Messages

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: WTB Sapphire]

Oh heck, interesting and he reported it sold! I noticed that of Bernie, sell-offs followed by regret/remorse and then eventually rebuying of some things.

This happened to me once with Wizardry NES and I never did sell a used game again. I've been meaning to eventually, things I'm really sure I don't care about anymore, but haven't gotten around to it, my eBay account is still buyer-only (never once sold something with it).

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Bubble Bobble]

Looks like a genuine port from what I remember of the game.

When do you think you'll ever finish it ?

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: WTB Sapphire]

nectarsis was trying to get rid of some Tobias copies.

[General Gaming / Re: Ys IX is coming...]

This new game must be all about Dogi's crazy addiction of breaking people out of Jails.

Damn, I didn't think of the Prison Wall-Breaking Dogi angle, totally forgot!

[General Gaming / Re: Ys IX is coming...]

Hmmm, where's Adol in all of this ??? 

I had a Dream, found out the Truth in a prison called "cradle" ...

The mystery begins! ;)

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Xanadu II Translation Development Blog]

I enjoy a little rim job from the wifey from time to time.

Heh, Assrion could definitely use some "servicing" of that kind, as could elmer and some of the other wound-tight bullies we used to have here as members before they lost their shit...

Funny thing, elmer was a stickler for staying on-topic to the extreme, and I mean a real silly prude about it, so I can imagine how much this thread-crapping tangent is driving him up-the-wall crazy...

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Xanadu II Translation Development Blog]

Sorry folks, we've been quiet for a long time.

The dub is moving forwards, but at a glacially slow pace.

SamIAm gets very little time to work on it now that he's the father of a young child. That's just Real Life (tm) getting in the way of hobbies, no matter how much we both want to get this all finished and released.

If you're a parent, then you know that's just how it's got to be.

Basically, nothing has changed since that May reply by elmer fudd-for-brains himself. There's nothing else to report even if it triggers ashrion and his impatience...

The mistake with "Angry Assrion" was telling him the text translation was finished but not the dubs so he can't get it out of his head he could be playing it right now (minus English dubs which he finds evil anyway) were it not for the team's desire to release a 100% English text/voice localization on day one or bust...

In contrast, the way I handled the Ys IV project with my team was to finish the text translation and "hope" for an eventual dub attempt by slowly laying the groundwork over time... The idea was text translation now, maybe dubs later... Ironically I was still attacked by gamer nerds for not planning on how to "creatively" accomplish subtitles instead, there's always an ashrion that'll rear his ugly head at some point, comes with the territory...

Well, I would've preferred to wait until the project was over before fully burning bridges with lyin', leaky elmer, but who knows if that'll be a year or years from now... And I don't care about his ADPCM codec anymore...

Anyway, I'd check back between summer and fall 2019 to see what progress, if any, is made by then.

[Off-Topic / Re: Random Pictures Thread]

LOCK HIM UP! LOCK HIM UP!! LOCK! HIM! UP!!!!

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Merry Xmas! Giving away a Rondo of Blood Blu-ray (No Strings Attached!)]

Robnova ... saved PCEFX Christmas with a Tobias-pressed BluRay, imagine that! ;)

I would've done my Falcom Ys8/Gurumin raffles by now but it'll still have to wait...

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Xanadu II Translation Development Blog]

  WHERE'S MAH XANADU PATCH YOU ASS-LICKS ????

DUBS ARE EVIL, NO MORE EXCUSES, JUST GIB ME TEXT TRANSLATION!!!!!

NOW!!!!!!!

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Merry Xmas! Giving away a Rondo of Blood Blu-ray (No Strings Attached!)]

If you mean why would anybody want/need a video playthrough of Dracula X on BluRay, if that's all it is, those were my first thoughts too, but I'd like to check out the production value of the disc, cover, case, etc. as I didn't know Tobias is cutting BluRays now either, so I figure it might be interesting to see how it was done.

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Xanadu II Translation Development Blog]

Haha, so Angry "WHERE'S-MAH-XANADU-PATCH?" Asshrion returns feeling vindicated somehow because the dubbing phase isn't finished or even being worked on at all since SamIAm is too busy right now with his growing family...

@ashrion: Sam has something called a life with a wife and they just had another baby, he's not working on some fan translation project for crybaby gamer nerds like you who don't really deserve access to the final patch anyway if you're gonna act like a spoiled, bratty "Is-it-done-yet? Is-it-done-yet?" kid with entitlement issues!

Now you know why GideonZhi just blocks people on Twitter for asking about project updates, it just doesn't end well with impatient know-it-alls looking for a chance to cause drama instead of just playing other games when there are millions to choose from while waiting...

