NESRGB board available now

[mvsfan]

for the people that are having trouble getting the original ppu out heres how i did it.

I desoldered every pin on the ppu Except for the 4 ext pins on a large ground plane. i used a radio shack bulb iron. you have to first add solder to each pin on the ppu so the iron can grab it and remove it. then you slip the iron over each pin and hold it for a while until it melts the solder all the way through to the top then and only then can you remove the solder. It doesnt hurt if you hold it for a while just make sure it melts all the way through.

Now for the 4 ext pins, i bent the tip on my soldering iron into an L shape so i could heat all 4 pins at the same time. I did that until they were all melted and then just pulled the chip.

The key is to make sure all the solder on each pin is melted thouroughly or pieces will hang, and youll never get the ppu out.

[TheRetromancer]

The absolute BEST way to desolder anything is to use a vacuuming desoldering pump. I prefer the Hakko 808 - a bit pricey, but damned if it doesn't do a great job.

[LaC]

Anyone got pics of their nesrgb installed on a toploader?

[opt2not]

Anyone got pics of their nesrgb installed on a toploader?

Check page 34 of this thread.

Elrinth has a post of all the shots posted of both the front and top loader work.

[LaC]

Anyone got pics of their nesrgb installed on a toploader?

Check page 34 of this thread.

Elrinth has a post of all the shots posted of both the front and top loader work.

ah yes thank you.

[Zets13]

Well my programmer came, I wired up the connector, reprogrammed, and finally SMB has a blue sky. Now to wire up the switch, close it up, and finally be finished with the install.

[Vigormortis]

Anyone in the USA got a spare Toploader/AV Fami adapter board? I'm done messing around with the original Famicom . I'm just gonna put the NESRGB in the AV Fami so I can stop worrying about graphic glitches (and no case modifications needed cuz the multi out is already there ).

[eightbitminiboss]

Well, I got my replacement Twin Famicom today. Transferred the install from my old one to it and this time everything for the most part checks out. I have power (the old one didn't), I double checked my pinout for my connector and hooked it up to my XRGB mini and all I'm getting is audio.

I hooked up composite on the stock RCA jack and hooked it up the XRGB mini and can verify that I didn't burn out the PPU or the NESRGB as I'm getting the Famicom Disk System loading screen pre-flash fix so I have that grey background.

Currently my SCART cable from Retro-Accessories (using a Neo-Geo cable as recommended by ccovell) is hooked up with just Red, Green, Blue and Sync (tried Composite Sync, Composite Video and S-Video Luma for sync) and audio pulled from just before the RCA jack.

Edit: I'm already using Euro SCART with my other consoles so it's not that.

[Vigormortis]

If your NESRGB is encoding composite video, it's definitely outputting RGB. Are you using the bundled adapter with the XRGB mini which looks like a SCART adapter? Unfortunately, it's not actually SCART. It's a Japanese connector called RGB-21, and it has a different pinout from Euro SCART. You will need to either get a SCART to XRGB adapter or use RGB-21 cables for your consoles. While you wait for a proper cable or adapter to arrive, just use s-video for now. It'll give you a good idea of the crisp clear picture you can expect with RGB. The difference between composite and s-video is a lot bigger than between s-video and RGB.

[eightbitminiboss]

If your NESRGB is encoding composite video, it's definitely outputting RGB. Are you using the bundled adapter with the XRGB mini which looks like a SCART adapter? Unfortunately, it's not actually SCART. It's a Japanese connector called RGB-21, and it has a different pinout from Euro SCART. You will need to either get a SCART to XRGB adapter or use RGB-21 cables for your consoles. While you wait for a proper cable or adapter to arrive, just use s-video for now. It'll give you a good idea of the crisp clear picture you can expect with RGB. The difference between composite and s-video is a lot bigger than between s-video and RGB.

I've had my XRGB-mini for months and I'm already using a proper SCART to XRGB adapter to play my other consoles also using Euro SCART. Probably should have said that at the beginning.

[Vigormortis]

Do you have +5v wired to pin 4 on your Neo Geo style A/V output? If your SCART to XRGB has the LM1881 sync cleaner, it needs to have 5v-12v coming in from pin 8 on SCART side.

[eightbitminiboss]

Do you have +5v wired to your A/V output? If your SCART to XRGB has the LM1881 sync cleaner, it needs to have 5v coming in from pin 8 on SCART.

Hey there we go. That was it. Now I just have to wait for whoever has the USB blaster in California to send it my way.



Edit: Crappy pic of the install:

[Vigormortis]

Ahhh, I must avert my eyes from the scan liney goodness of the xrgb or else I may find myself missing $370 . The NESRGB (actually all retro consoles ) looks amazing on my 20" PVM but sometimes the idea of scanlines on the 50" LED TV on the wall just seems so tempting.

[splash5]

Here is my installation on AV Famicom.
There is no 7805 in my package so I build one with a small heat sink.

