Messages

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: IC: Saturn Controllers]

I'd be interested in one or two.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Another day, another basketcase Duo]

When I recapped my duo, game CDs wouldn't load anymore but adjusting the pots corrected the problem.  While working with them I would come across the fast forward/skipping tracks issue.  I think VR103 and VR105 were helpful in correcting that, if I recall.  Hope you get things figured out.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Ummmmmmm. WTF?]

Now that there's documentation Ebayers can refer to, we'll start seeing new Duo's listed at $100, new Soldier Blades at $10 and new Shockmans at $20!  I'm sure of it!

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: MOD - Homemade converters]

A craft knife should be fine for cutting the traces, but make sure you're cutting deep enough, maybe make two separate cuts to be sure if you don't have a multimeter/continuity tester to check.

If you're planning on rewiring the data lines entirely on the one pcb like I did with mine, the ribbon cable wire might be too thick with the wires all crisscrossing each other.  I used individual strands of 30 awg wire on mine.

My PCI slot looked similar to yours.  Just the nature of hacking/grinding/melting away at plastic at a weird angle I guess.  I tried to clean mine up a bit after with a file.

[General Gaming / Re: Recommend me an arcade stick for the *Original XBOX*]

If you don't mind some work, I'd recommend getting an Xbox 360 Hori or Madcatz arcade stick and putting in a "TE Kitty" or "Multi-console Cthulhu" board from http://www.godlikecontrols.com.  They're made by a member of the Shoryuken.com forums.  With that in your stick you can make cables for other consoles out of extension cables.  The board supports original Xbox and our beloved PCE, along with PS1,2,3, Gamecube, Dreamcast, Saturn, NES, SNES and I think also 3DO, I'm not sure as I don't personally use that one, plus you'd have the stick's original Xbox 360 compatability.  I particularly like it for PCE, although it has some issues when trying to use it through a multitap.

[Off-Topic / Re: Scale of the universe]

Interesting link, although I was kind of expecting it to show a white PCE at the very right.

Or would we loop from one side to other side?

I thought Asteroids answered that for us decades ago.

[Off-Topic / Re: New member....what gives??]

The grumpy old men are what lured me to register.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: A Question to al the Ys experts...]

3 - All the ports are more or less the same gameplay/plot-wise.  The Oath in Felghana for PC and PSP is a very different remake of this game's plot, made more in the style of Ys 6 and Ys Origin.

4 - This is the one where the SNES version is supposed to be canon.  The SNES and PCE versions are different games, but share characters and some basic plot points.  Neither officially came out in English, but there are translations for both.  Yet a third different version is coming out for the Vita.

5 - There's two versions of this, but they're the same game, one just has increased difficulty.  There's no English translation for this, but one is in the works I think.

6 - 6 is technically 6.  It came out in English for PS2 and PSP, but there's also a PC version with a fan translation available.  I hear the PSP version was a pretty bad port.

7 - Only for the PSP.

Origin - A PC only prequel to 1+2.

As for chronology: Origin, 1, 2, 4, 3/Oath, 5, 6, 7

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: My instant turbografx collection.]

Nice find.  Given the Japanese hucards, were any of those systems region modded?

[Off-Topic / Re: Ernest Borgnine dead at 95]

It's too bad, but at least he made it to a ripe old age.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: MOD - Homemade converters]

I don't have a PC Engine myself, but as I understand a hucard converter will work for you, but in addition you'll also need to lift and ground one of the pins on a chip inside the system.  A quick search brought up this page which explains it clearly:

wayback.mmmonkey.co.uk/console/pce/region.htm
https://mmmonkey.co.uk/multi-region-pc-engine-turbo-grafx-16/

There is also a schematic for which hucard pins you need to flip on that same page, here:

At first I was thinking of seperating the ribbon cable and doing the flip there, but I thought that might lead to problems with the wires getting pulled on, or being a bit too short, so I cut the eight traces on the PCB just below the PCI slot and rewired it there.

As for the PCI slot, I widened it so that the edge of the hucard goes right up against the PCI slot's edge.  So the first two pins of the PCI connector are not doing anything, the third pin is the first that makes contact, to pin 38 of the hucard in my case.  This works out well because when cutting the bottom PCB, leaving two dummy pins on each side of the actual 38 hucard pins makes the PCB almost exactly the same width as the hucard.  I'll post a picture of the slot with the hucard half-out so you can see how mine lines up.

