NESRGB board available now

[Slymick]

Anyone want to share some of their case work tools? I am not 100% decided on my layout/ports just yet. I also don't own a step drill bit.

Working on my front loader at the moment.

I don't have a pic at the moment as my NES is in transit, but I ran the cables out through the channel selector hole.

It doesn't look the greatest but I don't see the back and it means no holes in the plastic.

[Zets13]

And done, just needed to wire up C-Sync from the NESRGB to the multiout. Going to wait for the update before reassembling anything so I don't have to reopen it! Super Mario USA seems to be mostly OK so I guess I can play that until update time.

I would like to buy another one to mod an original Famicom, but I notice that Tim has a Famicom adapter board in the works. Has there been an ETA on that? I'd like to wait for that to be completed before buying another.

[leonk]

Anyone want to share some of their case work tools? I am not 100% decided on my layout/ports just yet. I also don't own a step drill bit.

Working on my front loader at the moment.

Dremel for the rough cut. Nail file for the fine / finishing touch.

[Jeppen]

Anyone want to share some of their case work tools? I am not 100% decided on my layout/ports just yet. I also don't own a step drill bit.

Working on my front loader at the moment.

Dremel for the rough cut. Nail file for the fine / finishing touch.

I drilled a hole and then used a rectangle needle file to create a the hole for the 4-way display switch.
Unfortunately i used a too large drill size so there's kind of a smaller halfmoon in the middle, i'm fine with that, but if i did another one i would be sure to use a smaller drill and then file it up until i could fit the needle file.
Then simply go the distance with it until you have a nice hole for the switch.

https://www.google.se/search?q=needle+f ... 20&bih=910

[Slymick]

Anyone want to share some of their case work tools? I am not 100% decided on my layout/ports just yet. I also don't own a step drill bit.

Working on my front loader at the moment.

Dremel for the rough cut. Nail file for the fine / finishing touch.

I drilled a hole and then used a rectangle needle file to create a the hole for the 4-way display switch.
Unfortunately i used a too large drill size so there's kind of a smaller halfmoon in the middle, i'm fine with that, but if i did another one i would be sure to use a smaller drill and then file it up until i could fit the needle file.
Then simply go the distance with it until you have a nice hole for the switch.

https://www.google.se/search?q=needle+f ... 20&bih=910

I mounted mine behind the black cover here, https://www.dropbox.com/s/jofguz0i5we49 ... 7%20pm.jpg
all hidden, again no pics yet till the board is fixed

[eightbitminiboss]

Tim is sending out emails now to affected people and process to fix our boards.

[Voultar]

Tim is sending out emails now to affected people and process to fix our boards.

Has he already sent out a global E-mail? If so, I haven't received it yet.

[eightbitminiboss]

Tim is sending out emails now to affected people and process to fix our boards.

Has he already sent out a global E-mail? If so, I haven't received it yet.

Appears to be doing it my region, the email I received mentioned Californian customers.

[Voultar]

Tim is sending out emails now to affected people and process to fix our boards.

Has he already sent out a global E-mail? If so, I haven't received it yet.

Appears to be doing it my region, the email I received mentioned Californian customers.

I see. I'm on the east-coast of the States. Perhaps he's breaking the emails up via territory, I'll wait it out.

[McCracAttack]

Tim is sending out emails now to affected people and process to fix our boards.

Well, while we're waiting for our emails what's the short version of the fix? Are we re-flashing chips? Are we mailing stuff back in?

[eightbitminiboss]

Tim is sending out emails now to affected people and process to fix our boards.

Well, while we're waiting for our emails what's the short version of the fix? Are we re-flashing chips? Are we mailing stuff back in?

Oh wow, I feel silly. I thought I posted it already. 2 options for fixing it which have been discussed already. Either reprogramming the board or replacing the RAM itself. The email asks if you want to participate in a "programmer passing program" wherein he sends a programmer to a particular region of people. A person reprograms their boards and sends it off to the next person, etc. He also has the proper RAM chips if you want to replace it yourself.

http://etim.net.au/nesrgb/background_fault/

[McCracAttack]

Tim is sending out emails now to affected people and process to fix our boards.

