GBS Control WiFi module voltage

The place for all discussion on gaming hardware
Post Reply
Harlock
Posts: 11
Joined: Wed May 18, 2022 10:49 am

GBS Control WiFi module voltage

Post by Harlock »

I recently built a GBS 8200, upon testing it worked for a few seconds but then the WiFi module (ESP8266) LED turned off and the screen got black.

I reviewed what I could have done wrong and I realized that in the wiki it isn't clearly stated what the voltage of the ESP8266 board is, they only say that 3.3V isn't optimal.

What is the correct voltage, does someone here know?

I initially connected it straight to the 5V coming from the power supply, and that may have fried it if it wasn't the correct voltage.

Here's a video of the board: https://youtu.be/S9t8CJtGKow
User avatar
NoAffinity
Posts: 1018
Joined: Mon May 07, 2018 5:27 pm
Location: Escondido, CA, USA

Re: GBS Control WiFi module voltage

Post by NoAffinity »

I believe there are power inputs that go through a LDO and are safe for 5v input. However, if you bypassed those LDO inputs and fed 5v directly, you have possibly caused damage.Image

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
Harlock
Posts: 11
Joined: Wed May 18, 2022 10:49 am

Re: GBS Control WiFi module voltage

Post by Harlock »

NoAffinity wrote:I believe there are power inputs that go through a LDO and are safe for 5v input. However, if you bypassed those LDO inputs and fed 5v directly, you have possibly caused damage.
Thanks. About this "LDO stuff": I did a bit of research and I think I understood that if I want to connect the board to 5V I should use the pin labelled "Vin", while if I want to connect it to the 3.3V line I should use one of the pins labeled 3.3V, is this correct?

Until now I always used the "Vin" pin, even when I tried to connect the board to the 3.3V line.

P.S. The wiki says that using 3.3V is "not recommended", do you happen to know why?
User avatar
NoAffinity
Posts: 1018
Joined: Mon May 07, 2018 5:27 pm
Location: Escondido, CA, USA

Re: GBS Control WiFi module voltage

Post by NoAffinity »

I believe you are correct.

I also believe this subject has come up before and it has to do with the filtering of the LDO being preferential to feeding the gbs' 3.3v (which might be a bit dubious?) into the esp.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
Last edited by NoAffinity on Tue May 24, 2022 3:53 am, edited 1 time in total.
Harlock
Posts: 11
Joined: Wed May 18, 2022 10:49 am

Re: GBS Control WiFi module voltage

Post by Harlock »

NoAffinity wrote:I believe you are correct.

I also believe this dubject has come up before and it has to do with the filtering of the LDO being preferential to feeding the gbs' 3.3v (which might be a bit dubious?) into the esp.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
OK, thanks for the info, I'll try with a new board (it's just a couple of eurobucks) and hope for the best.
Harlock
Posts: 11
Joined: Wed May 18, 2022 10:49 am

Re: GBS Control WiFi module voltage

Post by Harlock »

NoAffinity wrote:I believe you are correct.

I also believe this dubject has come up before and it has to do with the filtering of the LDO being preferential to feeding the gbs' 3.3v (which might be a bit dubious?) into the esp.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
Update: I checked the voltage of all the capacitors I had to upgrade, do you think they're correct (see the picture)?

Also, by connecting the WiFi module to the 3,3V (actually, it's 3,21) I managed to make it work for a whole 10 minutes this time.

The strange thing is that even when the picture is gone and the blue LED is turned off, I can still connect to the web interface, make changes, and the changes will show the the next time I get the picture back for a while (now the picture has scanlines)!

Another strange behaviour is: while I was checking the voltage with the multimeter, the WiFi module turned back on for a second (?)

P.S. the voltage coming from the power supply is 4,7, is that acceptable (BTW, I previously had already tried a different PSU but I got no changes in the behaviour)?