Widening the PCI slot right against the side was a bit difficult since I couldn't really get my dremel down there without cutting through the slot's side, which I accidentally did a little.  I ended up sort of chiseling that part out with a small screwdriver and a hammer.

/hupcislot.jpg

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Caping: Long term or short term fix?]

Even with bad caps, my Duo lasted nearly twenty years before I decided to replace them.  Good caps should last much longer.  And there's no reason these systems are destined for the trash.  While handy sets of all the caps you need for your specific system won't always be available, the necessary caps will still be available.

I'm not familiar with gear wear in TG CDROMs, but Chop5 here sells some replacements.  I haven't had any issues with my Duo's gears.  Hopefully one day we'll be able to easily make our own replacement gears with 3D printing.

I don't think laser failure is very common, but it would be a good idea to have a spare on hand.  They're still readily available, but in the light of a lifetime time frame, this is one replacement part I imagine would start disappearing before others.

As for preventive maintenance, there's not much of a point in replacing a laser until it starts having problems, but making sure the various moving parts stay lubricated is a good idea.  Preventively replacing the caps is a good idea too as the fluid inside them leaks out and can cause problems.

[General Gaming / Re: So I took pics of some game consoles]

Nice shots of equally nice condition systems.  Did any of those photos get touched up, or is what we see what you got?

[General Gaming / Re: Saturn game suggestions]

I've been meaning to get into Saturn one of these days.  I'll have to keep an eye out for some of these games.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Very low sound after Duo re-cap]

Thanks for the advice, and for answering my questions, Blue.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Very low sound after Duo re-cap]

My CD drive seems to be mostly back in action.  I had trouble getting past a certain time point on one audio CD, but another CD had no problems beyond that same time point.  I'll have to do some extensive playing and see how things go.  I still want to do some tweaking and see if I can't get rid of a noise that I don't think was there before.  I didn't change VR102 or VR104 as my discs were still spinning.  I had to change VR101 and VR103 a bit, and alot of changes to VR105 to try to find just the right spot.  I appreciate the advice on the pot order, although I already got it from your contribution to the laser adjustment thread.

And just to make sure, is the laser supposed to move back and forth slightly while reading a track?

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Very low sound after Duo re-cap]

Got it to recognize an audio CD and its tracks, but playing it causes it to skip all over the disc rapidly for awhile and then stop playing.  Are the pots more or less independent of each other, or after adjusting one might I have to go back and re-adjust a previous one?

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Very low sound after Duo re-cap]

It was working after the cap replacement, but before my audio was restored.  Not sure when exactly it stopped as I was leaving the CD drive disconnected while working on the audio issue.  Working through the laser adjustment thread here to see if I can get it recognizing CDs again.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Very low sound after Duo re-cap]

It looks like R322 and C621 were open.  I was able to get R322 connected to its pad, but no luck with C621 so I wired it to R322.  This restored my sound to normal.

However, now my CDs spin up but don't seem to be recognized.  The laser keeps moving back and forth a little near the inner edge.  Maybe I bumped a pot while cleaning the PCB. 

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Very low sound after Duo re-cap]

I was wondering if anyone might be able to help me out, or at least narrow down my search.

I recently replaced all the caps in my US Duo and now the sound through the AV and headphone jacks is barely audible.  From what I can hear it sounds like left and right are at the same level, and all the different types of audio are being played.  The headphone volume dial also controls the volume a bit, from barely audible to... even less so.  There's also a noticeable speaker thump when I turn off the system, although I can't say if that's new or if I'm just overly paying attention to things now.

The system lost audio about 8 months ago which I quick fixed by replacing C604 and C610 (the two marked as post op-amp in D-lite's thread).  The system has been fine since then aside from some crackling that would go away after a few minutes.

There were quite a few bad caps, but everything cleaned up nicely for the most part, except for two spots where the cap fluid seeped along traces under the solder mask.  One was below C135, which is a fairly thick trace and seems to be ok.  The other was C612 which lifted the trace below it a bit when I removed it.  I wired the replacement cap's negative to C305's negative, and the positive to pin 8 of the M51131L chip above it.  I hope these are the correct points, as the black cloud left from the cap fluid makes it a little hard to distinguish the traces.

I've been checking traces and vias for continuity, particularly to/from 4558 chips, but so far haven't found any problems unless I overlooked something.  Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: MOD - Homemade converters]

Sorry, I don't have any pictures of the process, but it's pretty simple, just cutting it to fit and rewiring.

