Messages

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Air Zonk price has exploded [edit: no, it has not]]

I stand corrected.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Air Zonk price has exploded]

Some clown in Hong Kong was actually selling a supposedly original factory sealed Dracula X for $1000 Buy It Now...completely bogus...

You know, this may be a case of Hong Kong dollars instead of $US...I guess there's a DUO-R in Hong Kong that goes on sale on eBay every so often, and the BIN price is $999...turns out it's HK dollars, though, which is about $130 at today's exchange rate. Seemingly a lot more reasonable for a Duo!

I'm just speculating, though.

Yeah I made sure to check on that, and it was listed in US dollars...  Either he was serious or made an error when selecting the currency.

Another guy (bases in the US) actually put up for sale a factory sealed Legend of Zelda NES cart for $700US.  I mean who in their right mind would actually try and sell a game for that kind of price?  Who would be so stupid as to purchase it?  I'm sure the battery back up fizzeled out in it some time in 1995.  :/

As for Air Zonk, I see that I have a CD-R back up that the dude who I bought the system off decided to include with a bunch of other games.  Fun game and cool music, but I have no intention of finding an orginal copy.

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

I found Parodius to be overrated when I finally got it. Salamander is much, much better.

Give me Air Zonk, Coryoon, Star Parodia, etc any day over Parodius. Parodius ain't bad, but it's far from the best shooter on the system.

Oh yeah for sure.  It's alright for the time it came out, but I agree Salamander is where it's at and my recent acquisition of Gradius II is also extremely fun.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Help me out here...game question.]

LOL...

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Air Zonk price has exploded]

Some clown in Hong Kong was actually selling a supposedly original factory sealed Dracula X for $1000 Buy It Now...completely bogus...

I finally managed to acquire a near mint copy for myself for about $112 with shipping which is about the price they seem to go for on there.

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

My meager game collection is slowly starting to grow.  Since I don't have much time to jump right into RPGs I've been keeping myself busy with try to master Gradius when I have a few minutes to spare.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Help me out here...game question.]

Thanks that does sound like it, and I don't blame you.. it was awful which is why we probably love it so much. 

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Help me out here...game question.]

Back in the day, (1995) my friend had this rather mediocre adventure game with some voice acting when you entered shops...  The voice work was friggin hilarious...but the one line that would kill us every time was, "I HAVE COME TO BUY A WEAPON."

Now I don't know about you guys, but this would cause us to split our sides and roll on the floor with laughter.

I think it was either Shape Shifter or Shadow of the Beast or something like that...

I want this game so we can gather around and play it and bring back the good times so any help would be great!

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: HuCard Converters]

Duos are designed to sit on the floor.

Doh...

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: HuCard Converters]

Well I only have it on the floor there because of the pictures I took earlier this evening to show you guys.  I actually have it placed on top of my DVD Recorder when I play it just in case someone needs to walk by.  Other then the occasional feline walking by I don't get much foot traffic in my basement.

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: HuCard Converters]

Thanks, man.  It came with the system in the original box with all the manuals and mail in cards.  It wasn't even open, the original owner decided to never open it up.  It's pretty trippy reading video game magazines from the late 80's and early 90's.  Nintendo Power, Gamepro, EGM and Gamefan were like the friggin best.

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: HuCard Converters]

While soldering isn't a problem for me, I do not wish to do this on a system that is pretty rare to acquire. I'm quite satisfied with this converter so for now this will do the trick.  Here are some pics:

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: HuCard Converters]

I already have a converter and I never use it because they suck. For $50 plus shipping you can get a region hack from D-Lite

What does this entail? Do you have to open the system up and do some soldering and wiring?

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: HuCard Converters]

Which converter is it? The purple one?

No it's a green printed circuit board with and orange sticker on it.

I'll take a picture of it tonight and post it.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: CD-R Back Up Tests]

I've been into the Turbo since 1990, and I wonder if I will ever experience all the rich, deep gaming the platform has to offer. When you include Japanese region titles, there are nearly 1,000 games available. Many of those are intricate RPGs that offer many hours of enjoyment. So much to experience...

I hope you hang on to the Duo for a long, long time and get a chance to really dig into the meat of the library.

Thanks! Oh I'm keeping this thing forever.  I've been looking for one for a LONG LONG time since the mid 90's and I'm sure it will serve me well for quite a while.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: CD-R Back Up Tests]

Oh for sure, I agree 100%.  But it's nice to make back ups to abuse.  The original discs are extremely difficult to find and I consider myself quite lucky for having what games I have now.  I want to preserve them for as long as possible.    These games are only going to go up in value and I won't be able to afford the.  Replacing the lens is still MUCH cheaper then having to replace a game.

