Questions that do not deserve a thread

[ZellSF]

Quick question about the SD2SNES (if anyone has one)

Will NTSC games run in 60hz on a PAL SNES without any mods (50/60hz switch etc) ?

No, the SD2SNES can't do that by itself. Games will run at the refresh rate of your console.

Ok cool, just wanted to know if I would need to do the 50/60hz mod to my SNES, or if it would work like the Mega Drive and just run NTSC games at 60hz anyway...

Thanks.

Uh, the Mega Drive runs NTSC titles at 50hz on a PAL machine too.

[AndehX]

Mine certainly doesn't. If I run NTSC Sonic 2, it runs in 60hz, even if I have my console set to 50hz (it has the the 50/60 jap/eng switches)

If I switch the console to 60hz while running an NTSC game, it runs faster than 60hz games normally do. As if its treating it as 50hz before I flick the switch.

[BuckoA51]

Something wrong with your 50/60hz mod then.

[AndehX]

Something wrong with your 50/60hz mod then.

well it does work... It's wired up properly as far as I can tell. Definitely works with PAL Sonic 1.

[FinalBaton]

Anyone bought their SNES to SFC converter from these guys?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Brand-New-Prote ... SwEeFVEBiC

It looks like a converter but... item name is "Protection socket slot" and the names converter and adapter are nowhere to be found... wich makes me a little nervous.
It's gotta be a converter, right?

If so then does it perform well? (aside from not playing SuperFX chip games, as is usal for most converters)?

[borti4938]

This device just passes through the contacts from the cartridge slot to the 'outside'. Nothing more and nothing less. I won't say converter to it; it's more an adapter.

You will be able to play US-SNES games on a SFC without widening the cartridge slot or vice verser to play SFC games on a US-SNES without removing the inside clips of the cartridge slot.
You won't be able to play PAL games on NTSC consoles or vise verser without modifying the hardware inside.

BR

[FinalBaton]

You will be able to play US-SNES games on a SFC without widening the cartridge slot or vice verser to play SFC games on a US-SNES without removing the inside clips of the cartridge slot.BR

This is all I needed to know!

I have a SFC and want to play US SNES games on it.

I was just afraid that it wouldn't do its job since it's labeled as a "protection socket slot",hehe

[Shoryukev]

I got my PVM-14N6U in the mail yesterday, and I have a couple of questions.

The first one is regarding geometry, is there somewhere you guys can point me where I can read up on how to really dial it in? I fixed the majority of issues with it that were there I think....but would like to learn more.

The second one is the image on the screen is shifted significantly to the right on the NES, but centered on the SNES. I'm guessing it's the monitor switching the resolution and the geometry settings I dialed in for the SNES not being ideal for the NES. I'm sure I can dig through the service menu and adjust it every time I change consoles, but is there a product you can recommend me that I can insert into the signal chain that will let me adjust this on the fly? Perhaps an Extron unit that has BNC inputs and outputs for RGB?

The last one is the image seems to be fairly bright, and I had to adjust the chroma levels down as well. Do I need to be terminating the s-video port on this thing? I assumed this PVM automatically terminated, but I have to bring the brightness down -5, the contrast down -10, and the chroma down -5 from standard in the settings to get something I'm happy with looking at. Maybe this is just normal, because it didn't look crazily out of control bright before I adjusted it.....just not as pleasing as I would like.

(some reference pictures of the screen)

Spoiler

I'm patiently awaiting my RGB SCART cables (SNES csync, Genesis mk1 csync, saturn luma-sync), but with s-video so far life is pretty good with this thing. I have to sit really close to it, but it makes me feel sort of nostalgic because I used to play videogames sitting on the floor looking at a 13" TV when I was a little kid....LOL

[AndehX]

could someone kindly provide me with an up to date guide to 50/60hz mod for 1CHIP SNES? I've seen numerous guides around, but I have no idea which is the most up to date, which one i need to do, or what components I need

[Guspaz]

The last one is the image seems to be fairly bright, and I had to adjust the chroma levels down as well. Do I need to be terminating the s-video port on this thing? I assumed this PVM automatically terminated, but I have to bring the brightness down -5, the contrast down -10, and the chroma down -5 from standard in the settings to get something I'm happy with looking at. Maybe this is just normal, because it didn't look crazily out of control bright before I adjusted it.....just not as pleasing as I would like.

