Cloning the Gamecube component cable

[NevynPA]

If you want HDMI only, I already released the necessary stuff to build your own. The HDMI only design is cheaper as they have fewer components and is smaller.

I think there is getting to be a lot of confusion about what product is what. So I'd like to start using this terminology for my board designs. (These are still GC-Video at heart, not trying to take any credit away from Unseen)

GCHDMI = HDMI only Board for Gamecube (http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.ph ... 9#p1268419)

This is EXACTLY what I was looking for! Having problems getting all the parts from Digi-Key, though. Are the caps/resistors 0201 (0603 Metric), or 0603 (1608 Metric)? Once I get it all laid out, I'll put my updated BOM on a Google doc.

[citrus3000psi]

This is EXACTLY what I was looking for! Having problems getting all the parts from Digi-Key, though. Are the caps/resistors 0201 (0603 Metric), or 0603 (1608 Metric)? Once I get it all laid out, I'll put my updated BOM on a Google doc.

1608 metric

Look a few posts down and I listed a substitute for the flash. Everything else should be active on digikeys site.

[NevynPA]

1608 metric

Look a few posts down and I listed a substitute for the flash. Everything else should be active on digikeys site.

That I did find. Thanks for clarifying. Should have BOM posted later today.

[citrus3000psi]

I did an HDMI only install yesterday, here is some pictures.

[Einzelherz]

You get bonus points for using the best color GCN.

[Ikaruga11]

You get bonus points for using the best color GCN.

Meh, the only cool thing about the Spice Orange GameCube is that it matches the orange LED color. The color itself is rather garish in my opinion.

Excellent job, Citrus. That looks very clean and professional.

[citrus3000psi]

You get bonus points for using the best color GCN.

Its not my cube, but I do really really like the orange color. If I didn't already have a fullsize lid top half in purple I'd pickup a spice.

Meh, the only cool thing about the Spice Orange GameCube is that it matches the orange LED color. The color itself is rather garish in my opinion.

Excellent job, Citrus. That looks very clean and professional.

We have different tastes. I like it because it is garish

Thanks for the nice words. When I finish something and I call my wife over this is what happens:

[pyroman512]

Thanks for the nice words. When I finish something and I call my wife over this is what happens:

I feel you man. My wife is the same with me. I have few friends close by that could even care a little about this type of stuff. It blows.

Also, this is a fantastic install. I love the spice color too. And I've been thinking of doing plug and play for awhile but I'll be hardcore considering the HDMI+RGB solution in the future.

[FinalBaton]

You get bonus points for using the best color GCN.

Love the spice orange GCN

sadly, I won't be able to use a jap GCN with the GBA boot solution I wanna go for
so if I really want a spice orange one, then I'll have to buy 2 cubes : a North American one, and a jap orange one. and put the internals of the NA model into the spice orange one... which I'm not sure I want to do

[Ikaruga11]

You get bonus points for using the best color GCN.

Love the spice orange GCN

sadly, I won't be able to use a jap GCN with the GBA boot solution I wanna go for
so if I really want a spice orange one, then I'll have to buy 2 cubes : a North American one, and a jap orange one. and put the internals of the NA model into the spice orange one... which I'm not sure I want to do

You could do that, or install a XenoGC chip. I'm not sure if Homebrew on an SD Media Launcher can force region-free compatibility.

[FinalBaton]

You get bonus points for using the best color GCN.

Love the spice orange GCN

sadly, I won't be able to use a jap GCN with the GBA boot solution I wanna go for
so if I really want a spice orange one, then I'll have to buy 2 cubes : a North American one, and a jap orange one. and put the internals of the NA model into the spice orange one... which I'm not sure I want to do

You could do that, or install a XenoGC chip. I'm not sure if Homebrew on an SD Media Launcher can force region-free compatibility.

a japanese cube can only use the jap version of SD launcher apparently which is, of course, in japanese.
I guess I could region-mod the spice orang cube...

