Messages

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: AC Power works but Battery Power does not: Turbo Express]

the battery power not working is normally from tarnish in the external power jack

The jack was replaced and was working flawlessly while still having no power from the batteries.  It turned out to be the tiny inductor coils (or one of them) which I wrote about above.

Also, the power from the batteries doesn't appear to be routed through the external jack.  So that is interesting that tarnish in the jack would cause no power from the batteries.  I guess I can measure voltage and see myself when I get home.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Blog of my Turbo Duo repair]

air stations are great for some applications, but risky for others
some of the plastic parts melt way too quick and these old caps will burst before the solder melts

That's what kapton tape and using extremely controlled air flow and proper technique is for.  Kapton works wonders on plastic and anything sensitive.  I've been able to pull components that are within 2mm of plastic with some well placed kapton as I've worked on a lot of handhelds lately.  It's way better than melting the plastic with your iron tip in those situations as even a pencil tip will get the area too hot for too long and less risky than twisting IMO.  Now if you have other heat sensitive components then you better know what you're doing to pull them.  So, of course, be careful in your usage.  In those cases it might be better to use the twisting method.

I've yet to have a cap vent on me using hot air.  However, my sample size is small as I've only pulled a few hundred at this point and not thousands like yourself or others.  I also wear eye/face protection no matter what tool I'm using so it's kind of a non-issue anyway.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: AC Power works but Battery Power does not: Turbo Express]

odds are its just a dirty power jack, but could be something more obvious

I'm not quite sure who you are responding to here

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: AC Power works but Battery Power does not: Turbo Express]

I would've suggested a "hackish" solution, taking the positive battery red wire and bypassing it to the external power input supply -- since it was working with an AC adapter -- rather than sending it off to an EE pro (upon giving up) if it was something serious like a regulator/transistor-switch/whatever as the cost in S/H, service, etc. wouldn't be worth it if you couldn't solve it in a DIY effort.

The drawback is making sure to always use rechargeable NiMH batteries, and not alkaline, to avoid an accidental recharge if disposable batteries are left in the battery compartment when using the AC adapter. You could use a forward diode on the positive battery line to prevent a recharge on alkaline batteries, but that causes a .5 voltage drop... But yeah, the whole idea is "hackish" - it's just something I might've done rather than pay/ship it to thesteve to solve it (if that was my only problem).

Anyway, it's cool you were able to identify the problem yourself with these inductor coils, I don't think I ever heard about them failing, so it's always good to see troubleshooting identify new issues like this which could possibly help others.


Some thoughts about the rechargeable battery mod or rather avoiding it:  I'm wondering if we should just wait a little longer for Lithium-Ion AA rechargeable batteries to hit the market or perhaps the next battery formula that is on the horizon instead of making permanent, often destructive changes to one-of-a-kind retro hardware ??

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=18650&_sacat=0

I purchased 4 of those 18650 Lithium-Ion batteries to power a portable MP3 player, and it made me wonder, where are the regular AA versions finally ??

Would one just be better off waiting for a good rechargeable AA solution is the thing... NiMH is NOT that solution, I wasted money on those, a 15 minute charger, and have a lifelong history of wasting money on rechargers since my teens for NiCD, even Buddy-L which billed itself as giving you possibly up to 10-15 recharges on traditional disposable Alkaline batteries (heh, I fell for that garbage)... I even tried Rayovac's supposed safe rechargable Alkalines and it just ALL plainly sucked...

Lithium-Ion is pretty good, at least, but even that battery formula suffers after a couple of years. I'm glad it's replaced NiCD/NiMH for power tools though, definitely a good improvement!

I did a quick search and there is some 1.5v AA Lithium-ion batteries out there for purchase.  But they look very unproven haha.  I do agree, that would be optimal to get a new battery solution (since our battery tech is still partly stuck in the 70's).  I currently have 2400mAh batteries in it and that works.  I was just hoping that a non-destructive mod existed that would help reduce weight more than anything else.  TE's with 6 AA's in them are sort of heavy to hold after a while!

And yeah, I am glad about the inductor coils being the issue.  I pity anybody who wants to remove/install them without a heat gun though, heh.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Turbo Express Speaker Upgrade]

Yeah, could be useful, I don't remember anyone else ever pursuing modern speaker replacements like we have for the LCD panel, or other types of mods/upgrades (YPbPr video output, gamepad input).

So the cone on that is all plastic-icky-looking, probably lasts the longest. I don't see the fiber-foamy stuff and I'm guessing the original was the black paper-ish kind ? It's been years since I had my Express open (for capacitor replacement).

Yeah, the original speaker, at least in my TE, was paper-like and was super ragged and dirty.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Blog of my Turbo Duo repair]

I know using pliers and twisting is a workable solution to pulling electrolytic SMD caps.  But in my eyes that is like taking a jackhammer to a artifact dig site.  Sure, it might be great in some cases...except when it is not (like when pads have been soaking in electrolytic fluid for years and weak).

Air stations are not super expensive and you might even know somebody who has one.  I bought one of these guys and even though it's not a commercial grade product, it works extremely well for my purposes - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00P8Z4RPG/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1.  And it's much cheaper by itself than destroying any of these old systems or paying to have one repaired after you've destroyed it.  Besides being safer for the board, it's also insanely easier, faster and more versatile for doing repair work as there is some cases where it also helps with installs (especially when combined with kapton tape).  Hell, you might even be able to rent an air station for cheap from some places.

