GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

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Iraito
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by Iraito »

I noticed a weird behavior, even after doing this mod https://github.com/ramapcsx2/gbs-contro ... ntiometers i notice that the gbs requires me to use the auto gain option to get the brightness right, i'm using a yellow button GBS, what could the reason be ?
r1vver
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by r1vver »

How does anyone attach the clock board?
Just put it on top of the radiator? No fixation? Directly to radiator metal?
The radiator is pretty hot btw. And with this we also close it from above?
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Josh128
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by Josh128 »

See my pics on page below. Used some kapton tape to insulate from the aluminum heatsink.

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=52172&start=4050
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NoAffinity
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by NoAffinity »

r1vver wrote:How does anyone attach the clock board?
Just put it on top of the radiator? No fixation? Directly to radiator metal?
The radiator is pretty hot btw. And with this we also close it from above?
I use some 3m tape.

3M VHB Tape RP32 0.5 in width x 5 yd length (1 Roll) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007Y7E0CQ/re ... yBiobH5Edi

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FaunoLabirintite
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by FaunoLabirintite »

Hello! I'm new to this forum. I registered because this seems to be the only place on the internet that I see discussions about GBS Control.

I've recently bought a pre-built gbs control unit. Here's my set-up:

I connect my Wii via component cables to the gbs control unit, and then I use a VGA to HDMI converter to plug it into my TV.

If I set the HDMI black levels on the TV to "limited", I feel the blacks get crushed. If I set it to "normal" (which should be full, I suppose), The blacks become grey. The workaround I've found is setting the "Contrast Enhancer" option on the TV's side to "Low", but I still think the image is a little darker then it should .I've upped the gain within gbs control menu just before whites become blinding, as I can't change my TV's brightness, only backlight levels. It's helped a little too.

Am I doing something wrong? Does my set-up output a full or limited RGB?
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Swiftfingers
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by Swiftfingers »

Hey, I just picked up a neotec nt-2515C 25" arcade monitor that requires seperate h-sync and v-sync signals, and it doesn't seem that GBS-C is outputting the v-sync.
I'm kinda new to all this, is there a software solution or do I need to build some sort of sync stripper/seperator?

Thanks!
sin360
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by sin360 »

Hello everyone,

I built my gbs-control about a month ago and it's been working fine. I went to go play a game the other day and I get no picture, but I see the ESP8266 light up when the console is turned on. I tried different consoles and the same thing happens I see the blue light come that it's getting an input on the ESP8266, but the screen is black. To make sure it was not anything with SCART or the VGA to HDMI convertor I used VGA in to VGA out on a monitor. My dreamcast has a vga cable so I connected that to the gbs-control and hooked up a monitor. I can see the monitor go from sleep to power on like it's getting a signal, but the screen stays black as well. Does anyone have any suggestions to where I can start troubleshooting this issue? I also re-flashed the ESP8266 and got the same results.
daroou
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by daroou »

Hi, I built a working gbs-control following Voultar's video (https://youtu.be/1AVXhiTlmgo). The only problem I have is that when I switch to 1920x1080, my wifi drops, and I need to disconnect the video source to get it back. It looks like I'm running into the problem described here on the wiki: https://github.com/ramapcsx2/gbs-contro ... ious-notes

Unfortunately, I cannot change the channel on my router because my ISP has taken control over these settings. So before I buy a new router, or modify the antenna, I'm curious if there's another way to fix this. In the history of that wiki page, I see that one quick fix was "Change the PLL divider a little" (see here: https://github.com/ramapcsx2/gbs-contro ... 012a484fd9). How would I do that? By how much should I be changing it?

Thanks!
4lexei
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by 4lexei »

zezretro wrote:Hiyas

I have a GBS-C I made myself and I am wondering, is there anyway to enable 5v on pin 9 of the d-sub output?