[Guspaz]

XenoGC does a region-free by default. Homebrew is not region-specific. SDML disc is region-locked and incompatible with XenoGC's region-patching (SDML disc has to match region of hardware even with XenoGC), but if you've got a XenoGC, you don't need it anyhow since you can just burn a boot disc.

[Ikaruga11]

a japanese cube can only use the jap version of SD launcher apparently which is, of course, in japanese.
I guess I could region-mod the spice orang cube...

Regardless, switching the internals (or casings as I like to look at it), is by far the easiest and most natural method. You'll of course need special tools to disassemble them.

[NevynPA]

What length FFC is needed? That's the last thing I need before I publish my BOM.

[citrus3000psi]

You get bonus points for using the best color GCN.

Love the spice orange GCN

sadly, I won't be able to use a jap GCN with the GBA boot solution I wanna go for
so if I really want a spice orange one, then I'll have to buy 2 cubes : a North American one, and a jap orange one. and put the internals of the NA model into the spice orange one... which I'm not sure I want to do

You can buy working NTSC motherboards for about 20 bucks. I have a few times.

[Ikaruga11]

Also, if you plan on using the GameBoy Player with it, I would get the Spice Orange one so it matches.

[citrus3000psi]

What length FFC is needed? That's the last thing I need before I publish my BOM.

7" works well.

[Seraphic]

citrus, how much would you expect to charge for an install service of your Optical Toslink (SPDIF) mod?
And just wondering what would your install price be for both your GCVideo HDMI and Toslink mods together be (just wondering)?

[Ikaruga11]

What is the optical toslink mod for?

[citrus3000psi]

citrus, how much would you expect to charge for an install service of your Optical Toslink (SPDIF) mod?
And just wondering what would your install price be for both your GCVideo HDMI and Toslink mods together be (just wondering)?

Toslink only:
$20 for assembled pcb
$25 for install

HDMI + Toslink:
$125 for HDMI mod
$20 for toslink addon

Toslink is ran through the hdmi fpga so no need for the stand alone toslink board.

[citrus3000psi]

What is the optical toslink mod for?

You can run digital audio straight to a receiver. A lot of my rgb consoles have toslink for this purpose.

[Ikaruga11]

What is the optical toslink mod for?

You can run digital audio straight to a receiver. A lot of my rgb consoles have toslink for this purpose.

Can't HDMI do the same thing?

[citrus3000psi]

Can't HDMI do the same thing?

Yes but some people may not want to route the hdmi through their receiver etc. Just depends on your specific setup.

[Ikaruga11]

Can't HDMI do the same thing?

Yes but some people may not want to route the hdmi through their receiver etc. Just depends on your specific setup.

Oh, I see. The HDMI is being fed straight to the display, while the toslink goes to the receiver? What if the display has sound that I can extract with headphones?

How many different consoles is toslink supported for?

[theclaw]

Have you considered a region switch? It'll enable NA boot discs, and toggle the system to English.
Be sure to use Japanese settings when appropriate. Some games have compatibility issues.

Or instead of modding, try a save exploit on a jap game (Smash Bros, Wind Waker, etc) to load homebrew.

[citrus3000psi]

Can't HDMI do the same thing?

Yes but some people may not want to route the hdmi through their receiver etc. Just depends on your specific setup.

Oh, I see. The HDMI is being fed straight to the display, while the toslink goes to the receiver? What if the display has sound that I can extract with headphones?

How many different consoles is toslink supported for?

My receiver's DAC will be better than my TV's, so I'd always want to route coax or toslink to my receiver. But yes you can get the sound from the TV. Most TV's also pass toslink (Newer sets have ARC too) as an output as well. Like I said before, its more of whatever is convenient for your setup. One way is not inherently better than the other.

Gamecube
SNES
PS1 (700x and lower)
Saturn
Dreamcast
3DO

Master System and Mega Drive are in theory impossible. As the DAC is integrated into the Yamaha ICs.
I've tried to build one for the jaguar but so far unsuccessful. The IC I'm using on paper looks like it should work. If I ever get it work, I imagine the N64 will work with it as well.
In reguards to the N64 I've actually tried contacting Marshall directly to see if his HDMI mod can output toslink, but he never replied. If anybody has a good way of getting ahold of him, can you ask him this question for me

I haven't even began to look at the PCE. I've done zero research, if anybody else has send me a PM.

