Messages

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: cdrom2 lasers keep dying]

Okay, the other board exhibits the same behaviour. So, maybe it is the laser. Am I really that unlucky? 

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Turbo CD question]

If the gear is starting to cause problems it'd be better to replace it regardless, it seems the plastic is chemically unstable and will turn to cheese eventually. I got a replacement set of Chop.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: cdrom2 lasers keep dying]

Ill assume your gears are working good?

Yup, new replacements from Chop5

if you push the laser sled to the edge does it return to center when you hit play?

Nope. Nothing.

Going to swap the main-board from a smashed up cdrom2 unit into this one to see what happens. I think that board is ok.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: cdrom2 lasers keep dying]

with the lid up does the laser turn off (had a bad chip that wouldnt)

Nope, this has never happened.

OOOOOOOOOOkay, put the new laser in and nothing happens at all. It's dead. Only get the led display and that's it, laser doesn't light, or move. I've been checking it and removing it and re-installing it over and over again. So I'm guessing I should give up on it now.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: cdrom2 lasers keep dying]

Ok, tried your suggestion Steve, but no luck, also tried re-installing a laser i previously thought was dead, just in case, also dead. I'll try the other new laser from BlueBMW tomorrow,but i'm wary of the same thing happening.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: cdrom2 lasers keep dying]

Thanks BlueBMW, hopefully I shall not need any more but, I guess I probably will . I Think it is unlikely that the one you sent me would die in exactly the same way as the others if there wasn't a reason for it.

Here's what the pots are set at at the moment. I spent ages adjusting them so the tracks wouldn't skip. Does anything look too extreme? If anyone has a KS-225A in there cd rom 2 and could take a picture of their settings that'd be excellent.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / cdrom2 lasers keep dying]

So, i'm on my third laser in my cdrom 2 (white Japan model) in as many weeks. The first 2 where old units salvaged from a walkman and another cdrom2 unit, so I figured it was, perhaps, just thier time to go. However, after getting a brand new laser from BlueBMW (delivered very quickly might I add), this to has died. This leads me to think that the cdrom2 itself might have a fault that is killing the lasers or the pots are so out of whack that the laser's over-volting or something similar.

The scenario so far has been; once the new laser is installed it works OK, but, audio tracks cut out after a few seconds. I've adjusted the pot slightly and the problem will be temporarily resolved, then the laser dies.

I only have one laser from BlueBMW left now, so if anyone's got any suggestions I'd be very appreciative.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Did i just kill my PCE?]

Bingo, took me some time to find it, hidden under that heat-sink. Thanks!

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Did i just kill my PCE?]

OK, so I've got/had a white JP PC engine that I'd rgb modded following mmmonkey's guide. It was working fine but the colors were really dark on CRT, so I decided to add the three transistor mod to the scart cable. As i plugged the cable into my set, without the PC engine on, incredibly loud buzzzing sounds happened. Didn't venture any further than this as I figured I'd done something wrong and couldn't figure out what so i just put the cable back as it was and when to play on the castlevania translation. But nothing happened. no white screen no buzz no game no nothing. I disconnected the scart completely and tried connecting it to the set via the IFU video out, still nothing. Pressing run did not cause the disc to spin. pressing play on the CD drive plays the hidden message thingy fine through the TV speakers.

How fucked am I?

Should I even bother?

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Most common cause of no ADPCM on the Duo?]

use a logic probe to check it for data, clock, power ect.
best bet is still a bad trace/via

Double checked and I didn't see any bad traces or vias. Luckily I found a logic probe so I can check out the chip in further detail. What pins should I test for and what should their states be?

http://www.jammarcade.net/oki-m5205-datasheet/

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Duo system, CD drive only works when top cover is off]

Good to hear! Just wondering if maybe the solder joints on those wires might've come a bit loose also?

[Off-Topic / Re: R-type Final model kit]

I'm prob'ly gonna buy this.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Duo system, CD drive only works when top cover is off]

that certainly is odd. I've never had this with a console before and have never been inside a duo.

Things i can think of are: earth, stuff from this era has tons of probably un-necessary earth points, maybe something presses against one with the top on? If the screws have been in and out loads might be some damage next to one allowing a track to come into contact with a screw when in it is in. ( is it when the top is screwed down or just placed on btw?) Something having warped slightly either the board or the case. ( disc still spinning ok?) Trapped wires? bad feng-shui?

