gscartsw / gscartsw_lite / gcompsw switches support thread

The place for all discussion on gaming hardware
FriendofSonic
Posts: 87
Joined: Fri Mar 14, 2014 5:45 pm

Re: gscartsw / gscartsw_lite / gcompsw switches support thre

Post by FriendofSonic »

On one of my gscart lite switches, the green light was rapidly flashing. I reseated the power cord and it's a solid green light now, though I noticed it's easy to reproduce the flashing. What's the significance of the flashing?
User avatar
DirkSwizzler
Posts: 548
Joined: Fri Apr 28, 2017 8:23 pm
Location: Bellevue, Washington, USA
Contact:

Re: gscartsw / gscartsw_lite / gcompsw switches support thre

Post by DirkSwizzler »

FriendofSonic wrote:On one of my gscart lite switches, the green light was rapidly flashing. I reseated the power cord and it's a solid green light now, though I noticed it's easy to reproduce the flashing. What's the significance of the flashing?
Under normal conditions, green flashing indicates that a signal was just locked and is soon followed by solid green. So if it's rapidly flashing that would indicate that either it's constantly locking, or constantly losing enough power to function (and possibly locking during each cycle, but that's moot)
FriendofSonic
Posts: 87
Joined: Fri Mar 14, 2014 5:45 pm

Re: gscartsw / gscartsw_lite / gcompsw switches support thre

Post by FriendofSonic »

Thanks Dirk-- I'll need to keep an eye on this then. It must be power related since I didn't have any consoles turned on at the time. Maybe the power cord was just slightly detached.
User avatar
superg
Posts: 1597
Joined: Sun Jul 06, 2014 4:31 pm

Re: gscartsw / gscartsw_lite / gcompsw switches support thre

Post by superg »

TheLordGuardian wrote:Hello, I tried to post before but it did not seem to work.

I tried to preorder a gscartsw but on the paypal site the price is listed as 9999 USD (with shipping to Luxemburg)
Is there something I can do to place apreorder with the correct price? Thanks!

with best regards,
JC
You're the first one ordering from Luxembourg. Try now, I enabled it.
User avatar
superg
Posts: 1597
Joined: Sun Jul 06, 2014 4:31 pm

Re: gscartsw / gscartsw_lite / gcompsw switches support thre

Post by superg »

FriendofSonic wrote:Thanks Dirk-- I'll need to keep an eye on this then. It must be power related since I didn't have any consoles turned on at the time. Maybe the power cord was just slightly detached.
As Dirk pointed out, rapid flashing indicates that the sync signal was successfully detected on one of the outputs. Also it blinks the same way once when you turn the switch on, this is indication that Altera IC started. Most likely it was the power issue.
TheLordGuardian
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Sep 07, 2018 2:31 pm

Re: gscartsw / gscartsw_lite / gcompsw switches support thre

Post by TheLordGuardian »

superg wrote:
TheLordGuardian wrote:Hello, I tried to post before but it did not seem to work.

I tried to preorder a gscartsw but on the paypal site the price is listed as 9999 USD (with shipping to Luxemburg)
Is there something I can do to place apreorder with the correct price? Thanks!

with best regards,
JC
You're the first one ordering from Luxembourg. Try now, I enabled it.
Thanks it worked fine now :)
MattieBoy
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Jul 29, 2018 7:09 am

Re: gscartsw / gscartsw_lite / gcompsw switches support thre

Post by MattieBoy »

So, I pre ordered a little bit ago. But is there a way to tell which batch I am in? I got no idea if I ordered fast enough to be in the first, or if I'm going to be in the second.
User avatar
superg
Posts: 1597
Joined: Sun Jul 06, 2014 4:31 pm

Re: gscartsw / gscartsw_lite / gcompsw switches support thre

Post by superg »

MattieBoy wrote:So, I pre ordered a little bit ago. But is there a way to tell which batch I am in? I got no idea if I ordered fast enough to be in the first, or if I'm going to be in the second.
Sorry I can't answer that right now because if I do I'm gonna get another 100 PM's asking the same. When I open pre-orders there usually is a peak the first hour so there are many orders.
I will communicate everything when the time will come, most likely private directly to paypal email.

Right now my manufacturer is assembling the first units, I hope I will get some news this week.
User avatar
HDgaming42
Posts: 331
Joined: Wed Jul 15, 2009 3:16 am
Location: Canada

Re: gscartsw / gscartsw_lite / gcompsw switches support thre

Post by HDgaming42 »

Hi superg,

I've been rocking your GSCARTSW for a while now and either direct or through an extron crosspoint it's worked wonderfully on 3 models of PVMs.