For example my friend has a Turbo Duo as well, I would only lend him a copy but never the original just out of shear paranoia...like I'm going through now with my Castlevania SOTN...luckily there's plenty of those around.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: CD-R Back Up Tests]

Yes it does with no problem what so ever. Like I said, it's depends on the brand of CD-R and the speed in which they are burned at.

The lense is flawless and if it ever does fail, I'll purchase a replacement.  Totally worth it for the gaming goodness I'm getting out of this classic system.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: CD-R Back Up Tests]

No big deal.  New lenses are a dime a dozen.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: CD-R Back Up Tests]

Actually that info is fantastic.  Thanks for posting it.  I bought two different packs of budget CD-Rs and found that they gave the same sort of performance although one was actually a little bit better and worked just a good as an original CD-R.

I then tried Memorex 80min Black discs and they too see to work quite well.  I ripped the games with CD-R win and burned the files with Nero at 2x on my Windows 98 based system on the old HP burner and they worked fantastic.

All and all it doesn't really much matter anymore.  I managed to aquire some great games from a some local sellers.

All in mint to near mint condition:

Gradius (HuCard)
Parodius (HuCard)
Gradius II
Dragon Slayer
4 in 1 (Gate of Thunder, Bonk's Adv, Bonk's Revenge, Bomberman)
Lords of Thunder
Ys I & II
Ys III
Dracula X

These will keep me busy for quite a while and I can try out further test with these games at my leisure.

[Buy/Sell/Trade / HuCard Converters]

For any of you new owners of a TG16 or Turbo Duo (like me) and want to play many of the killer Japanese HuCards on your North America system, go here and get a HuCard converter:

http://www.telegames.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=7922

It's not too bad price wise, I mean that's what they go for about on e-bay.  Shipping was ultra fast as well conisdering it came from the middle of England.  About a week or so.  I tried it out with my Gradius and Parodius Japanese HuCards and it works flawlessly.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: The plastic hucard case...]

I really don't have much intrest in HuCards unfortunetly so I can't say I'm into getting some manufactured...that sounds extermely pricey to me.  I think the best thing to do is maybe find an inexpensive alternative.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: CD-R Back Up Tests]

Very well.  I will try a few different drives and see what's up.

I've got several bids going a few key games on ebay I really want so it doesn't matter in the long run, but I'll keep experimenting.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: CD-R Back Up Tests]

CDRwin

Extract Mode - check "Disc Image/Cuesheet"
Click on the ... box by the file name and make the filename anyfilename.bin.
Raw read - check
Error Recovery - Ignore
Jitter Correction - Enable
Subcode - Auto
Data Speed 1X
Audio Speed 1X
Read Retry - anything under 100
Subcode Threshold - you can leave that at 300

I tried this method and it still failed.  It's rather strange, I never ever had a problem with CDR-Win on every other system I've backed up.

The only difference I noitced between our two methods is that at Jitter Correction you enable it and I have always ignored it.

I'm using an old HP burner as well...pretty wierd.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: CD-R Back Up Tests]

Awesome, I'll give that a try as soon as I get home from school tomorrow afternoon. 

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: How old is your Turbo/Duo?]

My TD was built in September 1992.  I was in grade 9 at that time...wow. 

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / CD-R Back Up Tests]

I just bought my first Turbo Duo last week after finding a local seller close to me who put it up for sale on e-bay.  I got a pretty half decent deal on it and I got the box, manuals and about 40 CD-R games.  I put in Dracula X and it worked great up until the first level boss.  The system would not load the boss area and froze black on my TV screen.  I noticed that the disc stopped spinning and when I looked inside the laser was indeed as far to the right as possible and couldn't come back on it's own.  Upon realizing this, I knew it wasn't so much an electrical problem but a mechanical flaw.  I opened up my system and removed the plastic cover which sits over the lens.  I then forcefully moved the main drive gear (not the worm gear on the motor or the rack gear on the HOP-M3) with a small flat head screw driver.  With the power connected and my finger to push the button down to make the system think the door had been securely closed, the lens moved back on it's own.

I then added grease to all the gear teeth (worm, ring gears and rack) and cleaned the lens itself with rubbing alcohol and put everything back together MINUS the black plastic lens guide/cover.