Truth is, I don't care anymore one way or another; if it's finished, great, or if lyin' leaky elmer disappears tomorrow, chokes out the way of EsperKnight, that's fine too...

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Merry Xmas! Giving away a Rondo of Blood Blu-ray (No Strings Attached!)]

Sure, you can add me to your raffle.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Trying to recover a Failed PCEngine GT recap]

Ah OK, your photo still showed old ones which threw me off.

Well, you're gonna have to check every trace, possibly even the vias, make sure there's continuity as the leak fluid damages them, beyond the damage the previous repair attempt did... If no IC damage occurred maybe there's still a chance to fix it.

You have the info for the missing resistors I take it so nothing to help you there with. Oh, I'd check the other resistors that were noticibly harmed/cooked too, both for having stated resistance value and making contact with traces on both ends.

Anyway, if you can't fix it, don't know how to use logic probes, for this level of difficulty it might be best left to thesteve - when nobody else can repair NEC systems, they ship it to him, including other repair guys.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Trying to recover a Failed PCEngine GT recap]

You mean there are only 2 new capacitors and you're asking why there's no video/picture ??

It's because all old capacitors are dead, leaky garbage and you need to finish replacing every one, not just the video one...

That's how mine died, had it in a drawer for some 5 years, pulled it out to play Super Star Soldier, and all I got was a black screen.

I came here to PCEFX, thinking I was gonna sell it broken to someone or see what it'd cost to repair, but then I learned about the usual breakdown problem of capacitors, decided to try replacement myself which totally restored it to working operation again for the cost of $11 in exact caps via Digikey.

Anyway, yeah, finish the job, clean the leaked electrolytic fluid as best you can, solder in all new replacements and hope for the best.

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Xanadu II Translation Development Blog]

Whatever happens, it'll be some time in 2019. The team is stuck on dubbing, they don't provide further details than that. I'd say check back summer 2019 to see if progress is made.

[Off-Topic / Re: Random Pictures Thread]

Loading: twitter.com/cinemassacre/status/1074032285110935552

Hmm, he looks awfully familiar...

[PC/Console/Mobile Ports / Re: Battle Princess Madelyn [PC/PS4/XBOX/] by Causal Bit Games (Chris/LoboDaMainMan)]

So...I purchased Battle Princess Madelyn ($20) with my GOG account today as general practice over Steam. I did learn Steam has an offline mode, but I do prefer the no-strings GOG installer executable model better where possible.

Well, my 8bitdo SNES GamePad is recharged, game is installed (man, installation so fast on nice new SSD drives, love it!) let's see when I take this for a spin!

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Cat + PC Engine Duo = Bad]

The console starts up to the normal Super CD ROM 2 system boot screen. However when I put in a disc and press the run button, the CD drive doesn't spin up and after a short while I get an error message 'Please set disc.' The laser itself does start up as I can see the red light from it but again, the drive doesn't spin so it doesn't seem to matter much. I can't tell whether the lens can focus or not.

Ah, so the spin motor won't start. *Maybe* there's a chance for you to fix it yourself since the laser shows life.

You need to see if the motor gets power, maybe the board area that supplies the power was hurt by the fall or the motor itself.

I'd disconnect the power cable to the motor, bring a 5VDC source from elsewhere to power it, see if it spins. If not, the motor broke, you'd have to see about replacement... Perhaps even before that, try to boot it and measure the voltage at red/black wires at the motor (you'll have to hold the switch down to make it believe the lid is closed).

I dunno if any of our repair tech heads ever mentioned that motor failing, they certainly have spare laser units to sell and sprockets that are also known to fail.

So, if the motor works with external power, you gotta find out what went wrong where it connects to for its normal power supply. A crack in the board area that supplies it perhaps, maybe a reflow of solder on the power connection pins that the cable connects to, that sort of thing with any luck! You'd have to fully free the motherboard, have a look underneath.

That's about it, seems you might have a shot, but if you give up, Keith is right here to ship it off to and let him try, good luck either way!

Oh, and if it hasn't been recapped, that should be part of the repair deal!

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: In-game symptoms of laser or bad cap problems?]

I have a PC-Engine Duo RX and all my HuCards work flawlessly without issue, and most of my CDs do. However, I have three games that seem to stop playing music at certain points (but the sound effects continue). Burning these games has no effect - the music drops out unexpectedly and doesn't come back. There are no strange audio artifacts... The music just stops.

You're very much in luck based on what you described, you should be able to fix this yourself!