I had an idea that if the GBS-C outputs RGBs 240p and then we have 5v on pin 9 then the Antonio Villena Mister to composite and s-video adapter might work on this too.

https://www.antoniovillena.es/store/pro ... o-adapter/

I am not an expert, but if pin 9 doesnt give 5v, what if I ran a wire from 5v to pin 9 of the underside of the board, would that be a way to do it?

thanks for the thoughts
That's exactly what I did to power my VGA to HDMI converter, so the GBS itself supplies 5v and saves me the need of a second power supply for the adapter.
zezretro
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by zezretro »

4lexei wrote:
That's exactly what I did to power my VGA to HDMI converter, so the GBS itself supplies 5v and saves me the need of a second power supply for the adapter.
Nice! I did the wire bodge and it worked well for the antonio vilena adapter. The GBS outputs RGBHV, so I made a small vga dongle which combined H&V and outouts RGBs. My setup is GBS (giving 5v on pin 9) -> RGBHV to RGBs dongle -> antonion vilena adapter.

works really well!

I couldnt get a VGA to HDMI adapter to work as you said. I guess my vga to hdmi adapter isnt drawing power from pin 9
SuperSpongo
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by SuperSpongo »

Have you properly combined H and V Sync? Just tying both leads together might work, but is not the right way to do it. More can be found here:

https://www.retrorgb.com/building-a-pas ... biner.html

About the HDMI adapter, I've seen people internally modify those as well and wire pin 9 on the supply pin (typically from a USB connection).
zezretro
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by zezretro »

SuperSpongo wrote:Have you properly combined H and V Sync? Just tying both leads together might work, but is not the right way to do it. More can be found here:

https://www.retrorgb.com/building-a-pas ... biner.html

About the HDMI adapter, I've seen people internally modify those as well and wire pin 9 on the supply pin (typically from a USB connection).
Yes, that is exactly the information I used to create a H&V combining circuit
SuperSpongo
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by SuperSpongo »

Ah that's awesome! Just making sure :)
4lexei
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by 4lexei »

zezretro wrote:
4lexei wrote:
That's exactly what I did to power my VGA to HDMI converter, so the GBS itself supplies 5v and saves me the need of a second power supply for the adapter.
Nice! I did the wire bodge and it worked well for the antonio vilena adapter. The GBS outputs RGBHV, so I made a small vga dongle which combined H&V and outouts RGBs. My setup is GBS (giving 5v on pin 9) -> RGBHV to RGBs dongle -> antonion vilena adapter.

works really well!

I couldnt get a VGA to HDMI adapter to work as you said. I guess my vga to hdmi adapter isnt drawing power from pin 9
Sorry, I forgot to mention it, you have to modify the adapter. If I remember correctly, pin 9 of the D-SUB connector to pin 1 of the USB. Check the pinout first, I'm not 100% sure.
zezretro
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by zezretro »

I wrote up an article on how I got RGBs from the GBS-Control

https://www.cathoderayblog.com/converti ... s-control/
K470r
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by K470r »

dj505 wrote:
Pr1ha wrote:Hey! Yesterday I installed the GBS-Control mod and I love how it works.
But in the control interface, some of the mode switches are always off, even if used. How to fix it?
(I've tried toggling Deinterlace Method Motion Adaptive or Bob, see screenshot)
Spoiler
Image

My modification GBS-Control
Image
I've been having the same issue with my unit, as has a friend of mine, and I'm not sure if this is a bug or intended/regular behavior. I made sure to double check that all the settings were correct in the Arduino IDE before uploading, so I'm at least confident that's not the issue at play here, at least for me

Hello; Did you find a solution to the control interface problem?

The same thing is happening to me and all the switches are always off
zezretro
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by zezretro »

I also have this sometimes when switching resolution, although I cant detect the real pattern in how it happens. Sometimes Ill switch resolutions and it comes out just fine, but I can not access the web interface. I then need to power cycle the GBSC to get a response from the web console.

As I understand the creator of the GBS is working on other projects right now so issues like this are not being actively addressed, although the developed said they would look at GBS in the future
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NoAffinity
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by NoAffinity »

These are issues with the node mcu itself. Replace it with one from a reputable source.