There are three types of termination for PVMs:

1) Auto termination, where there is a switch in the connector, and inserting a plug in pushes the switch to disable termination

2) Manual built-in termination, where there is a physical switch next to the port that you have to set to enable termination

3) Manual external termination, where you need to plug a terminator into the connector to terminate the connection.

The symptoms of an unterminated output are excessive brightness, so it certainly sounds like you have a termination issue.

There is a symbol that Sony uses to indicate that a port features automatic termination, which is a little sideways zigzag icon. Here you can see the rear panel of a PVM14N6U:



The s-video port on line A does feature auto-termination. It's possible that something is wrong with it (perhaps the switch is broken), so what you can do is try the line B s-video input. Because it has no output, it's always terminated. If you see the same problem with both line A and line B, then it's not a termination issue. If you only have the problem on line A, then it is probably a termination issue. The short-term solution in that case would be to simply use line B, but you could also buy an s-video terminator to "fix" the problem on line A.

As a random note, you can find the service manual for this PVM here: http://diagramas.diagramasde.com/otros/ ... 10-00e.pdf

[Shoryukev]

Those are some good points, I'll compare line A and line B and see if they differ. I need to sit down and read through the entire service manual....the menu that contained all the different settings (geometry, brightness, sharpness, etc.) had about 100 different items that are all labeled with acronyms that I need to know what they are before tinkering with anything. Some are obvious (chroma, H-size, etc.), but some other ones aren't LOL

[Einzelherz]

As far as NES and SNES being in slightly different places on the screen, that's not uncommon in my experience.

And make sure you write down geometry settings and such before you adjust.

For the line A s video, if you have another set with s video in, you can connect a second cable to it and that should terminate it.

[Guspaz]

As far as NES and SNES being in slightly different places on the screen, that's not uncommon in my experience.

And make sure you write down geometry settings and such before you adjust.

For the line A s video, if you have another set with s video in, you can connect a second cable to it and that should terminate it.

But only if that second cable actually plugs into something else. Simply plugging an s-video cable into the output by itself would actually disable termination.

[Blair]

don't they make termination caps you can put on the outputs?

[Guspaz]

don't they make termination caps you can put on the outputs?

Yes, but that PVM has auto-termination, so it shouldn't be required.

[AndehX]

could someone kindly provide me with an up to date guide to 50/60hz mod for 1CHIP SNES? I've seen numerous guides around, but I have no idea which is the most up to date, which one i need to do, or what components I need

Could someone with experience quickly help me out with this? Thanks

[Einzelherz]

As far as NES and SNES being in slightly different places on the screen, that's not uncommon in my experience.

And make sure you write down geometry settings and such before you adjust.

For the line A s video, if you have another set with s video in, you can connect a second cable to it and that should terminate it.

But only if that second cable actually plugs into something else. Simply plugging an s-video cable into the output by itself would actually disable termination.

Hence the "if you have another set" and "connect a second cable to it".

[tcancian]

Can anyone tell me if the GBS-8100 (the VGA to CGA converter) would work with a 15 khz RGBs/RGBHV input and outputting S-Video?

Found out recently that I can output 240p RGBHV (or RGBs) on the RPI2 and RPI3 and I'm looking for a cheap way to connect the 240p RPI to a SDTV with only composite and s-video inputs.

[Guspaz]

How are you getting VGA out of an rPI? Via the GPIO?

[Blair]

Can anyone tell me if the GBS-8100 (the VGA to CGA converter) would work with a 15 khz RGBs/RGBHV input and outputting S-Video?

Found out recently that I can output 240p RGBHV (or RGBs) on the RPI2 and RPI3 and I'm looking for a cheap way to connect the 240p RPI to a SDTV with only composite and s-video inputs.

I've seen people use a $5 HDMI to component adapter cable (from RadioShack) for using the 240p output of a raspberry pi when connecting it to a CRT.

I know I've seen component/rgb to S-video converters, but I've never used one personally.

what you probably need is some type of sync combiner to turn the the RGBHV into RGBS and and then tap that directly to the RGBS pins of the GBS-8100. pretty sure any of the extron RGB interfaces with RGBS output can do that for you.

(also the Dreamcast VGA box guys make a similar device, the Kenzei)

[borti4938]

could someone kindly provide me with an up to date guide to 50/60hz mod for 1CHIP SNES? I've seen numerous guides around, but I have no idea which is the most up to date, which one i need to do, or what components I need

Could someone with experience quickly help me out with this? Thanks

Other way around: which guide have you found? Are you heading for a switchless mod (SuperCIC), a switchless mod with controller extensions (SuperCIC + IGR) or a simple switch mod?