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Briefcase system cd-rom woe]

Finally success!

I found this post in a forum which gave a hint as to what the potentiometers actually control: http://nfggames.com/forum2/index.php?topic=2890.0

I'll paste it here also:

POT       =   Function,                               Test Point
VR101   =   E/F balance,                       pin 13 of U101
VR102   =   Focus Offset,                      pin 18 of U101
VR103   =   Track Gain(Track error level), pin 45 of U102
VR104   =   Focus Gain,                         pin 48 of U102
VR105   =   VCO,                                  pin 30 of U102

Not sure exactly what all these mean to be honest, but it was enough to help me decide which pots to adjust and which to leave be.

I adjusted VR103 slightly until I got consistently good skip-free playback. I think VR103 controls how sensitive the laser is to end of track markers, and my system was previously too sensitive.

Now all I need to do is get some descent cd-rom games!

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Briefcase system cd-rom woe]

It is is skipping then potentiometer adjustments might be in order.

I fiddled around with them a bit and made it much worse! I really don't know what i'm doing with them so i put them back as they were.

You did remove the solder blob on the new laser ribbon cable yes?

Wasn't one on there, these are salvaged lasers rather than new ones.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: TG-16 CD - Does Not Spin]

The console is probably repairable so i'd keep it and see if you can get a partial refund for the reasons you mentioned from the seller.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Briefcase system cd-rom woe]

Well, I just double checked the ribbon cables and I was mistaken before. The lager ribbon cable gets inserted with the contacts facing out away from the system. The smaller cable however goes in with the contacts facing inwards towards the system. Turn the smaller ribbon cable back around. As far as not having any sound goes I bet some of the capacitors have gone bad.

Yeah, seems that having that smaller ribbon cable the wrong way round is pretty fatal to the laser unit. 

Luckily my spare works! It now loads and plays cd-rom games! I didn't know that all the sound is output thru the adapter unit so i probably was getting sound before and didn't know it. ( if only i had...)

The only problem left now is the audio tracks skip like crazy, not sure what to adjust to fix that though, the disc is spotless. 

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Briefcase system cd-rom woe]

Well, you in luck.  BlueBMW has got a ton of them bitches in!!

True that!  About 80 of them to be exact... shoot me a PM if you need one Snow Crash

Cool, might need to do that, but before i do i need to figure out why this one blew. I've got an untested laser from a properly dead cd-rom unit that i might try first.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Briefcase system cd-rom woe]

Pretty sure now, seems like the laser's fried. Bollocks.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Briefcase system cd-rom woe]

Sometimes it can be difficult to get the larger cable for the lens pushed in all the way. You have to get the right angle on it so you can push it in without bending it in the process. Both sets of ribbon cables should be installed with the contacts facing outwards away from the CD drive.

Okay, i tried this and it worked! the large ribbon wasn't all the way in! But there was no sound. So then i checked the smaller ribbon and it was the wrong way round, but now nothing happens at all other than the red led display, the lens doesn't light or move.

Why does it toy with me like this!

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Briefcase system cd-rom woe]

Check to see if the lens is actually working. Open up the CD lid and hit the play button while using a screw driver to hold in the CD lid switch to make it think the lid is closed. Take a quick look at the lens to see if there is a red light. Don't look too long or you could damage your eyes. This would let you know if the lens is bad or not hooked up correctly.

I can't believe i hadn't done this. Nope, it's not lighting, which is odd because i tested it before install.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Briefcase system cd-rom woe]

Maybe the caps maybe the motor?

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Offering my services for Turbo/PCE repairs/mods]

HI, just wondering where the people offering repair services are located. Anyone outside of USA?

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Briefcase system cd-rom woe]

Hello again, it's been a while since I've been here. A while ago I got a defunct CD-ROM unit to repair and put in my pc-engine briefcase set up. After finding the gear had turned to something with the consistency of damp Parmesan, I managed to get some metal gears of Chop (Who is awesome) this however didn't solve the problem although the laser now moved a bit and the the machine made sounds of life, the disc didn't spin up. Thinking (perhaps wrongly) it was the laser, I replaced that with one I could confirm working from a disc-man ( exact same make model as far as i can tell) still nothing.