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SuperSpongo
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by SuperSpongo »

zezretro wrote:but I can not access the web interface.
I have had this problem when switching to higher resolutions. It seems that something is causing interference with the WiFi signals.
I solved this by soldering a small piece on component leg to my PCB WiFi antenna. That improved reception. Might be worth a try.
daroou
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by daroou »

SuperSpongo wrote:
zezretro wrote:but I can not access the web interface.
I have had this problem when switching to higher resolutions. It seems that something is causing interference with the WiFi signals.
I solved this by soldering a small piece on component leg to my PCB WiFi antenna. That improved reception. Might be worth a try.
Do you have a picture of this? I'm curious what this looks like.
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Syntax
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by Syntax »

zezretro
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by zezretro »

Good info!

I checked my router now and it says that the GBSC has a RSSI of -62db. The router is one room across. My MacBook in the same room as the GBS has a similar RSSI. From this I would conclude that reception probably isnt my issue here. It could be if I am reading this information incorrectly.
K470r
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by K470r »

NoAffinity wrote:These are issues with the node mcu itself. Replace it with one from a reputable source.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
K470r wrote:
dj505 wrote:
Pr1ha wrote:Hey! Yesterday I installed the GBS-Control mod and I love how it works.
But in the control interface, some of the mode switches are always off, even if used. How to fix it?
(I've tried toggling Deinterlace Method Motion Adaptive or Bob, see screenshot)
Spoiler
Image

My modification GBS-Control
Image
I've been having the same issue with my unit, as has a friend of mine, and I'm not sure if this is a bug or intended/regular behavior. I made sure to double check that all the settings were correct in the Arduino IDE before uploading, so I'm at least confident that's not the issue at play here, at least for me

Hello; Did you find a solution to the control interface problem?

The same thing is happening to me and all the switches are always off

I have found a solution; now I can see how the switches are activated and deactivated.

A preset must be selected for the switches to work.

Selecting the custom preset is already to activate and deactivate the options.


Image


Image
Last edited by K470r on Tue Feb 15, 2022 4:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
SuperSpongo
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by SuperSpongo »

I don't have a picture, sorry.
You guys can also check out page 135 of this thread (I hate these never-ending threads :roll: ). This is what rama had to say on the matter:
Hey, the interference is from the large ASIC that locks on many transistors to the horizontal PLL (ADC sampling step).
This is a pretty large power draw PLL, so lots of switching at a frequency which's harmonics must be landing on the used WiFi channel.

If you have any experience with antenna design, we have plenty power to reach an AP even with a "bad" antenna, but that switching noise can completely drown the WiFi channel in the close distance to the ASIC that the ESP has to sit.
Anything that helps it receive / push through the noise will probably fix the worst of it.
daroou
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by daroou »

Thanks for this, looks promising. @SuperSpongo is this similar to what you did?
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Syntax
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by Syntax »

Im pretty sure that was linked by Rama here awhile back, else I cannot recall why the page was in my memory.
I looked at a few different ways to do this and it did seem like the best method.
rQuon
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by rQuon »

Is there a way for us to output 1600x1200? I'm running a jamma board to a Dell 2100FP. I'd like to match the Dell's native resolution to minimize lag as much as possible.
SuperSpongo
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by SuperSpongo »

daroou wrote: @SuperSpongo is this similar to what you did?
Eh, close enough lol

This method adds an SMA connector to add an external antenna, way more sophisticated than what I did. I literally just soldered a piece of metal onto the antenna to see it if improved reception and it did :)
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NoAffinity
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by NoAffinity »

^that's what I've always done. Works great!
rQuon wrote:Is there a way for us to output 1600x1200? I'm running a jamma board to a Dell 2100FP. I'd like to match the Dell's native resolution to minimize lag as much as possible.
Short answer: no

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Syntax
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Re: GBS 8200/8220 CFW Project

Post by Syntax »

SuperSpongo wrote:
daroou wrote: @SuperSpongo is this similar to what you did?
Eh, close enough lol

This method adds an SMA connector to add an external antenna, way more sophisticated than what I did. I literally just soldered a piece of metal onto the antenna to see it if improved reception and it did :)
I think this was the one Rama linked actually, or something similar, its just 2 wires around 60mm long each and works great.
https://community.openhab.org/t/esp8266 ... ange/78982
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