When I restarted the game, it worked FLAWLESSLY...I was very impressed.  But to my disappointment, when I tried some other games the same thing would happen.

I have a few original Turbo CD games that I am going to try later tonight that I borrowed from a friend and see what gives.  I might have no choice but to buy original games which should be no problem because I have the money to do so...but I'm going to fool around a little more at trying to copy some games using the various kinds of CD-R and post my findings as I go along.

Alright so last night I gave it a go and I tried 3 different back up programs on two different computer systems with 4 different CD-Burners (two per system) with one brand of CD-R (Memorex CD-R 80min Discs).

The three programs I tried were: Roxio Easy Media Creator 8, Nero, and CDR-Win.

What I found was that with Nero and Roxio they did not let me burn at 1x.  The slowest they allow me to go is 2x. CDR-Win in the unlimited free trial mode only allows burning at 1x.

Roxio was being used on my 2005 model year notebook computer running Windows XP with an external USB Pioneer DVD recorder and the built in HP/Compaq CD-rom/burner.  I used the copy disc function and for whatever reason it would fail with about 45 seconds to go in the process.  I tried it again and it failed.  Each time the program would ask me to check for dirt or finger prints which was totally bogus so I gave up on it.  I then tried CDR-Win.

For some reason or another, CDR-Win doesn't operate on my notebook.  It seems not to recognize the CD Roms.

I then tried my old Windows 98 SE based desktop where I have successfully backed up tons of Playstation, Saturn, Sega CD and PC games and programs using CDR-Win.  When trying to back up either Gate of Thunder or Dragon Slayer the process would complete succesfully, but when I tried to boot them in the Turbo Duo the system it would declare read or disc error.

I then gave Nero a shot, using the Disc Copy function, (reading from a Sony drive and an HP drive to burn the back up) and it worked quite well.  The system (Turbo Duo) still gave the back ups a few more reads then it would have for the original game discs, but they still played quite well with music intact and no glitches.  Basically longer load times.  But they did not fire the laser mechanism all the way to the right like I have experienced with some games I received along with my purchased TD.

I have bought two more brands if CD-R to try some further tests this weekend when I have some time.  I'm also going to try some variations on the programs on both my computers and see if I find any improvements.

If anyone else has any ideas or a proven process please post it here I would really appreciate it.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Evil ISOs destroying your hardware]

Thank you and will do.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Evil ISOs destroying your hardware]

two options:

1) Instant death: The ISO screwed up my laser and would probably have caused an explosion of the system and maybe some other calamities if I hadn't shut off the power.

2) More missing teeth: The ISO made the CD-Rom work a lot more harder reading the disk, thus some more teeth flew off the gear which is now the reason nothing boots up at all.

Its highly unlikely that CD-Rs have the ability to smash gears from 10mm away, and as I understand it most of the "extra work" that the drive has to do is far more likely to tax the laser's focusing mechanism than the gears since replacing the HOP3 seems to fix people's problems, and the HOP3 doesn't include any gears...does it?

No it does not.  That is why I decided to cancel my order from Electronix.com when I noticed that the HOP-M3 did not come with the gears as well.

I just bought my first Turbo Duo last week after finding a local seller close to me who put it up for sale on e-bay.  I got a pretty half decent deal on it and I got the box, manuals and about 40 CD-R games.  I put in Dracula X and it worked great up until the first level boss.  The system would not load the boss area and froze black on my TV screen.  I noticed that the disc stopped spinning and when I looked inside the laser was indeed as far to the right as possible and couldn't come back on it's own.  Upon realizing this, I knew it wasn't so much an electrical problem but a mechanical flaw.  I opened up my system and removed the plastic cover which sits over the lens.  I then forcefully moved the main drive gear (not the worm gear on the motor or the rack gear on the HOP-M3) with a small flat head screw driver.  With the power connected and my finger to push the button down to make the system think the door had been securely closed, the lens moved back on it's own.

I then added grease to all the gear teeth (worm, ring gears and rack) and cleaned the lens itself with rubbing alcohol and put everything back together MINUS the black plastic lens guide/cover.



When I restarted the game, it worked FLAWLESSLY...I was very impressed.  But to my disappointment, when I tried some other games the same thing would happen.

I have a few original Turbo CD games that I am going to try later tonight that I borrowed from a friend and see what gives.  I might have no choice but to buy original games which should be no problem because I have the money to do so...but I'm going to fool around a little more at trying to copy some games using the various kinds of CD-R and post my findings as I go along.