Good thing about that is you avoid risk to the laser assembly which is fragile and can be damaged during shipping back'n'forth between you and somebody else (besides saving yourself the cost for repair/shipping).

As Keith mentioned, this is a lube problem, and I already did a write-up years ago to help:

"Re: REPAIR GUIDE - TG-CD: Grease is dried up. Symptoms and Solution."
https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?topic=7012.msg296648#msg296648

But quick recap: The laser's slider pole has ~25 year old dried-up grease at this point (as old as the console), the laser unit has lost agility as a result, so a good cleaning of the old grease with say alcohol, and application of new white lithium grease will do the trick!

I recommend freeing the slide motor (2 glued screws, it's tough) if you can which will let you move the whole laser unit freely, and also to clean/lubricate all sprockets, not just the pole, etc. In short, fresh grease needs to go everywhere there's old grease!

I assume you know you also need a 4.5mm game security bit which you can easily find on eBay to be able to open NEC consoles. The white lithium grease you can purchase at most any hardware store.



Funny thing, I used petroleum jelly when I had this audio cut off problem, it would work normally again for a year or two, before drying up and leading to the same problem. That was the poor man's way using something already in the home, but obviously not appropriate for a long-term solution. Somebody here once talked about a better grease, Molykote, what's used for joysticks, but I dunno if you wanna experiment just yet.

P. S.

Do *not* touch any of the 3 CD potentiometers, this should just strictly be a grease/lubrication problem.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Duo R - crackling Left Audio after RGB mod]

It was the last in the factory line so its capacitors will die last from previous models but I don't trust the notion they're not part of the bad, leaky batches of that era. I'd go ahead and do it since you got the unit open. Maybe start with all the capacitors at the audio circuit and power area first but with the full intent to replace every one.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Duo R - crackling Left Audio after RGB mod]

EDIT: I have no idea anymore, I double checked my mod-work again and the crackling goes away when I fully disconnect my RGB amp (between the HuC6260 and the inputs of the modboard)

Ah, interesting! The motherboard was fully recapped I assume BTW ??

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Cat + PC Engine Duo = Bad]

You'll have to provide more details on the exact problem if you want help to try something there before shipping it to one of our repair guys.

Do you get a boot screen, does the CD spin up ?? What error does the boot screen say ? The other things to check would be with the top open, but the sensor switch pressed down and booting in the dark to check if you see a red laser or not, and if the laser lens can move up/down to focus.

If laser is dead, will likely need replacement but if not, the 3 CD potentiometers will need adjustment. The laser is known to break with mishandling during shipping, happened to one of thesteve's customers.

[Off-Topic / Re: Game Sack]

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: TurboFont]

EDIT: I never believed this was anything but trollin',  , but 2x4 did PM me a sample test.

NightWolve, I'm such an ass, I didn't know these PMs were piling up!! So to answer your questions,  I have only given this font designer/ friend a few hundred bucks.  It's practically nothing but,  I always wanted to have the font.  I was excited about the idea of being able to recreate box art, label art,  manuals,  chip labels -- digitally and/or physically -- with total accuracy.  I think it's awesome when people here recreate physical aspects of things. I just wanted to make a contribution to that. Thanks for the support and for making some major contributions yourself over the years!

Heh, to be honest, I haven't believed you at all, haha!

I thought this was all weird trolling on your part...

Nah, s'all good, no need to send me anything. I'll check it out if you ever finish.

Trolling!! That hurts Nightwolve, but I suppose you have your reasons.  Just finishing up 3 or 4 "special characters" to gild the lily.  Here's an appetizer...  don't know how to embed images on this...


https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AMVlqIVefJJ7YwzgBXhlFRz09LhTnz77/view
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1J_6dIYPYar5ZbQcfDY932Yw1wHg708dL/view

[Off-Topic / Re: What are YOU watching on YouTube.com?]

Avengers 4: Endgame Trailer #1 has hit the digital airwaves.

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Status of PC-FX fan translations]

So looks like Filler is the only other guy that ever finished a PC-FX fan translation/localization project until SamIAm came along with Zeroigar ??

I noticed sabre470 visiting recently, I could swear he played a role in the Dracula X project, but then I realized he was the one that started a PC-FX project on "Little Red Riding Hood Chacha" eons ago.

I found his old project page on WayBack. There was a WIP patch somewhere apparently.

wayback://brinkster.com:80/sabrevgc/

Oh man I haven't touched this translation for ages, I did even take Japanese lessons for 2 years to support that project and satisfy my curiosity of the language. Life got in the way, I guess. I did have fairly automated tooling for translating since it's mostly Hiragana and Katana. I've kept all the files for the project, though so I could resume it, time permitting.