Well, while we're waiting for our emails what's the short version of the fix? Are we re-flashing chips? Are we mailing stuff back in?

Oh wow, I feel silly. I thought I posted it already. 2 options for fixing it which have been discussed already. Either reprogramming the board or replacing the RAM itself. The email asks if you want to participate in a "programmer passing program" wherein he sends a programmer to a particular region of people. A person reprograms their boards and sends it off to the next person, etc. He also has the proper RAM chips if you want to replace it yourself.

http://etim.net.au/nesrgb/background_fault/

Awesome, thanks for the link and sorry if I missed you posting that earlier. Sounds like reprogramming the board is the way to go.

[markfrizb]

Would this work?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mini-Altera-FPG ... 27dc3c0978

[LaC]

Tim is sending out emails now to affected people and process to fix our boards.

Well, while we're waiting for our emails what's the short version of the fix? Are we re-flashing chips? Are we mailing stuff back in?

Oh wow, I feel silly. I thought I posted it already. 2 options for fixing it which have been discussed already. Either reprogramming the board or replacing the RAM itself. The email asks if you want to participate in a "programmer passing program" wherein he sends a programmer to a particular region of people. A person reprograms their boards and sends it off to the next person, etc. He also has the proper RAM chips if you want to replace it yourself.

http://etim.net.au/nesrgb/background_fault/

Ok good to know. According to that link, I'll have to reprogram mine. Damn.
I wonder why I never got an email about it.
Can you paste the email so we can all read it?
I'm surprised he is not offering returns or offering to purchase usb-blasters for people.

[mickcris]

BuffaloWing has some prototype pics up of his new SNES sockets and they look pretty amazing!

http://www.assemblergames.com/forums/sh ... post725739

[eightbitminiboss]

Ok good to know. According to that link, I'll have to reprogram mine. Damn.
I wonder why I never got an email about it.
Can you paste the email so we can all read it?
I'm surprised he is not offering returns or offering to purchase usb-blasters for people.

Eh, no. I feel since he's sending these emails out by regions, it would let him at least keep a handle of things. Posting the email would have everyone bumrush him. Not everyone got their emails from the looks of it. Be patient I guess?

Would this work?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mini-Altera-FPG ... 27dc3c0978

I guess? I'll just wait for whatever Tim sends out.

[ApolloBoy]

Would this work?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mini-Altera-FPG ... 27dc3c0978

It should, but you'd need a different JTAG connector since the NESRGB uses a 6-pin connector. I couldn't find such a connector so I decided to participate in the "programmer passing program".

[CkRtech]

Ahh man! I got everything assembled and ready to test only to find out the 8 pin min DIN cable I already had...was an extension cable (male to female) instead of a male to male.

Fail.

[opt2not]

BuffaloWing has some prototype pics up of his new SNES sockets and they look pretty amazing!

http://www.assemblergames.com/forums/sh ... post725739

Oh sweet! Can't wait till they're available! They look great.

[viletim]

Are you able to share what went wrong?

I worked around the problem.

Here is a photo of a game running on a faulty board. The monitor's vertical height has been adjusted down and the vertical blanking area is visible. You can see the last line of background before blanking is in colour. That's because th background colour value was stored in two places: in the RAM chip, for use during rendering, and in the PLD, for access when rendering is disabled (as is the case with the last line). Now I use the value stored in the PLD always.

As for why it failed when I changed brand of RAM chip and only on some games and not others? I don't know. I don't even know why the original method fails at all. I don't have the time or inclination at the moment to look further into it. It seems to be totally repeatable and consistent, old RAM works, new RAM doesn't.

Is it better we don't attempt to install it if we received boards recently? Or will I be able to reprogram it once it is installed?

You can still reprogram the NESRGB while it's installed in you NES/Famicom.

can i use NESRGB on my Family Game console has a UMC CPU & PPU UA6527P, UA6538 ?