And using an iron to remove SMD caps also isn't too rough if you know to add more solder/flux first so you have more area to spread the heat to and get all of the solder holding the leg to flow.  This is a common mistake that I've seen made and made myself before I knew better.  More solder/flux is almost always the answer when removing anything and not more heat.  And the irons tip can also make the difference.  If you're using a pen tip you have very little surface area for heat to spread to the solder so in some cases you might need to put the iron sideways touching the solder.  Or you can get a different tip that looks like a chisel end for situations like that.

And what Steve said above is most definitely the best way to go about installing those caps.  In cases where there was almost no room to work (and to avoid melting plastic), I've kapton taped off the surrounding area, put solder on pads and then used the air station to heat the solder.  Then place the cap (or more recently inductor coils) as the solder pool stays molten for long enough to place what you need (I use tooth picks to hold things down usually while the solder pool cools).

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: AC Power works but Battery Power does not: Turbo Express]

Update:  Issue resolved...I now have battery power working

After testing the JST connection to make sure it got proper voltage, I decided to pick off even more of that god forsaken epoxy because I noticed that one of the inductor coils looked like it wasn't quite right.  You can sort of see it here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/8NwqABa2HWAEkRnWA

I pulled them out and sure enough one of them looked busted and the other didn't look great.  I already had replacements on hand since apparently these are common failure points when removing epoxy but it's not stated what they control and, up until now, I thought they were just fine and replacing them would be pointless.  Egg on my face, heh.  Here is a picture with the two replacements from console5 on top and the ones I pulled on the bottom.  https://photos.app.goo.gl/PpAizswV8PD55D199

Look mom, no wires!  https://photos.app.goo.gl/7wrAy3QpZubfWTSQ9

If anybody is interested, this is the beginning to end photo album with comments per picture on the restoration.  https://photos.app.goo.gl/p1y8TQbUKeH4k9Tx7

I am still interested in that battery mod though

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: AC Power works but Battery Power does not: Turbo Express]

You asked, "can anybody knowledgeable do a low effort write-up?" and that is what I answered. That sounds like guide grunt work to me and on a mod a total of ~2 people have done here in this forum's history which the search feature already answered for you... I would've suggested turbokon's thread at first glance as that's the most work I ever saw on the idea, but you already dismissed it as lacking instructions beyond parts needed.

Anyway, you can PM either DuoR or turbokon to see if they're willing to share more details - the odds of the only 1-2 people here that did that mod seeing your thread way be a long wait.

There is a difference between asking a few questions for clarity and asking somebody to spend hours putting together a long tutorial guide/video (which is literally what I offered to do).  I did PM turboken actually.  I just assumed that the mod was fairly common and multiple people would have knowledge so I made a thread here after my own searching didn't yield results.

Anyway, let's stop derailing the thread please.  I posted for some help with my battery issue and the mod is just a side thing.  Thanks.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: AC Power works but Battery Power does not: Turbo Express]

Is there any up to date how-to for this mod or can anybody knowledgeable do a low effort write-up?  If it's a success, I'd be more than happy to write a full tutorial for the sticky with pictures/documentation for people to follow in the future while also giving full credit elsewhere.

It really doesn't work by random request... turbokon and Duo_R (or any random fan) doing guides simply came about by sudden interest to pursue the mod work at the time while deciding to write/post about it on the side to help others should they also one day become interested. It's a spontaneous thing, like my own YPbPr/Component circuit guide, that's not something that would happen by request - I happen to find the interest to explore such an idea, doing it at somebody's request would be "work" I didn't ask for and not very "fun." It was fun/interesting to me at the time and why I went to the trouble.

I am very confused by this.  I asked to see if somebody knew of an existing write-up and could point me at it.  Failing that, I asked if somebody could spend a couple of minutes telling me the parts needed and exactly what needs to be re-wired.  I already have a pretty solid idea but I'd like some confirmation.  No photos or diagrams or anything crazy...just a few minutes of time IF another source didn't already exist that I have not found yet.  I then offered to do a better write-up and document the mod to my TE since it didn't seem like one for such a good mod existed and that's a shame.

I am not requesting a detailed write-up, I'm offering to do one after getting a bit of direction from some people that have done it since those details don't seem to exist (please correct me if i'm wrong).  I have documented a few mods so far and most were by request.

I feel like you completely misread my post.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: AC Power works but Battery Power does not: Turbo Express]

An alternative I guess is to do an internal battery mod that recharges using the AC adapter.  However, Google comes up with already modded TE's being shown off but no instructions thus far.  PCEngineFX search comes up with a few threads on the subject where one has broken links to pictures/how-tos (https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?topic=12241.0) and the other by TurboKon (SuperKon) doesn't really have instructions beyond parts needed (https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?topic=19910.0).

I checked the stickied thread and it didn't have a link to anything current.  Is there any up to date how-to for this mod or can anybody knowledgeable do a low effort write-up?  If it's a success, I'd be more than happy to write a full tutorial for the sticky with pictures/documentation for people to follow in the future while also giving full credit elsewhere.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / AC Power works but Battery Power does not: Turbo Express]

Hello again!

