Dreamcast RGB problem

stuminator · Post by **stuminator** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 8:54 pm

I have a US TV, US Dreamcast, and a Euro RGB/Scart cable (the official Sega one). I have an RGB->component converter for hooking this up to my TV, which currently works just fine with my Saturn and SNES. I'm not getting anything using the dreamcast cable, though - no picture, no sound, nothing, it's like the dreamcast isn't even turned on.

My Dreamcast composite cable is working fine, so it's not a problem with the a/v port, and as I said, my Saturn and SNES work fine, so it's probably not my TV or the RGB converter. Did I just get a bad cable, or is there something else that could be causing this?

stuminator · Post by **stuminator** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 9:20 pm

Also, the scart end of the cable only has about half the pins on it. Is this normal? I figured it was since the cable is new and it seems strange that half of them would've gotten cut off or something but... thought I'd better mention this as well.

hidefan · Post by **hidefan** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 10:56 pm

This is quite a coincidence, as I'm having a similar problem, however in my case, my Dreamcast works fine, and my Saturn doesn't. I'm using a Keene RGB to component transcoder. I first hooked up my Saturn with a European RGB Scart cable which I got from NCSX, and I get no sound and extremely scrambled video, barely even anything. I got worried and tried my NTSC US Dreamcast with an official European scart cable and luckily it works. As you said, not all of the pins are connected, which I've heard is sometimes the case, but everything that's important is there (i.e. RGB, sync, sound, etc.)
May I ask where you purchased your Saturn RGB cable? I emailed NCSX about it, but so far no help..

stuminator · Post by **stuminator** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 12:09 am

I got my Saturn RGB/scart cable from Play-Asia. It's a 3rd party JP cable. I also remember hearing that for a US or JP Saturn, only a JP scart cable will work, so I'd try getting a JP cable and see if that does it.

I'm also using the Keene RGB->component converter. Seems like everything I'm using is the same as you for the Dreamcast, so I'm not sure what else to try.

hidefan · Post by **hidefan** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 12:27 am

Interesting, yours is a JP cable.. I heard that it was the other way around, i.e. a JP cable won't work with the Keene or any others, since they have the European pin configuration. I actually have an official JP Saturn RGB cable, I might try that. It has sound problems, though (they all did, apparently).
I'm not really sure what else the problem could be, either.. I take it that you're using a female to female scart coupler to connect the two? I'm guessing you've already tried, but I'd make sure everything is connected securely; sometimes they don't wanna go in easily.

J-P · Post by **J-P** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 11:04 am

The only thing I could suggest would be to try this cable on another TV connecting directly to a SCART socket. That at least would outline whether the issue was with the cable or the converter.

If your jap saturn works via the converter though; it's way more likely to be the cable. If its an official sega RGB Scart cable it SHOULD work... but may be busted. It doesn't need all of the pins showing in the head.

neorichieb1971 · Post by **neorichieb1971** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 12:12 pm

He can't use a SCART TV, he is in the USA.

Sounds like a grounding problem perhaps. Usually the light on the converter should come on if there is input signal detected (if yours has one).

Take the cable apart. R G B should be easy to find since the wires are usually those colors. What I would do is check out what pins the RGB lines are on and report back. In fact, by checking the SNES or Saturn cable you should be able to see what pins should be connected

To undo the cable, at the 21 pin end, unscrew the plastic piece where the wire goes into the end. Then when thats off snap away the 2 sides and you can see what wires go where.. simple really. If there is a major difference you have found your problem.

stuminator · Post by **stuminator** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 7:32 pm

neorichieb1971 wrote:Sounds like a grounding problem perhaps.

According to this diagram, the second pin away from the triangle-shaped end is the ground, right? My scart plug doesn't have a pin here. Seems like this is the problem, so how would I ground the plug? I have zero experience in something like this.

cutty_sark · Post by **cutty_sark** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 9:45 pm

Euro SCART and JP 21 pin RGB are not the same thing. They have totally different pinouts:
http://www.gamesx.com/avpinouts/rgb21pinj.htm
http://gamesx.com/wiki/doku.php?id=av:scart_connector

The transcoder you're trying to use is intended for the Euro market, so it supports SCART, not JP RGB.

A US DC does support Euro SCART cables. That's what I use on mine.

So you need to either:
1. Rewire your JP RGB cable to the SCART pinout
or
2. Buy a SCART cable

EDIT:
Also, be aware that not all SCART cables actually support RGB. If it only has 10 or so pins it might only have the composite video lines hooked up. Make sure when you're buying that it's an RGB SCART cable, not just SCART.
Look under Criticisms on this page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCART

hidefan · Post by **hidefan** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 10:05 pm

Hmm we're using the same cable, and mine was brand new and not fully connected as well, so I'm not so sure that it's a wiring problem. Then again, I guess it couldn't to try

I got a response from NCSX about my Saturn RGB cable, and as I suspected, they sent me a cable that is wired for the Japanese market

and they're out of the Euro ones.
For anyone who knows, does rewiring the cables require any soldering?

cutty_sark · Post by **cutty_sark** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 10:39 pm

Yeah, to rewire it you'd have to desolder all the wires, and then resolder them to the correct pins.

neorichieb1971 · Post by **neorichieb1971** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 7:12 am

I thought you could just grip the pins with a tool and pull them out. They are not fixed in there sometimes.

If the cable is dedicated for a console, its going to be RGB compliant. I've never once in my life seen a scart cable wired only for composite.

stuminator · Post by **stuminator** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 2:01 pm

Here's what the scart plug looks like if this helps:

neorichieb1971 · Post by **neorichieb1971** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 2:49 pm

For RGB you need 5 pins, for stereo sound 2 pins.. you have 9.. so there is enough pins there for connection.

What you got to realize is that most of the pins are obsolete in the console world.

cutty_sark · Post by **cutty_sark** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 7:32 pm

Stuminator, that cable looks like it's wired for the UK SCART pinout, so it should work with your adapter. Not sure what the problem could be. The 3 spaced apart pins in the top row of your picture are the R, G & B pins.

neorichieb1971 wrote:If the cable is dedicated for a console, its going to be RGB compliant. I've never once in my life seen a scart cable wired only for composite.

There are cheapo SCART cables that are only wired for composite, even for games. Look at the user reviews on Amazon UK to see some of these non-RGB cables:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Radica-Gold-Sca ... 03&sr=1-24
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Saitek-GameCube ... 74&sr=1-34
I wouldn't buy anything if it didn't specifically say it was RGB on the box.