Help on making NESRGB work with the Framemeister

[keropi]

Hello!

today I received my framemeister , already on English language and updated to 1.10
But I am having a VERY hard time making nesrgb to work OK with it. From what I see it's a SYNC issue.

First of all I rewired the JP scart connector to EU standard. It works, cables are soldered correctly. And the AV famicom works fine with the nesrgb connected directly to the tv.

Things for me are worse when using C-SYNC for sync and a little better when using COMPOSITE for sync (in RGB mode ofcourse).
Parts of games like title screens are messed up, in-game they are fine. You can mess with SYNC_LEVEL and fix the whole game but there is no guarantee that the next game will work with this SYNC_LEVEL.
The Famicom EverDrive menu is problematic too, I can't get a stable picture in RGB mode. If I put the SYNC_MODE to AUTO then the whole hdmi output goes crazy and the tv displays a "no signal" message.
Using COMPOSITE for sync I can get a stable ED menu.

It was my understanding that with fw 1.10 one does not need a sync stripper and can use c-sync directly, am I wrong in that?
I haven't messed with any other setting, maybe I am missing something else (high chance I do)

Any help will be greatly appreciated , TIA!

edit:
just verified scart adapter with a PS2 , rgb mode is fine and no sync issues at all, it works fine in AUTO, no need to adjust manually....

[Retro Access]

Hello!

today I received my framemeister , already on English language and updated to 1.10
But I am having a VERY hard time making nesrgb to work OK with it. From what I see it's a SYNC issue.

First of all I rewired the JP scart connector to EU standard. It works, cables are soldered correctly. And the AV famicom works fine with the nesrgb connected directly to the tv.

Things for me are worse when using C-SYNC for sync and a little better when using COMPOSITE for sync (in RGB mode ofcourse).
Parts of games like title screens are messed up, in-game they are fine. You can mess with SYNC_LEVEL and fix the whole game but there is no guarantee that the next game will work with this SYNC_LEVEL.
The Famicom EverDrive menu is problematic too, I can't get a stable picture in RGB mode. If I put the SYNC_MODE to AUTO then the whole hdmi output goes crazy and the tv displays a "no signal" message.
Using COMPOSITE for sync I can get a stable ED menu.

It was my understanding that with fw 1.10 one does not need a sync stripper and can use c-sync directly, am I wrong in that?
I haven't messed with any other setting, maybe I am missing something else (high chance I do)

Any help will be greatly appreciated , TIA!

I'm going to hazard a rough guess here but it looks like you might want that sync stripper regardless.

[Fudoh]

It was my understanding that with fw 1.10 one does not need a sync stripper and can use c-sync directly, am I wrong in that?

no, that's usually right and there have been a number of lucky Framemeister/NESRGB users already. I don't have a NESRGB yet (still on the old RGB PPU mod) and users in my area so far only use NESRGB modded frontloader units (again fine on the Mini). The behaviour your setup shows at least sounds strange.

[keropi]

yeah I can't say that the NESRGB was great for me... I was getting crap in blue backgrounds in certain games (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UTWT6Fc_vA and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkKFgF7k3s8) but these turned out to be my LG sets , since these problems don't appear in other sets.

Now it's the framemeister in rgb mode , SVHS/COMPOSITE from nesrgb work perfect.
Contra for example with SYNC LEVEL 0 is perfect all along. Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti goes crazy in intro screens, is almost fine in-game but with a crazy level of 30 in SYNC

edit:
made a video of what I am experiencing. I am using now a Roland 9v PSU for the famicom, it improved things. On the video you can see an original Akumajo Densetsu cart that I put translated eeproms on it , running perfect. Then Gimmick! cart that has some interference and finally the ED menu, each time you press up/down to scroll the list you get interference.
Otherwise the image is perfect when there are no sync issues.

