NESRGB board available now

[Josh128]

I grew up with NES (I'm 37). I had just forgotten about the flicker. And using emulators made me forget it even more. It's not the end of the world or anything. Just interesting to watch hardware limitations. But playing these on the Wii, with an emulator, on a CRT...well, they look pretty good. So, I'm not getting the "seeing the games through new eyes" thing that a lot of folks here are. And I wish I was.
Now one thing I didn't forget was how unreliable a front loader was. That's something I never want to go through again.

But yes, this board is great, and I love playing these games on my top loader, with the awesome dog bone controller. Good times.

Like everyone,Ive had issues with my front loader over the years, but honestly, since installing the NESRGB and cleaning the connector on the mainboard that the 72 pin connector fits on, and also cleaning the cartridges Ive been dusting off, I dont think Ive had a single issue booting up a game. Its been working great. I installed a new 72 pin connector about 4 years ago and that seems to have helped as well. One thing I did not do was snip the region lockout pin, which is also supposed to help with loading.

Perhaps Im just sick in the head, but reading about the top loader and the dog bone is giving me the envie to get one and another NESRGB to put in it. COMPLETELY unnecessary, and possibly a little insane, but Ive never played one. I must say the decision to buy the second version of the SNES, even though the first is still working fine, was a good one. The RGB out simply craps all over the SNES 1 RGB out.

[Josh128]

I ordered an ON-ON-ON switch from jameco with my last order from them and wired it up a few days ago. Seems to work quite well and is easier to mount than the slide switch (love my dremel, but drilling is less of an ordeal). I elected to go with the three palette selection option (over say, the option to switch off RGB mode).

I also acquired a shielded MD8 cable that seems to be a lot better than the one I was previously using and reported in this thread. I still can see some interference when I get up close to the TV, but the wires/plug/etc are also still hanging out of the console.

btw - Do you guys tend to do anything internally for shielding your signals at the panel mount location, or did you just drill a hole, glue it in there, and solder the wires to the provided mini-DIN PCB?

Im not sure what you could do at the connector mounting location, other than connecting the shield braid to the outer shell of the connector via the connector board. One very important thing you must do when using shielded wire is to ground the shield braids of each wire used to a common point. Be sure you only do it on one end though, so you dont run risk of creating a ground loop.

[ApolloBoy]

Got through installing and testing my second NESRGB, and it seems like the main difference is that you can now use a simple ON-OFF-ON switch for your palette switch. Basically you short pad 3 (the Natural palette) to ground, the middle pole of the switch goes to ground, and the other ends of the switch go to pads 1 and 2. Once you do this, the center position will select Natural, one end selects Garish and the other selects Improved.

[opt2not]

Perhaps Im just sick in the head, but reading about the top loader and the dog bone is giving me the envie to get one and another NESRGB to put in it. COMPLETELY unnecessary, and possibly a little insane, but Ive never played one. I must say the decision to buy the second version of the SNES, even though the first is still working fine, was a good one. The RGB out simply craps all over the SNES 1 RGB out.

Well then, I must be certifiable:



From top to bottom:
NESRGB Top Loader w/ MultiAV port
NESRGB Front Loader w/ MultiAV port
OEM Front Loader

[Josh128]

Perhaps Im just sick in the head, but reading about the top loader and the dog bone is giving me the envie to get one and another NESRGB to put in it. COMPLETELY unnecessary, and possibly a little insane, but Ive never played one. I must say the decision to buy the second version of the SNES, even though the first is still working fine, was a good one. The RGB out simply craps all over the SNES 1 RGB out.

Well then, I must be certifiable:



From top to bottom:
NESRGB Top Loader w/ MultiAV port
NESRGB Front Loader w/ MultiAV port
OEM Front Loader

I guess its just a vice we share, lol! If my wife (and the size of my home ) didnt keep me in check, It'd be done already! Those are some very clean looking systems BTW.

[ZellSF]

So I get some random pixel errors here and there for half a minute or so after (connecting to power) and booting my NESRGB. Is that normal? Anything I should be worrying about?

Image quality is flawless, much better than I expected.

[eightbitminiboss]

So I get some random pixel errors here and there for half a minute or so after (connecting to power) and booting my NESRGB. Is that normal? Anything I should be worrying about?

Image quality is flawless, much better than I expected.

Game specific? Original cart or Everdrive/PowerPak? Need a bit more info.

[ZellSF]

So I get some random pixel errors here and there for half a minute or so after (connecting to power) and booting my NESRGB. Is that normal? Anything I should be worrying about?