When running 15KHz consoles through the GSCARTSW the image is pushed slightly to the left. I was hoping to counteract this with an extron rxi 203 (which requires clean sync), but running the GSCARTSW DSUB out to it just results in a green, rolling image with "no sync" displayed on the 203.

This could very well be an extron issue, but my dreamcast via 31KHz runs through the 203 without issue. All 15Khz consoles that run through the GSCARTSW don't lock up with the Extron 203.

Can you speak to this? Is this a known issue? What could be causing it? I don't really want to change HPOS within my PVMs to match the GSCARTSW output because my newer consoles run to them direct and don't exhibit the same push to the left.
User avatar
HDgaming42
Posts: 331
Joined: Wed Jul 15, 2009 3:16 am
Location: Canada

Re: gscartsw / gscartsw_lite / gcompsw switches support thre

Post by HDgaming42 »

HDgaming42 wrote:Hi superg,

I've been rocking your GSCARTSW for a while now and either direct or through an extron crosspoint it's worked wonderfully on 3 models of PVMs.

When running 15KHz consoles through the GSCARTSW the image is pushed slightly to the left. I was hoping to counteract this with an extron rxi 203 (which requires clean sync), but running the GSCARTSW DSUB out to it just results in a green, rolling image with "no sync" displayed on the 203.

This could very well be an extron issue, but my dreamcast via 31KHz runs through the 203 without issue. All 15Khz consoles that run through the GSCARTSW don't lock up with the Extron 203.

Can you speak to this? Is this a known issue? What could be causing it? I don't really want to change HPOS within my PVMs to match the GSCARTSW output because my newer consoles run to them direct and don't exhibit the same push to the left.
I've been told this is because extron gear expects TTL sync. I've since recabled and am using the DSUB out. The extron locks on 15KHz, but the PVM either displays black, or columns of scrambled color.*

Any ideas?

*the PVMs happily take 15KHz console-->GSCART-->extron crosspoint-->PVM, yet introducing an extron 203 between the crosspoint and the PVMs exhibits the behaviour described above...
User avatar
superg
Posts: 1597
Joined: Sun Jul 06, 2014 4:31 pm

Re: gscartsw / gscartsw_lite / gcompsw switches support thre

Post by superg »

HDgaming42 wrote:
HDgaming42 wrote:Hi superg,

I've been rocking your GSCARTSW for a while now and either direct or through an extron crosspoint it's worked wonderfully on 3 models of PVMs.

When running 15KHz consoles through the GSCARTSW the image is pushed slightly to the left. I was hoping to counteract this with an extron rxi 203 (which requires clean sync), but running the GSCARTSW DSUB out to it just results in a green, rolling image with "no sync" displayed on the 203.

This could very well be an extron issue, but my dreamcast via 31KHz runs through the 203 without issue. All 15Khz consoles that run through the GSCARTSW don't lock up with the Extron 203.

Can you speak to this? Is this a known issue? What could be causing it? I don't really want to change HPOS within my PVMs to match the GSCARTSW output because my newer consoles run to them direct and don't exhibit the same push to the left.
I've been told this is because extron gear expects TTL sync. I've since recabled and am using the DSUB out. The extron locks on 15KHz, but the PVM either displays black, or columns of scrambled color.*

Any ideas?

*the PVMs happily take 15KHz console-->GSCART-->extron crosspoint-->PVM, yet introducing an extron 203 between the crosspoint and the PVMs exhibits the behaviour described above...
How bad is the shift? gscartsw v3.4 has just EL1883 (LM1881) for cleaning the sync but that adds just a few pixels shifting the image to the right. Sync cleaner is always active on VGA connector and it's TTL. Why do you think it's the gscartsw issue? Also why do you use extron crosspoint, is it really needed in your setup? I'm not familiar with extron, maybe somebody can clarify what is going on.
ViraLicious
Posts: 23
Joined: Sun Apr 08, 2018 3:55 pm

Re: gscartsw / gscartsw_lite / gcompsw switches support thre

Post by ViraLicious »

HDgaming42 wrote:
HDgaming42 wrote:Hi superg,

I've been rocking your GSCARTSW for a while now and either direct or through an extron crosspoint it's worked wonderfully on 3 models of PVMs.

When running 15KHz consoles through the GSCARTSW the image is pushed slightly to the left. I was hoping to counteract this with an extron rxi 203 (which requires clean sync), but running the GSCARTSW DSUB out to it just results in a green, rolling image with "no sync" displayed on the 203.

