Cloning the Gamecube component cable

[Ikaruga11]

Since GBI isn't capable of displaying SGB borders or colors, would it be possible to edit GB[C] ROMs to have those features enabled when playing on GBA hardware?

Much like how Shantae and the Oracle Zelda GBC games work on a GBA.

In their native state, no. GBA doesn't contain SNES hardware.
Some of it can be simulated like Extrems pointed out.

Yeah, but edit the game to activate for GBC/GBA and not SNES.

[Extrems]

You need an emulator, and Goomba Color is it.

[philexile]

Has anyone received any updates from BadAss Consoles on the GCVideo board?

[Ikaruga11]

Has anyone received any updates from BadAss Consoles on the GCVideo board?

At this point, just consider it dead until further notice. It'll save you the anguish.

[tongshadow]

Not sure if you guys have seen this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUks9-jW9xw

How good is it, from our (enthusiasts lol) POV?

[andykara2003]

How good is it, from our (enthusiasts lol) POV?

It's great - in terms of image quality it's just as good as the internal mod and you can program a remote to use the menu so it's essentially the same thing.

Even though it's improved a lot from the 1.0 version, the connection to the console is not quite as solid as using a normal cable. You have to make sure the HDMI cable never tugs at all on the unit or it can pull the connector off centre. Shouldn't be a problem though and it feels solid enough.

It's a fantastic bit of kit, although to me the image isn't quite as good as component on a decent 480p CRT as you don't have a shadow mask cleaning up the Gamecube's comparatively rough source image. For that, we'll have to wait for 4K scalers with CRT shaders.

[FBX]

How good is it, from our (enthusiasts lol) POV?

It's great - in terms of image quality it's just as good as the internal mod and you can program a remote to use the menu so it's essentially the same thing.

I went ahead and placed a request for pre-order, even though I currently use the official component cables. Straight 480i and 480p look terrible on my LCD display, but I'm hoping down the road I get a display that does a better job dealing with it. When that happens, this device should become the better choice.

[andykara2003]

That's true, I forgot to say that - it depends a lot on how your flat panel handles 480p as the mod doesn't upscale.

[leonk]

Has anyone received any updates from BadAss Consoles on the GCVideo board?

All the people I know that preordered back in October 2016 have requested a refund and got it.

[citrus3000psi]

You need an emulator, and Goomba Color is it.

He tweeted out a week ago he was going to be sending emails to people that had paid for his install service

[nmalinoski]

Even though it's improved a lot from the 1.0 version, the connection to the console is not quite as solid as using a normal cable. You have to make sure the HDMI cable never tugs at all on the unit or it can pull the connector off centre. Shouldn't be a problem though and it feels solid enough.

It sounds like an external breakout box, much like the VGA boxes for Dreamcasts, would work better. You'd have a cable from the Digital AV port going to a PCB, and from there you can do whatever you need with the video signal--HDMI and/or component for video; RCA and/or TOSLINK for audio; perhaps SCART for people who'd prefer it?

[werk91]

Would this device work with a chip modded PAL gamecube for playing NTSC games in 480p? The product page says explicitly "288p, 576i, and 576p at 50 Hz (PAL GameCubes)“.

[Extrems]

Yes, the console region is irrelevant. You could play NTSC games in windowed 576p50 on a NTSC console.

[DoctorPain99]

Has anyone received any updates from BadAss Consoles on the GCVideo board?

All the people I know that preordered back in October 2016 have requested a refund and got it.

I pre-ordered when GCVideo X was announced and requested a refund after he went silent again. I haven't received it, so I opened a case on PayPal. I stll haven't heard from him, so I'm going to wait about another week and then escalate this to PayPal. I really wanted to give this guy the benefit of the doubt, but it's tough to do so when he doesn't even provide updates, let alone the product, by the deadline he promised.

[bobrocks95]

Has anyone received any updates from BadAss Consoles on the GCVideo board?

All the people I know that preordered back in October 2016 have requested a refund and got it.

I pre-ordered when GCVideo X was announced and requested a refund after he went silent again. I haven't received it, so I opened a case on PayPal. I stll haven't heard from him, so I'm going to wait about another week and then escalate this to PayPal. I really wanted to give this guy the benefit of the doubt, but it's tough to do so when he doesn't even provide updates, let alone the product, by the deadline he promised.

Oh god he announced a new iteration without ever shipping the original, and now he's gone quiet on the new one too?

[DoctorPain99]

Oh god he announced a new iteration without ever shipping the original, and now he's gone quiet on the new one too?

The GCVideo X was supposed to be the plug 'n play unit that he claimed he would allow people to switch their orders to from the mod service or self-install board. He announced it on RetroRGB's podcast in April and said it would take him 2-3 months until he began to ship the units. The last update on this was in June, and it's now August.

EDIT: Actually, the last time he even mentioned GCVideo X was in June. The last actual UPDATE on his progress, at least on twitter, was in May. I work full-time so I don't really have time to go watch his twitch stream, but I heard he hasn't been on there in weeks either.

[Ikaruga11]

So what's the difference between GCVideo and this new HDMI board being made by Citrus?

[leonk]

So what's the difference between GCVideo and this new HDMI board being made by Citrus?

it's the same thing. Hence why I gave up and just started using pluto IIx based hdmi solution.