Image quality is flawless, much better than I expected.

Game specific? Original cart or Everdrive/PowerPak? Need a bit more info.

Not game specific, everdrive.

[darcagn]

So I get some random pixel errors here and there for half a minute or so after (connecting to power) and booting my NESRGB. Is that normal? Anything I should be worrying about?

Image quality is flawless, much better than I expected.

Does it happen if you put it in PPU composite mode and use the normal NES AV out? If so, then it's not a problem with the NESRGB, could be a problem with the PPU (damaged when desoldered?) or the soldering.

[ZellSF]

So I get some random pixel errors here and there for half a minute or so after (connecting to power) and booting my NESRGB. Is that normal? Anything I should be worrying about?

Image quality is flawless, much better than I expected.

Does it happen if you put it in PPU composite mode and use the normal NES AV out? If so, then it's not a problem with the NESRGB, could be a problem with the PPU (damaged when desoldered?) or the soldering.

Don't really have an oppertunity to test that (not my mod so not opening it, also have no composite cables). Just wondering if anyone knows for sure what it is.

[Voultar]

So I get some random pixel errors here and there for half a minute or so after (connecting to power) and booting my NESRGB. Is that normal? Anything I should be worrying about?

Image quality is flawless, much better than I expected.

Does it happen if you put it in PPU composite mode and use the normal NES AV out? If so, then it's not a problem with the NESRGB, could be a problem with the PPU (damaged when desoldered?) or the soldering.

Don't really have an oppertunity to test that (not my mod so not opening it, also have no composite cables). Just wondering if anyone knows for sure what it is.

Is the stock power adapter being used? Or are you/they using a cheap switching power supply?

[Pasky]

So, I have my NESRGB from the very first batch and still have never gotten an answer from Tim why this happens. It only happens in Final Fantasy and during the battle screen which leads me to believe its a problem with the color emphasis bit. All other games that use color emphasis work fine (Super Spy Hunter during the pause menu etc...), it's just Final Fantasy I have a problem with. It's a NES RGB from the first batch, installed on a top loader. It occurs on a real cart and a Flash cart.

Here is a video of the problem, (I switch the palette switch at some point just to show that makes no changes, and then back to the original palette, it's when the screen turned black for a second), the colors switching from blue, to green, to yellow is not the palette switch but part of the issue:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/otzlyoioh2qwp12/FF1.MKV

What can be done about this? I haven't seen anyone else with this issue. It works perfectly fine for every single game but this one and only occurs during the battle transitions when the color emphasis is turned on. Would really like some information this time, thanks.

[keropi]

^ maybe this gets fixed on 1.4 firmware that will add correct ppu addressing bit width IIRC (14 instead of the wron 16bits)

[Pasky]

So do others have this issue then? Because if that's not the case, I doubt that's the problem.

[Josh128]

So do others have this issue then? Because if that's not the case, I doubt that's the problem.

Does it occur on any other game? I dont have a FF cart to test it out. Im running 1.3, but its from late in the second batch and its one where they corrected the huge VRAM / Altera issue. Havent had any problems as of yet.

BTW looks like you got some vertical jailbars going on in that video, most visible on the blue screens. You might want to make sure you are using CS# for sync and not V, as I found out personally it can mean a huge difference in quality.

[Elrinth]

My machine is not powering on, not in famicom or disk mode. I checked every single pin on the PPU on the bottom of the motherboard that it connects all over the board to it's correct places. It is entirely possible that I ruined the PPU in the removal process. I have also made sure the DP0-7 and EXT1-4 pins from nesrgb board doesn't connect to the main board respective pins (the pins seen here: http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p55/ ... 28b1b7.jpg).

Here's my findings regarding the PPU (this I made only to make sure my board was having connectivity correctly even after the removal):
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/514 ... m_PPU.html

One thing to note I did not short the J5. But it shouldn't be required in order to get the machine running right?

[RGB32E]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/otzlyoioh2qwp12/FF1.MKV

Care to share a picture or upload to YT?

[Pasky]

So do others have this issue then? Because if that's not the case, I doubt that's the problem.

Does it occur on any other game? I dont have a FF cart to test it out. Im running 1.3, but its from late in the second batch and its one where they corrected the huge VRAM / Altera issue. Havent had any problems as of yet.

BTW looks like you got some vertical jailbars going on in that video, most visible on the blue screens. You might want to make sure you are using CS# for sync and not V, as I found out personally it can mean a huge difference in quality.