This could very well be an extron issue, but my dreamcast via 31KHz runs through the 203 without issue. All 15Khz consoles that run through the GSCARTSW don't lock up with the Extron 203.

Can you speak to this? Is this a known issue? What could be causing it? I don't really want to change HPOS within my PVMs to match the GSCARTSW output because my newer consoles run to them direct and don't exhibit the same push to the left.
I've been told this is because extron gear expects TTL sync. I've since recabled and am using the DSUB out. The extron locks on 15KHz, but the PVM either displays black, or columns of scrambled color.*

Any ideas?

*the PVMs happily take 15KHz console-->GSCART-->extron crosspoint-->PVM, yet introducing an extron 203 between the crosspoint and the PVMs exhibits the behaviour described above...
I can attest to having noticed this too and that the shift is quite significant. When running the 240p test suite I believe it cut 6-10 pixels on the left side of the screen. I also had many issues using my Extron 203 rxi in my gscartsw 3.4 setup in general and believed for the longest time it was broken. I even contacted Bob/RetroRGB and Matt from Videogamperfection about it since I knew they used Extrons - Also read up on the internal jumper setup for the Extron - and everything seem to be fine. After all my testing, I realized I had failed to do the most obvious test - to try it without the gscartsw. After running my Dreamcast directly into the Extron 203 it worked just fine. So it must've had something to do with having the gscartsw in the chain. The VGA cable between the gscartsw and Extron work just fine when paired with just the Extron and Dreamcast TORO box.
User avatar
superg
Posts: 1597
Joined: Sun Jul 06, 2014 4:31 pm

Re: gscartsw / gscartsw_lite / gcompsw switches support thre

Post by superg »

ViraLicious wrote: I can attest to having noticed this too and that the shift is quite significant. When running the 240p test suite I believe it cut 6-10 pixels on the left side of the screen. I also had many issues using my Extron 203 rxi in my gscartsw 3.4 setup in general and believed for the longest time it was broken. I even contacted Bob/RetroRGB and Matt from Videogamperfection about it since I knew they used Extrons - Also read up on the internal jumper setup for the Extron - and everything seem to be fine. After all my testing, I realized I had failed to do the most obvious test - to try it without the gscartsw. After running my Dreamcast directly into the Extron 203 it worked just fine. So it must've had something to do with having the gscartsw in the chain. The VGA cable between the gscartsw and Extron work just fine when paired with just the Extron and Dreamcast TORO box.
There is nothing in gscartsw v3.4 except sync stripper circuit which can affect this behavior. Did you try to exclude extron from your setup? :)
Try it without extron and you will probably see just a tiny shift introduced by the sync stripper circuit. My speculation is that extron is actually making the shift at least twice as bad as it is after the sync stripper. I think it would be the same when using other sync separation devices like Micomsoft XSYNC-1 or even SCART cables with integrated sync cleaner, they're all built using the similar LM1881 IC's.
What you see is likely the effect of having RGBS->RGBHV conversion which is made worse by Extron.
As of your Dreamcast - it provides native separate HV sync, of course it would be fine as there is no conversion.
ViraLicious
Posts: 23
Joined: Sun Apr 08, 2018 3:55 pm

Re: gscartsw / gscartsw_lite / gcompsw switches support thre

Post by ViraLicious »

superg wrote:
ViraLicious wrote: I can attest to having noticed this too and that the shift is quite significant. When running the 240p test suite I believe it cut 6-10 pixels on the left side of the screen. I also had many issues using my Extron 203 rxi in my gscartsw 3.4 setup in general and believed for the longest time it was broken. I even contacted Bob/RetroRGB and Matt from Videogamperfection about it since I knew they used Extrons - Also read up on the internal jumper setup for the Extron - and everything seem to be fine. After all my testing, I realized I had failed to do the most obvious test - to try it without the gscartsw. After running my Dreamcast directly into the Extron 203 it worked just fine. So it must've had something to do with having the gscartsw in the chain. The VGA cable between the gscartsw and Extron work just fine when paired with just the Extron and Dreamcast TORO box.
There is nothing in gscartsw v3.4 except sync stripper circuit which can affect this behavior. Did you try to exclude extron from your setup? :)
Try it without extron and you will probably see just a tiny shift introduced by the sync stripper circuit. My speculation is that extron is actually making the shift at least twice as bad as it is after the sync stripper. I think it would be the same when using other sync separation devices like Micomsoft XSYNC-1 or even SCART cables with integrated sync cleaner, they're all built using the similar LM1881 IC's.
What you see is likely the effect of having RGBS->RGBHV conversion which is made worse by Extron.
As of your Dreamcast - it provides native separate HV sync, of course it would be fine as there is no conversion.
Sorry, I didn't mean to make it sound as if there was something wrong with the gscartsw in itself. Apologies if it sounded like that. I love it and it is an integral part of my setup and I don't use the Extron anymore, I only use the gscartsw directly into my Framemeister and soon into my new OSSC. :)

