Messages

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Duo Repair Gone Bad, looking for suggestions]

I can definitely recommend thesteve, he got me up and running well after numerous issues. (distorted cd audio mainly) 

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Turbo Duo: top door and laser assembly parts sources?]

Good for you and I'm glad you're not giving up!  The duo will treat you well when it's fixed up, enjoy it!

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Color coded RCA panel mount jacks]

I've always had good service from www.console5.com

They have gold rca panel mount r,g,b jacks as well as many useful capacitor kits etc. 

[General Gaming / Re: Games you consider Underrated?]

I will stand by the fact that I LOVED Resident Evil 5. Played through it twice with a good friend and my brother, and aside from some definite interface issues/quirks I truly just had fun with it. It's not worth playing singleplayer, but team up with someone serious, put time in to playing the campaign together, divy up your weapon strengths so you can cover more ground (I went sniper while someone else put money into upgrading shotguns/explosives for instance) and it just works well. Yes it lost some of the survival horror aspects but it does retain the tension of very limited ammo/items when you consider it has to be adequately shared with another person.

Resident Evil 6 lost some of that for me when they made pickups duplicated for all players. It felt like there was less tension in the co-op experience and the second player was just tagging along. 5 just had a solid co-op experience, imo.

[General Gaming / Re: Is the Sega Saturn Worth it?]

Saturn is totally worth it! I had psx that generation and while I certainly didn't regret that decision, Saturn has some great Sega exclusives and 2d powerhouses.

Anyone into saturn should do themselves a huge favor and get the Action Replay 4M cart - defeats region protection, gives you action replay codes, the expanded memory for fighting games, and an alternative means of backing up saves (while you can't save to it directly, you can backup selected saves from the built-in saturn ram, not unlike some of the tennoko cards). I've heard it's bad for the cartridge slot, but I'd imagine that'd have to be from inserting it repeatedly. As far as I'm concerned it's the permanent cartridge for me.

I'd recommend Saturn Bomberman (up to 10 players on one screen) and Bulk Slash, a very fun arcadey mecha title also from our Hudson overlords!

Nights is a must play as well!

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Cyber Knight assets (tiles/text)]

When I've been working here and there on Momotarou Katsugeki the script worked much the same way - that control code to switch between hiragana and katakana, and a control code to put dakuten/handakuten on the previous character. What I ended up doing was similar - making a table for each - but there are tools that can make the extraction easier for you. I had good luck extracting snippets (ie, a hex range) with romjuice by putting that control code as my 'switch tables' identifier, hooking up my two tables and it spat out some nice txt dumps. Atlas can do this too (and probably the tool to use for complete dumps) but I found it a bit harder to use for simple tests, it seems intended for script dumps when you have a pointer system figured out. It was just my experience dumping a sentence or two with a table change mechanic worked well in romjuice.

This makes me want to resume my work as well - I'll be following this! For katsugeki I'm still cracking away at trying to figure out how to alter the tilemap for dialog boxes.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PC-Engine Duo-R - a few issues]

Glad to hear!

As far as the cd lens, that sounds like the calibration's still off...not that a new laser isn't a bad idea but it might not be necessary. Even with a new laser you'll want to calibrate it. There's a great set of pot adjustment tips by BlueBMW in the Laser Swap & Adjustment guide (https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?topic=8926.0) that should get you started. I'd recommend starting with a pressed music cd with a long run-time/number of tracks and make sure you can get all the audio tracks to play. Skipping between the 1st track on the cd and the last track can make it very apparent if things need more adjustment. (Long delays or problems starting a track, skipping etc.)

I'm very glad you're sticking with fixing it up, the pc-engine will bring you a lot of joy! The trouble is worth it in the end 

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: Selling Broken turbo express]

Welcome to the forums porchlite

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Best PC Engine sound effects and jingles for cell phone alerts and ringers]

My quick picks would be the 'next turn' howl from Nectaris/Military Madness and the 'stage start' jingle from Ninja Spirit

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PC Engine Duo - "Please Close Cover" after recap. EDIT: Duo saved!]

Sorry for the late response, been pretty busy lately.

Apparently I had just wired the switch pads in the wrong way. The next time I have my duo open I'll take a picture for you.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PC Engine help]

Just to rule something out did you try it with an rf switch from the console itself (no ifu?) An nes gray-box rf switch should work.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PC-Engine Duo-R - a few issues]

If you're considering sending it out for repair I can definitely recommend thesteve. Great work, efficient and well priced.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PC Engine Duo - "Please Close Cover" after recap. EDIT: save this duo!]

Well, I'll call that one duo saved: thesteve was able to fix all the problems I was having. From the missing audio, the cd door message/switch, the cd calibration, everything. Most excellent! 

Thanks thesteve! Very pleased!

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: Trade a TGCD for Duo?]

Welcome to the forums!

You could probably make out fairly well with a japanese setup - they tend to be much more common and more affordable than the US duos now. The cd's will play on any region console, with a region mod you'd have an ideal setup.