Not long ago I restored a Turbo Express that had every issue in the book.  Button not working, no video out, cracked screen, no audio, poor speaker performance, AC power would cut out if you moved the cord to much etc. etc.  I got all of that working perfectly again and I thought I had no issues.  However, during that whole time, I was using an AC Adapter to power the unit and not batteries.  I decided to throw some batteries in it to make sure they worked and...nothing??  And after some troubleshooting I've ruled out a few things and I wanted to ask first to see if anybody else had ran into this issue.

What I've done so far:
1.  I have some Amazon Basics 2400mAh that I was using.  I measured the voltage through the JST connected to the wires coming from the battery compartment.  They are 1.2v batteries and I measured right at 7.2v.  I changed those out for some 1.5v AA batteries and they measured 9v.
2.  I stuck wires into the end of the JST connector to make sure it was making a proper connection to the female end on the TE's board.  They measured out fine.
3.  I changed out all of the caps in the area near the power again.  I didn't know if any were associated with power at all (or why one would be associated with battery power but not the ac adapters) but I did it anyway just to be sure it wasn't a bad cap issue.  No change.
4.  I did notice that there is a coiled inductor that has a bit of loose wire here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/LFzMzWyyvF3UZibc7 I have no clue if that is connected at all.
5.  Is it possible that the guy that is labeled x500 in this picture, https://photos.app.goo.gl/odrZQ68y4m2iATa47, can go bad?  Or is it even a part of the chain?  The JST hooks in directly under it on the other side of the board but it doesn't look like it's physically connected so it might just be in the area but not connected.
6.  I reflowed everything I could in the area around the female JST.

Is there some trace that might have been messed up for battery power to not make it to where it needs to go?

Thanks in advance.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Turbo Express Speaker Upgrade]

I have an update to this in case anybody needs to replace their speaker in the future.  I pulled the speaker out of my Turbo Express and measured it and it is 28mm in diameter and ~4.5mm thick.  I used that information to find TONS of speakers that are the same size.  Mouser looks to have a couple of solid options but I ended up going the quick/simple route and buying https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01EJI8UWI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1.  I did a before and after test and the drop-in sounds slightly better than my old speaker (used Dungeon Explorer and Bonk) to my ears...but it wasn't a huge change.

So if you need a good/quick/cheap drop-in replacement, the speaker I linked works just fine.  I'm curious about the ones listed on Mouser as they might be higher quality.  https://www.mouser.com/Electromechanical/Audio-Devices/Speakers-Transducers/_/N-awp4u?P=1z0x281Z1yyy7vm

Here is what the new speaker sounds like:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/3ciFf4JGCvh8WK8eA

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Turbo Express Speaker Upgrade]

I can't find the thread, but if you know which capacitor is for sound, you can replace it with a slightly higher value to boost the existing speaker's max loudness. That's another idea.

But yeah, I'd imagine a speaker built under today's science standards/tech/experience performs a bit better than what was made ~30 years ago. You figure the black paper cone of the speaker was probably cheap/low quality, and that does deteriorate over time, some types faster than others...

As for stock screens, you can contact/PM turbokon, he has had some for sale in the past. If not, try thesteve who you can also ask about the sound capacitor (he might remember/know about that too).

Oh, no worries about the capacitor.  I replaced all of them and a few other things on my TE which restored my sound (and everything else broken) and it's extremely loud.  I just wanted to know if anybody knew of a solid upgrade for the TE speaker as it sounds "fine" for the era but I wouldn't mind a nice little upgrade if there was one that was known and could still be sourced.  If not, I'll get some measurements on the speaker and see what I can find.

As for the stock screen, I found a guy that does repairs that had one he would sell.  So I got that covered!  Thanks for the reply.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Turbo Express Speaker Upgrade]

Is there a particularly good drop-in speaker for the Turbo Express that is better than the stock one?  Mine is loud and clear enough but I can't help but think that I can't get a bit better sound out of it with something a bit more modern.

Oh, and this is completely off-topic, but if somebody has an original TE screen for sale as a leftover part from a dead unit, let me know.  I'd be interested.

Thanks!

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Turbo Express - Button 1 does not work]

I got it taken care of but thanks for anybody who took a look.  I went ahead and did the fix recommended in that article I linked.  But since I have proper wire for the job, I decided not to drill through the board as I am trying to be as non-destructive as possible right now (I say that now while I'm considering an 3.5" lcd and a battery mod).  This worked quite nicely and button 1 is now fully restored.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Roo3wJECsKGuBKtV8

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Turbo Express - Button 1 does not work]

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.

Is the black stuff the actual traces themselves?  Or are they just covering the traces underneath?

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Turbo Express - Button 1 does not work]

Hello!

I recently acquired a Turbo Express that was listed as "powers on but you only get a black screen".  So, I took a gamble on it thinking it might be an easy fix.  Well, it turns out that not only was the LCD cracked during shipping somehow (box looked fine and it was packed extremely well) but it did have the issue of no image.  I replaced the single cap to check if I could still get video on the cracked screen to see what other problems the unit might have.  And it had virtually every issue haha.  Along with the no video, it also had no audio at all, power connector was flakey and button 1 did not work.  I fully recapped the unit and all of those issues are no resolved...except button 1.

