New Duo owner - Now what?

[korpse413]

I am now the proud owner of a Duo. What are my next steps? The PCB is a PWA-3285-A


-Do cap kits now include the 2x ceramic caps to fix the Jailbar issues?
-For RGB, any suggestions on the AV driver or THS7374?
-I live in the States, and the Duo came with the OEM power brick, do I need a stepdown converter? I've never owned a system from another region until now.


Also, is it still recommended to burn images at 2x or 1x speed with 650mb 74min CDs if possible for Disc games?

Thanks for any advice you guys can share, I can finally join the club

[tjstogy]

First step is to send it to me for further testing.

Jk.

Have you checked out retrorgb yet?
http://retrorgb.com/tg16.html

[bobrocks95]

-I live in the States, and the Duo came with the OEM power brick, do I need a stepdown converter? I've never owned a system from another region until now.

Yes, if you want to use that power brick you need a stepdown converter. If you have or can find a US power brick that outputs the same thing as the OEM one though, you won't need it. I don't know what size the Duo power plug is, but for reference I use a Genesis 2 power adapter for my Famicom. I would assume that if it's possible, somebody's posted about it somewhere.

Make sure the center pin polarity and voltage are the same, while amperage is the same or higher. Of course the barrel diameter needs to be the same size so the cord will actually plug in.

[leonk]

You do not need a step down converter to use that power brick. I use Japanese power adapters in North America all the time.

In this case, inside the adapter is a 100V AC to 9V AC transformer which then goes through a bridge rectifier with soothing caps to output 9V DC. That transformer is +/- 20% and so our outlet AC is well within range. There are 2 forms of protection inside that AC adapter. A fuse on the output and a thermal fuse (118 degrees C I believe) to prevent the step down converter from melting / starting a fire.

I use my PCE Duo OEM AC adapter for hours on end with no issues.

[Unseen]

Also, is it still recommended to burn images at 2x or 1x speed with 650mb 74min CDs if possible for Disc games?

That recommendation is really, really, really old and comes from the time when CD writers had a maximum write speed of 8x or so. You actually do not want to write at the lowest speed, but at the speed which gives the lowest error rates for your particular media/writer combination. When CD writers got faster, this speed has moved upwards for various reasons - one of them being that the manufacturers didn't bother optimizing the lowest-speed writing strategies because most people want to write as fast as possible.

Some drives(*) are able to report low-level error rates, e.g. C1/C2 errors for CDs and PIF/POF (parity inner/outer failure) for DVDs. If you happen to have such a drive, there are various tools(*) that will scan an entire disc for these errors and show this to you as a nice graph - obviously you want as low error rates as possible over the entire disc and no large peaks either. If you don't mind "wasting" a few discs, write a full-size ISO to them at various speeds (some tools have an option to write a disc with test data) and scan them afterwards to find the optimal speed for your setup.

(*) Sorry, can't give any recommendations for drives or tools - I haven't followed the ODD market for a long time

[kamiboy]

Tim ships the jailbar fix caps with his AV driver.

[bobrocks95]

You do not need a step down converter to use that power brick. I use Japanese power adapters in North America all the time.

In this case, inside the adapter is a 100V AC to 9V AC transformer which then goes through a bridge rectifier with soothing caps to output 9V DC. That transformer is +/- 20% and so our outlet AC is well within range. There are 2 forms of protection inside that AC adapter. A fuse on the output and a thermal fuse (118 degrees C I believe) to prevent the step down converter from melting / starting a fire.

I use my PCE Duo OEM AC adapter for hours on end with no issues.

If you've got 120V coming out of the wall I wouldn't say that's well within range, but from what I've heard a lot of homes have closer to 110V coming out.

If you've opened up the Duo's adapter and know it has the two fuses it's good. Without checking other console's bricks I don't think the risk of fire is worth it to say all consoles are good to use, especially older ones.

[leonk]

I've opened and repaired NES,SNES, Genesis, TG16, Duo, Coleco and many others ..

