TurboNanza mod only displaying in black & white through S-Video

[Dwagon64]

Hello! I'm new to these forums, so sorry if this is the wrong board to post this on.
I got done with installing a TurboNanza mod on my TurboGrafx 16, but when I tested it before putting the console back together it was only displaying the video in black & white and it didn't have any sound either through S-Video. I was testing it with a Retro-Bit Sega Saturn S-Video cable that I had for my Sega Saturn, I also plugged in my Sega Saturn to make sure the cable was working and the Saturn displayed and sounded fine.
I wasn't sure if it was an issue where that particular cable just doesn't work with the TurboNanza or maybe that I need to change the caps on the TurboGrafx since those haven't been replaced yet, I did order a cap kit since I thought that could be the issue plus it wouldn't hurt to replace them anyways. Also I should mention that it was working just fine through the RF output before I did the mod.
I wanted to see if anyone else ran into this issue after installing a TurboNanza mod or had any other ideas besides replacing the caps or getting a different Saturn S-Video cable, I haven't been able to find anyone else that had this problem which is why it led me to believe it could be either a cap issue or that particular Retro-Bit cable doesn't work correctly with the mod and since there isn't much to mess up on this mod that would lead to this issue.

Thanks!

[BazookaBen]

First thing to check is if your Saturn cable connector shape and the connector at the TG16 console are the same shape. Because the Turbonanza ships with a connector shaped differently from the actual Saturn. I had to mod my connector to fit my old Saturn cables.

However, most newer 3rd party Saturn cables fit the Turbonanza just fine. Not sure if the Retrobit does, you'll just have to look and compare. Because if they don't match, it's possible the cable isn't going all the way in.

The next thing to check is your solder connections near the expansion port, and the ribbon cable connections. You might not have the ribbon cable pushed in all the way at one end, or it may have been damaged during reassembly of the Turbografx.

[fernan1234]

Checking for continuity to the pins would be the best way to diagnose the problem, especially checking the chrominance signal which is clearly missing if you only get B&W.

Slightly hijacking this topic, any ideas on how to take out a broken Saturn cable pin stuck in one of the tiny connector holes? This happened to me with one of my bonanza'd consoles (let it be another warning about Saturn cables). Man, I hate the Saturn connector.

[BazookaBen]

Slightly hijacking this topic, any ideas on how to take out a broken Saturn cable pin stuck in one of the tiny connector holes? This happened to me with one of my bonanza'd consoles (let it be another warning about Saturn cables). Man, I hate the Saturn connector.

You sure your cable was compatible with turbonanza's connector and didn't force it in and break it? Like your cable maybe has an incompatible shape like I described above?

But to get that stuck pin out, you might have to treat it like a splinter and cut around it a little to get to it with tweezers. I'm not sure how else to do it

Maybe a strong magnet like from an old HDD, but I'm not sure if the metal in a typical s-video connector is magnetic.

[fernan1234]

You sure your cable was compatible with turbonanza's connector and didn't force it in and break it? Like your cable maybe has an incompatible shape like I described above?

Long story short, I accidentally tried to plug the (3rd party) Saturn cable into a Megadrive2 connector, which bent and weakened a pin (the pin used for RGB sync) and next time I plugged it into the Turbonanza Saturn connector the weak pin broke off and got stuck in there. If original Saturn cables don't fit very well I can see something like this potentially happening too though.

Brute forcing it with cutters and tweezers is probably gonna be the only way to get it out. It's on a TG16 that also randomly stopped working too, so maybe this console is just cursed.

[Dwagon64]

First thing to check is if your Saturn cable connector shape and the connector at the TG16 console are the same shape. Because the Turbonanza ships with a connector shaped differently from the actual Saturn. I had to mod my connector to fit my old Saturn cables.

However, most newer 3rd party Saturn cables fit the Turbonanza just fine. Not sure if the Retrobit does, you'll just have to look and compare. Because if they don't match, it's possible the cable isn't going all the way in.

The next thing to check is your solder connections near the expansion port, and the ribbon cable connections. You might not have the ribbon cable pushed in all the way at one end, or it may have been damaged during reassembly of the Turbografx.

The Retro-Bit cable I have does have a flat part of the connector where the round part of the Turbonanza connector is, it does seem like it plugs in all the way, but it's probably not going in completely because of that. Are there any specific 3rd party Saturn S-Video cables that you'd recommend that fit the connector on Turbonanza?
For the continuity, I did check the continuity between all the solder points, but I haven't checked the continuity between the ribbon cable, though I have re-plugged in the ribbon cable on both ends to check if that was the issue and still had the same problem.

[BazookaBen]

Are there any specific 3rd party Saturn S-Video cables that you'd recommend that fit the connector on Turbonanza?

I have an old s-video cable that doesn't fit the Turbonanza either, so I just got out my Xacto knife and small flathead screwdriver and cut some of the plastic on the Turbonanza plug to match the Saturn

You can see the final result in this pic, with a Saturn right below for comparison:

Spoiler

https://i.imgur.com/X1qXnSH.jpg

It doesn't have to look beautiful, just give the clearance for the connector to get in

Alternatively, if it's easier, you could try snipping out, or bending out, that flat side of the Retrobit connector. But if it also has those indentations at the corner (approximately 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock in the picture) then that complicates things, and it would probably be easier, and more reliable long term, to just modify the Turbonanza connector as I did.

[fernan1234]

The Retro-Bit cable I have does have a flat part of the connector where the round part of the Turbonanza connector is, it does seem like it plugs in all the way, but it's probably not going in completely because of that. Are there any specific 3rd party Saturn S-Video cables that you'd recommend that fit the connector on Turbonanza?

Have you done any sanity checks with other s-video sources? By any chance are you dealing with any PAL equipment there?