 wrote:This would not be passthrough, I've been looking for something to downscale the VGA into Component and was told this would do that.
It is transcoding but still passing thru the signal at native resolution. Downscaling from vga input does not work well. Downscaling from 480p/i component input to vga 240p output works great. However, in your original post on this subject you said you wanted to output 480i. The only conceivable way to get 480i out of the gbs would be the pass thru profile (with or without transcoding).

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I could use 240p if it's component output because I'm using a non-HD CRT TV here.
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NoAffinity
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by NoAffinity »

Greg2600 wrote:
NoAffinity wrote:
Greg2600 wrote:This would not be passthrough, I've been looking for something to downscale the VGA into Component and was told this would do that.
It is transcoding but still passing thru the signal at native resolution. Downscaling from vga input does not work well. Downscaling from 480p/i component input to vga 240p output works great. However, in your original post on this subject you said you wanted to output 480i. The only conceivable way to get 480i out of the gbs would be the pass thru profile (with or without transcoding).

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I could use 240p if it's component output because I'm using a non-HD CRT TV here.
I tested 480i pass-thru and it does not work.

240p downscaling from 480i seems to work via component output....however...the only device that I have that I'm able to test with, without a lot of work climbing behind things and cable swapping, is a magewell hdmi pro capture card. It loses signal randomly every 5 seconds or so. This may not be an issue for a CRT, or it may be. Anyone else able to test this with component output from GBS direct-connected to a CRT?
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SCARTicus
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by SCARTicus »

I got a couple of new MCUs in, and I got my GBS-Control set up again.

I got stable pure RGBs -> YPbPr transcoded output on my CRT television.

I had to connect my SyncStrike's screw terminals to my GBS8200's five-pin RGBs input. It turns out that the big issue that was screwing me was the separate H/V sync signals. Once I got C-Sync into the GBS8200, everything works beautifully and is stable, with a couple of exceptions. You just have to set the preset to 15KHz Downscale (NOT PASSTHROUGH) and set the output to component. Just two options necessary.

I tried this setup with my Genesis2/CD, Saturn, Dreamcast, SNESJr, NeoGeoCD, PSOne, and PCE Duo-R. GBS-Control basically hates the Dreamcast, and I got a momentary jump in the image once at the EWJ:SE title screen, but those were the only issues I ran across. Dreamcast is not usable in this setup, but I like it better at 31KHz anyway. There are many places where my old CSY-clone transcoder would give me a magenta'ed screen. Examples include the EWJ:SE title screen, and the Saturn boot animation. This never happens on GBS-C, and the colors themselves are obviously much more accurate than the old transcoder (which I had tweaked extensively, and looked pretty good in most scenes). This is really great, I can't wait to compare it to my friend's RGB2COMP.

Because I am using the five-pin connector to input my videogames, I have two inputs free on my board. Is it possible to have 5-pin, DE15, and RCA inputs all hooked up at the same time and switch between them? I want to try downscaling my DVD player's progressive output to see some 240p video on my TV, and it would be nice to have the board also hooked up to my PC's VGA-out so that I can watch Bitchute and my local videos more easily on my TV.
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Gollot
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by Gollot »

Took like three months... but my GBS-8200 finally arrived. I have two questions, I didn't want to test it with power until I'm sure that this power supply would be safe to use.

Image

These are the specifications, it is from an old android box that I bricked.

Image

Also, I noticed that the plug is too small for the GBS-8200 power connection, is safe to just cut the end and replace it with any other that is compatible with the GBS power port?

Thanks for your time and apologies for my ignorance.
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NoAffinity
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by NoAffinity »

^yes that psu will work and you can splice the right connector on, no problem. Just make sure you get the pinout correct.

^^if you were having trouble with DC @ 15khz then this probably isnt helpful, but when you connect vga you need to remove the 100 ohm sync->ground resistor. And no, you cannot have more than a single source connected at a time, or you will get a degraded signal.