When connected to the pc engine the display shows PC on the CD-ROM unit and the laser moves a bit, but no disc spin up. Might this also be the spindle motor, or something else? Should i try adjusting the pots? What do the pots actually control? Can I break stuff by turning them? I'm pretty determined to get this thing working again but I don't want to make things worse if i can help it.

Any ideas on my next step would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Turbo CD / PCE CDROM2 Broken Gear / Warmup Issue - Solutions in Development!]

Are any of these methods available yet?

Also could orthodontic elastic be used for the belt? These come in about the right size in varying degrees of elasticity.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Recommendations for a noob]

Got gunhed

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Recommendations for a noob]

As an update: I've decided to get a busted CD and fix it, I've also got r-type part 2 and side arms on the way. Might get gunhed also. Still looking for a cheap Soldier Blade.

[Off-Topic / Re: sega mega drive repairs]

Prob'ly a silly question; have you tried cleaning the contacts on both the console and the cartridges you are trying?

Other than that it could be a bad solder point in the console somewhere.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Recommendations for a noob]

Don't waste your time piecing together a CD setup. It's overall cheaper and more convenient in the long run to just get a Duo R/RX system. Depending on how patient you are, you can get one off of eBay for $100 - $200 and play 99% of the PCE library with it with less of a chance of encountering hardware problems and the most likely issue to possibly come up (lens replacement) is cheap and easy.

I agree, but I've already got a pc engine and adaptor so....

No you're still right, but I've gotten kind of attached to the lil white PC engine. Logically I should sell it and get an rx but...

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Recommendations for a noob]

Thanks for all the replies so far. There's not much at reasonable prices on eBay at the moment, but I think GunHed and soldier blade are getting towards the top of my list now.

Any guide prices for these? Everything's just buy it now for £50 at the moment on ebay at the moment.

Gonna fire up an emulator to demo some of these first I reckon, I dunno how much of a problem Japanese might be on some of the non shooters listed.

I've seen some busted cd rom units on ebay for $50-$60 ish would that be worth it? Seems a bit much for something not working, but I've yet to see a working one.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Recommendations for a noob]

Hello!

I've recently managed to get my original white PC Engine working again and now i need some games to play on it.

I like STG's, Zelda types, scrolling beat 'em ups and MetroidVania type games. I got the PCE with the intention of playing some fine old school STG's, but I don't really know much about the platform. Most 10 ten type lists i've found so far tend to focus a bit on the Turbo CD games for the system, but I'm limited to jap HU card.

Looking on eBay some seem to be going for fair amounts of cash so i'm wondering if there are any fairly common but awesome games in the above genres that people could recommend? If it's something not in that genre but it's awesome anyway I'll also be interested.

The only games I have for it so far are R-type 1, and Super Star Soldier.

Thanks in advance for you help

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: Raffle: Pc Engine games for free!]

Wow, OK, space harrier would be the one I'd want, if I were lucky enough to win.

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: Raffle: PCengine games]

So you're giving this away? Wow, very generous, this is a pretty friendly forum!

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: thinking about getting a "briefcase" model PC Engine...]

I'm trying to get this setup as well. In retrospect i should definitely have got it in one go. Buying it a bit at a time will probably result in something that would cost the same if not more than a reasonable priced briefcase setup.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Turbo Duo on a LCD TV]

I think the difference between LCD's boils down to what math they use to convert the image. Better math requires better hardware to run it and therefore costs more and may require liscence for the code. It's kind of like how you get HQx4 or other up-scale effects in an emulator. At the moment some manufactures see the up-scaling as an important feature and invest in it, some don't so much. As time goes on the hardware will become cheaper, but the interest in non HD will decrease. So stockpiling CRTs, if you've got the space, would be a good idea. Otherwise get a good stand alone up-scaler.

I've seen videos on YouTube where they use a scan-line generator in conjunction with the up-scaler, which goes a long way to re-creating the look of a CRT. But ultimately the best picture you get on an LCD is the best re-construction of a crt any way.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Turbo Duo on a LCD TV]

As necromancer said it's due to how the tv up-scales the picture to it's native resolution. Some are hugely different and it's fairly random which tv's have good ones as far as i can tell.

