Questions that do not deserve a thread

[Steven]

Any 15 pin D-Sub options available currently for Genesis 2 or NESRGB pinouts?

Might not be what you are looking for and I don't know how good it is (I've heard it isn't very good, actually, but I don't know), but there is the Micomsoft XMD-3. It's also fairly expensive for what it is considering it's like 30 years old and supposedly not that great. There is probably something that is modern, cheaper, and better, but it's an option, I guess.

While I am here, is there any way that I can use a keyboard to play PS4/PS5/Switch games? I want to play STGs with keyboard since that's the best controller, but I'm not sure if it's possible on consoles.

[bobrocks95]

Any 15 pin D-Sub options available currently for Genesis 2 or NESRGB pinouts?

Might not be what you are looking for and I don't know how good it is (I've heard it isn't very good, actually, but I don't know), but there is the Micomsoft XMD-3. It's also fairly expensive for what it is considering it's like 30 years old and supposedly not that great. There is probably something that is modern, cheaper, and better, but it's an option, I guess.

While I am here, is there any way that I can use a keyboard to play PS4/PS5/Switch games? I want to play STGs with keyboard since that's the best controller, but I'm not sure if it's possible on consoles.

Huh, hadn't heard of that. Don't know what caps or resistors are in it so it may be an odd solution to work with. Certainly more than I was hoping to pay.

For keyboard Brook adapters may let you? Not sure but I've definitely seen keyboard + mouse console adapters before.

[Steven]

Any 15 pin D-Sub options available currently for Genesis 2 or NESRGB pinouts?

Might not be what you are looking for and I don't know how good it is (I've heard it isn't very good, actually, but I don't know), but there is the Micomsoft XMD-3. It's also fairly expensive for what it is considering it's like 30 years old and supposedly not that great. There is probably something that is modern, cheaper, and better, but it's an option, I guess.

While I am here, is there any way that I can use a keyboard to play PS4/PS5/Switch games? I want to play STGs with keyboard since that's the best controller, but I'm not sure if it's possible on consoles.

Huh, hadn't heard of that. Don't know what caps or resistors are in it so it may be an odd solution to work with. Certainly more than I was hoping to pay.

I am not sure what goes on inside this thing, but it also gives you S-video, which almost all Mega Drives aside from the Wondermega are not natively capable of, in case you want that for some reason. I found pictures of the internals.

https://gamesx.com/wiki/doku.php?id=av:micomsoft_xmd-3

For keyboard Brook adapters may let you? Not sure but I've definitely seen keyboard + mouse console adapters before.

It's frustrating because there are actually console games that let you use keyboard + mouse. Mostly on Xbox, I think, but I know PS4 and PS5 have some as well. I wonder how those adaptors are with lag, especially on the Switch, as the crappy Switch dock adds a frame of lag to all wired controllers from what I understand.

[Rastan78]

Brook has a mouse/keyboard adapter called the Sniper. Idk about input lag tho and it's fairly expensive. Might be a toss up between something like that and using a tried and true arcade stick and adding WASD keys.

Arcade Stick Indonesia has some cool stuff for that. I'd be tempted to go that way. Then I personally don't like playing on keyboard so take that with a grain of salt lol

[SavagePencil]

While I am here, is there any way that I can use a keyboard to play PS4/PS5/Switch games? I want to play STGs with keyboard since that's the best controller, but I'm not sure if it's possible on consoles.

I have successfully used the Titan One for Switch and Xbox 360, I cannot speak to PS4/PS5 but you may wish to post your findings here: viewtopic.php?p=1528838&hilit=xboxen#p1528838

[Steven]

I'd be fine with just replacing the lever in a regular arcade controller with WASD keys, but most of the lever replacements that I've seen have the keys higher than the buttons and I am not sure if I want that. Might try it anyway just to see how it is.

There is the Mixbox, which seems to solve that problem, but it's Vewlix, which I absolutely hate. Why does nobody ever make controllers with good layouts like Astro City?

I'll keep looking to see what I can do. I'd be quite happy to be rid of arcade levers forever and only ever play with keyboard.

