The Analogue Turbo Duo clone shipped in time for Christmas 2023. Are you happy with yours ?? Find firmware updates here.
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Messages - Keith Courage

#1
As far as Hu cards not working, I've seen a few DUO-Rs where the solder joints for the Card slot go bad on the board. So it might just need to have all the pins for the card slot re-soldered. The 2nd possibility could be a Dirty card slot (fix by putting rubbing alcohol on a hu cards pins) or that one or more of the pins of the slot are actually bent/damaged. Usually these pins can be bent back into position again.

Most likely there isn't anything super major broken with the console since CD games load up just fine.

While you have the console open, you should also put new solder on the Power, AV, and Controllers ports. The solder for the pins on those all fail inside R and RX consoles as well.

R and RX consoles do not suffer from bad caps. Only the Black DUO systems have the bad cap problem.

If at any point you decide that you don't want to mess with the repair yourself just let me know and I can help out.
#2
Don't forget about Lowell from Wings.

IMG
#3
I've come to the same conclusion. RGB output from the IFU always has some slight form of video interference and never looks quite as good as if it were installed in the system itself. I think it has to do with various parts of the CD system causing the interference. I've tried running wires to many different locations within an IFU with the same results.

This is why I recommend having the RGB amp installed inside the pc engine system itself instead. I then make a custom scart cable with added RCA plugs so they can be hooked up the the Audio out of the IFU for CD audio.

Another advantage of doing it this way is if the IFU dock were to ever die, one could just get another without having to have the RGB mod installed again.
#4
That resistor only needs to be changed if it is broken. You would know if it is broken. Sounds like a 56K modem coming out of your speakers.

It is completely normal to hear some sound coming out of the speakers when loading. There is no fix to make it go away.
#5
I'd be happy to work on your CD drive for you if you haven't found someone already. Just send me a PM
#6
How about just wiring in an entire Turbo Everdrive? Pretty sure Turbokon did that one once.
#7
I'm currently taking on these repairs. Feel free to send me a PM.
#8
Sorry just saw this. Yes, a good number of systems here.
#9
General Gaming / Re: Ys IX is coming...
12/21/2018, 11:50 PM
This new game must be all about Dogi's crazy addiction of breaking people out of Jails.
#10
No resistor goes there. It's supposed to be bare.
#11
Of course it's worth trying to fix first. Your lens might even just be stuck. Those gears can jam up from time to time. Especially if dropped.
#12
Probably just lens adjustment+re-greasing of the lens rails needed. I'd try just cleaning and re-greasing the lens rails first. I rarely come across a DUO-R or RX that needs new caps.
#13
I'm not a big fan of 3d gaming so I primarly use my 360 for only 2d shooters and racing games. The 360 has many shooters that other consoles never got.
#14
It's normal for q603 to fluctuate a Little. Starts around 0.11v here then drops to about 0.06 steady.

Q604 seems be steady around 0.20
#15
Try the hu6280 chip. If ram and card slot cable are good then the 6280 chip is usually the problem.
#16
Yes, definitely caps.
#17
This dudes videos are great! Just because of the insane amount of love he has for the system. I pretty much enjoy watching any vid made by someone who is just super enthusiastic about the Turbo. Doesn't matter if it's collection related or not.
#18
I just saw one sell on ebay for $270 over this past weekend. Minus the slip cover.
#19
I've had the JP version of Cotton for years and I had no idea there was an option to change the text. I wonder what other JP CD games have this option? I think JB Harold and Carmen Sandiego do. Are there any others?
#20
The white pc engine CD drives are way more prone to it than the Black Turbo Grafx CD drives. However there were two types of motherboards for the pce CD drives. One board was prone to it and the other was not. It's easy to tell which is which because the board that does not typically need caps is a light green/yellowish green color where as the board that usually needs caps is the darker green pc engine CD board. The Four 4.7UF caps mentioned all leak and there is also a row in the middle that typically go bad that deal with lens functions. The caps are all in a row 100UF, 22UF, 4.7UF, and 1UF.