You are right in your assumption. The Extron is making it worse - in particular when you have DDSP active and you can't manually adjust the image. Then it shifts the image a lot. However, when you can it disabled and can manually adjust the image, you then can fix the shift of the image. But, it introduces other issues then, such like a lot of noise in certain colors. This is most likely due to the Framemeister and its bad color convergence though.
User avatar
HDgaming42
Posts: 331
Joined: Wed Jul 15, 2009 3:16 am
Location: Canada

Re: gscartsw / gscartsw_lite / gcompsw switches support thre

Post by HDgaming42 »

superg wrote:
ViraLicious wrote: I can attest to having noticed this too and that the shift is quite significant. When running the 240p test suite I believe it cut 6-10 pixels on the left side of the screen. I also had many issues using my Extron 203 rxi in my gscartsw 3.4 setup in general and believed for the longest time it was broken. I even contacted Bob/RetroRGB and Matt from Videogamperfection about it since I knew they used Extrons - Also read up on the internal jumper setup for the Extron - and everything seem to be fine. After all my testing, I realized I had failed to do the most obvious test - to try it without the gscartsw. After running my Dreamcast directly into the Extron 203 it worked just fine. So it must've had something to do with having the gscartsw in the chain. The VGA cable between the gscartsw and Extron work just fine when paired with just the Extron and Dreamcast TORO box.
There is nothing in gscartsw v3.4 except sync stripper circuit which can affect this behavior. Did you try to exclude extron from your setup? :)
Try it without extron and you will probably see just a tiny shift introduced by the sync stripper circuit. My speculation is that extron is actually making the shift at least twice as bad as it is after the sync stripper. I think it would be the same when using other sync separation devices like Micomsoft XSYNC-1 or even SCART cables with integrated sync cleaner, they're all built using the similar LM1881 IC's.
What you see is likely the effect of having RGBS->RGBHV conversion which is made worse by Extron.
As of your Dreamcast - it provides native separate HV sync, of course it would be fine as there is no conversion.
I suspect a number of my cables have sync strippers in them and that is compounding the issue. Not all of course, or I'd simply not use the stripper in the GSCARTSW.

I resolved my issue by going:

15KHz console-->GSCARTSW DSUB-->extron crosspoint-->extron 203-->extron crosspoint AGAIN-->PVM
User avatar
superg
Posts: 1597
Joined: Sun Jul 06, 2014 4:31 pm

Re: gscartsw / gscartsw_lite / gcompsw switches support thre

Post by superg »

HDgaming42 wrote: I suspect a number of my cables have sync strippers in them and that is compounding the issue. Not all of course, or I'd simply not use the stripper in the GSCARTSW.
I resolved my issue by going:
15KHz console-->GSCARTSW DSUB-->extron crosspoint-->extron 203-->extron crosspoint AGAIN-->PVM
Now that I thought a bit about it, was the frame shifted or cropped? If it's shifted it can be compensated by using underscan option on BVM/PVM but if already cropped after extron it means that nothing can be done.
TorgoPSN
Posts: 14
Joined: Thu Apr 19, 2018 3:01 pm
Location: Wisconsin
Contact:

Re: gscartsw / gscartsw_lite / gcompsw switches support thre

Post by TorgoPSN »

Are there any recommendations for a Male-to-Male SCART cable to connect this to an OSSC? I want to get something ordered before this ships, so that I'm all set for it.

Thanks
nmalinoski
Posts: 1974
Joined: Wed Jul 19, 2017 1:52 pm

Re: gscartsw / gscartsw_lite / gcompsw switches support thre

Post by nmalinoski »

TorgoPSN wrote:Are there any recommendations for a Male-to-Male SCART cable to connect this to an OSSC? I want to get something ordered before this ships, so that I'm all set for it.

Thanks
If you need something now and are in the US, You can pick up one of these Kabeldirekt cables from Amazon (or save some money and buy the 10ft one); I have two of the 10-footers, and they work fine, although I've been told that they're not The Best(tm).