[Rastan78]

Sorry to tell you this, but sounds like you're a candidate for a full custom build. You can do a mixbox with noir or astro layout and the wasd integrated into the panel itself. The one big caveat is price, especially if international shipping is a consideration.

Although I'm a fan of the idea of bite the bullet, spend money once, get exactly what you want and forget about it. You save in the long run vs buying off the shelf sticks you're not happy with and replacing them after 6 months. And everything is modular. Detachable cable, replaceable top panel, usb ports etc. so cheap to fix or uprade.

I happen to have one from All Fight Sticks. Very happy with it. He will make you whatever layout you want. The customer service and build quality makes it feel like money well spent. Agree with you about Vewlix sucking and went with astro city 2P side, which just has the buttons rotated slightly counter-clockwise so your elbow can stick out naturally.

Spoiler

Or with Arcade Stick Indonesia, if you buy their case then they have interesting wasd options that slot into the panel seamlessly.
https://asindo.pro/products/iris-wasd-pro

[Steven]

I feel like I'm the only person in the world that likes Astro 1P more than Astro 2P. Maybe it's just because playing on my New Astro City's 2P side puts me physically on 2P side and I want to be on 1P side, which I actually prefer even over centered. Yeah, I'm weird, I know. Some of my PCBs let me play on 2P side, like Kyuukyoku Tiger, which is in there now, so maybe I'll try playing on 2P side some more to see if I actually like the button layout more than 1P side.

I've been considering a custom build for a while anyway; I like the RAP N overall, but I want something that works on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, and 360 (yes, I am playing Saidaioujou with a standard 360 controller), so at the very least I'd gut the RAP N and put a UFB in there with the PS5 upgrade thingy, or the new combination one they put out a while ago. Having WASD and Astro 1P would be even better than using the RAP N, so I have been thinking about it for a while.

What's really going to kill me is the exchange rate; the USD is 48~50% more valuable than the yen and many other foreign currencies are also around there or worse (lol Euro is like 58% stronger than yen right now and GBP is 82% stronger!!!), so I get completely demolished by the exchange rate whenever I buy things overseas. My money is practically worthless right now...

I did just now realize that arcade buttons on right hand side is probably better than keyboard keys because I sometimes prefer to play without autofire and that means I'm going to smash the fuck out of my shot button. I don't know how a keyboard would stand up to that, but I know arcade buttons will. Probably better to get an arcade controller with WASD on the left and arcade buttons on the right.

[cfx]

I feel like I'm the only person in the world that likes Astro 1P more than Astro 2P.

Aside from just preference issues, I think this depends on the size of your hands or more specifically how long your fingers are. I don't have large hands but have long fingers, and my forefinger is about 1.25" longer than the pinky, which means that in order to rest my fingers on the four buttons of one row, with the Astro 1P layout I either can't have my wrist straight or my elbow is going to be sticking way out. As I have carpal tunnel syndrome I shouldn't be playing with my wrist bent. Astro 2P is better for me because of this.

Or I think that would be the case looking at the layouts. I've never had either, but I designed my own layout when I first built joysticks about 20 years ago, and what I did looks almost exactly like Astro 1P except I didn't offset the top row over the bottom the same way, because I thought that made the most sense, but have since realized that I need it less rotated and what I am planning to do looks about like the Astro 2P.

How well computer keyboard buttons would stand up to rapid tapping for firing depends on what keyswitches you're using. Given that the Korean Samducksa buttons use Cherry MX keyboard switches, presumably they are fine for the purpose. I'm planning to try the version of these that have the Cherry MX blue switches, which have a click for feedback that you've engaged, which I think I will prefer. (I hate the mushy feel of Sanwa buttons.)

Beyond that any comments from me wouldn't be helpful as I find PC keyboard and mouse the least intuitive and least fun inupt method ever.

[Rastan78]

I feel like I'm the only person in the world that likes Astro 1P more than Astro 2P.

Part of it might be that a lot of people are playing on their lap now instead of on cab? I agree Astro 1P feels perfect on cab. When you play on your lap and your wrist is more back towards your belly the 2P config allows your wrist to be straighter and more natural.

