Trouble with borti's N64 Advanced

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siopoudis
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Trouble with borti's N64 Advanced

Post by siopoudis »

Hi everyone, first post here, although I've been lurking in the forums for a while now.

I just built a board today based on the latest version of borti's N64 Advanced repository on github.
It's fantastic, and everything works great, except for line-doubling. I just can't understand what I've done wrong.
Every time I enable it, I get the screen split next to each other. I'm using an OSSD (but tried straight to the TV as well, and I get the same result) and the OSSD still reports 313p mode even when I enable line-doubling.
The cable is a shielded NTSC RGB with sync on csync from retrogamingcables.

Has anybody seen this before?

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siopoudis
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Re: Trouble with borti's N64 Advanced

Post by siopoudis »

I know I'm replying to my own post here, but I managed to figure it out, and I'm putting this here in case anyone else runs into the same trouble.

It turns out my cable was sync on composite, and that's why line-doubling wasn't working, as it was picking up the sync signal from the composite.
I cut the trace to the composite and wired the RGB Advanced sync signal there, and everything works fine now!
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the Goat
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Re: Trouble with borti's N64 Advanced

Post by the Goat »

siopoudis wrote: It turns out my cable was sync on composite, and that's why line-doubling wasn't working, as it was picking up the sync signal from the composite.
I cut the trace to the composite and wired the RGB Advanced sync signal there, and everything works fine now!
Yup I had the same issue when I tried a new cable from retro gaming cables UK. It pulled the sync from a different pin then what I had connected the mod to.
-the Goat
Heliopause Heavy Industries :: video game console repairs and modifications
nmalinoski
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Re: Trouble with borti's N64 Advanced

Post by nmalinoski »

I would recommend to anyone who doesn't want to cut traces to just get a correct cable. Of course, you do need to be careful; isn't it that the same pin used for composite sync on NTSC models is used for 12V on PAL models?
siopoudis
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Re: Trouble with borti's N64 Advanced

Post by siopoudis »

Either pin 3 or pin 7 is normally not connected, depending on your version, so you can figure out which one it is on your console and use that for sync. Of course, you'll need a wire that has the sync wired to either luma or csync. If you're stuck with a very expensive composite video sync cable like me, you need to cut the trace on pin 9.
12v on pin 3 is only on PAL SNES and PAL GC, not the N64.
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nmalinoski
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Re: Trouble with borti's N64 Advanced

Post by nmalinoski »

siopoudis wrote:If you're stuck with a very expensive composite video sync cable like me, you need to cut the trace on pin 9.
I don't think anyone is going to be stuck with such a cable. If I couldn't return it, I'd sell it and then buy the correct cable, rather than needlessly mutilate my system.
siopoudis
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Re: Trouble with borti's N64 Advanced

Post by siopoudis »

What I'm saying is that people have options and they can make their own decisions. For me, I bought the N64 for less money than I paid for the cable, and I definitely don't care about composite video. I can also easily repair the trace cut. Plus this was for one of my own systems, and not a customer's.
Of course I don't condone people going about cutting traces, but that's what worked for me. The hassle of returning / selling the cable and buying a new one, wasn't worth it in my case.
https://8BitMods.co.uk - Plenty of mod kits and consoles available for UK and EU
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