PCEngine-FX.com

(https://s22.postimg.cc/la39raig1/CIMG8708.jpg)

(https://s22.postimg.cc/45lyomajh/CIMG8710.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/image/45lyomajh/) (https://s22.postimg.cc/k6ek1l8f1/CIMG8711.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/image/k6ek1l8f1/) (https://s22.postimg.cc/exo4hgfdp/CIMG8712.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/image/exo4hgfdp/)

(https://s22.postimg.cc/59630kv6l/CIMG8714.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/image/59630kv6l/) (https://s22.postimg.cc/mwnvys53x/CIMG8716.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/image/mwnvys53x/) (https://s22.postimg.cc/k1asrx13x/CIMG8718.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/image/k1asrx13x/)

If you think I just put a PC engine inside here then guess again.

I hacked a DUO motherboard in half!

Why would I do that you say? I have no idea. I always wondered what it would look like since the DUO casing always looked to me as if two halves of a system were thrown together.

The original DUO had so many problems it was not worth fixing them. Someone prior to me receiving this broken DUO had tried to repair a bunch of stuff and mucked it all up. Not to mention the original case had melted warped/burn marks all over it. I was able to cut the bad parts of the casing out. I was hoping to leave the text that says pad on the controller port hole but things didn't line up well case wise to where I could keep it. I wanted the cut in the casing to not be noticeable from up above and that part turned out great.

Also, I feel I should mention that even prior to me lopping the motherboard in half, a turbo everdrive would not work. No clue why. Checked the connection to all the hu card pins and all seemed fine. So I wanted to install a nice looking region switch instead, but the board would not work with any chip based region switch I tried either. I tested two styles that I normally use but neither would work.

Anyways, because of this I went with an older style 8pdt switch for the region switch and it works great. I've tried at least 20 hu cards on it so far with no issues whatsoever. I had to mount it just above the hu card slot due to lack of space.

Not sure if I'll ever do this again because it was a lot of work. I had to re wire/solder up parts of the controller port due to lack of size and how small I wanted to cut down the original board. It was also very difficult to cut down the casing the way I wanted in order to line up screws holes/shape etc...

(https://i.imgur.com/aRSQ7co.gif)

Looks awesomely sick, so clean and professional. Nice job!

Wow!  Maybe a bit more like what the US version of the PCE shoulda been than what we got.

Show us the inside.

That's such a beautiful, beautiful hack ... I'm totally jealous of your skills!  :D

Now you just need to shave off the part where it says "Super CDROM" and "DUO" and have "UNO" printed on there :lol:

Looks really cool! Well done. I, too, would like to see the inside.

That is really awesome at first I thought it was a joke because it looked so well done.

is that the sawed in half board you sent me as parts and i pulled the cut chips off it and it ran?

Goddamn. That is badass.

Nice job on shortening it, I like how you kept the lines and didn't hack the thing to pieces! looks like it was put together well...

Question... is it the guts from a SuperCDROM2 inside the case?

Quote from: guest on 01/19/2016, 10:03 PMThis is the fucking most awesome thing i will see this year.

You won!

Seriously!

Yes.  =D>

Very nice! You did a good job keeping the lines right on it. What do you plan to do with it now that it works?

Now that I'm thinking about it, shouldn't it be more like the Turbo Solo?

Bueno!

Quote from: guest on 01/19/2016, 10:39 PMDoes it have saveram?

unfortunately no save RAM. The only way that would have been possible is if i had made the case much larger then it is. it would have ended up looking like a three-quarter inch size duo system. The shaping would have looked horrible because part of the CD Drive side would still have to exist(case wise)
I was trying to go for something that would have looked as streamline /stock looking as possible.

also, before I hacked the board in half, I was only able to access the system memory bank 50% of the time. So there was something really messed up trace wise in that section of the board as well. So no big loss.

Quote from: Gredler on 01/19/2016, 10:01 PM(https://i.imgur.com/aRSQ7co.gif)
Looks awesomely sick, so clean and professional. Nice job!

I'll raise you! ;)

(https://i.imgur.com/THxFyv7.jpg)

It looks good. It really does remind me of a CoreGrafx with a CD-ROM2. I would like to see it with the duo door.

Quote from: Groover on 01/20/2016, 01:33 AMIt looks good. It really does remind me of a CoreGrafx with a CD-ROM2. I would like to see it with the duo door.

(https://i.postimg.cc/1z3fypjb/CIMG8719.jpg)
(https://i.postimg.cc/Jhrp34Tj/CIMG8720.jpg)

The hu card cover will not open and close well because of where I had to place the region switch. However, I'm sure I could file a small notch out of the the cover for it to work if need be. I just planned on using it without one. If the system would have worked with a chip based region switch then it wouldn't be an issue, since the switch would have been on the back instead.

Quote from: thesteve on 01/19/2016, 11:57 PMis that the sawed in half board you sent me as parts and i pulled the cut chips off it and it ran?

No it isn't, but it's what gave me the idea.

