GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

[EmKIronFist]

Hi guys, I would like your help and opinion with some issues.

1) To start I would like to know what configuration do you use to scale GBC / GBA games in the best way through a Gamecube with Gameboy Player? I use a Gamecube with Carby HDMI, I pass it through an HDMI to component video converter (for best results I use GBI and force the video to 240p) and from there to the GBS Control with 720p presets and I adjust the scale by hand from there as much as possible before obtaining distortions. But I think I am not doing it correctly since despite maintaining the correct aspect ratio in 3: 2 for the GBA some games show distortion when they do horizontal scrolling what they call shimering, someone could guide me on how its configuration does it which leads me to wonder if scaling would be better with the installation of the clock generator as it would not cause distortions.

I actually primarily use GBS Control for scaling GBI through this exact configuration. There's multiple options that I think are viable, I was going to ask rama at some point if he would be ok with having a wiki page for optimal settings related to specific setups like this. In the meantime though, I'm happy to share it here!

So, on the GBI side of things, you'll want to use gbihf. Copy it and rename it to gbihf-gbscontrol.dol. Then create a file called gbihf-gbscontrol.cli containing the following:

Code: Select all

--format=custom,offset=0,scaled-size=0:0
--scan-mode=non-interlace,no-clock2x,no-size2x
--

Load up GBI first before you make adjustments on GBS control, as the 480p mode your Carby outputs by default on boot (and running Swiss) will trigger a different preset on the same slot, so any changes made to GBS settings while it's receiving a 480p signal won't affect the non-standard 240p mode usable by GBI.

Once GBI is loaded, you'll want to select 1280x720, and then go to Picture Control and hit Vertical+ until the log window says your Vscale is 512.
Then hit Horizontal+ until the log window says your Hscale is 477. Hit save preset.

The final result is a 4x integer scale of the original GBA resolution. It doesn't fill the screen 100%, but it's very sharp! I love playing Game Boy and GBA games like this. Examples below:

Kirby's Dream Land:

Spoiler

Super Mario Advance:

Spoiler

Only real caveat is you will definitely want to use the Clock Generator, as the irregular refresh rate of this mode comes with a little bit of additional tearing otherwise.

Alternatively, if you're willing to sacrifice a bit of sharpness, it is possible to fill the screen AND use a more standard refresh rate (which means less tearing, but a tiny bit more latency.) Use gbisr and make sure your .cli contains the following settings:

Code: Select all

--zoom=2.25:3
--scan-mode=progressive
--matrix=identity
--

Then all you have to do once you load up GBI, is hit 1280x720 mode and your image will be stretched back to the correct GBA aspect ratio. It's softer than the method above, but it does fill the screen and I have never seen this mode tear at all on my board with a Clock Gen installed.

[Shiver_169]

I actually primarily use GBS Control for scaling GBI through this exact configuration. There's multiple options that I think are viable, I was going to ask rama at some point if he would be ok with having a wiki page for optimal settings related to specific setups like this. In the meantime though, I'm happy to share it here!

So, on the GBI side of things, you'll want to use gbihf. Copy it and rename it to gbihf-gbscontrol.dol. Then create a file called gbihf-gbscontrol.cli containing the following:

Code: Select all

--format=custom,offset=0,scaled-size=0:0
--scan-mode=non-interlace,no-clock2x,no-size2x
--

Load up GBI first before you make adjustments on GBS control, as the 480p mode your Carby outputs by default on boot (and running Swiss) will trigger a different preset on the same slot, so any changes made to GBS settings while it's receiving a 480p signal won't affect the non-standard 240p mode usable by GBI.

Once GBI is loaded, you'll want to select 1280x720, and then go to Picture Control and hit Vertical+ until the log window says your Vscale is 512.
Then hit Horizontal+ until the log window says your Hscale is 477. Hit save preset.