Personally, I love the design inside a Genesis adapter. The SNES on the other hand.. wow!! VERY DANGEROUS! Common pin is connected to console ground!!! Common and gnd are connected together in the electrical pannel but that's still dangerously stupid:

- isolating transformer needs to be 100% isolated for safety!
- what happens if diy electrician wired hot/common backwards in outlet!!

This explains why I see so many dead SNES adapters. Nintendo saved $0.50 on proper bridge rectifier and instead reuse common as ground!!!

[kamiboy]

Opting for niggardly savings that screw people over for decades to come sounds just like Nintendo, alright.

[korpse413]

You do not need a step down converter to use that power brick. I use Japanese power adapters in North America all the time.

In this case, inside the adapter is a 100V AC to 9V AC transformer which then goes through a bridge rectifier with soothing caps to output 9V DC. That transformer is +/- 20% and so our outlet AC is well within range. There are 2 forms of protection inside that AC adapter. A fuse on the output and a thermal fuse (118 degrees C I believe) to prevent the step down converter from melting / starting a fire.

I use my PCE Duo OEM AC adapter for hours on end with no issues.

If you've got 120V coming out of the wall I wouldn't say that's well within range, but from what I've heard a lot of homes have closer to 110V coming out.

If you've opened up the Duo's adapter and know it has the two fuses it's good. Without checking other console's bricks I don't think the risk of fire is worth it to say all consoles are good to use, especially older ones.

Here is the brick

Spoiler

As you can see only 1 fuse.. Is this even the correct oem brick for the og pc engine duo (grey), or were there just different revisions..? I guess I will just be sure to unplug this thing every time I am done using it

[leonk]

just because you can't see a fuse doesn't mean its not there

Take a look at the other side, on the transformer, on the input windings. Good ones have a thermal fuse located under the yellow tape touching the transformer. If transforner gets too hot, boom it goes.

This is the main reason why most snes ac adapters die and people can't figure out how to fix them. That thermal fuse blew.

[mvsfan]

Leonk - Probably why i run across so many dead snes consoles, compared to any other system.
you turn them on and just get a black screen. any kind of small power fluctuation must just go right to the console.

Ive stopped buying them unless they are at least partially working.

[leonk]

I don't believe that's the issue. The SNES has a fuse to protect itself.

I think the problem with the design. Using 2 GPUs with 1 of them always failing.

The 1Chip is more reliable just for this reason.

[brokenhalo]

You do not need a step down converter to use that power brick. I use Japanese power adapters in North America all the time.

In this case, inside the adapter is a 100V AC to 9V AC transformer which then goes through a bridge rectifier with soothing caps to output 9V DC. That transformer is +/- 20% and so our outlet AC is well within range. There are 2 forms of protection inside that AC adapter. A fuse on the output and a thermal fuse (118 degrees C I believe) to prevent the step down converter from melting / starting a fire.

I use my PCE Duo OEM AC adapter for hours on end with no issues.

If you've got 120V coming out of the wall I wouldn't say that's well within range, but from what I've heard a lot of homes have closer to 110V coming out.

If you've opened up the Duo's adapter and know it has the two fuses it's good. Without checking other console's bricks I don't think the risk of fire is worth it to say all consoles are good to use, especially older ones.

House voltage can range between 110-125 per leg and be within spec. The closer your house is to the nearest transformer pole, the higher you'll be. The utility company usually sets it at 125 at the pole, so houses further away still get over 110 (voltage drops across a long run). I've checked voltage in house panels and have seen as high as 123.

[mvsfan]

Hey Leonk, what kind of fuse does that snes power adapter use?

Ive tossed a few of them because i tried to fix them and thought the transformer was bad.

does the Nes adapter also have one?

[leonk]

Hey Leonk, what kind of fuse does that snes power adapter use?

Ive tossed a few of them because i tried to fix them and thought the transformer was bad.

does the Nes adapter also have one?

I never saw one inside an NES. I replace them with 140C / 1A fuses.