The original pc engine duo (and turbo duo) are prone now to having problems related to capacitors leaking. It often causes audio and cd problems if they weren't replaced. If you go for the regular duo make sure it's been refurbished or you keep in mind that if not now, you probably will need to send it to someone to get re-capped. I got a good deal on an original japanese duo but it needed capacitors replaced and some additional work.

A lot of people here recommend the duo-r and duo-rx consoles due to being far less prone to the cap problems.

Just my 2 cents, in terms of value I would recommend going for a japanese console - even with one needing a repair you'll likely be saving compared to hunting down a working US duo. 

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Re: PC Engine Duo - "Please Close Cover" after recap. EDIT: save this duo!]

Hi, i'm new on this board ( but not in PcE world, got my first duo in 1995), and my first post is about asking for help.

I got the same "please close cover" issue Burn_654 has; i followed the traces from the lid switch with a multimeter but couldn't figure out what the problem is.

So, theSteve, if you find a fix, i'd be glad to know how you did... 

Well, thesteve was able to fix that problem for me - apparently I had bypassed the switch incorrectly (doh!) I'm excited to get it back that's for sure!

It could just be that the switch itself is worn out - does the switch still close a circuit? (you mentioned that you had a multimeter). Check the legs on the switch itself pushing it open and closed and make sure that there's continuity when closed. The switch is out there if it needs replaced. (www.console5.com is one source)

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PC Engine Duo - "Please Close Cover" after recap. EDIT: save this duo!]

Thanks for the heads up! I talked to thesteve and he's going to look at it, shipped it out today. 

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PC Engine Duo - "Please Close Cover" after recap. EDIT: save this duo!]

I am getting nowhere fast with this thing. I removed the switch, hardwired the pads in different ways, no dice!

Is there anyone I could send it to that could look into this problem for me, and possibly re-do my recap if that is causing it? There are some damaged traces I had to route around

Basically the history is this: I recapped the system when I got it 2 years ago, and did the region switch mod. CD Games worked mostly okay after that, but I had ocassional skips on some tracks. Then this past year I rgb modded it successfully. I also decided to put in a new laser to alleviate the skipping. In doing the laser swap, opening things up I fear I knocked something loose or bridged something - cd audio was now super distorted, even swapping the old laser back.

So I bit the bullet and redid my *admittedly kind of shoddy* initial recap with a cap kit, took my time, and cleaning with rubbing alcohol. It looks relatively neat. But, I can't tell if cd audio is fixed now because of the lid switch error! For what it's worth, hucards work fine, hucard audio works fine on headphones but is missing the left channel over the av cord (it could be my cord?)

I'm tired of how much time I've spent inside this console getting it up to snuff...anyone available to look at it?
I love the duo but I'm close to shopping for another one, it's possessed.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PC Engine Duo - "Please Close Cover" after recap. EDIT: Duo saved!]

So I did a recap on my PC Engine Duo and now I'm getting the Please Close Cover message both while holding down the lid pin switch, and hardwiring the switch.

The switch previously did not work, so I jumpered it and it did work correctly. I put in a new switch from console5 and that had solved my issue. After recapping, this returns, even hardwiring the new switch to be on.

Any ideas? Did one of my cap changes affect this?  

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Memory Base 128 + Private Eye Doll = massive TenNoKoe Bank]

I'd like to see an AC adapter mod for this!

Though using rechargables in it is a slick idea - would it be able to hold the save data long enough with the batteries out to charge them? Or would you need a redundant set of batteries to toss in while you do that?

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Could a Duo be modded so as to have more internal save capacity?]

I would think that the big obstacle wouldn't be placing in a bigger ram chip, as much as altering the bios/system card to know that there's more ram.

What could be interesting (if that was the case)...being able to flip between a few memory "pages" with a physical button/switch that mapped to a larger chip. Or even an sd card. That'd be awesome.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Best things to do with flash card?]

Translated Photograph Boy/Gekisha Boy gets my vote, it's great! Sidescrolling Pokemon Snap with some great japanese humor

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: MOD GUIDE - Simple SuperNES Component (YPbPr) Video Mod [3/27/2013]]

I've done a variation of this mod on a BA6592F equipped snes...even built a standalone RGB to Component box using that chip. (there's a great thread on sega-16...on a Nintendo console, no less) But there are a few differences...I've used transistors (2n3904's in this case) on both Pb and Pr, but straight Y like you have. I'm actually toying with adding some resistance to Y on my tv set.

S-ENC marked chips already have some built-in amplification on Pb and Pr, I've read - they're an altered BA6592F. But BA6592F snes's are usable in a similar way (Pb and Pr will need transistor amps) so this is a great mod to talk about!

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: hmm, video troubles...]

There was a single laser pot on my Duo that I had to tweak to stop graphics corruption in Dracula X cinema, and the Gate of Thunder 4 in 1 'zoom' intro. I forget which one but it seemed relevant to data/error correction loading off the disc.