Yeah I went through the same thing considering buying a new Hori. Then I thought well by the time I put in a Brook board, Seimitsu stick, Sanwa buttons etc etc it's still going to be really expensive.

That sucks about the exchange rate now though. Maybe you could just find a hitbox within Japan and try that?

I did just now realize that arcade buttons on right hand side is probably better than keyboard keys because I sometimes prefer to play without autofire and that means I'm going to smash the fuck out of my shot button.

Another thing is with a 30mm arcade button you can roll two fingers at the same time to mash faster and more comfortably. Keep in mind some layouts like the hitbox are using 24mm start buttons as the main action buttons now. That's not ideal for mashing IMO.

[bobrocks95]

Note that the Brook PS5 upgrade and new combo board are only for a small list of very specific fighting games. If you only play shooters, the regular UFB will save you some money. I've said it before in other threads but at some point some PS5 stg I want to play won't have PS4 controller support and my heavily modded stick will be a giant paperweight...

[VEGETA]

I updated N8 Pro to latest firmware but lost my savestates...any fix to this?

[AaronSR]

I updated N8 Pro to latest firmware but lost my savestates...any fix to this?

I came across this: https://twitter.com/krikzz/status/1713563571450167312

[VEGETA]

I updated N8 Pro to latest firmware but lost my savestates...any fix to this?

I came across this: https://twitter.com/krikzz/status/1713563571450167312

tried it but didn't work. i downgraded to 2.14 and 2.13 but also didn't work.

[Rastan78]

@Steven, stumbled across this Japanese maker of custom DIY arcade stick cases. They have ones that are compatible with the Arcade Stick Indonesia "Iris" mounting design. In other words you could use one of ASI's snazzy Iris WASD setups in a case that doesn't need to be imported.

https://kuromaki.booth.pm/items/5174548

[jd213]

One could also buy a junk RAP V3 or something for around 2000 yen (I've found them as low as 900 yen but that was years ago) and replace the stick/buttons. Maybe sand off any rust on the bottom plate and spray paint it, and get custom art if desired.

[VEGETA]

Hello,

I wanted to ask about Arcade machines CRTs.

1- do they have true RGB input?
2- are they better quality than consumer sony trinitrons?

I am thinking if it is better and accept pure rgb then it is worth it to get one instead of a trinitron. my trinitron is fantastic which has component.

[Bassa-Bassa]

All the arcade CRTs support analog RGB, yeah, though you'll need an adapter for home devices.

Quality among them greatly varies, at this point it's better to just make sure how well have they aged. Used arcade CRTs will normally have too many hours of usage in 2023. Old TVs aren't normally being used since many years ago. It's a good question if a big, well-tweaked Sony (RGB) TV can get a picture as good as a late Nanao, though.

[vol.2]

It's a good question if a big, well-tweaked Sony (RGB) TV can get a picture as good as a late Nanao, though.

I think it's mostly a matter of opinion at that. Keep in mind that most comparisons in recent years are done with macro digital photography, and the differences are going to be transparent to a human's eyes from even the distance of a arcade screen

the question is "does it look good to you?"

[terrorinstinct]

Glad to see you're making some progress. I used to set my Hakko desoldering gun to the minimum temp, but I think this made it easier to damage traces since I'd need to leave it on longer and make multiple attempts, so a higher temp made it easier for solder to come all the way off with just one try and I haven't damaged anything yet.

I just have a TS100 that maxes at 400C, no-clean flux, a cheap solder sucker and a desolder braid. It's a pain when the solder resolidifies as soon as you take the iron off, but alternating between flux, the sucker and the braid gets the job done eventually.

I guess the service manual didn't say anything about other tolerances? Have you checked the voltage regulators? Maybe a bad resistor could be the culprit.