The final result is a 4x integer scale of the original GBA resolution. It doesn't fill the screen 100%, but it's very sharp! I love playing Game Boy and GBA games like this. Examples below:

Kirby's Dream Land:

Spoiler

Super Mario Advance:

Spoiler

Only real caveat is you will definitely want to use the Clock Generator, as the irregular refresh rate of this mode comes with a little bit of additional tearing otherwise.

Alternatively, if you're willing to sacrifice a bit of sharpness, it is possible to fill the screen AND use a more standard refresh rate (which means less tearing, but a tiny bit more latency.) Use gbisr and make sure your .cli contains the following settings:

Code: Select all

--zoom=2.25:3
--scan-mode=progressive
--matrix=identity
--

Then all you have to do once you load up GBI, is hit 1280x720 mode and your image will be stretched back to the correct GBA aspect ratio. It's softer than the method above, but it does fill the screen and I have never seen this mode tear at all on my board with a Clock Gen installed.

Ohhh excellent, I really appreciate your help, I will try. I only have one doubt, if I understood correctly, do you put the Carby in 480p to boot Swiss and run GBIHF and that forces the resolution to 240p? I once run GBI as indicated and the video was forced to 480p but it may be that I have not done it correctly I will verify it. I have never tried to play with the GBI settings but I will do what you say hoping to get results and I will be telling you what happened. What I had was to put Carby in 480i and force GBI at 240p with this, it would scale in the 720p preset, basically I would use the horizontal + button until it started to distort, once that happened, I adjusted it just before the distortion measured my TV and I then adjusted the vertical to maintain the correct aspect ratio at 3: 2. Although my method was very clear, there was a bit of shimering when there was a horizontal scroll, I thought that was why the scaling I was doing was not in integers and that was surely what was happening. I hope you solve my doubts, I will start testing the configurations and something good will come out.

[Dacide]

Hi!

Anyone know how and where to change the pins assigned for SDA and SCL on esp8266. In my case I want to connect SDA to D4 and SCL to D5 that way I could connect the boards directly using the P5 port of the GBS (the antenna would be facing the ground). I tried Wire.begin (2.14) but it doesn't even compile.

TIA

[EmKIronFist]

Ohhh excellent, I really appreciate your help, I will try. I only have one doubt, if I understood correctly, do you put the Carby in 480p to boot Swiss and run GBIHF and that forces the resolution to 240p? I once run GBI as indicated and the video was forced to 480p but it may be that I have not done it correctly I will verify it.

Yes, Carby/GCvideoDigital normally linedoubles 240p to 480p, but as of I think firmware version 3.0 onward, it passes through non-standard display modes automatically instead of trying to "fix" them to 480p.
This is why you need --format=custom and --scan-mode=non-interlace,no-clock2x,no-size2x in the .cli file, they tell GBI to send a very accurate (but non-standard) 240p signal that your Carby should just pass through if it's on the latest GCVideo firmware. If you're on an older firmware, you may need to manually go into the GCVideo menu while you have Swiss booted up and disable linedoubling for 240p mode. Maybe you might prefer to use the speedrunning edition with the fullscreen stretch, though, that one uses 480p mode anyway and should work no matter what firmware you're at, it's just not as sharp as using 240p + the first settings I mentioned.

I have never tried to play with the GBI settings but I will do what you say hoping to get results and I will be telling you what happened. What I had was to put Carby in 480i and force GBI at 240p with this, it would scale in the 720p preset, basically I would use the horizontal + button until it started to distort, once that happened, I adjusted it just before the distortion measured my TV and I then adjusted the vertical to maintain the correct aspect ratio at 3: 2. Although my method was very clear, there was a bit of shimering when there was a horizontal scroll, I thought that was why the scaling I was doing was not in integers and that was surely what was happening. I hope you solve my doubts, I will start testing the configurations and something good will come out.

Ahh, well GBI settings files are definitely important for use with scalers, it sounds to me like you saw shimmering because it was still outputting 480i at the end of the signal chain and maybe there was deinterlacing going on with the GBS.