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whatthefusch
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by whatthefusch »

I haven't had luck yet with PC VGA input to YPbPr output. Nothing useful/controllable anyway. Other cable/protocol combinations are fine.

So I'm seeing limited application for the GBS in a purely PC environment. But really great with the consoles.
Gollot wrote:Took like three months... but my GBS-8200 finally arrived. I have two questions, I didn't want to test it with power until I'm sure that this power supply would be safe to use.

Image

These are the specifications, it is from an old android box that I bricked.

Image

Also, I noticed that the plug is too small for the GBS-8200 power connection, is safe to just cut the end and replace it with any other that is compatible with the GBS power port?

Thanks for your time and apologies for my ignorance.
The power supply should be fine. It is similar to the one I successfully use with my GBS.

You can replace the plug, but be sure the positive wire goes to the centre terminal of the plug.
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by Iraito »

https://streamable.com/dheq4f

I don't know what to do anymore, I tried every PSU both for the GBS and the console (i even tried a battery pack for the most stable supply of power to the GBS) but i keep getting noise, in this case the SNES is particularly noisy but the saturn and megadrive are much less so, the noise is always present when i use the scart but it vanishes when i use component, the problem became more accentuated when i updated after months of no updates.
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NoAffinity
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by NoAffinity »

@whatthefusch - pretty sure I said all that in the post immediately before yours. :p I agree, PC is not a good use case, unless we're considering Amiga and other CGA/EGA native computers as PC's. There seems to be a good following of this project for those use cases. In the strictly Windows PC arena, anything that is VGA or better compliant does not scale well, from my testing. I tried a handful of Windows games, set to low resolution and scaled up with the GBS. The results were poor. Better to just set the resolution you want from within the game.

@Iraito - I had those same issues on my GBS's. If using one of the inexpensive VGA-to-HDMI converters, that will certainly be a source for the noise. I have 2 of them, from different manufacturers, and they both introduce (or amplify existing) noise. One good remedy, which made the biggest improvement for me, is the copper tape trick. See this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2Hd0KO28FU&t=612s
Note, those solder points that are cautioned about around 3:30 are all ground points, so it doesn't matter if the copper tape touches them, and in fact you can solder bridges from the copper tape to those solder points. Of course, double check this with your mulitmeter, because the logic is correct, even if the details are not - you do not want the grounded copper tape touching non-grounded connections.
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by Iraito »

NoAffinity wrote: @Iraito - I had those same issues on my GBS's. If using one of the inexpensive VGA-to-HDMI converters, that will certainly be a source for the noise. I have 2 of them, from different manufacturers, and they both introduce (or amplify existing) noise. One good remedy, which made the biggest improvement for me, is the copper tape trick. See this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2Hd0KO28FU&t=612s
Note, those solder points that are cautioned about around 3:30 are all ground points, so it doesn't matter if the copper tape touches them, and in fact you can solder bridges from the copper tape to those solder points. Of course, double check this with your mulitmeter, because the logic is correct, even if the details are not - you do not want the grounded copper tape touching non-grounded connections.
I did the copper in the past but i saw no difference in the noise, i will try hooking the output of the gbs directly to a vga monitor to see if the VGA to hdmi adapter is the issue though.

Maybe i will even try the copper again, i'm just really demoralized to see that damn noise after 1 year of using the GBS, i love the upscaling quality and all the amazing features but that damn noise.

P.S: Just to put further details into this issue, the ps1 has a really localized noise, i have like 2 bars of noise traveling up but in the middle of those two bars of noise i have a consistent noise free output, like completely clean.
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by Iraito »

Nope, it's not the VGA to hdmi adapter, i just connected the gbs directly in VGA to a monitor and i get the same noise.