I suppose you could just replace all of the caps but I've found sometimes that is not best since the solder points on some of these boards are very week and can be pulled off of the board when trying to change the caps. I've receive many boards like this from people not knowing what they were doing. Makes it real fun trying to re trace/work the connections.
#21
It is simple. There are 8 pins underneath the controller port and 3 larger ground support points. Simply use a soldering iron and add/flow a little solder to each pin.
#22
PC-FX Discussion / Re: Forum phone access
10/10/2018, 07:23 PM
Thanks
#23
PC-FX Discussion / Re: Forum phone access
10/10/2018, 04:53 PM
No, I wasn't using Tapatalk. I simply had a bookmark save that went directly to the Forum that wouldn't work anymore for whatever reason. I ended up having to start from the first page of pcenginefx and then click on forums in order to access them via my phone. Using Google Chrome. Not a big deal because it's working now.
#24
PC-FX Discussion / Re: Forum phone access
10/10/2018, 11:43 AM
Nevermind, I figured it out. For whatever reason I had to start from the first page of the website and then click on forums instead of using my bookmark as usual.
#25
PC-FX Discussion / Forum phone access
10/10/2018, 10:28 AM
Anyone else having trouble accessing the forums via their phone lately? I haven't been able to use my phone to get to them for the past week.
#26
You are in luck. That resistor that is missing is actually just a jumper/filler fake resistor. Meaning you can just solder a wire to each connection. Resistor says 000 on it so that means no value. 

IMG
#27
I used to take repairs for them by mail but not anymore. This is because I'd say 75% of any model 1 I had mailed to me in the past had plastic pieces broken on the inside due to shipping. The inside of those things are so fragile. Also the weights that go on the ribbon cables would flop around on the inside and cause havoc as well. In each case the package looked just fine and did not appear to have been mishandled in any way. Took me many hours of gluing and modifying things to make work again. I suppose if someone was willing to use a large enough box that can fit at least 4 or more wraps of large bubble wrap around the drive for shipment, then I'd be willing to work on one again.
#28
Don't get a CDX. They break and cost more to have someone fix over a model 1. With that being said, a model 2 is the most reliable and probably the best way to go. However if you need a model 1 or CDX then get a Model 1.

Also, a common problem with CDX systems is the lens motors die and no one has a source for new replacements. Seriously, there is no where to buy the part. So if this part goes bad you can't get it fixed without getting another broken CDX which will most likely also have a bad lens motor. Much like how FM towns systems have no source for replacement lenses.

Sega model 1 and 2 drives still have parts available for the lens, motors, gears and what not.
#29
I had this problem with a few real discs in one of my computers. I even tried a few different drives and that didn't fix it either. So I tried out another PC I have here and those problem discs went through all the way to the end no problem. I even took my drive out of the computer that originally gave the errors and put it in my other PC to test and it went through just fine again. Only had this issue with maybe 3 or 4 of my game discs when I went though my entire collection.

So I think it's some odd issue with one of my computers. Not necessarily the CD Drive I was using for the ripping.
#30
 these CD drives have no skip protection. So it's completely normal  For the audio to cut out if you were to accidentally tap the system in any way.  adjusting the lens in will not improve this.

 Now if the audio seems to just drop on its own without any vibration whatsoever, then some adjustment might need to be done or possibly just a simple cleaning and regreasing of the lens rails.
#31
Yeah, those black traces can go bad. Go ahead and try tapping a wire for button 1 to see if it gets it going again. Hopefully that works. Sometimes in a worst case scenario the contact for the pad on the board itself needs to be repaired in which case conductive copper tape can be used to make new connections.
#32
I'm not familiar with that PCB setup but here is a similar one using the same 7314 that I know works. Maybe you can compare the two and figure out what might need to be changed on yours to get it working.

IMG
IMG

Also, are you making sure to use ceramic caps except for the larger 330uf ones? That could be your problem if you are using standard caps with polarity in place of the other smaller ones.

Oh, and how is your scart Port/Jack wired up?
#33
Is your framemeister cable Euro scar or JP21?
#34
This can be the sign of bad traces/shorted out vias near capacitors somewhere in the CD drive function area of the board. I would start by holding the board up to a light and see if you can see through all the Vias for capacitors found below where the CD drive sits. IF there is black gunk in there you might need to repair using a wire or spare cap contact lead.

If that isn't the problem then I'd try another CD lens if you have one.

If that doesn't work then unfortunately this symptom can also be the sign of a bad chip on the board. So you might need to send this to thesteve for chip replacement.
#35
How well does it read audio discs? Does it seem to have trouble when skipping from track to track?
#36
Hmm well I can't think of what could have happened during the cap change that could have made things worse other then a connection not being good somewhere.