I don't know. I haven't heard of anybody trying it. Let me know how it goes.

BTW, you should set the jumpers to PAL in this case.

Well, while we're waiting for our emails what's the short version of the fix? Are we re-flashing chips? Are we mailing stuff back in?

Different solutions for different areas. In the USA I think sending out programmers and have people send them on to somebody close by is the quickest and most cost effective method.

Would this work?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mini-Altera-FPG ... 27dc3c0978

That's the correct programmer but I don't recommend buying one from somebody in China right now. They're all busy celebrating the new year. Also the programmer I send will have a wiring harness suitable for the NESRGB (which you would otherwise have to make yourself).

Ok good to know. According to that link, I'll have to reprogram mine. Damn.
I wonder why I never got an email about it.
Can you paste the email so we can all read it?
I'm surprised he is not offering returns or offering to purchase usb-blasters for people.

I only send out emails as fast as I can deal with the responses. I'm not a masochist, would you believe?

Returning the board is an option but it's the slowest and most expensive one. I prefer to use it as a last resort.

[Vigormortis]

Now I kind of wish I had ordered a USB blaster instead of replacement SRAM chips, cuz the USB blaster would have been handy for updating my Everdrives if the need ever arises.

BuffaloWing has some prototype pics up of his new SNES sockets and they look pretty amazing!

http://www.assemblergames.com/forums/sh ... post725739

mmmmmm, I want that panel mount version soooo badly. I think I'll just use a temporary connector that doesn't involve any case modding on my NES and Famicom until that socket is released.

[Jeppen]

Here's a vid of a EEV doing Surface mount soldering on a small part as our RAM chip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9FC9fAlfQE#t=19m17s


Seems easy enough as long as you use flux, though I would prefer the second method he's showing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9FC9fAlfQE#t=23m45s


Though Tim doesn't recommend it unless you are experienced with it, so do it at your own risk.

[darcagn]

Even though my SRAM chips should be coming tomorrow, I haven't decided if I will do the surface mount soldering or just wait until the USB programmer I purchased comes in. I suppose can spend a few days away from the NES, I've been binge-gaming the last few nights.


For those of you who are going to attempt to purchase their own programmer using the link above for the 10-pin programmer, here's the pinout you will need to use when you solder the cable to your nesrgb:

[thebert]

So the website about the fix says:

Recently I have become aware of a fault in all NESRGB boards shipped between 15th and 23rd of January 2014.

I got a shipping confirmation e-mail on January 24th. Tim, does that mean you were able to do the software fix to some boards before sending them out?

[nesfreak]

Just to be 100% clear, pin 1 from the NESRGB pinout (+3.3v power) goes to pin 4 (VCC) on the programmer?

[ckong]

So the website about the fix says:

Recently I have become aware of a fault in all NESRGB boards shipped between 15th and 23rd of January 2014.

I got a shipping confirmation e-mail on January 24th. Tim, does that mean you were able to do the software fix to some boards before sending them out?

I received my boards today, order #61, shipped at 15th January.

Yes, please Tim, let us know which exact orders have the fault and how you are going to handle European customers with all the different countries and therefore high postages?

[Voultar]

If the plan is to ship a couple of JTAG programmers to various continents, and in-turn, rely on the customers to pass it along (ship it to one another) amongst themselves, good luck with that.

I feel sorry for those who don't have the experience/equipment to work with surface mount. For those of us who are able; Swapping out the S-RAM will yield the quickest resolve.

[nesfreak]

Voultar do you mean, the second fastest? For us who already have a programmer could have done it already

[McCracAttack]

Well if anyone is able to source a comparable programmer from a reputable retailer in the US I would sure love to know about it.

Edit: Because holy smokes some of these things look very expensive.

Edit 2: I guess this is a legit Altera USB Blaster?.

[Zapf]

Is it the same programmer used to update firmware in the earlier everdrive carts? I remember getting one from ebay pretty cheap