I'm still deep in PC-FX and PC-FXGA though, if you haven't seen my blog cdromrom.wordpress.com

I said hello, he replied back with his new site and I'm guessing he's referring to the ChaCha project ??

Anyway, yeah, as mentioned in chat, I saw Filler's twitter posts about these dead projects, that's too bad. We just don't have the numbers for the kind of attention NES/SNES/Sega and other systems got, it's lucky enough to get PC Engine translations every few years, let alone a total failure like the PC-FX (which failed terribly even in Japan, in contrast to the successful PC Engine ancestor)!


In other news, looks like he's been working on a PC Engine HuCard game, "City Hunter."

https://twitter.com/romtranslator/status/1066781118479912960

I've successfully dumped a script for #CityHunter on the #PCE/#TG16. It was a PITA between having to insert the script values into the ROM so I could ID the 300-or-so kanji, to messing with the final dump encoding due to a kanji missing from JIS, but it wasn't TOO bad in the end. pic.twitter.com/IQGcPZ0TF3

— Filler (@romtranslator) November 25, 2018

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: SMS2PCE - Games SMS on PCE]

* You'll have to learn how to do that yourself if you really want to make it a reality. Making that clear upfront.

* There is only 1 man (Bonknuts/TurboXray) that previously did "hackulation" port projects like this but of NES games and that is precisely because the PCE/TG-16 CPU is almost the same 8-bit CPU as the NES, except it has a few Hudson enhancements. You could potentially learn from his work, but there really isn't anybody else AS talented that would have the motivation to code a "hackulation" layer for a SMS game... Bonknuts is mostly retired from hobby projects at present, he's actually done movies on occasion.

* He called these projects NES2PCE (as you made reference to). Upon review, seems he removed links.

https://pcedev.wordpress.com/category/nes2pce-2/

But I tried WayBack, and found some links for you. He/TurboXray includes the ASM files to build a .PCE ROM file you can use with an emulator or TurboEverdrive, so there is learning potential left behind.

Contra_pce_ver_0.35.7z
Castlevania_PCE_ver_0.44.7z
megaman_098_hu.zip
(ENIX's Dragon Warrior exists somewhere too)

I used an old copy on WayBack to find those ROMs and it appears they're still on his server, so they work, but here's the WayBack link to look around yourself:

https://web.archive.org/web/20120604004925if_/http://pcedev.wordpress.com:80/downloads-and-links

I also checked with SuperPlay our link master, and he has one link that collects them all, so here's that:

https://www.tg-16.com/superplay/MISC/pcedevnes.zip

Anyway, 99% sure it'll never happen, but Bonknuts represents the ONLY such port attempt known (Oh right, somebody did Super Mario Bros. too, you can Google for that) so if you wanted to learn, that's where you'd start.

Get the source code of a SMS emulator, port it to PCE Assembly, that would be the other piece to it. The Sega CPU is totally different, a Z80A, no clue on the technical complications of porting a SMS emulator to run on a Hudson HuC6280 CPU.

If you have no programming experience, just hoping somebody else does it, you're wasting your time as I said at the start, and you're better off asking at romhacking.net.

[General Gaming / Re: Was given an Xbox 360. What do?]

You could. Set it on fire.  lol. Jk.

I hear blow dryers are useful for console maintenance...

[Off-Topic / Re: Random Pictures Thread]

I was randomly hound-harassed/stalked today by the crazy butthurt psychotic loon pictured above with that shirt in the #Yuki discord chatroom... Sarumaru endorses their extortion troll tactics, sad to say...   To be clear, I do not negotiate with or kowtow to "any-means-necessary" extortionist saboteurs/bullies, and some of what we had here, "forum terrorists," (as White Supremacist DarKKKobold coined them, haha) but JohnPhile, Ryley "NoSexGex" Reynolds, AetherButt, the DildoPhile Dicktator and his DildoKobolds as well as some others never figured that out months ago...

So, who exactly is the above embarrassing loser in that "shirt" you might ask? A petty dramaqueen troll formerly known as "jlued686" (JohnPhile Luedtke) who later proclaimed himself "KingDrool" at some point (progressive ego you understand) if that rings a bell.

All he primarily did here at PCEFX the last ~3 years is rant/rave/screech/scream-at-the-sky about Donald J. Trump's very existence (Orange Man Bad! Orange Man Bad!!!) which drives him bitterly deranged to no end (Thanks Trump!)... That's pretty much all I can remember him for, besides being a vicious, wound-tight bully that trolled me for not liking PCE sports games or something, and for being a republican, etc.