This is a link to a bunch of extra pictures just in case somebody wants a different angle - https://photos.app.goo.gl/p1y8TQbUKeH4k9Tx7

However, this is what it looked like when I got in there - https://photos.app.goo.gl/TkXyCH3Zgh6ADuxWA

What it looked like after I cleaned it up - https://photos.app.goo.gl/tvBj3LXkdmeYRcd5A

And what it looks like now after reinstalling a new cap and cleaning it up more - https://photos.app.goo.gl/hbjjonGTNt4ExYNJA

My guess is that under the carbon or w/e that black stuff is on the trace next to where the capacitor is (and where there was some corrosion, there is a cut trace.  As you can see, that line goes directly to button 1.  What would be the best way to repair this?  My assumption is that I get past that black carbon stuff and reflow the trace if possible.  If not, I did find this website that has what appears to be a pretty slick solution to my problem - https://nfggames.com/forum2/index.php?topic=4238.0

Should I do what is stated on that website or is there a better way?

Thanks!

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: PCE Duo-R hum]

I just tried Ninja Spirit both with the original chip and on an ED 1.1 in a black gonk of doujindance-death Duo R through a PVM and a receiver. Also tested it on the ED in a Coregrafx 1/blue through a Sony Wega using the set's speakers (don't have the PCE version, so can't try the og there), and they all have the hum when you stop the music from the sound test. I then tried Image Fight, both original and ED in both systems, and also heard the hum after a death, just as you described.

As Zeta indicated, a lot of games have that hum, where the last note gets "stuck" after a reset, transition, etc. AFAIK, this is just normal and just an idiosyncrasy of the system. I'm not sure if there are any differences between the Coregrafx 1 and 2, but at least on mine, that hum is clearly there.

Thank you very much for confirming that for me.  A friend checked and said he couldn't hear anything with Ninja Spirit but could hear the hums with the 240p vertical/horizontal scroll tests.  His sound setup, I believe, goes through a receiver so it might be filtered out.  Or maybe it's louder with some systems than others.  Or maybe he's part deaf haha.

I seriously appreciate the assist in testing this and everyone else's input.  Now, I wonder why this is something that exists with the PCE and if there is a way to suppress it.  It sounds like a coding issue where they didn't properly terminate the music/last sound produced and it might be common as it is due to a lot of those devs using the same SDK's.  Maybe I'll look into a speaker setup that might filter out high frequencies like that.  I'm currently just using the speakers on my WEGA.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: PCE Duo-R hum]

I don't know much about flash stuff but every PCE I've ever used is squeaker and squaukier than other machines. They can't produce silence from my experience and yeah the game does matter. I can't remember which PCE have the "fixed" (not really) soundchip or if it's related to this. I think the Core 2 is one of the updated ones though so...I'm still not sure we aren't taking about regular PCE noise.

When you soft reset a game sometimes, as you sort of are saying, the last sound gets stuck on slightly. Hard power cycles fix it. Ninja Spirit in particular does this, IIRC. However because flash carts usually use a multi game loader app I'm not really sure how soft resetting is affected. It could be a related thing to what I'm familiar with or not.

Well, the crazy thing is that tons of games are entirely silent.  Zero hum/noise/anything.  It's perfect.  But the games I listed, and I'm sure many more, seem to have this issue or at least partially has this issue.  I'd like to fix it if possible but I'm also curious from a technical/troubleshooting standpoint as to what could cause something like this and if it's actually common or this issue is specific to my Duo-R and/or my Turbo Everdrive.  I should probably pick up a copy of one of those games I listed and try to rule out the turbo everdrive being the culprit.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: PCE Duo-R hum]

How long have you had a PCE? I ask because none of these systems are quiet so I'd hate to have you tracking down an unfixable problem.

I've had it for not quite a year.  I've had another friend check their system, which is a core grafx 2 hooked up via an SSD3, and it does not have the same humming issue with those titles (or any humming at all).

I've read that some PCE's do hum, especially when the screen gets brighter, but that isn't the case with mine (and that issue is usually caused by an improperly shielded cable).  It's just certain games and the pitch/frequency seems to change based on the last note played a lot of times.  Or in the case of the 240p test, the horizontal and vertical tests produce different hums.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / PCE Duo-R hum]

So, this is going to be a shot in the dark.  But I have already eliminated some potential causes.

MY PCE Duo-R (RGB modded...newer Doujindance mod) has a hum that happens with some games.  I am using the latest Turbo Everdrive.  The games that cause a hum during the pause menus are:

Ninja Spirit
Impossimole
Bonk's Adventure
Bonk's Revenge (oddly, Bonk 3 does not)
Image Fight (but only directly after a death but not during a pause)

Also, if I use the 240p test ROM and I run the horizontal or vertical line scroll test, I get hums but they are both different pitches with one being quite a bit higher pitched than the other.  But if I do the normal scroll test (looks like the Sonic Green Hills Zone background) there is no hum.

Also, with games like Impossimole and the Bonk's, it sounds like the last note is what is always repeated and the hum's pitch is based on that.

I've randomly tried tons and tons of games and most of them seem to not display the issue.

Things I have tried:

Changed power sources 3 times (using an genuine NEC power source that has been recapped)
My PCE has been fully recapped
I moved the RGB mod around to make sure it wasn't causing interference due to improper shielding near any components that might cause the hum.
I've changed RGB cables from the doujindance to a fully shielded retro-access cable
I get the same hum using composite
I've tried different ROMs
I've jiggled the RGB cable to see if it's a bad connection with the DIN (I guess those can cause issues...but not like this).

Sadly, I do not have any of the physical games that actually cause the problem.  I'm debating on buying Ninja Spirit since it's just freaking awesome and I love it but it's a bit expensive.  Even the Bonk games are a bit expensive even though they aren't exactly rare.

