XRGB Mini framemeister - blank screen with Mega Drive

[bugsypal]

Hi all,

Try as I might, I cannot get my Megadrive to work with my XRGB. All my other consoles work fine, so presumably I can exclude the XRGB itself as the culprit.

Here are the symptoms:

Sync level set to 0 - blue screen with normal sound
Sync level set to 1 or higher - black screen with no sound

My cable is the stereo RGB cable (composite video + sync version) from Retro Gaming Cables.

Can anyone suggest any possible remedies? Might an LM1881 chip solve the problem?

Most grateful for any advice offered.

[AndehX]

I had the same issue with my Dreamcast and PS2. Adding an LM1881 to the XRGB's SCART adapter fixed the problem for me.

[werk91]

Retro Gaming Cables also do the RGB cable with CSYNC (it has the LM1881 chip inside I think) and that should fix the problem too. I'm glad I picked that option for my Mega Drive 2 RGB cable as the picture is very clean even on normal LCD TV.

[bugsypal]

Thanks for that - looks like the LM1881 is the way to go.

My soldering skills are sufficient for me to construct the sync stripper myself and add it to the SCART plug. I have also confirmed that my Megadrive is putting out the required 5V to pin 8. So, I've gone ahead and ordered the necessary components - with any luck, that will do the trick!

Thanks again.

[keropi]

why not mod the md and have it output c-sync instead of composite?
http://www.mmmonkey.co.uk/console/sega/md-sync.htm

[AndehX]

why not mod the md and have it output c-sync instead of composite?
http://www.mmmonkey.co.uk/console/sega/md-sync.htm

He could do that, but it would be easier to simply add an LM1881 circuit to the XRGB's SCART adapter. Then he gets a clean sync signal from all his consoles, rather than just the MD, and doesn't require damaging the MD motherboard