Image
User avatar
NoAffinity
Posts: 1018
Joined: Mon May 07, 2018 5:27 pm
Location: Escondido, CA, USA

Re: GBS Control WiFi module voltage

Post by NoAffinity »

4.7v is low, probably resulting in the low voltage to the esp. Do you have another 5v supply to test? FWIW, the cheap wall wart phone chargers are typically garbage. May have better results from an official one (like samsung, apple, etc). While you may get sufficient power, the cheap ones will often introduce additional noise. I say 'additional' because gbs' may have some native noise that just cant be completely overcome.

Anyway, Triads are reputable power supplies.

Will look at the caps later today when I can get in front of a computer.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
Harlock
Posts: 11
Joined: Wed May 18, 2022 10:49 am

Re: GBS Control WiFi module voltage

Post by Harlock »

NoAffinity wrote:4.7v is low, probably resulting in the low voltage to the esp. Do you have another 5v supply to test? FWIW, the cheap wall wart phone chargers are typically garbage. May have better results from an official one (like samsung, apple, etc). While you may get sufficient power, the cheap ones will often introduce additional noise. I say 'additional' because gbs' may have some native noise that just cant be completely overcome.

Anyway, Triads are reputable power supplies.
You're right, that's a phone charger and not a very good one, tomorrow I'll test the GBS with the Mean Well PSU of my MiSTer, or I could end up using the original DE10-Nano PSU that currently sits unused. In any case, I'll check out the output voltage.

Triad PSUs are not easily obtainable where I'm from, I tried to buy one for my MiSTer but I couldn't.
NoAffinity wrote: Will look at the caps later today when I can get in front of a computer.
OK, thanks, you're helping me out.
User avatar
NoAffinity
Posts: 1018
Joined: Mon May 07, 2018 5:27 pm
Location: Escondido, CA, USA

Re: GBS Control WiFi module voltage

Post by NoAffinity »

Harlock wrote:
NoAffinity wrote: Will look at the caps later today when I can get in front of a computer.
OK, thanks, you're helping me out.
Sorry, I was reading quickly earlier, thought you had posted pics of the actual caps you installed. If you got the right values, then that shouldn't be your issue, and it really is pointing toward sub par input power being the issue

Something else to check: do you have another clock gen board you can test? Many of us have had random issues which were resolved by replacing an apparently faulty clock gen.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
Harlock
Posts: 11
Joined: Wed May 18, 2022 10:49 am

Re: GBS Control WiFi module voltage

Post by Harlock »

NoAffinity wrote: Sorry, I was reading quickly earlier, thought you had posted pics of the actual caps you installed.
I did indeed post a picture of the actual caps I installed, and those values I wrote on the pic are the ones I'm reading with my multimeter, I've no idea about what the correct values should be, do you?
NoAffinity wrote: If you got the right values, then that shouldn't be your issue, and it really is pointing toward sub par input power being the issue
I've got an update on this: the crappy PSU was getting as low as 4,50V (maybe that could have damaged something?). I hooked up my Main Well and now I'm reading 5,05V but the behavior of the WiFI board didn't change a bit.

Also, I realized that while I can enter in the gbscontrol web interface, I cannot do any changes anymore, (I'm not sure if it's got something to do with the fact that now the module is connected to my LAN while the first time I tried it was in AP mode).
NoAffinity wrote: Something else to check: do you have another clock gen board you can test? Many of us have had random issues which were resolved by replacing an apparently faulty clock gen.
Unfortunately I don't, I'll order another one (and another WiFi board, just to be sure) but I'll have to wait at least a month for it to arrive.
User avatar
NoAffinity
Posts: 1018
Joined: Mon May 07, 2018 5:27 pm
Location: Escondido, CA, USA

Re: GBS Control WiFi module voltage

Post by NoAffinity »

You could try it without the clock gen board installed, just for testing purposes.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
Harlock
Posts: 11
Joined: Wed May 18, 2022 10:49 am

Re: GBS Control WiFi module voltage

Post by Harlock »

NoAffinity wrote:You could try it without the clock gen board installed, just for testing purposes.
I was thinking about that, thanks for confirming that it makes sense. That's the first thing I'll try tomorrow.
Harlock
Posts: 11
Joined: Wed May 18, 2022 10:49 am

Re: GBS Control WiFi module voltage

Post by Harlock »

NoAffinity wrote:You could try it without the clock gen board installed, just for testing purposes.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
I disconnected the clock gen and it worked much better (of course without clockgen there's screen tearing), but still not perfect.