Has anybody heard of this or has a similar setup that could test those particular games?

Thanks!

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Favorite Systems of All Time]

When I was growing up I had an NES, Super NES and a Playstation 1.  I then got into competitive PC gaming and eventually MMO's and I never really checked out consoles again until the 360/PS3 had been out for a few years.  So, almost by default, the Super NES is my favorite console with the PS1 coming in second and the NES 3rd.  PC I'd rank above everything but that is only because I have spent a lot of time competing in games and older consoles can't really compare to that for myself.

Anyway, fast forward to 2017.  I put together a good sized collection of consoles ranging from the 8-bit era all the way up to modern including the recent addition of an XB1X Scorpion Edition.  I built a whole room around my older consoles (480i/p are all in the same room.  Everything HDMI is in another).  Due to me only having the consoles I mentioned in the above paragraph as a kid I am constantly changing my mind on what my "favorites" are now that I'm really digging into some good (and sometimes bad) stuff!

Right now I'd say my list is:

1.  Super NES
2.  PCE
3.  3DO - if you go into games with the right mindset and wanting a "bad" but good time (like watching a terrible B movie) you might enjoy it.  I've had a ball TBH.
4.  Genesis
5.  Playstation 2

Honorable mentions are the Saturn and Dreamcast.  However, as I get more and more time with each system I will most likely flip flop a lot.  I'm not afraid to dethrone my Super NES!

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Why didn't Rare get into Turbob?]

I was under the impression that early in the NES's lifecycle that Nintendo did not allow porting of games that a company brought out on the NES or you'd risk losing the ability to officially publish any future titles on the NES.  Some companies still got around this but I swore that was the case in general.  Of course the more likely cause was the TG16/PCE not having a huge market share or projections in the markets Rare was interested in at the time and it sounds like NEC didn't do a lot to capture the attention of western devs.  It's sad since the machine was capable of so much.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Does anybody use an MC Cthulhu and it's 100% working with all games?]

OK, so based on a post made about a month ago on the SRK forums I got an idea.  The person mentioned something about an adapter he used to play PCE games on his TG16 being used in conjunction with his Everdrive and he claimed that all his games worked after that.  So, since, my Duo-R is region modded, I flipped my region switch and I changed my Everdrive to TG16 mode instead of PCE and.........it worked.  All of the oddities I had with every single game, save one, have cleared up.  Everything works like a charm.  I tested probably 30 Japanese games and all of the US games I had issues with and all of them worked except Final Soldier (and the 2 minute time attack version).  That one still had slightly messed up inputs regardless of the mode I put the controller into but there isn't much I can do about that.  If I ever play it I'll just use my regular pad.

So, yeah, I can't believe that worked.  So if you have an adapter to play one regions games on another console or your machine is region modded it seems like this issue can be resolved for the most part.  If I run into any other incompatibilities or issues I'll update this thread so there is something out there for people looking for this type of info.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Does anybody use an MC Cthulhu and it's 100% working with all games?]

The creator of it hasn't fielded questions about it for a very long time.  I've already been down this road and it's why I created a thread on this forum to ask if anybody else had knowledge or experience beyond what is generally available via google or the SRK forums.

He wouldn't help even when he was still selling them. Mine was defective and he basically punted me to the SRK forums to figure it out. I ended up going the padhack route instead.

Yeah, that's what I heard.  The boards were brought back by Paradise Arcade and some for Jasen's Customs (the latter had entirely defective boards though).  I have one of the new run boards and it has been great for every system outside of the TG16/PCE.  And the issue I have is not a new one because a guy who put the same board in one of his sticks around 2008-2009 and he has the same issue as me with a TG16 (and I'm using an PCE).

Maybe he'll pass the code along to an active dev if I bring up the issue with Paradise Arcade or Jasen.  I believe Jasen helped with some of the new board features so that route might be possible if there isn't another solution available.

Or maybe somebody will come along with the magical unicorn solution that I've missed and get me and anybody else reading this in the future fixed up!

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Does anybody use an MC Cthulhu and it's 100% working with all games?]

Well you'll have to contact the creator of the device then. Is it driven by a MCU? Feels overkill for PCE and other retro consoles.

The creator of it hasn't fielded questions about it for a very long time.  I've already been down this road and it's why I created a thread on this forum to ask if anybody else had knowledge or experience beyond what is generally available via google or the SRK forums.

It's an all-in-one solution where all you do is swap cables to use the same Arcade stick across a large selection of consoles.  I don't see that as overkill.  Overkill is making a new case, buying a new stick, new buttons, new wiring and new pad and doing all the work for each console you want an arcade stick for.  So I guess we'll have to disagree on that point.

The MC Cthulhu works with my NES, Super NES, PS1, PS2, PS3, XBOX, Gamecube, Dreamcast, Saturn, PC and of course the TG16/PCE.  The only system I have issues with is my PCE and that seems to be only particular games (mostly Japanese but not always).  The Cthulhu has 3 modes it can swap between for 2 button mode, SNK mode and 6 button mode.  Which works fine in some games but none of the modes seem to work correctly for other games.  Most likely there is not a resolution based on my testing but othes online have said they got their working.  However, they didn't specify how they did this and they are no longer answering questions about it as the info I found is quite a few years old now.