[McCracAttack]

Ahhh, I must avert my eyes from the scan liney goodness of the xrgb or else I may find myself missing $370 . The NESRGB (actually all retro consoles ) looks amazing on my 20" PVM but sometimes the idea of scanlines on the 50" LED TV on the wall just seems so tempting.

If it makes you feel better I have both and prefer the PVM. The XRGB makes a super crisp and nice image but the scan lines aren't perfect. For one thing they only work right in 720p mode. Even then I've noticed a lot of moiré patterns on things like detailed backgrounds that scroll vertically. So, when it's good it's very good but the little glitches here and there kinda irritate my "particular" sensibilities.

Also remember it's much easier to take good looking pictures of an LCD TV versus a CRT so keep that in mind when looking at pics.

[alimadhi]

need scart diagram for NESRGB i have just 8P mini din diagram, i will build my cable scart so i will use pin #1 for Audio

[ApolloBoy]

For anyone else who has an NESRGB in their Twin Famicom, I'd urge some caution in regards to the AC adapter you're using. My Twin Fami began overheating (the screen started flickering and the disk drive started moving around) after playing an FDS game for nearly an hour and I was using a 10V PSU with it. I've now ordered a proper PSU with it and hopefully that'll be the end of it.

[eightbitminiboss]

For anyone else who has an NESRGB in their Twin Famicom, I'd urge some caution in regards to the AC adapter you're using. My Twin Fami began overheating (the screen started flickering and the disk drive started moving around) after playing an FDS game for nearly an hour and I was using a 10V PSU with it. I've now ordered a proper PSU with it and hopefully that'll be the end of it.

I'm using the original AC adapter on mine. Seemed fine though I'll try for the hour you did. 10 volts seems overkill for something rated 7.6v

[plc268]

Ahhh, I must avert my eyes from the scan liney goodness of the xrgb or else I may find myself missing $370 . The NESRGB (actually all retro consoles ) looks amazing on my 20" PVM but sometimes the idea of scanlines on the 50" LED TV on the wall just seems so tempting.

That's not bad of a price. I bought my xrgb mini when the Yen to Dollar exchange rate wasn't as favorable as it is now. I paid over $500 for mine, and I don't regret it one bit.

[kamiboy]

I bought a mini as well, but all it did was collect dust until I sold it again. To my eyes pixel art is an eyesore on anything but a CRT.

[ApolloBoy]

10 volts seems overkill for something rated 7.6v

That's because I modified my Twin to use a model 1 Genesis AC adapter, as that's what I use for the majority of my consoles. It worked perfectly fine on my old Turbo Twin Fami albeit that system was otherwise unmodified. I guess having the NESRGB put considerably more stress on the power transistor (the Twin Fami doesn't use a conventional voltage regulator); the heat sink was still blistering hot right after overheating, and that was even with thermal compound added to it.

[eightbitminiboss]

10 volts seems overkill for something rated 7.6v

That's because I modified my Twin to use a model 1 Genesis AC adapter, as that's what I use for the majority of my consoles. It worked perfectly fine on my old Turbo Twin Fami albeit that system was otherwise unmodified. I guess having the NESRGB put considerably more stress on the power transistor (the Twin Fami doesn't use a conventional voltage regulator); the heat sink was still blistering hot right after overheating, and that was even with thermal compound added to it.

Ah, I see. Just caught me off guard seeing that.

Just passed the hour mark on my end. No flickering from what I can tell with a pre-flashed grey background in FDS Castlevania. System doesn't feel all that much more hotter than it did before modding with original stock AC adapter.

[Vigormortis]

Heh heh, thanks for talking me out of the xrgb guys. I did not know that the xrgb mini had issues with scanlines at 1080p. I can definitely see how moire artifacts could be introduced if the TV has to rescale the image from 720p to 1080p after the scanlines have been introduced. I have seen the light and now realize that I should be perfectly happy with the PVM lol. At least it's bigger (and sooooo much sharper) than the 13" with 300 ohm antenna input piece of crap that I actually used for the NES back in the day .

So even though the bug exists on the 1st batch of boards, there is no benefit in updating correct? Or was this the same thing that was causing the Duck Maze issue?

I doubt this fixes Duck Maze. Duck Maze's problem is different. On licensed games (and most unlicensed ones), the NESRGB reduces the PPU's video output to gray and white, which the NESRGB needs to generate its RGB image. Duck Maze, however, seems to use some voodoo magic to send a palette over to the PPU. When the NESRGB is active, the sprites in Duck Maze are white as they should be, but the background is in full color. Another unlicensed game that doesn't work is Linus Spacehead from the Quattro Adventure 4 in 1 pack . It also manages to get colors out of the PPU while the NESRGB is active. The other 3 games on that cart work fine though.

Oh well, I had never heard of Duck Maze until I saw this thread, and Linus Spacehead always pissed me off as a kid, so I don't really feel like I'm missing out on a lot from not having these games in RGB .