Seems he was alerted by another preexisting troll in the #Yuki chatroom of my visit (Psycho Punch or Gex), as was Psycho Arkhoe (The Greatest PCE Community Saboteur, 2 PCE groups/1 PCE Kickstarter by my count were sabotaged by his bitterness, immaturity, arrogance, envy, jealously, & bullying nature...), both of whom had *never* posted in it, so they only arrived to tag-team troll one target (me) of their unhinged wrath (>6 months well after the dramastorm THEY instigated had passed). It was transparent to anyone with half a brain.

John approached his hounding trying to shoehorn passive-aggressive posts first, followed by playing the usual nerd cliche: he projected his virginity on me (claiming he's seen a vagina), blamed me for his own bullying, harassing, called me an a$$hole (heh, no self-introspection, that's for sure!), pretended to enjoy me telling him what a POS he was directly, etc. It was pathetic to watch his desperation for me to acknowledge his miserable, disgusting existence as he continued to poison a chatroom with his raging butthurt that he had never posted in solely due to learning of my visit... Yep, Psycho Nintega clone-confirmed!

Clearly the cyber-bully is obsessed way way too much about me, a videogame forum, so I say, step away from the keyboard before you fully become Nintega Part II, wipe that shit down with chlorine, go out, get some fresh air, take some walks, get laid buddy (pay for it if you have to!), i.e., get a life - IN GENERAL - cause you clearly don't have one running around wearing DuoDildoDoxPhile t-shirts to honor your destructive doxxing pal!!! Stop hangin' around creepy "dildo/game-huggers" and cutting videos with them (by that I mean tweak the freak with his pierced lip ring, ugh), that might help too, John! (I exclude Esteban/Dan of course).

Overall, I felt the stalking, dox-defending, hound-harasser is VERY confused, outright delusional about how the actions of Nulltard/bullity/insanity/toxicity/doxxity and his gang damaged this forum! He has deluded himself to believe he can pass the blame to me, that the shear act of repetition & feigned outrage, while covering for all the inbetween harassment him/his allies have committed (that would justify their re-banning ANYWHERE!), will establish it as historical fact...

Essentially, he hopes to deflect/cover historical blame away from his friend, the libelous, doxxing spam-terror, Captain DildoPhile, who f*cked up my home phone number worse than ever in buying up domains (2) to link a dox job at a place that encourages REAL physical stalking/contact on their targets... That's who Nulltard formed an alliance with, it's a site that also reportedly caused a suicide, not that these lunatics would give a damn when the "enemy of my enemy is my friend" takes root... Was it worth it creeps ?

In hypocritical rage he ended his "proud" PCEFX membership by screeching at Aaron to delete his account (and Josh's) after I emailed him to stop his lying conspiracy that 20k Necromunster posts were deleted because lying hack BlackTiger suddenly pretended the search feature doesn't work for him.... He protested 2 "unsolicited" emails, portraying himself a "victim" of ~1000 emails by generalization propaganda, yet he was one of the harassers that did exactly that to Aaron months before hoping to sabotage my relations/friendship (Aaron reported ~daily angry messages by Email, Twitter, Facebook, PM, etc)... Incredible!

So yeah, the bitter, raging, stalking, unhinged loon now likes "unsolicited" visits, contact, harassment, etc. when HE does it, even on somebody else's chat property to engage a target of his unhinged wrath! It's targeted hound harassment 101, stalking me to any/all PCE groups to bark in rage, still hoping to extort/bully/browbeat me down to a different outcome here or just sadistic satisfaction (if he feels that's all he has left). So, um, are you're saying hypocrisy by an unhinged loon is supposed to be shocking ? Yes, I know, I'm just laying it out for the record! He's a classic "Do-As-I-Say-Not-As-I-Do!" fail!

It's almost like ANTIFA thuggery, I go to a restaurant, a store, or some event, next thing I know, Psycho John and the DoxPhile crew show up, they phone over more of their gang to stop by, sit near or next to me, start acting stupid, raging, heckling, yelling, etc. They DO have my home address, folks, which was passed around in the DoxPhile . com/chat, so it's not out of the realm of possibilities... Dude is crazzzy hateful, no doubt, he took his trolling to live YouTube video level like Nulltard at the MGC and Nintega long before that!

Anyway, we wish DramaQueen JohnPhile all the best at his new rage-based PCE forum and hope he'll eventually get the mental help that he needs... We certainly hope he hasn't ventured out of his basement wearing DildoPhile t-shirts (or hats, like Josh on EVERY GameHugger video), but bad habits are hard to break, we understand... DoxMaster provocateur/troll and White Supremacist "DarKKKobold" once mentioned mommy and daddy had to hire him a therapist, maybe seek his advice, John ?? Just a thought, I mean look at the *fantastic* results with him, that was money well spent! It could change your life buddy, ya never know!

