GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

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AndehX
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by AndehX »

if you've not tried a sync stripper, you could try that, or try swapping out capacitors C33 and C35 for 1nf as stated on the gbscontrol wiki
rama
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by rama »

AndehX:
Uploaded the Sketch with no SPIFFS? It's an option for ESP8266 boards and you want "1M SPIFFS".
Otherwise, are there any more messages relating to the preset file?

Syntax:
Not enough info, could be anything :p
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AndehX
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by AndehX »

rama wrote:AndehX:
Uploaded the Sketch with no SPIFFS? It's an option for ESP8266 boards and you want "1M SPIFFS".
No idea, I just uploaded it the way I always do.
I'll double check it.

Edit: yeah, it was set to "no SPIFFS" for some reason. Never changed it myself, oh well.
rama
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by rama »

Updating the Arduino ESP8266 core does this. I had the same problem ;p
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AndehX
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by AndehX »

rama wrote:Updating the Arduino ESP8266 core does this. I had the same problem ;p
Oh well that explains it then. I literally just updated it today :P
rama
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by rama »

In another dev marathon, I've improved the whole WiFi situation now :)

The site itself will be served compressed now, shrinking from over 9000 to 2600 bytes.
Since most of the struggle with the ESP8266 seems to be from retransmission clogging up TCP, that should help a lot.

Websockets have more and improved connectivity checks, fixing a few crashes that I've seen.

Finally, if people don't want to connect the ESP to their WiFi, AP mode starts immediately now.
Before, there was a 30 second delay where the module waited to connect to a non existing network :p
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AndehX
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by AndehX »

Sounds good! I have a small request regarding the web ui. Could you possibly make the background black instead of white? or at the very least dark grey? it's burning my eyes when I have it open on my second monitor :mrgreen:
rama
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by rama »

Honestly, I'd love a full redesign with crazy stats and sliders and stuff.
But sure, I can manage a background color change, I think :p
TobiasRieper
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by TobiasRieper »

Hey Rama,
Hope you are doing well absolutely love the CFW. Works a treat. Have you disabled the scanlines? When I press the button it says its enabled but none show up. Another weird thing is that when I flip the dip switches on my slg 300 it doesn't make a slight bit of difference. It's a bit Odd. Any idea what it could be? I've tried removing the slg and trying scanlines in gbscontrol but doesn't make a difference. Thanks for enabling scaling on the 640 preset. Saves me sending the commands each time I load a new version of gbs. Cheers
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AndehX
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by AndehX »

Make sure you're running a 240p game. Scanlines are disabled on 480i even when "enabled"
TobiasRieper
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by TobiasRieper »

Hi,
I've just been playing N64 NTSC games on my everdrive. I believe that's 240p?
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NoAffinity
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by NoAffinity »

TobiasRieper wrote:Hi,
I've just been playing N64 NTSC games on my everdrive. I believe that's 240p?
There are a handful of resolutions used across games. The majority of games are 240p. Try Mario Kart 64 or Super Mario 64, just for testing.
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AndehX
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by AndehX »

Ok with the latest dev build, I'm having some pretty serious issues with my PS1. None of the presets seem to look right. Take a look:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/b9xofu89t99k6 ... 7.mp4?dl=0
rama
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by rama »

Software scanlines (from gbscontrol) only work when the deinterlacer is off, that's right.
External scanline generators should work regardless.
Maybe the Sync pulse polarity is wrong for the device, try the "invert Sync" command (web ui).

AndehX:
Well, that's odd indeed. I changed SDRAM timings to combat some noise, otherwise it's all web ui stuff.
Does it get better when you "Cycle SDRAM clock speed"?
TobiasRieper
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by TobiasRieper »

rama wrote:Software scanlines (from gbscontrol) only work when the deinterlacer is off, that's right.
External scanline generators should work regardless.
Maybe the Sync pulse polarity is wrong for the device, try the "invert Sync" command (web ui).
Thank you! As for the external scanline generator it enabled if the sync is inverted on NTSC, Non inverted on PAL. I used to be able to change odd / even scanlines but dip switches make no difference. Maybe it's a fault with my device.
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AndehX
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by AndehX »

rama wrote:AndehX:
Well, that's odd indeed. I changed SDRAM timings to combat some noise, otherwise it's all web ui stuff.
Does it get better when you "Cycle SDRAM clock speed"?
Cycle SDRAM speed doesn't seem to have any positive effect

Also, another interesting thing I discovered is that this issue only seems to be present on the 240p test suite. Actual games seem to run fine...

Here's another video that shows the issue better:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/whuiv4ltw7i4y ... 7.mp4?dl=0

Edit: Ok false alarm. Seems running the test suite on the PS2 doesn't seem to work. Even on my PVM, it looks messed up. Good work Filip Alác!
rama
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by rama »

TobiasRieper:
Nah, your generator is surely fine.
These devices bet on the Sync signals being a specific format, which isn't guaranteed in the real world.
I'd have to know the circuit, then correlate with my output timings, to make a guess on why the odd/even flip stopped working.