Please excuse the crappy quality since I had to use my old mobile phone and the pause on the SYNC mode, I accidentally pressed OK instead of menu to return, so the framemeister re-applied the OFF setting...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVclijPDr4Q

real cart tests:

arkanoid, smb1, darkwing duck, elrond, gargoyle's quest 2, holy diver, rocklman2, salamander, parodius, argus, little samson, tnmt - all fine

adventure island 4, tnmt2, Ys III, rockman 3 and 5, SMB3, Kirby - all behave like Gimmick! on the video

[Fudoh]

I am using now a Roland 9v PSU for the famicom, it improved things.

what's the rating of the PSU ?

[keropi]

9v , 1.2A original SC-55 tone generator PSU (using a direct tv-scart connection the psu made no difference, I was using a 1A 9v one, all games and ED menu were fine - except those with the blue bg that flash on the upper part).
I have added more info on my previous post.
The problem is only on rgb mode, svhs/composite created from the nesrgb board don't have the slightest problem, it's ALL great.

In working games the quality is amazing btw...

[splash5]

My TV and XRGB FRAMEMEISTER can only work with Famicom's PPU video out.
If I connect V or #CS on NESRGB board to AV Multi out, the TV or XRGB-mini can not sync correctly.

[keropi]

^ damn, we are in the same boat... at least I can sync and some games play ok...
have you tried composite/svhs from nesrgb? they work perfect for me, at least svhs is better than stock composite, it has a noticeable increase in quality... it's something

I've been testing with my other consoles, I have modded for c-sync my megadrive1 and sms1 , my SuperCIC 1CHIP SNES , a saturn, my ps2 , my French RGB N64, my rgb modded PCE ... everything is stellar! Especially on the 8/16bit consoles I feel I was playing like a peasant before the framemeister
Haven't had any issues with all of them, just some SYNC_LEVEL adjustments and all was great!

[eightbitminiboss]

That's weird, I wish I could help but I have a sync stripper in my setup and everything I've thrown at it on my NESRGB modded Twin Famicom works fine, Everdrive menu, ROMs, real cartridges and Famicom disks.

[opt2not]

I don't know about the AV Famicom, but I have both a Front and Top loader NES w/ the NESRGB board connected to my framemeister, and I have no problems with it. The sync is wired to the C# pad on the NESRGB.

When using the C# for sync, you don't need a stripper for the framemiester.

Does your SCART connector have a sync stripper circuit installed in it? Mine did, and when I initially connected it using the C# as sync, I wasn't getting any picture because the stripper wasn't powered so it was acting like a resistor, but once I wired up 5v to the proper pin in the SCART, the sync just passes through the sync stripper and it worked.

Also, a dumb thing to check: Is your SCART Connector securely pushed into the the socket on the framemiester? I noticed that the connector sits a bit loose in the RGB socket on mine.

Other than using C#, and verifying your cables are working/wired correctly, I'm not sure what else I can suggest.

[CkRtech]

Hey keropi -

Good luck resolving your issue. Sorry you are having trouble. I just wanted to mention that I also have a NESRGB in a front loader that is hooked up to my display via the xrgb, and I do not appear to have any issues with sync. I think I am still running firmware 1.07a or something.

[keropi]

thanks for the wishes

I run a straight connection on my setup, CS# from NESRGB to the c-sync pin on the AV port and then through a custom cable I made that uses a nintendo plug and goes to the framemeister.
It works just fine with a direct connection to the tv.
I made another crappy video (but you can see the distortion) on a Samsung LCD set that has 0 problems with a direct connection. You can see distortion on the ED menu, the Contra title screen and intro but in the map screen and in-game it's perfect!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTuDqu63IFw

I don't know what to make of it tbh... it's the only system that gives me problems

[mickcris]

thanks for the wishes

I run a straight connection on my setup, CS# from NESRGB to the c-sync pin on the AV port and then through a custom cable I made that uses a nintendo plug and goes to the framemeister.
It works just fine with a direct connection to the tv.
I made another crappy video (but you can see the distortion) on a Samsung LCD set that has 0 problems with a direct connection. You can see distortion on the ED menu, the Contra title screen and intro but in the map screen and in-game it's perfect!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTuDqu63IFw

I don't know what to make of it tbh... it's the only system that gives me problems

I have the same issue with my av famicom and the everdrive. That is the only famicom cart that i have at the moment so I cannot test others. It displays the everdrive menu fine when using composite video for sync but does not work with c-sync.