There are waveform diagrams for various points, but (since this is of course a manualslib copy) the diagram bitmaps are sized for ants, and even if they weren't I don't have an oscilloscope. I'm not sure how to check the voltage regulators without one, especially without an idea of what part of the spaghetti mess schematic actually feeds horizontal deflection and would be affected by Vdroop from a bright electron beam. It's an instantaneous and direct relationship between beam current and picture size; I'm using a Wii as a test pattern generator for component input and I can actually see the picture edges bend inward as the "wave" in the Homebrew Channel banner animation moves up the screen. I'm not sure how a bad resistor would affect that without totally borking the TV. Here's the service manual if you want to take a look and maybe see something I'm missing.

In desperation I replaced C725 and C723 (bypass caps on the 130V+ line, just off of the transformer) to see if that would improve things. No change. Does anyone have any ideas for what the source of this blooming could be? It's one of those "you can't unsee it" things for me and I'm almost at the point of passing this off on craigslist to someone less picky. This would be a real shame considering how nice this TV is except for the blooming.

[vol.2]

Does anyone know if the PS2 hardware mod chip will DVD region unlock the PS2?

I'm asking because I use my PS2 in RGB mode, and all DVDs hit the region blocking when you do that on a North American Console, even USA region DVDs. For some stupid reason, they only allow you to run DVDs through Component video

Currently, I'm using the (now very ancient) McLoader program in UlaunchElf to region unlock the console through software, but I have to do it each time I boot the machine, and it requires a reboot to use, so it's kind of annoying. I purchased a mod chip to try this, but if someone here can tell me it won't work, I might skip the install as it will take a whole afternoon

thanks

[bobrocks95]

Does anyone know if the PS2 hardware mod chip will DVD region unlock the PS2?

I'm asking because I use my PS2 in RGB mode, and all DVDs hit the region blocking when you do that on a North American Console, even USA region DVDs. For some stupid reason, they only allow you to run DVDs through Component video

Currently, I'm using the (now very ancient) McLoader program in UlaunchElf to region unlock the console through software, but I have to do it each time I boot the machine, and it requires a reboot to use, so it's kind of annoying. I purchased a mod chip to try this, but if someone here can tell me it won't work, I might skip the install as it will take a whole afternoon

thanks

If you have a 50000 or above model, you could probably get the same result just in software with MechaPwn. Doesn't require you to rerun it every boot.

[vol.2]

Does anyone know if the PS2 hardware mod chip will DVD region unlock the PS2?

I'm asking because I use my PS2 in RGB mode, and all DVDs hit the region blocking when you do that on a North American Console, even USA region DVDs. For some stupid reason, they only allow you to run DVDs through Component video

Currently, I'm using the (now very ancient) McLoader program in UlaunchElf to region unlock the console through software, but I have to do it each time I boot the machine, and it requires a reboot to use, so it's kind of annoying. I purchased a mod chip to try this, but if someone here can tell me it won't work, I might skip the install as it will take a whole afternoon

thanks

If you have a 50000 or above model, you could probably get the same result just in software with MechaPwn. Doesn't require you to rerun it every boot.

After reading the github page, it sounds like you lose the ability to play both DVDs and PS1 games if you use the region unlock feature. Maybe I'm wrong about that, but I think that's what's going on. Otherwise, it gives you the ability to set or change the region at will with a reboot, which isn't useful in this case. The problem is that I have USA region DVDs, and it looks for a non-USA region to playback in RGB. So if I change the region to one that can playback in RGB, then it won't work with all my USA DVDs anymore; it essentially has to be fully unlocked.

This is why I thought of possibly just doing the modchip. If the modchip region unlocks the DVD playback, then my problem is solved.

[jd213]

I would personally just get a cheap DVD player, those will be easy to get for the forseeable future (and also natively have HDMI output) while working PS2s are probably going to get harder and harder to find

[bobrocks95]

Does anyone know if the PS2 hardware mod chip will DVD region unlock the PS2?

I'm asking because I use my PS2 in RGB mode, and all DVDs hit the region blocking when you do that on a North American Console, even USA region DVDs. For some stupid reason, they only allow you to run DVDs through Component video

Currently, I'm using the (now very ancient) McLoader program in UlaunchElf to region unlock the console through software, but I have to do it each time I boot the machine, and it requires a reboot to use, so it's kind of annoying. I purchased a mod chip to try this, but if someone here can tell me it won't work, I might skip the install as it will take a whole afternoon

thanks

If you have a 50000 or above model, you could probably get the same result just in software with MechaPwn. Doesn't require you to rerun it every boot.