These two sticks work with all of those consoles which is pretty convenient and obviously higher quality than the 3rd party 25 year old stuff you can buy.  And I might wire in a padhack to get it to work with the Genesis at some point.  So you can probably see why I wouldn't mind putting in some effort to get a resolution.  At least they work fine with a lot of games.  But since the TG16/PCE is a great system for SHMUPS

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Does anybody use an MC Cthulhu and it's 100% working with all games?]

If you're any good an building circuits you can scratch built a six button pad's works with vastly less technology in it and that probabky work fine.

Padhacking or going that route is something I wanted to avoid since both of my sticks work across many systems.  All I have to do is swap out the cord that are wired up via RJ45.

I could add a second neutrik in or wire directly off of a padhack/circuit.  But I'd prefer to simply see if somebody else already has a solution that works (people have reported to be working correctly now).

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Does anybody use an MC Cthulhu and it's 100% working with all games?]

Hello!

I recently built a couple of arcade sticks to go with my retro console collection and I used the MC Cthulhu to power them.  The sticks work just fine on all the other consoles but I run into issues with my PCE with some games.  A few games, like Final Soldier, go a bit crazy.  I did find on the MC Cthulhu thread on the SRK forums that using the Home button switches the Cthulhu between modes for the TG16/PCE.  Regular 2 button mode, Neo Geo mode and 6 button mode.  However, each one of these modes produces extremely weird results.  I have also used an 5 player adapter between my arcade sticks and the PCE, as people mentioned in this thread, https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?topic=16578.msg340042#msg340042, that it would fix the issue.  However, it did not for me.

From what I gather most people don't know about how Home switches between modes.  Some games do work for me.  For example, Ninja Spirit works fine but Bonk's Revenge does not regardless of the mode or whether or not a 5tap is being used.  Street Fighter 2 works with the 5tap in 6 button mode.

I'm going to try and troubleshoot and document the issues as best as I can but I figured I would ask here just in case somebody had already done it and I simply can't find the thread.

Thanks!

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Memory Base 128 and Emerald Dragon - locks up and loses system save]

You stated that I claimed your work as my own, calling me a plagiarist, when I clearly did not claim your work as my own.  And not having a citation is not the same as claiming it as your own.  Those are two separate things.  Never mind all the other contextual facts like me not publishing it, not claiming it and it being a pastebin that self-deletes in time while using it solely for support purposes etc. etc.  You are in the wrong here, not me and I should be getting the apology.  But I don't require one.  I'm tired of the subject so I won't speak anymore about it since you don't appear to understand what you did and why I'm not going to apologize to you.

I did test that the MB128 will retain saves all night when plugged into a turned on PCE that does not have batteries in it.  So it is drawing power from the PCE enough to keep the saves going and not relying on the capacitor since the saves will erase within an hour or two without batteries in the unit.  So it is safe to change the batteries if a capacitor in the MB128 isn't holding a charge.  Or, at least in theory, it is.  That capacitor going bad might make the unit unusable depending on how it's built (I should open it up).

I've read into why it's so difficult to build a solution but damn would it be nice to have a bootable utility that could read all the different save files and simply move/copy/delete/compress with the MB128 and similar devices.  Maybe I'll make that a project at some point in the future.  I don't think that would actually be all that hard if my goal wasn't to try and put saves onto other solutions like an SD card or other storage solution and instead simply use something like the MB128 that exists/works.  I doubt it's a big effort for something as simple as that assuming you can reverse engineer the currently working utilities.  Yeah, I might try to figure that out in the future.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Memory Base 128 and Emerald Dragon - locks up and loses system save]

"Don't claim things as yours that aren't..."

That is accusing me of plagiarism which was your point originally.  I never made that claim and I take offense to you insisting that I did.  Yes, I copied your post to a pastebin in order to put a bunch of random info into one easy to view place that was supposed to be for my own personal use.  I did not publish it anywhere official, I was using it strictly for troubleshooting and I never once claimed it was mine. 

So, again, please do not call me a plagiarist.  And yes, it is sloppy.  It's a pastebin with random info in it dude.  That is kind of the point.  I copied a bunch of information from a lot of places that may or may not be valuable.  I did add your name to the pastebin though.  And I will be deleting the whole thing when my purposes are done.  Most people would have just said, "oh hey that's my post from NeoGaf" and, at worst, asked me to add a citation if it really bothered them.  Not accuse me of claiming it as my own work that I'm presenting to others when that is clearly not the case.  That's just not cool man.

Anyway, I did do the test I mentioned with the MB128.  I can confirm that it does not get any power from the PCE when it is powered off and the MB128 is plugged in.  I took the batteries out and turned the machine off and after a few hours I checked and all of the saves on the MB128 are gone.  The device does work when it does not have any batteries in so I guess it does draw power of some kind...but only with the machine on.  So, in case you are worried about the built-in capacitors rapidly discharging as your change your batteries, you can turn your system on, keep the MB128 plugged in, pull out the old batteries and put new back in without issue.  I performed this several times while having the Private Eye Doll memory manager up and it caused zero issues.

I did create an A Train save, which has built-in MB128 support, and Private Eye Doll was able to see/move it.  I have not tried any other game with MB128 native support though.

I agree that the makers of the MB128 should have created a memory manager disc.  I believe somebody was actually working on just such a thing a while back but nothing came of it.  I recently ran into a similar issue with a 3DO I picked up and there was a program called Game Guru which is a memory manager that could compress save files down to almost nothing on the 3DO's memory file system.  And it would work with the very expensive external save unit as well.  Something like that would be quite nice for the PCE.