I also have a US toploader with a NESRGB in it and it does not have any issues using c-sync.

[keropi]

thanks for the replies , could it be a case that famicoms have something different and that affects the signal generated?

[Vigormortis]

I have my NESRGB in an AV Famicom, and it works perfectly with my new Framemeister with CS# as my sync source (I haven't tried using V or PPUV as my sync).

[splash5]

^ damn, we are in the same boat... at least I can sync and some games play ok...
have you tried composite/svhs from nesrgb? they work perfect for me, at least svhs is better than stock composite, it has a noticeable increase in quality... it's something

I've been testing with my other consoles, I have modded for c-sync my megadrive1 and sms1 , my SuperCIC 1CHIP SNES , a saturn, my ps2 , my French RGB N64, my rgb modded PCE ... everything is stellar! Especially on the 8/16bit consoles I feel I was playing like a peasant before the framemeister
Haven't had any issues with all of them, just some SYNC_LEVEL adjustments and all was great!

The screen shows skew (like / /) when I use V signal from NESRGB as RGB sync signal.
If I use video signal from PPU as sync signal, everything looks perfect.

And if you use a socket on NESRGB to put PPU on it, make sure that all PPU's pins clean.

[keropi]

Well, I've sent the framemeister to a friend to test it (and see if he will also get one) and it's working perfect on his NESRGB famicomAV. The ED menu doesn't have the slightest error and all games are perfect.

I was the one that installed the NESRGB board to his famicom and when I had it here it had the same problems with direct scart connection (flashing in certain blue backgrounds).
Basically the way I see it it's lotto if it works or not on your tv, framemeister or not.

[keropi]

got the unit back and did some tests... I had to ditch CS# signal from NESRGB and use V for sync.
There was no way for CS# to work good for me.
I even got another LCD tv that works perfect with a direct scart RGB connection using CS# , but when the same tv gets the signal from the framemeister it craps out.

Maybe this info will be useful to others since V as sync appears to work fine...

[mickcris]

got the unit back and did some tests... I had to ditch CS# signal from NESRGB and use V for sync.
There was no way for CS# to work good for me.
I even got another LCD tv that works perfect with a direct scart RGB connection using CS# , but when the same tv gets the signal from the framemeister it craps out.

Maybe this info will be useful to others since V as sync appears to work fine...

It is strange how it works on my NES toploader (with a board from the 1st batch) but not on my AV Famicom (with a board from the 2nd batch). Not really sure what the issue is.

[ApolloBoy]

Composite sync worked perfectly fine on all the AV Famicoms I modded, although I use a PVM and not a Framemeister.

[keropi]

yes, it's really strange CS# doesn't always work... my board is from the 2nd batch as well.

On CRT tvs it made no difference , infact CS# was a little better - at least on the trinitrons I tested. Every problem I was having was with LCD sets...

[Deka]

Hi,

I have the same setup.

I was using Tim's cable and it was causing problems from my 8pin din to SCART that I bought from Retrogames (the one that connects to the xrgb and has the female scart lead)

Tim's cable has a small PCB which gives out 12v on pin 8 of the SCART cable.

I created a new scart cable and went straight without caps or anything.
I wired the +5V line to pin 8 and everything worked.

The reason for me was that the retrogames cable have a sync stripper in it already.
So it acted like s resistor without power.

After that I think I had to increase the sync setting on the XRGB-Mini a few notches and it all worked.