If you can wait for assembly and/or international shipping, you can always buy these cables made with proper shielded coax from boutique vendors, like Retro-Access or RetroGamingCables.
User avatar
Lomax
Posts: 18
Joined: Tue May 01, 2018 3:27 am

Re: gscartsw / gscartsw_lite / gcompsw switches support thre

Post by Lomax »

Speaking of which, what sort of cable will I need to hook this up to my Framemeister? I've ordered the gscartsw, but haven't put any thought into my cabling needs...
User avatar
superg
Posts: 1597
Joined: Sun Jul 06, 2014 4:31 pm

Re: gscartsw / gscartsw_lite / gcompsw switches support thre

Post by superg »

Lomax wrote:Speaking of which, what sort of cable will I need to hook this up to my Framemeister? I've ordered the gscartsw, but haven't put any thought into my cabling needs...
You can order straight SCART male-to-minidin xrgb cable from retro-access. Or you can use two cables, SCART male-to-male and SCART female-to-minidin, make sure you don't use the one provided with Framemeister as it's wired for JP21.
User avatar
Lomax
Posts: 18
Joined: Tue May 01, 2018 3:27 am

Re: gscartsw / gscartsw_lite / gcompsw switches support thre

Post by Lomax »

Thanks. Just went and had a look at retro-access - 90% of their products are "Out of stock"!

EDIT: Just read up on how their store works :-/
Leen
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Aug 28, 2018 12:28 am

Re: gscartsw / gscartsw_lite / gcompsw switches support thre

Post by Leen »

they update every weekday at 10 AM est and usually have everything in stock mind you it doesn't last too long but OMG they are so worth it
User avatar
Lomax
Posts: 18
Joined: Tue May 01, 2018 3:27 am

Re: gscartsw / gscartsw_lite / gcompsw switches support thre

Post by Lomax »

LOL, I'll have to pull a late one to do my order (10am EST would be midnight here) :-)
Leen
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Aug 28, 2018 12:28 am

Re: gscartsw / gscartsw_lite / gcompsw switches support thre

Post by Leen »

ouch well i have seen them have stock to 2 PM EST
User avatar
superg
Posts: 1597
Joined: Sun Jul 06, 2014 4:31 pm

Re: gscartsw / gscartsw_lite / gcompsw switches support thre

Post by superg »

The first sub-batch boards are here. I'm currently testing everything and working on firmware update.
Dazdigo
Posts: 49
Joined: Sun Jun 03, 2018 4:24 am

Re: gscartsw / gscartsw_lite / gcompsw switches support thre

Post by Dazdigo »

Thank you for the update. Looking forward to a post when you send out the first shipments.
energizerfellow‌
Posts: 208
Joined: Thu Sep 27, 2018 1:04 am

Re: gscartsw / gscartsw_lite / gcompsw switches support thre

Post by energizerfellow‌ »

Does the new gscartsw put out any voltage on SCART pin 8? If so, what's the SCART spec for any current draw on this line?
User avatar
superg
Posts: 1597
Joined: Sun Jul 06, 2014 4:31 pm

Re: gscartsw / gscartsw_lite / gcompsw switches support thre

Post by superg »

energizerfellow‌ wrote:Does the new gscartsw put out any voltage on SCART pin 8? If so, what's the SCART spec for any current draw on this line?
Yes, 12V, you can draw 25mA from there.
dseleski
Posts: 28
Joined: Wed Sep 12, 2018 9:06 pm

Re: gscartsw / gscartsw_lite / gcompsw switches support thre

Post by dseleski »

Lomax wrote:Thanks. Just went and had a look at retro-access - 90% of their products are "Out of stock"!

EDIT: Just read up on how their store works :-/
We actually have those 8 pin mini din scarts on preorder status, but we also have them purchaseable via the custom cable builder.

The problem is, that at the moment we are moving out of the state: with a view to potential expansion. So what we’re doing at the moment is not stocking most common products, but keeping things like mod compliant cables available, that way we can have a reduced workload while we move AND also allow people to line up cable orders with their mod orders.

edit: they are available now we intended to have them up originally but missed them when we were setting things up
sMack
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2018 1:40 am

Re: gscartsw / gscartsw_lite / gcompsw switches support thre

Post by sMack »

Hopefully someone can help me out here as I've been looking for this for months. I'm needing an active 8-port auto component switcher. Is gRetroStuff considering making one or does anyone know of any commercial model out there? It's a must for me and after half a year or so of searching I can't find anything. Also, not really looking to daisy chain as I'll need all the ports.
Locked