Once I've finished the RGB mod on my PC engine i plan on connecting it to a pc monitor via a sync stripper and the a Gonbes up-scaler. This setup should produce similar results to XRGB that BlueBMW mentioned, but be much much cheaper.

Is your duo rgb modded? You'd probably get better quality if it were. From what I've heard the pc engine/duo outputs a signal that isn't liked much by most modern equipment, so I'd think a dedicated up-scaler is the best route with this console.

I've tried the gonbes out with some other consoles and the result is pretty good on all of them. So it might be worth getting one of these if you have a lot of consoles you use one modern (LCD) equipment.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Online Supplier of video sockets]

I sent and e-mail to mmmonkey and he's given me this guy's ebay:http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Electronic-Bits-and-Bobs

socket: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180489901677&ssPageName=ADME:B:EOIBSA:GB:1123#ht_947wt_754
and plug: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MINI-Din-Plug-Connector-8-Pin-Pack-2-/180489838081?pt=UK_BOI_Electrical_Components_Supplies_ET&hash=item2a06085e01#ht_827wt_754

ordered these i'll post later how i get on. So between this and Kieth's post you should be able to get the components for an nice RGB mod as done here: http://www.mmmonkey.co.uk/console/pce/rgb.htm from either US or UK ebay stores.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Online Supplier of video sockets]

Thanks for the links! Unfortunately it looks like they only ship the socket to continental USA. Any ideas on a European distributor?

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Online Supplier of video sockets]

Anyone know where to get that online?

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Online Supplier of video sockets]

Yep, something like that is what i'm after.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Online Supplier of video sockets]

Hello,

I've decided to properly rgb mod my pc engine (original white). I want to use one of those round mini connectors, ideally the same as used by the Sega saturn so i can use my spare saturn rgb scart cable. However, i don't know what these connectors are, and I live in the out in the stix, so there are no local electronics stores.

Does anyone know of any good online suppliers? If someone could give me the name of the connector and it's accompanying plug that'd be great. Also if anyone know where to find a good selection of cheap electronics project boxes online that'd help also.

Cheers

Snow

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PCE old Pal mod reversal.]

Yeah,since you've been a good source of help, I've been looking on-line to see if they are about, but I mainly found forum posts by you asking for them!

and

http://uk.mouser.com/Search/ProductDetail.aspx?R=HC49US-21.47720MABJ-UBvirtualkey69500000virtualkey695-HC49US-214-U


 Although logically they should also be inside other electronics generating a video signal as well, finding out which ones might be tricky. Probably it would we worth buying some retro junk camcorders and the like to find one.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PCE old Pal mod reversal.]

update: put the components back in, looks ok, but the pce crashes after a couple of minutes playing?

Seems ok now, I'd accidentally shorted the capacitor, ended up using a ceramic one instead.

Now i must play R-type

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PCE old Pal mod reversal.]

I can't see any cut traces, i think the mod totally over rode that part of the board. Here's a pic of the board:



Does it look the same as yours ?

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PCE old Pal mod reversal.]

Thanks a lot, ordered some surface mount resistors from e-bay cheap enough, so hopefully all will be cool.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PCE old Pal mod reversal.]

Great news! Do you know what part numbers some of the resistors are? the only ones i can find look different but should be the same value.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PCE old Pal mod reversal.]

Thanks mamejay! That's exactly the info I was looking for! Luckily for me there was an override 17.734475 MHz crystal was on the daughter-board and the original crystal is intact in the pce itself.

Glad to hear your pce is working again. Were the resistors hard to find?

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PCE old Pal mod reversal.]

mamejay, do you think you could take a photo of the pce board and post it here? Might be able to see what components are on yours but removed on mine  and vice-versa

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Problem with AV Out PCEngine - strange daughter board]

Hello Mamejay, sounds like we have the same problem! Does this look the same? I think we've got some Hong-Kong converted PCE's

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PCE old Pal mod reversal.]

It looks like the original crystal is still installed on the pce board. There was another board attached to the rf modulator with a different oscillator so I think That should be fine. My big concern is the 3 surface mount resistors and capacitor that were removed when the mod was installed. I doubt the PCE will work with 4 components missing.