I'd start by turning the V102 pot slightly to the left and see what happens. I tune all my lenses by ear so I can't give you any values to get fore the lens adjustments unfortunately. I do this because I find that not all lenses work good with the same settings as others.
#37
Quote from: NightWolve on 07/24/2018, 04:37 PMHow do you get it to play US games ?
I don't think you can play US games on it without a modchip but maybe someone else knows something I don't. So this would be for playing import games only.
#38
I have an extra Japanese PS2 console I'd like to sell. I don't keep up on the values of PS2 stuff so if anyone is interested just send me a reasonable offer. It's the console with power cable only and works great. I opened up and cleaned out the console as well. SCPH-50000 model. Does not have an internal hard drive or the hard drive adapter. Just a slot cover on the back.
#39
Well, if it works sometimes then there has to be a bad trace or connection somewhere. Turn on the board and start pushing on the various chips on the board to see if it makes a difference. Could be a cracked solder joint on one of the chips legs.

If that doesn't do anything then I'd check the traces on the bottom of the board for the Hu card slot pins.
#40
Did you check both of the 7805 regulators? There is also the possibility of a bad connection or trace under the board near the power input jack. Start testing traces to make sure all is good there. I've come across that a few times now.

Another problem area on DUO-R/RX consoles are the traces for the hu card slot. If any one of those have a bad trace then that can also cause the white screen when turned on if no game is inserted. So turn the board over and start checking the traces that go to the card slot pins. 

If the card slot pins test good then I would just message thesteve here from the forums for help and or send it to him for repair. He is a pro when it comes to chip replacement and or fixing bad connections for them. Even though I repair a lot of these systems myself, I know when to pass a system off to someone with more experience in certain areas than I.
#41
1st thing to check is if both 7805 voltage regulators work. Check with a multi-meter to see if both put out 5V

Hopefully a bad voltage regulator is the problem. If it is not then you either have a bad via hole connection/trace on the board or worst case scenario a bad chip on the board.
#42
1st thing to check is if both 7805 voltage regulators work. Check with a multi-meter to see if both put out 5V
#43
Quote from: benlefou on 07/18/2018, 03:26 AM
Quote from: exodus on 07/17/2018, 03:39 PMBlood Gear - RPG overworlds, nice mech design, side-scrolling action stages, nice cutscenes, extremely affordable, and a Hudson original. No idea why it's not up there with the top games people talk about for the PC Engine.
This one always intrigued me. I assumed it was text heavy?
Blood gear is text heavy but only for all the in town parts. All the side scrolling/platforming stages make up for it. Meaning, just walk around and talk to everyone in town until you figure how to move onto the next section. This is the only Japanese pc engine RPG I've ever played through since it has enough action/platforming elements to warrant my waste of time by not knowing how to read Japanese. Not to mention the cut scenes look fantastic. I'd definitely recommend it.
#44
Oh, well if it is partially working with audio CDs then that is a good thing. Don't forget to clean off the lens itself with a Q-tip. If that doesn't fix it then probably just needs the lens rails cleaned and re-greased+lens potentiometer adjustment.  Usually V102 is the one to try adjusting first. Try turning it to the left slightly.
#45
As far as your CD drive is concerned. Does it spin up really fast starting slow at first or does it just spin one speed not changing at all?
#46
It's the traces to the op amp for sure. Sound for a split second symptom is almost always fixed by repairing 1 or 2 of the traces for the 4558 op amp just to the right of the AV jack.
#47
No reason to give up on it if it can be repaired. I'd be happy to repair it for you if you don't want to deal with it for a small fee.
#48
Sounds like bad traces around the 4558 op amp right next to the AV jack. There should be 3.8V going to these two pins on it. If there is not then there is either a bad trace or old cap goop underneath the op amp that needs to be cleaned out.  I like to remove the op amp, clean, then reinstall.
IMG

Oh, I just had one more thought. Might be a bad trace for the ground on the op amp as well. The grounding pin (if looking at the photo I posted) is on the bottom row farthest to the right.
#49
Override! Such a dam good pc engine shooter. A little short in my opinion cause it could have used at least 1 more stage but the game play, graphics, and music are top notch.
#50
Why not just plug the pc engine lt right into the IFU-30 docking station? No UHF 30 needed