Quote from: crazydean on 01/20/2016, 12:17 AMVery nice! You did a good job keeping the lines right on it. What do you plan to do with it now that it works?

I have no idea. I just wanted to see if it would work and what it would look like when finished. Maybe I'll use it as a system to take over to friends houses?

This hurts my brain

Very nice.

The long narrow shape looks like that of a Super CD-ROM² and Core Grafx II if they were combined into one.

Damn! that looks nice. Just when I thought I saw everything. Could easily pass as a "rare" NEC prototype.

Holly shit Keith ... Wow amazing work

Wow...very cool. I kind of blinked when I saw the pics the first time. "huh?"

Looks really good. Wish i could do the same to mine !

Damn nice job!!

Nice clean looking work, man.  Well done.  =D>

I'd chop up the door to fit, though, as it looks a bit unfinished without it.

Quote from: guest on 01/19/2016, 11:06 PMNow you just need to shave off the part where it says "Super CDROM" and "DUO" and have "UNO" printed on there :lol:

Looks really cool! Well done. I, too, would like to see the inside.

This...

Open that fucker up, stop teasing

Looks great!  I dont know how you got the cuts so clean.  Would have looked like crap had i tried to do something like that. :)

Sorry if this is a dumb question but is this literally running while missing chips/pieces of the mobo?  Did you compensate for that in some way or are there sections of board that just aren't needed?  Anyway, looks badass and professional so cheers on creativity and job well done.

That is the absolute coolest thing ever. I like the design of the Duo, but that is so much better. Amazing work!

That's a work of art, that should be the way the console was released back then.

This is an amazing work of art! Reminds me of those WideCards people like to photoshop.

I'd love to see stand alone Super CD uno which only plays CD games. :)

At the start of my scrolling I was thinking "wtf is this, some sort of rare prototype?"  Show us the inside :)

Wow this is nuts,  I am surprised you were able to get everything working with one half the motherboard.  Super props are due.

Very cool mod.  The finished product looks amazing!  I concur that it looks "cooler" with the Hucard door in place.

I could 3D print a case like that...

A match made in heaven:

(https://s22.postimg.cc/la39raig1/CIMG8708.jpg)
(https://junk.tg-16.com/images/mm_fun.jpg)
https://i.postimg.cc/wvncvmrb/CIMG8710.jpg

Quote from: Keith Courage on 01/20/2016, 01:08 AM

Quote from: guest on 01/19/2016, 10:39 PMDoes it have saveram?

unfortunately no save RAM.

Maybe next time. (There's a joke somewhere in there, I promise.)

(https://i.imgur.com/qaJSRFy.png)

I didn't have to do much at all to have everything work other than solder in some wires for the controller port. Everything else just works as is. The difficult part was all the cutting done for the casing and board to get everything lined up just right. I used a mix of Hot glue in some areas and two part epoxy in others to hold the case together. After using a file to create a notch in the motherboard I was also able to get 4 screw holes to line up nicely.

And yes, I cut right through a bunch of unneeded chips that were most likely bad anyways. I felt like being destructive.

Here are some pics of the inside. A little difficult to get good pics cause of how the region switch is wired/glued in now.

(https://s24.postimg.cc/bnqwwdo8h/CIMG8731.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/image/bnqwwdo8h/) (https://s24.postimg.cc/7dc90sj5d/CIMG8732.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/image/7dc90sj5d/)
(https://i.postimg.cc/pVY1yd9k/CIMG8731.jpg)
(https://i.postimg.cc/Pfz11pQp/CIMG8732.jpg)

...this is why today was a good day to internet.  That's incredible; I'm especially impressed with the plastic-work for lack of a better term.  It looks very clean.

Quote from: ActionJackson on 01/20/2016, 10:20 AMSorry if this is a dumb question but is this literally running while missing chips/pieces of the mobo?  Did you compensate for that in some way or are there sections of board that just aren't needed?  Anyway, looks badass and professional so cheers on creativity and job well done. 

Duo is basically PC Engine with CD system and System 3.0 married in one.  If you know which chips to keep and can check the traces, it is possible to cut out the CD specific section and leave the core system intact so it'd be basically Coregrafx board in a Duo shell.

Quote from: Keith Courage on 01/19/2016, 10:00 PM...since the DUO casing always looked to me as if two halves of a system were thrown together.

Yeah I see that.  I've always thought the duo design was heavily inspired by the briefcase set up.

Great work. Really nice case work.  Now make it glossy like Ninja16608's.

Absolutely incredible! I really like the Keith Courage Huey in there! Is heat an issue in the ltight space?

Quote from: martinine on 01/20/2016, 09:24 PMAbsolutely incredible! I really like the Keith Courage Huey in there! Is heat an issue in the ltight space?

Depends, have any report of white PCE or Coregrafx overheating or melting?  KC's hack is basically this and shouldn't have any issue.

Quote from: martinine on 01/20/2016, 09:24 PMAbsolutely incredible! I really like the Keith Courage Huey in there! Is heat an issue in the ltight space?

I don't really see it being an issue but I guess only time will tell.