[tom_walker]

Hey guys,

Been mucking around with gbs boards for about a year now with my Amigas. Have 2 x v5 8200s and 1 x v3 8220. The v3 is on my Amiga 600 and this is the one I'm trying to get spot on as it's my "main system". All 3 have the latest gbscontrol code on them. I have most bugs ironed out yet there are 2 lingering issues that I'm hoping people can help me answer!

1) Flickering horizontal distortions/lines for the first 2-3 minutes. After the first couple of minutes, this settles down but it can be quite frantic at first boot. Screenshot below shows a couple of bands. These seem to be completely random and only last for a split second each.



2) I get a waviness that comes through in... errrr, waves only when running in NTSC 60Hz. In 50Hz PAL, the image is completely interference free (once item 1 settles). It starts diagonally one way, straightens vertically after a few seconds and then trails off diagonally the other way a few seconds after that.... and then is gone for 30 seconds to a couple of minutes. Pictures below. First, off a clean image, then of the faint waves.




Have replaced C11 with a 22uF cap and am running a 5V PSU with a ferrite clamp. I should note, I get symptom 1 on my v5 8200 as well, but symptom 2 appears isolated to the v3 8220.

I'm already stoked with the performance of these units, but if I could tie up these loose ends... I'd be a very hamper camper indeed!

Cheers!

[rivlez]

Is the GBS-8200 v5.1 board compatible? I got it installed and have the GBS Interface page loading but it says "GBS Board not responding!". Anyone have any idea?

[EmKIronFist]

Is the GBS-8200 v5.1 board compatible? I got it installed and have the GBS Interface page loading but it says "GBS Board not responding!". Anyone have any idea?

You might have the SCL and SDA lines mixed up, or connected to the wrong pins on the arduino. If you swap them and still can't get it to work, share a picture of your install here.

[Shamisan1]

i install the clock on my gbs and now i don't have signal the red led is on and the Arduino module turn blue but no signal at all any help ? i follow fue images on the wiki for the instalation.

[fwannmacher]

i install the clock on my gbs and now i don't have signal the red led is on and the Arduino module turn blue but no signal at all any help ? i follow fue images on the wiki for the instalation.

Verify the ground and power wires... I had that behavior when I soldered them in the wrong spots of the capacitor.

That almost fried my board xD

[jdubs]

Hey guys, how does this wiring job look? KeeYees Development Board WiFi WLAN Wireless Module for ESP8266 NodeMCU installed (think I got the pins right) and the rgb pots bipassed

http://s000.tinyupload.com/?file_id=008 ... 5036218370

-Jim

[Shamisan1]

i install the clock on my gbs and now i don't have signal the red led is on and the Arduino module turn blue but no signal at all any help ? i follow fue images on the wiki for the instalation.

Verify the ground and power wires... I had that behavior when I soldered them in the wrong spots of the capacitor.

That almost fried my board xD

well on the wiki y see the images and compare with mine is identical i dont know if anybody has the diagram or something

[Shamisan1]

Hey guys, how does this wiring job look? KeeYees Development Board WiFi WLAN Wireless Module for ESP8266 NodeMCU installed (think I got the pins right) and the rgb pots bipassed



-Jim

the image won't load :/

[Shamisan1]

Hey guys, how does this wiring job look? KeeYees Development Board WiFi WLAN Wireless Module for ESP8266 NodeMCU installed (think I got the pins right) and the rgb pots bipassed



-Jim

the image won't load :/

sorry but do You have the photo with better resolution ?

[Ryoandr]

JDubs, you need to close the jumper above the buttons.

[jdubs]

Yep!! Had a solder bridge on there but removed it as I have a proper jumper coming.

Does the rest of the wiring look ok in terms of the pins connected?

Psu arrives on Saturday so just wanted to make sure I was all set.

Thanks!!

[rivlez]

Is the GBS-8200 v5.1 board compatible? I got it installed and have the GBS Interface page loading but it says "GBS Board not responding!". Anyone have any idea?