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Turbo duo sound issue. Capacitors changed op amps are fine.]

The Steve helped me out. turned out to be corrosion on c322 to amp 503 and ground.

Cool, he's still got it!

It's good to have these cases documented somewhere for others to search for in the future.

I'm torn between DIY or just sending it to a pro and not wasting my time biting off more than I can chew; you have to recognize your limitations and not go too far. I still have a full capacitor replacement job to perform on my Turbo Duo, and I'm worried if something like these kinds of issues happens before that.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Turbo duo sound issue. Capacitors changed op amps are fine.]

Funny enough, I passed this along to thesteve, but Nunhunter already knew him on Facebook and he was already trying to help, heh.

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: SOLD OUT: PCE/Turbografx RGB THS7374 amps and cables]

You can fix this by lifting that leg.  Here is pic with an arrow pointing to the pin that needs lifted

I found it easiest to just de-solder that side of the IC, lift/break off the leg, then re solder that side down.

That's too bad, one little mistake on what looks like an otherwise professionally-designed/built board.

[General Gaming / Re: Was given an Xbox 360. What do?]

Ah, I see, yeah, WiFi is an add-on option to the 2005 model, but the later S and E revisions included it. Worse, the first add-on only supported the g protocol max, just like PS3 which is half the speed of the 100 mbit Ethernet port and it IS kinda painful in response time compared to a wired connection as I saw with my 4K smart TV...

I went to the extra trouble to buy Cat7 cables for 2 TVs, my PC, MagicJack VoIP, and other shared router because the performance was just better and if you have a modem/router combo you know from experience the WiFi portion tends to crash while wired ports will still work.

Smart protip is to buy a power timer like for Christmas lights, set it for nightly off/on cycles at 4:30am when everyone is asleep so the router can reboot daily. This will save you lots of headaches, yes, even a good new WiFi router needs daily reboots to remain stable. New ones have a feature in the BIOS to set a daily reboot too, but I still recommend a power timer at your electrical outlet for full shutdown, startup cycles, for your modem too if separate.

WiFi routers are practically full computers now that come with 1.4 to 1.8 GHz duo-core CPUs and have complex OS systems that crash as well as a Windows PC does, so just random FYI.

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Pia and zeroigar translations]

It's alright, we passed Tobias CD bootlegs around here and fan-made repro/bootleg HuCards, it'd be hypocritical to cry about CD-R help.

My first bit of advice is learn to use ImgBurn, it really isn't that hard... Just make sure to start it with Administrator Rights if you're on Windows 7.

https://www.ysutopia.net/software/ImgBurn.zip

You rip your originals to a BIN/CUE, follow patch instructions and just burn that image right back...

Where are you failing in this process exactly ???

All else fails, I suppose you can bother Bernie or Jodi on Facebook to make you some CD-Rs for shipping.

https://www.facebook.com/jodi.whetham
https://www.facebook.com/bernard.lindell
facebook .com/TrashKlown

[General Gaming / Re: Was given an Xbox 360. What do?]

Now there's a question you don't see often in a PCE forum: "I got a free Microsoft XBOX 360, what do I do with it !???"

Wish I could help, but my last NG console was PS2, heh. I faded out from the buy-new-console/library thing right about there.

Quick look at the specs shows it has both WiFi and an Ethernet port. I always recommend a good cable (cat7 is cheap on eBay, stick with that) to your router if possible because the lag isn't worth the trouble, especially on a smart TV or the PS3 (which I once borrowed from my renter to troubleshoot WiFi connectivity) if they only support WiFi 802.11g and not the later 'n' protocol as most modern phones do.

Looks like it's better than the PS3 which could only connect with the slower WiFi 'g' protocol on my router as I discovered with testing. I had set my router to 'n' only mode for max speed and that's what caused the connection failure for an older WiFi device like PS3.

Anyway, good luck. I think there was a SquareEnix game that looked interesting, something I would've wanted but its name escapes me right now. Bernie was a big XBOX fan BTW, he would've had some recommendations, but alas he's a creature of Facebook now too...

[Off-Topic / Re: What are YOU watching on YouTube.com?]

What I want in a martial arts flick, Matrix-level Yuen Woo-Ping choreography!