As far as the warning goes you could throw in something like, "this has caused some users to lose their system save files".  You can link to my video if you want.  I can leave it up and unlisted.  It's odd that my Japanese Duo-R, which is very common in Japan, would have that issue with the MB128 where your US released setup does not haha.  But you might make mention of my unit, my mods and that others have stated they have a similar issue.  Something to tell people that they should use at their own risk.  And maybe add in more info for Private Eye Doll to try it first.  Again, you can link to my video if you want or create your own or wait for me to do a write-up.  I did get my streaming pc/setup running tonight so I might be able to do that soon.

I don't believe I could get the utility to show up for Vasteel 2 (going off memory here and I might be wrong) and Popful Mail I simply couldn't make heads or tails of.  It kept acting like it was doing things but wouldn't actually do anything.  It was really odd.  I might try it again though because it really looked like it should have worked.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Memory Base 128 and Emerald Dragon - locks up and loses system save]

I said that I made a pastebin which includes a lot of information all located in one place so the people on this forum (and myself) can easily see relevant information about the MB128.  It was so others more wise than myself with the Turbo Duo could help easily.  My apologies for not citing the source but it's a pastebin, which by name alone, implies that it was copied from somewhere else.  I never claimed to own it so please do not accuse me of plagiarism.

Considering that myself and others have confirmed to have major issues with Emerald Dragon you might want to add a warning for it and Linda Cubed on your website in regards to potentially losing all system saves.  It might be an issue that is model specific (I have a Japanese Duo-R) or it might be something to do with mine being region/RGB modded.  But I am not the only person who has had this issue apparently.

Linda Cubed had the exact same utility as Emerald Dragon and they both had the exact same issue on my system when trying to copy a save from the MB128 back to my Duo-R.  I never made a save in Emerald Dragon after my initial ones were wiped during testing but I'd wager that each game would see each other just fine.

As far as the battery question goes, I can go make a save in a game here in just a bit, pull the batteries and let it sit overnight and see what happens.  It would be nice to know since you could simply keep the device plugged in and not worry about forgetting to change the batteries and losing your saves.  I'd wager it won't pull any power and all saves will be lost after a short amount of time...but we shall see!

I could not get Popful Mail or Vasteel 2's save applications to work in a way that made sense.

I plan on doing a write-up and a better video on how to use Private Eye Doll with the MB128 including how to view saves from other games (since it's not intuitive) in different save banks.  I have almost completed my streaming setup and creating a video that way would be a lot better than me holding a phone.  And I'll throw in some other info about potentially avoiding Emerald Dragon and probably some information on changing out the batteries as discussed above based on my findings.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Memory Base 128 and Emerald Dragon - locks up and loses system save]

Haha, I will keep that in mind.  I actually picked up a multitap and my 2nd controller is a 6 button Hori (it's fantastic).  I figure that I won't keep the MB128 hooked up most of the time and only use it to back up/rotate saves around when I need it.  So it shouldn't be too huge of an issue I think.

I honestly can't believe NEC never built-in a second controller port for the newer models of the system.  I am even trying to think of any of the games I've played so far have had 2p capability...let alone 5.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Memory Base 128 and Emerald Dragon - locks up and loses system save]

I purchased an MB128 a week or two ago, so this thread is going to save me a lot of grief and confusion.

Haha, fantastic.  Hopefully my video above helps save you some time.  Like I said earlier, I might make a better one that fully demonstrates the utility.  Google is extremely light on information in this area outside of the one game that seems to not work for multiple people (Emerald Dragon).  I almost returned my MB 128 thinking it was defective if it wasn't for Gilbert saving the day.

Definitely make a video explaining (1) how to use the damn thing and (2) then, document the problems you experienced. That will help a few bastards in the future, especially as a reference/guide.

I already made it...which should get you started.  I was simply thinking of making a better one and setting it public that explains things a bit better.  I don't have time tonight to do it but I could definitely do it if there isn't some other better resource somebody knows of out there.

This is the video that is linked above:  https://youtu.be/94pwPdKzAZI

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Memory Base 128 and Emerald Dragon - locks up and loses system save]

I purchased an MB128 a week or two ago, so this thread is going to save me a lot of grief and confusion.

Haha, fantastic.  Hopefully my video above helps save you some time.  Like I said earlier, I might make a better one that fully demonstrates the utility.  Google is extremely light on information in this area outside of the one game that seems to not work for multiple people (Emerald Dragon).  I almost returned my MB 128 thinking it was defective if it wasn't for Gilbert saving the day.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Memory Base 128 and Emerald Dragon - locks up and loses system save]

OK, so I think I have this figured out.

I can copy the contents to whatever bank I want using Private Eye Dol fairly easily.  However, if I want to view the contents in any of the MB128's banks I first have to copy the contents of that bank to the PC Engine (make sure to backup the PCE first in another bank).  Then I load up the Erase tool (bottom right/4th option) and select the PCE.  I can then view the individual save files.