You might have the SCL and SDA lines mixed up, or connected to the wrong pins on the arduino. If you swap them and still can't get it to work, share a picture of your install here.

Definitely not, it's labeled on the board. I'm actually not getting the power LED to turn on anymore.

[RoboArmy]

Anyone got one of these?

https://gamescare.com.br/wp-content/upl ... scaled.jpg

I just did after getting a borked 8220 which disappointingly didn't work properly. I'm liking it so far, but my main problem is that my Neo-Geo CD frequently has tearing issues. The guy who makes these told me "in the latest firmware (rama) didn't get the Neo Geo timings right yet" implying that it's something that will be fixed someday. Do I need to install the clockgen board or is there anything I can do for it to work properly as-is?

If I do have to install the clockgen it's going to be a bummer.

[NoAffinity]

@RoboArmy my neo 1 slot works great with gbs8200. Clock gen add-on is highly recommended for all sources.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[RoboArmy]

@RoboArmy my neo 1 slot works great with gbs8200. Clock gen add-on is highly recommended for all sources.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Thanks, appreciate the baseline. I was trying the PS1 in it today and I noticed it would also tear similarly (with the tearline scrolling from middle of the screen upwards) so I don't know if I'm missing something very obvious or not. I'll try the clockgen mod soon.

Maybe a smarter question would be: what's the state of the tearing problem on gbs-control without the clock generator board installed? I'm assuming it's something you have to deal with unless you install it.

edit: I was able to play a lot of pulstar without any tearing, seems like you have to wait for it to stop or reset the sync processor enough times? If it's any use, here are some infos about the signal/config:

Spoiler

Code: Select all

HT / scale   : 2414 512
HS ST/SP     : 16 144
HB ST/SP(d)  : 2328 346
HB ST/SP     : 2254 214
------
VT / scale   : 750 683
VS ST/SP     : 1 6
VB ST/SP(d)  : 750 26
VB ST/SP     : 14 16
IF VB ST/SP  : 4 6
CsVT         : 261
CsVS_ST/SP   : 4 1
/preset_ntsc.1 1982
/preferencesv2.txt 18
preset preference = 2
frame time lock = 0
preset slot = 1
frame lock method = 0
auto gain = 0
scanlines = 1
component output = 0
deinterlacer mode = 0
line filter = 1
peaking = 1
preferScalingRgbhv = 1
6-tap = 1
pal force60 = 0
matched = 1
step response = 1

I can't use frametime lock in either method, it works for a bit then the image blinks twice in a row. This happens on the Neo but not on the PS1, dunno what's up with that.

[tiochico27]

My Neo Geo MV1FZ also works great with GBS8200 w/out the clockgen board. No problems here.

[Ryoandr]

Until recently I had no problem with many MVS boards, but I came across one MV1FZS that doesn't play well with GBS, it has upper skew and jumpy screen. It works perfectly with a supergun into a 15k crt.

Sync comes from LSPC2-A2, goes into a 74LS32 used as a buffer, and then has a 100R, 470R pull up and finally JAMMA pin P. I checked both resistors, changed the LS32 just in case, but result stays the same. Slightly faulty LSPC2 ?

[RoboArmy]

My Neo Geo MV1FZ also works great with GBS8200 w/out the clockgen board. No problems here.

That's good to know. For some reason I haven't got any of that rolling seam line again so maybe I misconfigured something, I also put it on 720x480 just in case (not too big of a deal in my case to have the upscaler in a lower res). Working great now!

[ulfrinn]

So the GBS-8220 with two VGA ports is the same exact scaler and works the same with GBS-C software? I ask this because I also noticed the 8220 has the second I2C headers installed. Someone without soldering skills could buy that board, and an arduino with pre-installed headers, some jumper wires, and not really need to solder anything.

Alright. I thought the boards were pretty much the same except the second VGA port and the I2C header. If they're not, no big deal. I soldered some Arduino style header pins onto mine and connected the Arduino through the jumper wires and that's worked fine so far. I do have tearing though noticeable on the Sega Genesis. I am not entirely sure how to get rid of that.