AndehX:
The PSX port isn't meant to be run (wasn't tested) on a PS2 :p
It worked well when I tested it though. Might be revision related? My slims are fine.
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AndehX
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by AndehX »

rama wrote:AndehX:
The PSX port isn't meant to be run (wasn't tested) on a PS2 :p
It worked well when I tested it though. Might be revision related? My slims are fine.
Possibly revision related then. Both my Slim and my Phat have the same issue running it (besides my Phat one running 240p stuff in 480i, but I think that's related to the Messiah 2 modchip that's in it...)
It's a nightmare trying to get it to run on my PS1's though. I have 3 of them, and they all have laser issues... :mrgreen:
rama
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by rama »

Ah, of course!
You're probably running the disc directly via the BIOS?
In this case, the modchip does some stupid hacking to try and correct 50/60Hz issues and display offsets.
One of these patches is then probably interfering with the display drawing.
The feature is just silly these days, and should be turned off (often called "video fix" in the modchip option menu).

If you want to test PSX NTSC video modes on a PS2, you better have an NTSC machine (and vice versa for PAL).
If that's not available, try this: https://assemblergames.com/threads/ps1v ... ead.52777/

Edit:
Oh, and just get another couple PSX consoles! One of them surely has a working drive ;p
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NoAffinity
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by NoAffinity »

rama wrote: Edit:
Oh, and just get another couple PSX consoles! One of them surely has a working drive ;p
Maybe.... :? :o
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AndehX
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by AndehX »

rama wrote:Oh, and just get another couple PSX consoles! One of them surely has a working drive ;p
My plan is to get a PSIO eventually :P
Higgy
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by Higgy »

Hi,

I have just attempted replacing the caps for SOG to ditch the Sync Stripper.
I have checked the board and the caps seem to be directly connected to other components. I don't know if I have linked them with solder or they are joined on the PCB? I cant really see any solder between components.

Could someone please check with a multimeter to see if they are connected at these points, or I have linked them! Thanks

rama's pic with notes:

Image
rama
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by rama »

It's all good, Higgy.
C35 couples YUV the SOG input pin. C34 couples YUV to the "Green" input pin.

C33 couples the signal you have on "S" from "RGBS" to the RGBS SOG input pin.
R34 is the 1kOhm termination resistor for the signal (you can check that it goes to GND).
This value incidently is the reason we need to install an extra 100 Ohm resistor, by the way ;)
Higgy
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by Higgy »

Cheers for that. I can sleep well now :)

My GBS board has been through the wars and was used originally with dooklink's RPi setup, so I am buying everything again and starting from scratch and working through everything (I hope to write a build guide). I have a Yellow Button "V5.0" or "2017" on order.

I am going to be using consoles+AMIGA, so even with the SOG cap mod (no Sync stripper) I still need to add a 100Ohm resistor? I only have standard through-hole resistors. I will wire in a Female-SCART socket onto the 8-pin header wires provided, so can I place the resistor between Comp Video & GND on the back of the Female SCART socket? Or do I need to add it onto the board somewhere? (I hope that makes sense!).
rama
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by rama »

Make it so that the resistor is installed by default, but can be removed for testing.
Most sources require it, with the exception of RGBHV (from a PC, for example).
If you use CSync from the Amiga, have the 100 Ohm resistor installed and remember to place a 470 Ohm in series
with the Amiga CSync (as you can read in any guide for CSync / Amiga).

So I wouldn't burry the 100 Ohm in a SCART socket. You never know when you want to use the board with something else.

Side note:
Have some nice holidays guys! ;)
fluxcore
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by fluxcore »

Anyone have any ground loop issues with the GBS? I'm providing audio+video through a scart hood from a NESRGB-modded famicom AV, get nice clean audio out from it with nothing connected.

As soon as I plug in the scart->VGA to the GBS (powered or not!) I get very noticeable audio hum. I've got the scart ground connected to the vga port ground, and definitely have continuity between scart ground and the ground on the GBS.

Everything is plugged into the same power multi-board, so should share power grounds at source.

With further investigation, the amount of hum changes depending on the screen (a dark screen produces less buzz), so maybe it's filtering cap issue?)

I have an "original" version as described at the bottom of the page https://github.com/ramapcsx2/gbs-contro ... 0-Variants - perhaps this charge pump setup is causing the audio noise. Unfortunately "use a ferrite bead and some caps" isn't quite specific enough for me to know how to proceed... what value beads/caps and where should they go?
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Syntax
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by Syntax »

That's from a poorly sheilded scart cable.
Buy/make a decent one and you'll have no buzz.

Its the rgb lines coupling into the audio lines. White screens are louder right?
fluxcore
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by fluxcore »

Syntax wrote:That's from a poorly sheilded scart cable.
Buy/make a decent one and you'll have no buzz.

Its the rgb lines coupling into the audio lines. White screens are louder right?
I guess it could be, it IS a shitty cheap aliexpress cable I'm using until some nintendo multi plugs come in that I can make a decent cable with.

I guess plugging the (shielded) vga cable into an unpowered GBS is enough to pull some load on the video signals down through the (crappy) scart cable, whereas GBS unplugged won't, thus the lack of interference? I guess I kind of ruled out the cables, but what you say makes some kind of sense.

I'll do some further testing with other systems which have better cables...

Thanks!
fluxcore
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by fluxcore »

Better cable fixed the issue, good thinking :)
rigues
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by rigues »

Hi Rama,

Just a quick post to say that with the latest versions of the firmware the problems with centering the image on my Mega Drive or MSX are gone. The image is now automatically and perfectly centered. Also, I noticed less noise on the Mega Drive, which is a nice bonus.

Many, MANY thanks for the patience and all the help. You're doing outstanding work!
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