Quote from: Keith Courage on 01/20/2016, 05:18 PM(https://i.postimg.cc/Pfz11pQp/CIMG8732.jpg)

Here we go again, we got another "hot glue cowboy" splattering it all over the place! ; )

Wow though, quite a risk/bet to have pressed on believing you could still get it to work after sawing it in half and attempting to reconnect back every trace!

About how long did this take you figure ??

I'm in for the raffle! :P

Seriously though this looks amazing! Especially impressed with how clean and stock it appears to be, even on the inside. Nice work!

Quote from: NightWolve on 01/20/2016, 10:43 PM

Quote from: Keith Courage on 01/20/2016, 05:18 PM(https://i.postimg.cc/Pfz11pQp/CIMG8732.jpg)

There we go, we got another "hot glue cowboy" splattering it all over the place! ;)

Wow though, quite a risk/bet to have pressed on believing you could still get it to work after sawing it in half and attempting to reconnect back every trace!

About how long did this take you figure ??

I didn't have to reconnect a bunch of traces on the motherboard. Just three or four for the controller port.

other than that it was good to go after cutting it up.

Quote from: Keith Courage on 01/20/2016, 10:35 PM

Quote from: martinine on 01/20/2016, 09:24 PMAbsolutely incredible! I really like the Keith Courage Huey in there! Is heat an issue in the ltight space?

I don't really see it being an issue but I guess only time will tell.

I'm guessing but probably one of the 7805s is for the cd side. You might be able to remove one and have less heat.

Genius!

Quote from: guest on 01/20/2016, 02:13 PMI could 3D print a case like that...

That would be cool but I liked the idea of creating it from original parts.

This is amazing and frightening at the same time. Good job Keith!

Got nothing to add but I'm seriously impressed. Very professionally done!

How did I miss this?  I seriously thought we were being trolled with some elaborate photoshop work.  GD this is awesome!

Quote from: mickcris on 01/20/2016, 11:22 PM

Quote from: Keith Courage on 01/20/2016, 10:35 PM

Quote from: martinine on 01/20/2016, 09:24 PMAbsolutely incredible! I really like the Keith Courage Huey in there! Is heat an issue in the ltight space?

I don't really see it being an issue but I guess only time will tell.

I'm guessing but probably one of the 7805s is for the cd side. You might be able to remove one and have less heat.

If the 7805 are in parallel, they are only running half of load each and with both, it would be less heat than just one.

Seriously awesome, bravo!!!!!

Quote from: Keith Courage on 01/20/2016, 02:26 AM

Quote from: Groover on 01/20/2016, 01:33 AMIt looks good. It really does remind me of a CoreGrafx with a CD-ROM2. I would like to see it with the duo door.

(https://s24.postimg.cc/puznbign5/CIMG8719.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/image/puznbign5/) (https://s24.postimg.cc/xp4uandtt/CIMG8720.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/image/xp4uandtt/)

The hu card cover will not open and close well because of where I had to place the region switch. However, I'm sure I could file a small notch out of the the cover for it to work if need be. I just planned on using it without one. If the system would have worked with a chip based region switch then it wouldn't be an issue, since the switch would have been on the back instead.

Keith, That looks great. Thanks for sending up the new pictures with the door. UNO prefect name.

Wow, this is pretty epic!  You have a great eye for the case design as well, it's looks amazing!

Booya! Nice one :)

These are the kinda threads that just go to show why this is the best PCE/TG community. The creative talent pool on this forum far surpasses most other classic game related forums.

This is amazing man! Wish you had made a tutorial

Quote from: bazset on 01/24/2016, 08:45 AMThis is amazing man! Wish you had made a tutorial

(1) acquire hardware that cannot be salvaged
(2) attempt to save the hardware anyway, because you enjoy the challenge and have skills
(3) KEEP TRYING #2
(4) Enjoy two servings of flan with coffee.
(5) UNO

If I attempt this again in the future I'll make a tutorial. I bet come spring or summer time I will. Depends on how bad I want to smell grounded up motherboard debris and burning plastic again. I used an angle grinder with a metal cutting disc to get the cuts smooth instead of jagged.

Hope you had mask on! Those dust from PCB can contain glass and they will permanently irritate your lungs.

WOW.  Talk about appalying a passion to make something unbelievable.  Great job Keith.

I have a Duo that's missing the CD drive. This would a be perfect project for it. Do I have skills, though? Hmm

This is terrific!  Way to go!  I would love to see it in action.  :)

man, imagine if the turbografx looked like that, it would have been an awesome looking system!

great work! looks badass!

Quote from: PCEngineHell on 01/22/2016, 10:29 PMThese are the kinda threads that just go to show why this is the best PCE/TG community. The creative talent pool on this forum far surpasses most other classic game related forums.

ya man, the only place i spend most of my time when i am on line, with or without wine :P
Edit: that mini-me duo looks sweet.

Nice work, that's awesome  When I first glanced at the pic I thought it was photo-shopped.

Very creative way to transform broken to badass.