[ulfrinn]

Does anyone know what type/size connector is needed for the VGA header? I want to take the PCB out of a VGA to HDMI adapter and add a connector to it so I could have something of a built-in HDMI out. If I had to guess I would say the pitch is maybe 2mm?

[maxtherabbit]

Does anyone know what type/size connector is needed for the VGA header? I want to take the PCB out of a VGA to HDMI adapter and add a connector to it so I could have something of a built-in HDMI out. If I had to guess I would say the pitch is maybe 2mm?

why? just buy a HDMI GBS board for a couple peanuts and save yourself all that headache

[NoAffinity]

Does anyone know what type/size connector is needed for the VGA header? I want to take the PCB out of a VGA to HDMI adapter and add a connector to it so I could have something of a built-in HDMI out. If I had to guess I would say the pitch is maybe 2mm?

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3300989 ... 4c4dS91eSB

[EmKIronFist]

I have most bugs ironed out yet there are 2 lingering issues that I'm hoping people can help me answer!

1) Flickering horizontal distortions/lines for the first 2-3 minutes. After the first couple of minutes, this settles down but it can be quite frantic at first boot. Screenshot below shows a couple of bands. These seem to be completely random and only last for a split second each.

In my experience this tends to occur with a poor quality or ill-suited power supply, even with the C11 mod in place. If you've been powering through the ESP8266's microusb, try powering through the board's DC jack instead; if you're been using the DC jack, make sure you use a 5v 2a power supply of reasonable quality. From what I've heard in this thread the board+arduino doesn't really draw anywhere near that much current, but you're significantly less likely to run into power issues this way. I tried an awful qualty 5v 1a power supply and the wavy distortion was absolutely out of control; it looked like the image was melting in a vortex. Slightly less-bad (but still poor) power options produced the behavior you're describing.

2) I get a waviness that comes through in... errrr, waves only when running in NTSC 60Hz. In 50Hz PAL, the image is completely interference free (once item 1 settles). It starts diagonally one way, straightens vertically after a few seconds and then trails off diagonally the other way a few seconds after that.... and then is gone for 30 seconds to a couple of minutes. Pictures below. First, off a clean image, then of the faint waves.

Have replaced C11 with a 22uF cap and am running a 5V PSU with a ferrite clamp. I should note, I get symptom 1 on my v5 8200 as well, but symptom 2 appears isolated to the v3 8220.

I get a similar diagonal noise issue, particularly noticeable at lower outpuit resolutions (the waves are pretty big at 480p), and I think adding ceramic caps in parallel for power supply bypassing is supposed to fix this? I haven't had time to try it, but if you give it a go and it eliminates the issue, that would be great to know (and it would make for useful additions to the wiki)

[Syntax]

If you think the power supply may be causing the diagonal issue, put a 2000-3000uF or higher cap on the + - legs of the DC jack and see if it clears up.

If it does then send that PSU into orbit.

[ulfrinn]

Does anyone know what type/size connector is needed for the VGA header? I want to take the PCB out of a VGA to HDMI adapter and add a connector to it so I could have something of a built-in HDMI out. If I had to guess I would say the pitch is maybe 2mm?

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3300989 ... 4c4dS91eSB

TY, I thought it was 2mm but wanted to be certain.

Does anyone know what type/size connector is needed for the VGA header? I want to take the PCB out of a VGA to HDMI adapter and add a connector to it so I could have something of a built-in HDMI out. If I had to guess I would say the pitch is maybe 2mm?

why? just buy a HDMI GBS board for a couple peanuts and save yourself all that headache

The HDMI boards would still require an extra device to inject audio into the HDMI signal so you're not really saving any extra work. They also lack component inputs which is a huge loss as I use that more than the VGA or RGBS.

[maxtherabbit]

I still don't understand the desire to inject analog audio sources into hdmi but to each his own