[mvsfan]

What exactly is causing snes ppus (or ppu sections in the case of the 1-chip) to go bad? apparently the 1-chips do it too because ive had 1-chips with the exact same symptoms.

you turn it on and all you get is a quick screenflash and a black screen. cartridge slot cleaning or replacement almost never fixes it along with everything else.

this is not the first time ive heard this, leonk.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

I have a PC Engine Duo-RX console (3rd and final PCE Duo variant console released from the likes of NEC) and it came with one of those NEC 100v AC adapters. Upon hooking it up to 120v AC line, it'd get quite warm or rather almost too hot to touch (this is even after having it plugged in for an hour or so). I had to resort to getting a replacement 3rd-party produced PCE Duo AC that accepts 100v-240v and upon using it, it remains cool to the touch on the ol' Duo-RX console setup. So no worries in dealing with an almost too hot to touch original Japanese 100v Duo AC adapter issue/woes.

TTI's Turbo Duo console has it's own AC adapter rated for 120v as usual -- yes, I do have a Turbo Duo as well.

I use those old-school Sony 700mb sized CD-Rs and haven't had any issues burning them at the fastest speed 40x (of course, a Duo's CD-Rom drive is a single-speed drive anyways) with a PCE CD-Rom2, Super CD-Rom2 or Arcade CD-Rom2 game title. However, you'll need to pick up either an NEC Arcade Card Duo or Arcade Card Pro to properly play the only Arcade CD-Rom2 shmup of Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire on a Duo console (either the PCE Duo, Duo-R or Duo-RX consoles). Target still sells them Sony 700mb CD-Rs which are perfect for burning PCE CD-Rom titles. The ImageBurn utility program works flawlessly to burn your favorite PCE CD-Rom titles with ease.

I'd suggest picking up a Turbo Everdrive flash cart as it can double as a versatile & handy System Card from version 1.00 all the way to Super System version 3.00 in addition to playing all your favorite PCE game roms + homebrew PCE game roms. How cool is that?

Picking up a few NEC Tennokoe Rom-Ram Bank Hu-Cards will work wonders as you'll quickly find out a Duo's internal Backup Ram is a measly 2,000kb at best. A single Tennokoe Bank Hu-Card weighs in at a whopping 8,000Kb of saving your precious PCE gaming saves for posterity (four times as much data saving as with a lowly Duo console setup).

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[korpse413]

I have a PC Engine Duo-RX console (3rd and final PCE Duo variant console released from the likes of NEC) and it came with one of those NEC 100v AC adapters. Upon hooking it up to 120v AC line, it'd get quite warm or rather almost too hot to touch (this is even after having it plugged in for an hour or so). I had to resort to getting a replacement 3rd-party produced PCE Duo AC that accepts 100v-240v and upon using it, it remains cool to the touch on the ol' Duo-RX console setup. So no worries in dealing with an almost too hot to touch original Japanese 100v Duo AC adapter issue/woes.

TTI's Turbo Duo console has it's own AC adapter rated for 120v as usual -- yes, I do have a Turbo Duo as well.

I use those old-school Sony 700mb sized CD-Rs and haven't had any issues burning them at the fastest speed 40x (of course, a Duo's CD-Rom drive is a single-speed drive anyways) with a PCE CD-Rom2, Super CD-Rom2 or Arcade CD-Rom2 game title. However, you'll need to pick up either an NEC Arcade Card Duo or Arcade Card Pro to properly play the only Arcade CD-Rom2 shmup of Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire on a Duo console (either the PCE Duo, Duo-R or Duo-RX consoles). Target still sells them Sony 700mb CD-Rs which are perfect for burning PCE CD-Rom titles. The ImageBurn utility program works flawlessly to burn your favorite PCE CD-Rom titles with ease.

I'd suggest picking up a Turbo Everdrive flash cart as it can double as a versatile & handy System Card from version 1.00 all the way to Super System version 3.00 in addition to playing all your favorite PCE game roms + homebrew PCE game roms. How cool is that?