I got a black screen after 30 minutes, however, this time it sufficed to click the WiFi module's reset button in order to get the picture again (this didn't work previously). After resetting it went another 40/50 minutes without problems and then I had to turn everything off, I'll further test it later.
User avatar
NoAffinity
Posts: 1018
Joined: Mon May 07, 2018 5:27 pm
Location: Escondido, CA, USA

Re: GBS Control WiFi module voltage

Post by NoAffinity »

I've had at least one gbs on my test bench that did similar things. Moved the clock gen board and esp to ankthet gbs, and that comb worked fine. Moved the CG and esp from the other board to the one that had been acting up, and it worked fine. Swapped things back and the problem board was acting up again. Replaced the CG and esp on the wonky board with new replacements, and no problems. No rhyme it reason to these things. Maybe slight variations in production parts or who knows..

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
Harlock
Posts: 11
Joined: Wed May 18, 2022 10:49 am

Re: GBS Control WiFi module voltage

Post by Harlock »

NoAffinity wrote:I've had at least one gbs on my test bench that did similar things. Moved the clock gen board and esp to ankthet gbs, and that comb worked fine. Moved the CG and esp from the other board to the one that had been acting up, and it worked fine. Swapped things back and the problem board was acting up again. Replaced the CG and esp on the wonky board with new replacements, and no problems. No rhyme it reason to these things. Maybe slight variations in production parts or who knows..

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
Could be. Also, mine is the GBS 8200 V5.1 but all the guides I saw online use the 4.0 version. Maybe this has also something to do with it.
User avatar
NoAffinity
Posts: 1018
Joined: Mon May 07, 2018 5:27 pm
Location: Escondido, CA, USA

Re: GBS Control WiFi module voltage

Post by NoAffinity »

The only issue with version differences is typically black buttons vs. yellow buttons. If you've got black buttons, that shouldnt be the problem.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
Harlock
Posts: 11
Joined: Wed May 18, 2022 10:49 am

Re: GBS Control WiFi module voltage

Post by Harlock »

NoAffinity wrote:The only issue with version differences is typically black buttons vs. yellow buttons. If you've got black buttons, that shouldnt be the problem.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
Nope, I have the yellow buttons one. What are the issues with this version?
User avatar
NoAffinity
Posts: 1018
Joined: Mon May 07, 2018 5:27 pm
Location: Escondido, CA, USA

Re: GBS Control WiFi module voltage

Post by NoAffinity »

Harlock wrote:
NoAffinity wrote:The only issue with version differences is typically black buttons vs. yellow buttons. If you've got black buttons, that shouldnt be the problem.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
Nope, I have the yellow buttons one. What are the issues with this version?
I dont know the technical differences. I believe there is one member that got a yellow button working - youd have to search back through the thread to find the record of it. But, in general the yellow button models should be avoided due to compatibility issues with gbs c.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
Harlock
Posts: 11
Joined: Wed May 18, 2022 10:49 am

Re: GBS Control WiFi module voltage

Post by Harlock »

NoAffinity wrote:I dont know the technical differences. I believe there is one member that got a yellow button working - youd have to search back through the thread to find the record of it. But, in general the yellow button models should be avoided due to compatibility issues with gbs c.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
Bummer, so my project was doomed from the start. I'll buy a new one and keep this as a spare (now it works but without V-sync).

Thanks for all the help.
Post Reply