10 volts seems overkill for something rated 7.6v

That's because I modified my Twin to use a model 1 Genesis AC adapter, as that's what I use for the majority of my consoles. It worked perfectly fine on my old Turbo Twin Fami albeit that system was otherwise unmodified. I guess having the NESRGB put considerably more stress on the power transistor (the Twin Fami doesn't use a conventional voltage regulator); the heat sink was still blistering hot right after overheating, and that was even with thermal compound added to it.

Maybe you should just build a new power supply using a pth08080. That thing should handle both the twin fami and nesrgb without breaking a sweat.

[zakruowrath]

The complete Phonedork AV Famicom. This one looks even better than the mod work inside my own RGB NES. Since I did not need to wire up the 5v or ground pins on the RGB kit I decided to use them as a removable means to power the LED. This one is only wired for the RGB and Composite palettes. This allowed me to buy a super tiny switch, it is pretty damn small and out of the way. Not a single drop of glue was used and everything is rock solid.

So an LED can run off the 5V and Ground lines from the NESRGB board? That's pretty cool, I might just do that when I get my AV Famicom modified for the NESRGB.

Question, should one replace the original 7805 with a newer one with more current and or voltage, or is the original fine with powering the NESRGB board? I've seen pictures on here with the add on 7805 and ones without it, so I'm guessing the power comes directly from the original PPU socket lines correct?

[Vigormortis]

I would just run both the AV Famicom/Toploader and the NESRGB off the original 7805 voltage regulator. It should be fine with that massive heatsink. Of course, this is assuming that this is your personal system and you can easily replace the 7805 at any time if it turns out to be too much. If it's a build for someone else, then I'd feel compelled to play it safe just in case.

[TheRetromancer]

So an LED can run off the 5V and Ground lines from the NESRGB board? That's pretty cool, I might just do that when I get my AV Famicom modified for the NESRGB.

Question, should one replace the original 7805 with a newer one with more current and or voltage, or is the original fine with powering the NESRGB board? I've seen pictures on here with the add on 7805 and ones without it, so I'm guessing the power comes directly from the original PPU socket lines correct?

If you're going to drive an LED off of +5V, be sure to slap a 100Ω Resistor (Brown-Black-Brown-Brown) between the Vin and the anode leg of the LED, otherwise, you're going to drastically shorten the life of your LED or worse (if you use a large-tolerance resistor or your power supply fluctuates greatly for some reason), you're going to simply fry the thing. Actually had one LED's acrylic casing explode and ping right under my right eye when I fed it straight 7.4V.

To be fair, though, Tim's +5V out on the board is probably stable as all hell - I'd be surprised if it wasn't.

I don't think it really matters whether or not you use a new 7805 or the original - from everything I've been able to determine, they're not terribly different in their power outputs. Fair warning - the output isn't stable in new or old ones. I've seen 7805s output as much as 6V, which is a +20% increase, but the NES consoles I've seen with this don't seem to mind. I'm pretty sure you're okay.

If you're really paranoid, you might want to throw a ceramic cap between your ground and your Vout to smooth the output, but I really don't think that's necessary.

[keropi]

What's the deal with the 7805 that is missing from the stuff that Tim sends? Is it no longer needed? Or is it a famicom-AV thing (not needed in it) , anyone knows?

[ApolloBoy]

What's the deal with the 7805 that is missing from the stuff that Tim sends? Is it no longer needed? Or is it a famicom-AV thing (not needed in it) , anyone knows?

I believe it's because he found it was unnecessary.

[keropi]

yeah, silly me... Tim told me in an email... it's not needed for the famicom AV, just the toploader.

I am also wondering about the onboard mixer now, on the original Famicom page Tim says to build one yourself because the nesrgb board does not take into account the EXP AUDIO from the slot... it seems more and more convenient to use the FamicomAV video port and use the original signals...

[opt2not]

Well...my confidence is shot.
I just spent the last 7 hours trying to install this thing into a top-loader and utterly failed.

I ordered two NESRGB's from tim, with the intention to install it into both a top and a front-loader. I pulled the PPU after trying to desolder it with my soldering iron and soldapult sucker...I thought I got it out pretty clean too. Installed everything that I could figure out given the lack of top-loader instructions, by compiling the scattered information here as well as referring to the front-loader instructions.

Before I wired everything to a multiAV port I have, I wanted to test out the video..but I got nothing! Black screen on the RGB-encoded composite video. So I tried the original composite video and got nothing but a grey screen!

My initial thought was perhaps my soldering wasn't done well enough. So I went through every solder point with my multimeter set to continuity, and checked my work.
Everything was fine. Then I thought "shit, I must of fried the PPU!". So I attempted to extract the PPU from the NESRGB, and ended up breaking one of the socket legs from the pins I installed and frying a bunch of the through-hole thingies the PPU is soldered into. Now I can't get the PPU out! Which means I can't even replace the broken pin for the NESRGB to socket onto the adapter board.

I'm so dejected that I don't think I want to even try attempting to install the other one into my front-loader. Damn me for thinking I have the soldering skills to attempt this.

I don't even know what to do now.