Edit, just looked up the PCE. Appears to be impossible as well. As the DAC is also integreated into the Hu6280 IC.

[Ikaruga11]

My receiver's DAC will be better than my TV's, so I'd always want to route coax or toslink to my receiver. But yes you can get the sound from the TV. Most TV's also pass toslink (Newer sets have ARC too) as an output as well. Like I said before, its more of whatever is convenient for your setup. One way is not inherently better than the other.

Gamecube
SNES
PS1 (700x and lower)
Saturn
Dreamcast
3DO

Master System and Mega Drive are in theory impossible. As the DAC is integrated into the Yamaha ICs.
I've tried to build one for the jaguar but so far unsuccessful. The IC I'm using on paper looks like it should work. If I ever get it work, I imagine the N64 will work with it as well.
In reguards to the N64 I've actually tried contacting Marshall directly to see if his HDMI mod can output toslink, but he never replied. If anybody has a good way of getting ahold of him, can you ask him this question for me

I haven't even began to look at the PCE. I've done zero research, if anybody else has send me a PM.

Edit, just looked up the PCE. Appears to be impossible as well. As the DAC is also integreated into the Hu6280 IC.

So let's say I want to play on a BVM. No sound, right? Well, I need speakers (surround sound speakers) to get the best sound then. Do I need a receiver in my setup? What is it even used for? Why can't I just plug HDMI or toslink straight into the speakers for sound?

[nmalinoski]

How many different consoles is toslink supported for?

Gamecube
SNES
PS1 (700x and lower)
Saturn
Dreamcast
3DO

Master System and Mega Drive are in theory impossible. As the DAC is integrated into the Yamaha ICs.
I've tried to build one for the jaguar but so far unsuccessful. The IC I'm using on paper looks like it should work. If I ever get it work, I imagine the N64 will work with it as well.
In reguards to the N64 I've actually tried contacting Marshall directly to see if his HDMI mod can output toslink, but he never replied. If anybody has a good way of getting ahold of him, can you ask him this question for me

I haven't even began to look at the PCE. I've done zero research, if anybody else has send me a PM.

Edit, just looked up the PCE. Appears to be impossible as well. As the DAC is also integreated into the Hu6280 IC.

As well as those, all models (I believe) of the PS2 and PS3 have TOSLINK built-in, the original Xbox will do TOSLINK with the HD AV pack (breakout box), and Xbox 360 will do TOSLINK with the official component cables (port embedded in the console-end connector).

[citrus3000psi]

As well as those, all models (I believe) of the PS2 and PS3 have TOSLINK built-in, the original Xbox will do TOSLINK with the HD AV pack (breakout box), and Xbox 360 will do TOSLINK with the official component cables (port embedded in the console-end connector).

To add, 360 S has dedicated toslink port on the back. The newest 360 E model doesn't have the port on the back, and the vga/component port was removed too. So no toslink at all on this model.

[Xer Xian]

So let's say I want to play on a BVM. No sound, right? Well, I need speakers (surround sound speakers) to get the best sound then. Do I need a receiver in my setup? What is it even used for? Why can't I just plug HDMI or toslink straight into the speakers for sound?

If your speakers have a built-in amplifier, you can. But then you'll have to put up with swapping audio cables or buying a dedicated hdmi/toslink switcher. A receiver will generally allow you far more customization as well.

---

As a follow-up to my post on OEM vs. GCVideo Lite, here's a comparison gif with a few screenshots (first of each is official component cable, second GCVideo). Not much difference between them (btw, graininess was added in by gif compression, it wasn't there originally). Again, what differed significantly insted were the calibration settings I had to select on the capture card end (link.. I set it on full range RGB since there was an OSSC in between the consoles and the capture device), and I couldn't get them to look 100% alike anyway (the screenshots used for the gif were taken after adding a video processor in the chain - and recalibrating - to get them to 1080p, which levelled those differences considerably).