How did you get the Game card into the white connector end? I have tried this before and even when I push really hard the game will not go into the slot. Did you grind it out a little?

Yeah, I used a dremel to cut/grind out a little extra room.  Unfortunately the PCI connector is just slightly thinner than a hucard.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: MOD - Homemade converters]

Thought I'd add the PCE adaptor I made to the gallery.  Looks like it's similar to the idea Chop5 had in the first picture of his first post.

I made it out of an original 32bit PCI extension cable (not PCI-E), something like this:

pcicable.jpg

I removed all but one ribbon cable, cut the bottom PCB to the size of a hucard, removed the pins from one side of the PCI slot and widened the slot a bit with a dremel so a hucard could fit in.  Then I cut the traces on the top PCB for the 8 data lines to rewire.  The bottom PCB needed a little plastic or tape since it was too thin to make contact in the cartridge slot without it.  It's been working great for my use in a Duo.  I don't have a TurboExpress to try it with, but it holds the hucard and plugs into the system snug enough that neither would fall out, although the ribbon cable may be a bit long.

Hope this helps anyone looking to make an adaptor.  I think it cost me about $6~7.

huadaptor.jpg

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: The Brag n' Boast Thread]

Nice work on the shelves.  I need something like that one of these days... a pile of systems lacks that organized look.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: What was the first Turbo Grafx game you've played?]

Can't really remember, but I'm pretty sure it was either Bonk or Keith Courage.

[General Gaming / Re: The Guardian Legend]

This was one of my favorites back in the day too, and I certainly understand the excitement of discovering a great old game I haven't known about before.

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: Raffle: Far East of Eden Kabuki Den]

I've already got a copy, but nice raffle!

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: What Turbo game are you currently playing?]

Just finished up original Bomberman.  Still have to get a copy of 93 and/or 94.  Hmmm, maybe I'll do some Bonk 2 next.  And I'm never not playing Lords of Thunder.

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: Raffle: Saturn plus games]

I'd like to enter if I can.  I'm pretty new around here though, so I totally understand if otherwise.

[General Gaming / Re: Your Daily Dose of Gaming.]

I've been meaning to get around to Exile one day.  Is the story in the English version really changed that much?  I was under the impression it was a fairly accurate translation but with some censored words, like religious terms, etc.

[General Gaming / Re: Your Daily Dose of Gaming.]

I've been playing some Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles lately.  Just finished the first year this morning.  It's growing on me.  I wish the multi-player portion of the game could be played without all the extra hardware; requiring GC-GBA Link Cables and GBAs for each player is pretty retarded.

I enjoyed Crystal Chronicles and thought the ending was pretty good.  I've never tried it multiplayer, despite having the gear for it.

I've recently been working on a refresher of the Tex Murphy series, on Pandora Directive now.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: How many copies of Keith Courage do you own?]

I only have one... guess I'm not as courageous as some of you.

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: RAFFLE: PC Engine Briefcase unit.]

Nice raffle!    Good luck to everyone who enters!

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: Is there a duo repairman who would sell me a cap kit for my duo?]

Ah, well I wouldn't want to impose if they only stock up for their own repair work.

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: Is there a duo repairman who would sell me a cap kit for my duo?]

Don't mean to hijack, but I'd be interested in this as well if somebody around here regularly sells kits.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: REPAIR GUIDE - TurboDuo: Sound Fix]

Thanks for all the input.  I hadn't even considered ceramic SMDs.  I'll probably go with radials for the ease.  Bet those ceramic SMDs make for a nice looking install though... 

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Can someone post a closeup picture of a genuine Turbo Duo adapter?]

Here you go! https://imgur.com/OlNmi

The other side just has a label stating for indoor use only.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: REPAIR GUIDE - TurboDuo: Sound Fix]

I'm new as a poster around here, but have been reading up for awhile.  I just wanted to give a big thanks to this thread I was able to restore my Duo's audio.  It was having issues for a long time and then was finally silent.  I plan on doing a total capacitor replacement when I've got some time.  Any advice from people who have done this is welcome.  My main concern is if I go radial if there's enough room under the shield, or if I go SMD if the caps will be too large for the pads.  Thanks again, and here's hoping my Duo at least lives longer than I do  


Edit:  Thanks for the advice, BlueBMW.