Picking up a few NEC Tennokoe Rom-Ram Bank Hu-Cards will work wonders as you'll quickly find out a Duo's internal Backup Ram is a measly 2,000kb at best. A single Tennokoe Bank Hu-Card weighs in at a whopping 8,000Kb of saving your precious PCE gaming saves for posterity (four times as much data saving as with a lowly Duo console setup).

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

The legend himself responded to my thread, thanks man! In my research in scouring older threads from years past you have helped many members for the past 12 years! I look forward to getting well acquainted with the PCE library.


What are the best options for RGB? Do the several RGB methods that exist require the swap of the multiout Din connector? Is this because the stock one has limitations for only composite or something? I'm familiar with soldering, so any recommendations I will prob go ahead and buy (waiting for my T.E.D. to arrive :3 )

[leonk]

I'm not sure why your duo-rx (same as -r just with 6 button gamepad) AC adapter got so hot. I use mine all the time and they're just fine. Maybe one of the diodes was failing shorting out (seen that before!)

The PCE duo R has a thermal fuse. I can provide you with pics of one I just replaced! (250V, 1.5A, 115C)
It would not have caught on fire. Fuse would have protected it.

My concern is your new AC adapter. 100-240V tells me it's a switching psu. Very few are implemented correctly and many introduce noise in video path (show up most times as jailbars in rgb output)

[mickcris]

I have a PC Engine Duo-RX console (3rd and final PCE Duo variant console released from the likes of NEC) and it came with one of those NEC 100v AC adapters. Upon hooking it up to 120v AC line, it'd get quite warm or rather almost too hot to touch (this is even after having it plugged in for an hour or so). I had to resort to getting a replacement 3rd-party produced PCE Duo AC that accepts 100v-240v and upon using it, it remains cool to the touch on the ol' Duo-RX console setup. So no worries in dealing with an almost too hot to touch original Japanese 100v Duo AC adapter issue/woes.

TTI's Turbo Duo console has it's own AC adapter rated for 120v as usual -- yes, I do have a Turbo Duo as well.

I use those old-school Sony 700mb sized CD-Rs and haven't had any issues burning them at the fastest speed 40x (of course, a Duo's CD-Rom drive is a single-speed drive anyways) with a PCE CD-Rom2, Super CD-Rom2 or Arcade CD-Rom2 game title. However, you'll need to pick up either an NEC Arcade Card Duo or Arcade Card Pro to properly play the only Arcade CD-Rom2 shmup of Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire on a Duo console (either the PCE Duo, Duo-R or Duo-RX consoles). Target still sells them Sony 700mb CD-Rs which are perfect for burning PCE CD-Rom titles. The ImageBurn utility program works flawlessly to burn your favorite PCE CD-Rom titles with ease.

I'd suggest picking up a Turbo Everdrive flash cart as it can double as a versatile & handy System Card from version 1.00 all the way to Super System version 3.00 in addition to playing all your favorite PCE game roms + homebrew PCE game roms. How cool is that?

Picking up a few NEC Tennokoe Rom-Ram Bank Hu-Cards will work wonders as you'll quickly find out a Duo's internal Backup Ram is a measly 2,000kb at best. A single Tennokoe Bank Hu-Card weighs in at a whopping 8,000Kb of saving your precious PCE gaming saves for posterity (four times as much data saving as with a lowly Duo console setup).

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

The legend himself responded to my thread, thanks man! In my research in scouring older threads from years past you have helped many members for the past 12 years! I look forward to getting well acquainted with the PCE library.


What are the best options for RGB? Do the several RGB methods that exist require the swap of the multiout Din connector? Is this because the stock one has limitations for only composite or something? I'm familiar with soldering, so any recommendations I will prob go ahead and buy (waiting for my T.E.D. to arrive :3 )

yes, you must swap out the connector as there are not enough pins on the stock one. Original has 5 pins and you need 8.