[gordon-creAtive]

If I read the specs correctly, the GameCube's digital av port carries some proprietary component signal. Since BVM's often come with SDI input cards wouldn't it be possible (and maybe easier) to convert this signal to SDI, which also seems to be a digital component signal?

[TooBeaucoup]

I've had my GCVideo by Zeldaxpro for a few months now and it's incredible. It's the best I've ever seen the Gamecube look. I have version 2.0 and have no problems with the adapter staying snug in the port. As long as you're not yanking your Gamecube around or constantly moving it from shelf to shelf, you'll be fine. And you'd probably have issues with official component cables in the port as well, if you were constantly roughing your console up that much.

I have a ghetto review on my page that I did a few months back.

https://youtu.be/E9QFNzp_9p0

Also, direct capture footage here.

https://youtu.be/jHoTf570234

[Unseen]

If I read the specs correctly, the GameCube's digital av port carries some proprietary component signal. Since BVM's often come with SDI input cards wouldn't it be possible (and maybe easier) to convert this signal to SDI, which also seems to be a digital component signal?

It would be possible, but it would be a 480i-only solution. While a specification for 480p SDI exists, there are no BVM input cards that support it (as far as I know).

[gordon-creAtive]

...which kind of defeats the purpose of the component cable. Thanks for the answer.

Edit: And I completely ignored that only A- and D-Series BVM's and the PVM L5 series support 480p, so it's not just the input card to worry about.

[strayan]

I went ahead and placed a request for pre-order, even though I currently use the official component cables. Straight 480i and 480p look terrible on my LCD display, but I'm hoping down the road I get a display that does a better job dealing with it. When that happens, this device should become the better choice.

I run my GCvideo into a hdmi to vga converter because my 46 inch LCD TV supports perfect pixel mapping over the VGA port at 640x480 (this of course result in a massive black border around the image but everything is razer sharp). I've never seen an LCD support 640x480 via HDMI with 1:1 pixel mapping but I'd love to know if there is one!

I'd strongly encourage you to investigate whether your LCD TV support 1:1 pixel mapping via its VGA port and then buy an active HDMI to VGA adapter for the best PQ results.

This is the TV I'm using: http://www.sony.com.au/support/product/kdl-46d3100

In-fact I run all my device through the HDMI to VGA adapter because it is superior to the TVs HDMI inputs in every single way. Even the stretch to fit option on the VGA input is vastly superior to HDMI input. 1:1 pixel mapped Nintendo Switch games running at 720p look stunning!

Analogue for life baby!

[Unseen]

I run my GCvideo into a hdmi to vga converter because my 46 inch LCD TV supports perfect pixel mapping over the VGA port at 640x480 (this of course result in a massive black border around the image but everything is razer sharp).

But the Gamecube doesn't output a 640x480 signal - it uses CEA timings with 720 non-square pixels per line.

[philexile]

Oh god he announced a new iteration without ever shipping the original, and now he's gone quiet on the new one too?

BadAss tweeted a week ago, for whatever that is worth. I've spoken with him a number of times and I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt, but at this point I wouldn't blame anyone for demanding a refund.

Regarding the GCVideo by Zeldaxpro: I've heard its not designed very well. A friend of mine tapped his GC by accident while using it – both the HDMI board and the GC are now "fried" and he could smell the electronic short after the fact.

I just looked and it appears that there are two versions: the newer 2.0 states that the connector was improved. Its possible my friend has/had an original.

Its unfortunate that reliable and available solutions aren't here yet.

[Unseen]

Regarding the GCVideo by Zeldaxpro: I've heard its not designed very well. A friend of mine tapped his GC by accident while using it – both the HDMI board and the GC are now "fried" and he could smell the electronic short after the fact.

Probably a short between 12V and one of the adjacent signals on the digital video connector - I killed a Cube and the FPGA connected to it the same way during development.

[andykara2003]

Its possible my friend has/had an original.

Is it possible to find out which version he has? It would be a shame for Zeldaxpro's reputation to be knocked by an older product.

[philexile]

Probably a short between 12V and one of the adjacent signals on the digital video connector - I killed a Cube and the FPGA connected to it the same way during development.

Good to know, thanks.

Is it possible to find out which version he has?

I confirmed with him that this is a 2.0 board, beige.

It would be a shame for Zeldaxpro's reputation to be knocked by an older product.

I'm not trying to "shame" his reputation, but a product is either reliable or it isn't.

I know he bought it about 4 months ago, so its not exactly old by any stretch. If Zeldaxpro sold the original board and it had such a flaw (which I assume he must have been aware of since the design was revised) he should issue refunds/replacements to people who invested in his product.

Also, I checked a conversation that BadAss had with Zeldaxpro. Here is a link:

http://www.gc-forever.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3740

Badass said the follow:

Also the pins do not have any alignment guides to prevent them from straying left / right due to improper insertion (a curious 5yr old when you are not looking, or just an idiot adult for that matter.) once those pins stray from their original position they have potential to short without the user even realizing they might be misaligned and could fry the system.

[andykara2003]

I'm not trying to "shame" his reputation, but a product is either reliable or it isn't

Sorry that came out wrong - I didn't mean to accuse you of shaming him - I just wanted to make sure it was based on the current product. In fact I agree with what you're saying, especially if it's killing consoles. As nmalinoski mentioned, I think the only truly reliable and safe solution for the external version would be a rock solid connector linked by a short cable to an external box.

[philexile]

No problem, I updated my post – it was a 2.0.