After reading the github page, it sounds like you lose the ability to play both DVDs and PS1 games if you use the region unlock feature.

That's only if you use the Force Unlock feature, which is meant for getting homebrew discs to boot.

I'd say give it a try, I would think you could set the console to report as PAL to get past the RGB issue, and set disc region to USA to keep DVDs loading right. But I've never played a DVD on my PS2 so I'm no expert. PS2 modchips are tedious to install so just personally speaking I'd try every software option I could first.

[Unseen]

Does anyone know if the PS2 hardware mod chip will DVD region unlock the PS2?

As far as I know: Depends on the chip. The DMS3 I have in my old PS2 just disables the region check of the DVD player, the Matrix Infinity has a menu option to explicitly set the region. Since the now-common Modbo chips are (AFAIK) just Infinity clones, they probably have that menu too, but I have no idea if the feature works on them.

I would think you could set the console to report as PAL to get past the RGB issue

Doesn't help, even on PAL consoles DVDs will only play with component instead of RGB unless you have a mod(chip) that removes this limitation - as far as I know the rationale was that they could add analog copy protection to component but not to RGB.

[kitty666cats]

Does anyone know if the PS2 hardware mod chip will DVD region unlock the PS2?

As far as I know: Depends on the chip. The DMS3 I have in my old PS2 just disables the region check of the DVD player, the Matrix Infinity has a menu option to explicitly set the region. Since the now-common Modbo chips are (AFAIK) just Infinity clones, they probably have that menu too, but I have no idea if the feature works on them.

I would think you could set the console to report as PAL to get past the RGB issue

Doesn't help, even on PAL consoles DVDs will only play with component instead of RGB unless you have a mod(chip) that removes this limitation - as far as I know the rationale was that they could add analog copy protection to component but not to RGB.

Well, there’s also that “DVD Region X” disc that PAL people would buy in the early 2000s that would allow people to play back DVDs in RGB. But I think it required a bunch of other dumb stuff on top of disc swapping, haha

[vol.2]

Does anyone know if the PS2 hardware mod chip will DVD region unlock the PS2?

As far as I know: Depends on the chip. The DMS3 I have in my old PS2 just disables the region check of the DVD player, the Matrix Infinity has a menu option to explicitly set the region. Since the now-common Modbo chips are (AFAIK) just Infinity clones, they probably have that menu too, but I have no idea if the feature works on them.

Thanks. So which then would be preferable? it sounds like I should be looking for a DMS3 chip so I can disable the region check?

The chip I have is a Modbo5, so I guess that means it will only let me set the region, and that won't in and of itself solve the issue?

Like I said before, when I use the McLoader program and select "region unlock," it plays DVDs through RGB just fine, so whatever is happening there is fixing the issue.

[kitty666cats]

Any 15 pin D-Sub options available currently for Genesis 2 or NESRGB pinouts? Retro-Access made all my DSub cables but she appears to have hit quite a rough patch personally. I know there's community adapters floating around like the SyncBaby's though not seeing anything for NESRGB's 9-pin miniDIN (haven't looked for Genesis 2 yet).

I wouldn’t count on Retro Access being up and running for a LONG time. If you check their Twitter they’ve gone completely gone off the rails and can’t seem to manage to be function as a member of society right now, let a business owner. It would probably be responsible of RetroRGB Bob and all these other places to stop listing them as one of the top go-to cable sellers… it’s a one-person operation that was always very slow with a poor business model/poor service - and now it’s not looking much like they’ll be back into the swing of things anytime REMOTELY soon, if ever

[AaronSR]

Will a PSone power supply work with a Genesis 2? The Genesis says 10v and the PSone PSU is 7.5v but apparently it gets stepped down to 5v inside the console anyway? I've read conflicting things on this so want to make absolutely sure, thanks. I know they're both center positive at least.