[AndehX]

could someone kindly provide me with an up to date guide to 50/60hz mod for 1CHIP SNES? I've seen numerous guides around, but I have no idea which is the most up to date, which one i need to do, or what components I need

Could someone with experience quickly help me out with this? Thanks

Other way around: which guide have you found? Are you heading for a switchless mod (SuperCIC), a switchless mod with controller extensions (SuperCIC + IGR) or a simple switch mod?

I've just sorted it out. Over on the ASSEMbler forums, I ordered the kit from Bad_Ad84. Thanks tho

[FinalBaton]

Did anyone tried the Retrobit Super Retro Advance Adapter? I don't care for any of their stuff but this one's an exception, it could be useful for me.
(found a pretty thorough review here : https://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/category/snes/, but I'd still like to get feedback from shmups member )


If so : does it have problems running some of the games? And how does the audio quality compare to a real GBA?
From what I understand, it's a clone console(GBAOAC) inside a cartridge and uses the SNES only for power and controller input.



NOW BEFORE YOU COMMENT :
I know, I know it outputs composhit. And theres the Gamecube GBP wich is a better option...



But the thing is : I'm not buying a Gamecube. It's out of the question.

I limit myself in the number of consoles I own, it's the way I've chosen to control my expenses in gaming.

And also : I got a good comb filter now and don't mind playing this console in composite, it will look decent enough for the use I'll make of it. I usually go RGB for my consoles but really, this will be fine.
If that adapter doesn't have horrible sound and no compatibility issues (or very few), then it'll fine for my needs. I don't intend on getting into GB and/or GBC games at the moment, so the lack of retrocompatibility is not a deterrent for me.

*I know the SRA maps command "A" and "B" on the A and B button of the SNES pads, wich is less than ideal, but I plan on hacking a spare SNES pad to have its B and Y buttons act as "A" and "B", respectively.

[Guspaz]

It... works, but it scales the image to 4:3, messes up the colours, and has bad audio (both in quality, and it's mono). So you can play the games, but it's a pretty terrible way to play it. There are some mods to fix the audio, but it requires modding both the cart and the SNES itself.

Some comparisons that RetroRGB did (see here for the full review):



EDIT: Second and third images removed, they were too big. Check the full review for the full comparison screenshots

Conclusion is, you're way better off with a GameBoy Player, and you're only saving maybe $10-20 over a GCN+GBP. The Super Retro Advance is itself a console, so I don't see how it gets around your objection to buying additional consoles.

[FinalBaton]

Space taken is a thing too for me, so a cartridge that plugs in the snes saves space for another console to go in the ikea furniture with cube shelves

Also I already have a SNES so I'm sure the price of the SRA is going to be lower than a Gamecube + a GBP + Boot disc + a component-to-vga converter (my crt doesn't accept component).

[Guspaz]

Space taken is a thing too for me, so a cartridge that plugs in the snes saves space for another console to go in the ikea furniture with cube shelves

Also I already have a SNES so I'm sure the price of the SRA is going to be lower than a Gamecube + a GBP + a component-to-vga converter (my crt doesn't accept component).

An AGS-101 is even smaller

[FinalBaton]

Thanks for that review link btw Guspaz!
It was very informative. I'm happy to learn that the audio can be improved by a mod on the SRA. That might seal the deal for me.

[FinalBaton]

An AGS-101 is even smaller

Of course, hehe

But it would need to play on a TV, as I won't play it portable

[Guspaz]

Thanks for that review link btw Guspaz!
It was very informative. I'm happy to learn that the audio can be improved by a mod on the SRA. That might seal the deal for me.

As a caution, please remember that the Super Retro Advance does not support GB/GBC games, and the Super Game Boy doesn't support GBC games either. So it is not possible to have a complete solution to Game Boy games on the SNES. The Game Boy Player is the only solution that supports playing Game Boy Color (or hybrid games in colour mode) on a TV with actual hardware, AFAIK*. The Retron 5, I think, can do it with emulation, but then you suffer from the drawbacks of that (namely lag).

*:There is the Wide Boy for the N64, but they have messed up sound and cost $500-1000 since they are exceptionally rare devices meant as devkits. There is also a TV-out mod that can be done, but it is also composite-only, so it needs to be RGB modded, and it's only 480i no matter what, so it's flickery.

[FinalBaton]

yeah as I've stated in my first post, I'm fine with having access to GBA games only