As stated in the post, it's a 1st batch NES RGB, and it's the only game it occurs on. The bars are from wire interference running behind my computer. I'm using sync and not composite.

I've already posted a picture of this months ago in this same thread.

[RGB32E]

I've already posted a picture of this months ago in this same thread.

Linking a picture might be useful, but if it's the same issue I counter posted to it's not a program issue, it's an installation issue.

[Pasky]

I've already posted a picture of this months ago in this same thread.

Linking a picture might be useful, but if it's the same issue I counter posted to it's not a program issue, it's an installation issue.

There's a video above, if you're too lazy to view it, don't bother commenting about a picture that's been posted before..

Explain how an 'installation issue' causes the colors to malfunction in 1 game out of the entire library, only during the color emphasis bit being switched on in the game?

[Voultar]

Now that's gorgeous...

[ApolloBoy]

I've already posted a picture of this months ago in this same thread.

Linking a picture might be useful, but if it's the same issue I counter posted to it's not a program issue, it's an installation issue.

There's a video above, if you're too lazy to view it, don't bother commenting about a picture that's been posted before..

Explain how an 'installation issue' causes the colors to malfunction in 1 game out of the entire library, only during the color emphasis bit being switched on in the game?

Have you tried contacting Tim yet? He might send you a USB Blaster so you can flash the 1.4 firmware and maybe see if you can fix this issue that way.

[Pasky]

No I haven't, I thought this thread would be the best way of contacting him. I'll shoot him an e-mail then. Thanks.

[mickcris]

Have you tried contacting Tim yet? He might send you a USB Blaster so you can flash the 1.4 firmware and maybe see if you can fix this issue that way.

Thanks, checked the page and saw Tim just released 1.4.
http://etim.net.au/nesrgb/background_fault/

[Josh128]

My machine is not powering on, not in famicom or disk mode. I checked every single pin on the PPU on the bottom of the motherboard that it connects all over the board to it's correct places. It is entirely possible that I ruined the PPU in the removal process. I have also made sure the DP0-7 and EXT1-4 pins from nesrgb board doesn't connect to the main board respective pins (the pins seen here: http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p55/ ... 28b1b7.jpg).

Here's my findings regarding the PPU (this I made only to make sure my board was having connectivity correctly even after the removal):
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/514 ... m_PPU.html

One thing to note I did not short the J5. But it shouldn't be required in order to get the machine running right?

You do not have to short any solder jumpers to get it to come on and display a picture, at least for NTSC. You DO however need to connect one of the palette pins to ground to get a picture, either by jumper or switch, but you should still have a power light either way. You did remember to re-connect the power and controller connectors to the mainboard right? Make sure they are seated well. Did you install the voltage regulator supplied or did you use the internal one? First thing to check before powering on is to make sure the NES voltage regulator's input and +5V output are not shorted to ground. On the input, you should see some continuity, but more than 100 ohms resistance. Do the same checks on the 2nd reg if you have one. If that checks good, plug everything in and attempt to check the +5V to ground. If you have it at the regulator, make sure you have it at the NESRGB input. If you dont have it in either place, work your way back.

Also make sure you have a good ground connected to the ground pin of the NESRGB. Should be 0 ohms to mainboard/chassis ground. Also make sure your power brick is outputting the correct voltage.

If that all checks good, might be a faulty PPU or NESRGB. Maybe someone else knows some test points on the board you can check. I have come to the conclusion that the PPU is pretty hardy though, especially with regards to heat. Not sure if anyone on this thread has actually damaged one yet. Perhaps its more susceptible to static electricity though. If you live in a low humidity area and did not properly ground yourself its possible you could have blown it by touching it.

[Elrinth]

My machine is not powering on, not in famicom or disk mode. I checked every single pin on the PPU on the bottom of the motherboard that it connects all over the board to it's correct places. It is entirely possible that I ruined the PPU in the removal process. I have also made sure the DP0-7 and EXT1-4 pins from nesrgb board doesn't connect to the main board respective pins (the pins seen here: http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p55/ ... 28b1b7.jpg).

Here's my findings regarding the PPU (this I made only to make sure my board was having connectivity correctly even after the removal):
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/514 ... m_PPU.html

One thing to note I did not short the J5. But it shouldn't be required in order to get the machine running right?