I did so many tests over 1 year without ever solving this issue, i'm honestly starting to think that my GBS has been defective since the beginning.
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NoAffinity
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by NoAffinity »

You might have brightness up too high on you monitor and/or the monitor is treating the signal as limited range. Either or both will amplify the noise. Just some more thoughts...probably things you've already ruled out.
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by Iraito »

Nooo absolutely not, i already checked the hdmi range and my brightness is actually on the lower side, this is an abnormal noise that gets generated by the GBS, i tested the console output directly on my TV, i get no noise, i tested the gbs with the best PSU and i get the damn noise every single time.

Rama help, i'm almost going to buy a new unit because i don't see this noise in other people videos online using the GBS.
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NoAffinity
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by NoAffinity »

Iraito wrote:Nooo absolutely not, i already checked the hdmi range and my brightness is actually on the lower side, this is an abnormal noise that gets generated by the GBS, i tested the console output directly on my TV, i get no noise, i tested the gbs with the best PSU and i get the damn noise every single time.

Rama help, i'm almost going to buy a new unit because i don't see this noise in other people videos online using the GBS.
rama has said that cyling SDRAM clock speed has improved the noise in some situations. Some have reported improvement by messing with this setting, others (myself included) have seen no improvement. Beyond that, you may just have a particularly noisy board, and replacement may help. Fortunately they're pretty damn inexpensive, and you can re-use all the add-ons.

Separate subject, I have to correct an earlier statement I made. I was just playing PS2 via component input, and had a RGBS console connected (not powered) on the P11 8pin input. There was no degradation of the PS2 signal. I believe, however, having sources connected to the HD15 and P11 inputs simultaneously will result in video degradation. YMMV.

Also, anyone having trouble with the antenna on the ESP (not getting great connectivity), I just did this and it is working better than any other solution I've come up with. took some 22ga wire, stripped it and tinned it real good. Bent it into an "L" with needle nose pliers. Soldered it to the existing antenna on the ESP, in the "L" position. It is working flawlessly! I've done this with extracted pins from your typical header that comes with dev boards, and those worked okay, but this works way better. Not sure if it's due to copper, lead and other metals, or the stranding, or maybe something just completely unrelated...but it is working great.

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whatthefusch
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by whatthefusch »

NoAffinity wrote:@whatthefusch - pretty sure I said all that in the post immediately before yours. :p I agree, PC is not a good use case, unless we're considering Amiga and other CGA/EGA native computers as PC's. There seems to be a good following of this project for those use cases. In the strictly Windows PC arena, anything that is VGA or better compliant does not scale well, from my testing. I tried a handful of Windows games, set to low resolution and scaled up with the GBS. The results were poor. Better to just set the resolution you want from within the game.
Great minds think alike, as they say! :p

I'd had vague hopes the GBS might be a path to conveniently replicate crt_emudriver sort of output in PC land, but it seems that's not to be.
Iraito
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by Iraito »

Yeah i did the ram cycling too, it didn't help which makes me think that the problem is not memory related, i'm going to buy a new GBS; hopefully the new one will have no issues.
grimclaire
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by grimclaire »

Is there a way to manually adjust the RGB values with GBS Control? With adc calibration, it tends to turn up the green a bit too much resulting in a slight green tint to the image. I've see this same issue on some videos online regarding GBS Control as well. I'm using a PS2 with component cables btw
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by Iraito »

After further examinations i found out that the audio signal that i extract from the female scart connected to the GBS is the main culprit of the visible noise, should i mod my scart cable and extract the audio directly from there or should i go for a different implementation ?
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SCARTicus
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by SCARTicus »

Iraito wrote:After further examinations i found out that the audio signal that i extract from the female scart connected to the GBS is the main culprit of the visible noise, should i mod my scart cable and extract the audio directly from there or should i go for a different implementation ?
Listen to your heart, man. You are the boss. The sky's the limit!
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maxtherabbit
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by maxtherabbit »

Another great reason to abandon SCART. Analogue audio and video should never be carried in the same cable unless both are run through coax
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