Is there a better way to view your saves on the MB 128 than that particular method?  It's not a huge issue but I would be totally fine loading up another game if I simply wanted to check out everything I had saved on the MB128 easily.  Loading up each bank individually like how I described would be a bit of a PITA in the future after I have more saves.  I guess I could always just put the info on a Google Sheet haha.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Memory Base 128 and Emerald Dragon - locks up and loses system save]

OK, so I got it all figured out and my Memory Base 128 is saved thanks to Gilbert

The utility, once you know what to do, is quite nice.  I do not know any of the gotchas in regards to save incompatibilities like what you mentioned with Private Eye Dol and Emerald Dragon.  I was able to confirm that Dynastic Hero works though.  I made a save on the PCE, I went into Private Eye Dol and copied the save over to a different bank, deleted the save, verified that it was deleted, copied Dynastic Hero save back over to the PCE and fired up Dynastic Hero and I was able to load the game without issue.

I did make a quick video on how to do it for my own reference which I will leave unlisted.  However, if you guys think it might be valuable, I could make a better one that is a bit more concise and also tells people NOT to use the bottom left option which, I believe, formats the whole PCE or MB128.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Memory Base 128 and Emerald Dragon - locks up and loses system save]

I'll try out Private Eye Dol...where is the save feature located?  And do you mean that if I have an Emerald Dragon save only or do you mean more games?  Mostly I am interested in the Ys series and Dynastic hero for now.  I can't play Emerald Dragon or Private Eye Dol, sadly, due to my severe lack of ability in reading Japanese.  Which sucks because Private Eye Dol looks pretty awesome.

It's the last option in the title screen:

(Screenshot borrowed from PCECP.com. The three options are "Start", "Continue" and "Backup Utility".)
You can backup entire content of your backup RAM to the MB128 (and then restore them), just like Emerald Dragon or Ten no Koe Bank. As far as I remember, it probably does other things such as copying files, etc. It's much polished and stable than the one in Emerald Dragon.

I don't know why when talking about this matter, everyone recommends Emerald Dragon, but my memory with its utility wasn't good. It's as buggy as the game itself. Maybe it's because Private Eye Doll, as a visual novel, was a bit obscure for westerners, that nobody even dared to try it.

I should have tried the game before asking.  I found the menu and I also got far enough in the game to make my own save from the in-game menu system.  However, I could not figure out how to transfer save files or banks around.  There is what appears to be a Copy option which I can't figure out.  Then to it's right is a copy all function which seems to copy all the contents of the PCE to any bank I want on the MB128.  Then the bottom left option, I believe, is a format option?  I lost all my saves on the 128 when I chose it.  And the bottom right option I thought was an erase but I am not sure.

So, if I have this straight, I can use the second copy all option and copy everything from the "PC" (first in the list) option to any bank in the MB 128.  So when I run out of room, I copy to those banks and then delete files to make space.  And if I ever want those files back, I just copy that bank back to the PC option in the menu?

If that is correct, then I can use that utility to do what I want instead of Emerald Dragon.  And it's a hell of a lot safer than using an HuCard bank option since this thing allows me to change the batteries while it's plugged in without losing all my saves.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Memory Base 128 and Emerald Dragon - locks up and loses system save]

As far as I remember, the MB128 utility in Emerald Dragon wasn't very reliable and I've lost a couple of saves BiTD. I used the utility in Private Eye Doll instead (note: the format is not compatible with those in Emerald Dragon, so if you transfer your BRAM saves to a file in MB128 with Emerald Dragon, you cannot restore it with Private Eye Doll).

I just tried Linda3 and it has what appears to be the exact same application as Emerald Dragon.  It has the same lockup too.

I tried Popful mail and it took a little while to figure out what was going on but it seems like I can't transfer files back and forth with the utility in that game.

I tried out A Train III as I just wanted to see if saving/loading from the MB128 worked in a compatible game and I could not figure out how to save games directly to the MB128.  All 4 slots all went to the PC Engine itself.

I'll try out Private Eye Dol...where is the save feature located?  And do you mean that if I have an Emerald Dragon save only or do you mean more games?  Mostly I am interested in the Y's series and Dynastic hero for now.  I can't play Emerald Dragon or Private Eye Dol, sadly, due to my severe lack of ability in reading Japanese.  Which sucks because Private Eye Dol looks pretty awesome.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Memory Base 128 and Emerald Dragon - locks up and loses system save]

I have both mem 128 and emerald dragon but sadly my mem 128 is dead... so I can't test this out :/

EDIT

Magicoal has a similar problem in that you can save to the mem 128 but if you load from it the game will just hang.

I totally forgot..but a few weeks ago I made this Pastebin that contains all of the games that either use the MB128 natively or have programs to interface with it.

https://pastebin.com/wDJQEz3U

I am going to try Popful Mail and Linda and see where that gets me.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Memory Base 128 and Emerald Dragon - locks up and loses system save]

Hello!

I recently purchased a Memory Base 128 to backup my PC Engine Duo-R saves and I have ran into a pretty big issue that I can't get resolved via Googling.

I am using Emerald Dragon, as detailed here.  If I save from my system to the Memory Base 128, it copies without an issue.  However, if I try to copy a save from the Memory Base 128 to my PC Engine, the software locks up and I get a really loud humming noise.  I also, without fail, lose any saves on my PC Engine but not on the MB 128.  This sucks because I lost a save where I was a few hours into Dynastic Hero

Does anybody have any knowledge on if I am doing something wrong or if the MB 128 or maybe my Duo-R is causing the issue?

Oh, I tried it with and without batteries in the MB128 but I got the same results.

Here is a Youtube video of the issue if anybody wants to see/hear it.  I do give a warning to turn down your volume though before I click the button that starts the problem.  So fair warning