You do not have to short any solder jumpers to get it to come on and display a picture, at least for NTSC. You DO however need to connect one of the palette pins to ground to get a picture, either by jumper or switch, but you should still have a power light either way. You did remember to re-connect the power and controller connectors to the mainboard right? Make sure they are seated well. Did you install the voltage regulator supplied or did you use the internal one? First thing to check before powering on is to make sure the NES voltage regulator's input and +5V output are not shorted to ground. On the input, you should see some continuity, but more than 100 ohms resistance. Do the same checks on the 2nd reg if you have one. If that checks good, plug everything in and attempt to check the +5V to ground. If you have it at the regulator, make sure you have it at the NESRGB input. If you dont have it in either place, work your way back.

Also make sure you have a good ground connected to the ground pin of the NESRGB. Should be 0 ohms to mainboard/chassis ground. Also make sure your power brick is outputting the correct voltage.

If that all checks good, might be a faulty PPU or NESRGB. Maybe someone else knows some test points on the board you can check. I have come to the conclusion that the PPU is pretty hardy though, especially with regards to heat. Not sure if anyone on this thread has actually damaged one yet. Perhaps its more susceptible to static electricity though. If you live in a low humidity area and did not properly ground yourself its possible you could have blown it by touching it.

This is a Sharp Twin Famicom, I did not get any regulator for it. Therefore I did short the J3. During winter I do get charged with electricity more often, especially when I'm about to get into the car or outta the car. Would suck if I blew the PPU with ESD. But I've got a feeling the problem is something else, just not sure what.

[Josh128]

My machine is not powering on, not in famicom or disk mode. I checked every single pin on the PPU on the bottom of the motherboard that it connects all over the board to it's correct places. It is entirely possible that I ruined the PPU in the removal process. I have also made sure the DP0-7 and EXT1-4 pins from nesrgb board doesn't connect to the main board respective pins (the pins seen here: http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p55/ ... 28b1b7.jpg).

Here's my findings regarding the PPU (this I made only to make sure my board was having connectivity correctly even after the removal):
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/514 ... m_PPU.html

One thing to note I did not short the J5. But it shouldn't be required in order to get the machine running right?

You do not have to short any solder jumpers to get it to come on and display a picture, at least for NTSC. You DO however need to connect one of the palette pins to ground to get a picture, either by jumper or switch, but you should still have a power light either way. You did remember to re-connect the power and controller connectors to the mainboard right? Make sure they are seated well. Did you install the voltage regulator supplied or did you use the internal one? First thing to check before powering on is to make sure the NES voltage regulator's input and +5V output are not shorted to ground. On the input, you should see some continuity, but more than 100 ohms resistance. Do the same checks on the 2nd reg if you have one. If that checks good, plug everything in and attempt to check the +5V to ground. If you have it at the regulator, make sure you have it at the NESRGB input. If you dont have it in either place, work your way back.

Also make sure you have a good ground connected to the ground pin of the NESRGB. Should be 0 ohms to mainboard/chassis ground. Also make sure your power brick is outputting the correct voltage.

If that all checks good, might be a faulty PPU or NESRGB. Maybe someone else knows some test points on the board you can check. I have come to the conclusion that the PPU is pretty hardy though, especially with regards to heat. Not sure if anyone on this thread has actually damaged one yet. Perhaps its more susceptible to static electricity though. If you live in a low humidity area and did not properly ground yourself its possible you could have blown it by touching it.

This is a Sharp Twin Famicom, I did not get any regulator for it. Therefore I did short the J3. During winter I do get charged with electricity more often, especially when I'm about to get into the car or outta the car. Would suck if I blew the PPU with ESD. But I've got a feeling the problem is something else, just not sure what.

Yeah, I forgot to mention I hardwired the NES regulator to the NESRGB, which is why I didnt have to short J3. I did this because I wanted the option of an external reg. should I need it.

Did you do the voltage and ground checks? Also, I just saw you posted earlier:

During desoldering of PPU the pin padcircle on 13 and 14 were destroyed on the bottom of the board, I would like to know where they go on a sharp twin famicom.

This does not sound good. How did this happen, too much heat? Im guessing you have continuity again since you posted the pin-check spreadsheet. Still, it may be related if the PPU got too hot in that area.

[Pasky]

On a regular NES:

edit this later, made a mistake.

No idea how different a twin famicom is.

[BuckoA51]

So have Analogue Interactive licensed this board from you Tim? http://www.analogueinteractive.com/inde ... nalogue-nt

[markfrizb]

So have Analogue Interactive licensed this board from you Tim? http://www.analogueinteractive.com/inde ... nalogue-nt

Too pricey in my opinion. Anything made from milled aluminum isn't going to be cheap. I'm betting that it'll be around $500