Master Z: Ip Man Legacy

[Off-Topic / Re: Hudson fans might want this]

You mean "Konami fans," we have to say we're Konami fans in the context of Bomberman now, don't we ?? ;)

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: WTB HuCard sleeves]

I figured the HuCard bootleg guys would be the first place to try, I asked around for ya but no dice: turbokon said he ran out, Jodi isn't much available ATM, a few others didn't know... sparky only sells manuals/boxes AFAIK.

You'll need to keep trying on eBay, turbokon said there used to be a guy there that sold some, but he can't be found now.

EDIT: Keith said he uses baseball card sleeves as alternatives, these: https://www.ebay.com/itm/233021827826

EDITx2: Scratch that, Jodi got back to me, says he has some that are like the originals. He's mostly a creature of Facebook, so you can contact him here: https://www.facebook.com/jodi.whetham

[NEC Console Resource / Re: Lurking Canadian has Emerged from the Shadows...]

Heh, welcome Andrew! I didn't know you had done business with Keith, that's good.

I sort of unintentionally coaxed Andrew into an introduction because I messaged him to compliment his love of lurking and browsing our long illustrious forum history... ;)

We do have a long time member on here from Halifax, plus a few other great Canadians on here as well.

Yep, like Dave Shadoff: producer of Kisado TG-16 Region Adapter, my Ys IV localization project teammate/co-programmer/co-dev, and the pcecp.com co-dev, plus the Motteke Tamago fan localization project (and others), etc. Technically Chris Covell is a Canadian export too that landed in Japan to teach.

I tried to get my friend Chris Obritsch to stay, we had him only for a short while, he goes way back to my original PC Engine forum home (RIGG/Retro ISO Gaming Guild), but alas he's "too cool/famous" for us "ruffians" now that he's in the Kickstarter big leagues with his Battle Princess Madelyn game... He was known as "Buckets" LoboDaMainMan if that rings a bell back then. We had no idea whatsoever he'd become a successful videogame developer since he was the joker of the forum.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/603930/Battle_Princess_Madelyn/
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/causalbitgames/battle-princess-madelyn/

Anyway, yeah, there are a few other noteworthy Canucks around.

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

For American games,
- Just finishing up a run through Cosmic Fantasy 2 again (this time, with the "Un-Worked Designs" patch)
- Next up will be Exile/Exile 2 - again with the unworked designs patches to return difficulty to the original - maybe this time I'll be able to complete Exile 2 !

I heard about those "Un-Working Designs" patches at romhacking.net I recall...

I forgot about what the Cosmic Fantasy 2 one does, I don't recall ever having a problem with the game, and I don't think I care if it was some spiteful protest at WD anyway. The WD haters got way too fanatical over the years...

As for Exile 2, I know people complained about the difficulty. I beat both Exiles pretty much as soon as they arrived from Turbo Zone Direct in a couple of days. I didn't really have a strong reaction to the difficulty as some did because I saw it was very easy to grind/level up: I just took an adjustable wrench, tightened it down on the sword button with turbo active, positioned Sadler where enemies would just keep spawning from right-to-left in a straight-forward manner, turned off the TV, "let it ride" and some hours later, I was fully leveled-up, ready to beat the final boss with just a little bit of basic strategy... The End. ;)

Is that cheating ?? I dunno, in those days I cared more about the story and EXP grinding just hurts my fingers, wastes my time, so I wasn't above using a trick or two to skip past all of that if it was available. Guess Victor Ireland didn't really iron out all issues to stop renters from being able to beat his localized games over a weekend and avoid paying full price to buy/own the game (which is why he said he deliberately tried to increase the difficulty in his batch of products)...

[Off-Topic / Re: Random Pictures Thread]

Garbage Pail Kids sticker giveaway if Bernie doesn't want them. 176 in total. I might spot the shipping if I like or owe ya, if not, you pay it. Dunno if anyone here would want them, but I wanna get rid of them.

Now come on man you know me well enough to know I'd like to have these heh-heh.

What do you want for them? Or PM me.. whatever works 

Oh really ? Sorry brother, but Bernie Bro already got back to me with his shipping address in having decided that he'll take them. I'm gonna stop by the dollar store to see what kind of little shipping box or packet I can use later today.

I owe him for a lot of stuff he shipped to me over the years (Tobias bootlegs) and giving me paid freelance work in the past too.

I knew he was a fan from professing love of that movie they made of it eons ago and he Facebook-shared some sticker images in the past too I recall. ;)

[Off-Topic / Re: Random Pictures Thread]

Loading: twitter.com/NightWolve75/status/1067295212102434818

Garbage Pail Kids sticker giveaway if Bernie doesn't want them. 176 in total. I might spot the shipping if I like or owe ya, if not, you pay it. Dunno if anyone here would want them, but I wanna get rid of them.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Need help with repairing a PC Engine GT]

It's great to hear that you have an expert on hand when you need it. I suppose he would know how to remove those blobs I mentioned earlier.

A hot air gun to soften it a bit perhaps and very careful use of a razor blade. That's about the only technique I ever heard of/seen.

[Off-Topic / The “What-Did-You-Buy-Today?” Thread]

Just added to my BluRay collection this Black Friday season, got 4K BluRays of 2 of my favorite movies (would've been cool to find Jeff Bridges, Olivia Wilde in Tron: Legacy on 4K BR as well).

I was looking for Gigabit WiFi Routers to upgrade again, and possibly cordless headphones for use with my TV, but I didn't find anything that really caught my interest and it looks like I gotta go hunting on eBay (will keep Cyber Monday sales in mind when I do).



Only $10 (BestBuy) and $9 (Target) respectively. T2 could be had at BestBuy for $8, but they were COMPLETELY sold out in the first 2 hours the stores opened in a 250 mile radius of me... Only Target had 4 copies left, 3 of which were missing the cardboard sleeve for some reason. I have a tradition of collecting most Carolco movies in almost all formats, I still have T2 on VHS somewhere plus DVD/SkyNet LE BluRay, and Total Recall on LaserDisc/DVD/BluRay/etc.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Need help with repairing a PC Engine GT]

Has anybody here done a recap using tantalum capacitors (instead of the oil-based ones) ?
Theoretically, they should have a better lifetime - and if/when they do fail, they wouldn't leak anything out causing other issues on the board...

Yep, "thesteve," our professional resident electrical engineer has!

Below is a TurboExpress PCB he used a mix of tantalum and also ceramic capacitor replacements on (although I have less trust for high uF value ceramic):

https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?msg=273031
https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?msg=182962
https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?msg=223168



A key discovery he made is getting rid of the hum in the audio of a Turbo Express. I dunno if you ever noticed that, it's more blatantly obvious if you use headphones and pause a game, you'll hear a pretty significant hum which was widely enough known among PCE/Turbo fans.

Steve said you could only target the 4 power related capacitors with just tantalum to also get rid of it, but I feel it's all risky if you're not a pro and don't really know what you're doing with no understanding of the physics...

The different behavior could cause problems as it did for me when I tried all ceramics on my SNES, the Composite amplifier circuit went crazy, it worked normally again only with original electrolytic capacitors, so beware when moonlighting as an EE...

yes a full aluminum cap replacement is in order.
you can use aluminum, ceramic or tantalum caps as replacements.
note the 10uf smd cap to the right of the switch will also kill video

He seems more trusting, but there you go. He's always willing to give Pro-Tip advice in PMs if you message him.

If these tantalum capacitors are better how come no seem to be using them? Or are they just that much more expensive?

Yeah, they're more expensive as Dave said. They have different properties, which Steve has mentioned on occasion like less resistance to ripple current. Your Turbo Duo has them on the underside/bottom of the PCB, no known reports of failure, while the topside is mostly the electrolytic standard as expected.

[Off-Topic / The “What-Did-You-Buy-Today?” Thread]

Blazing Lazers, can't go wrong in always having that in a collection of legendary shooters!

Quick FYI, krik always partakes in Black Friday sales for his line of Everdrive Flashcarts:

https://krikzz.com/store/

[Off-Topic / Re: Husband/wife ordered to pay $12m to Nintendo for ROM sites...]

ITSA ME, LAWSUIT!

Ha, someone should meme that line with a photo of Mario stomping on this couple where $12 million flashes on their heads post-stomping and maybe also show photos of famous ROM sites getting stomped on that buckled under fear removing all ROMs, not just Nintendo ones!!

I doubt it ends with this ridiculous amount, they have the appeal process of course. It's absurd to hold them responsible like this when they just got ROMs from other sites and have no connection to the manufacturer of ROM copier devices that allowed dumping a NES/SNES cartridge to disk in the first place those many eons ago late 90's...

Shame, looks like the good ole days of ROM collecting are going extinct. Back to shady IRC groups trading with other dudes to build your ROM collection then ??

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Biggest find ever]

Did we scare Ryan off ?? This was the first time he posted in 2 years, then went back to lurker mode again...

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Need help with repairing a PC Engine GT]

Yeah, Digikey can sell you surface mount models like what's there but everybody would recommend to switch to the regular ones since they're easy to desolder if you ever have to do it again and they're bigger, better, will last longer since more fluid, etc.