I could look in my Duo tonight and determine which one but I'm not sure it'd be relatable to a briefcase setup. But a look at the calibration would be my recommendation. My glitch more often than not looked like it was loading wrong/corrupt tiles.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Dead Duo... Which ICs does the Hucard port communicate with?]

Are you sure it's gone as far as the ic's?

During some troubleshooting with my region mod my Duo would turn on but with a white or other color screen. It turned out I needed to better insulate my switch (I just wrapped extra electrical tape) because it was shorting to ground against something.

Do you get any *blip* or solid color when you're turning it on?

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Retro Game Cave AC adapters]

That is really good to know.

I had the same comment, was glad to get a new working Duo power supply for (imo) a reasonable cost. I really wasn't able to find a matching one for cheaper, and I'm really glad he's making these for some of the more obscure systems/setups. My only complaint is that the cable is a little short.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Non-working PC Engine Duo]

Akaviolence's videos on this are quite good (https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?topic=13269.0)
His clip method of removing the surface mount caps works pretty well, way better than heating/pulling them considering you 99% likely won't be saving the caps anyway.

If you want to do it yourself I'd recommend starting with some basic operations on something broken/expendable you have, anything with a circuitboard. Get comfortable with removing small things and resoldering them back in, swap some parts around in a no pressure environment just to get the hang of it. Soldering isn't all extremely difficult, it takes patience and steady hands though

Otherwise there are plenty of cool folks here who could do a cap replacement for you, you're in good hands around here!

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Non-working PC Engine Duo]

That's exactly how my duo reacted after I initially performed the region mod, there was a small short between cartridge pins that caused similar behavior (including lack of access to the cd menu), didn't take long to fix.

Are there any signs of modification to the cartridge slot? I'd lift the two screws on the slot shield and take a look. It very well could just use a thorough cleaning.

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: FS/FT: Turbo CD Lot and Accessories]

Just wanted to say my items arrived in great shape, once again a pleasant experience. Thanks! 

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Xak I+II such stupid games! Iam really angry...]

Okay.

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: WTB: Turbo Duo]

Yeah on the whole you'll probably save a good chunk of change getting a JP model with a hucard region switch. Turboduo's command kind of a premium.

Myself I went for a listed as 'broken' PC-Engine Duo...I asked the seller and he said cards worked fine but cd's did not. I recapped it and calibrated the pots and it's been working great!   

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Trying to find speakers for a Pc-kd863g Pc Engine]

Some pics inside would be wonderful - I'm sure the community would love to see NEC's solution to amped RGB. I'm not sure how well I could analyze it myself but definitely, get some decent circuit board pics and I'm sure people here can analyze what's going on.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Best RGB mod for PC-Engine Duo? (non-R)]

The playing nicely with a component encoder is an important aspect for me - my proposed setup project in the making is a diy transcoder using the BA6592F encoder (recently discovered in some early SNES models, interesting chip) to turn RGB into YUV. That'll then go to a 36' Trinitron crt with component. The end results should be nothing short of fantastic if done right.

The 'old' amp you posted looks like what I expected of the 'easy transistor' mod with some more components, is this a fair assumption? Anyone have comments on this one?

I'm interested in the PC-KD863G setup as well, there's a new owner of one in the PC Engine discussion that may be able to get some pictures for us.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Best RGB mod for PC-Engine Duo? (non-R)]

I've seen a lot of mods in these threads but I'm curious - which RGB mod would people recommend overall for the Duo?

Is there one that would go recommended in terms of video quality, color balance, ease of install, relative safety of the circuit (I hear of the simple transistor mod but there's rumors that it could cause problems down the line...any truth to that?)

I'm fairly capable to do most of the mods. So far I've done  a pretty hefty recap and the region switch mod. I'm just wondering nowadays, which RGB mod should I consider?

Thanks!

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Megaman PCE thread]

Bonknuts, it's great to see your incredible work on these ports continuing! I'm in awe. 

I wonder...there's tons of very capable Megaman hacking utilities out there...would it be possible to patch the internal nes binary with one of the hacks? I know you had to reorient a fair amount of things in the nes binary, is that correct? Or is the nes code fairly untouched?

I just think the possibilities to port over the better Megaman hacks to pce (not to mention the ability to create new ones) with remixed music and/or graphics has TONS of potential.

As well I just want to say it's great to see you back in the scene a bit. Your pce hacking efforts and documents are just incredible!

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Trying to find speakers for a Pc-kd863g Pc Engine]

That's really cool that it was set up stock with rgb. I wonder what method of amping it/harnessing it they used?

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Soldering iron/station]

Excuse my ignorance, but what all would a more 'pro' solder station like the hakko get me compared to your typical iron? Just curious, I've just been using a radioshack 2-temp switchable iron and a helping hands for years without much issue aside from having to get a new tip once in a while. I can understand a more advanced heat control, but is that the main difference?  Is the build quality that big of an issue? 

I'd just like to know more about the motivation to invest in such irons etc.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Duo full cap job - from fail to 'no way....' and finally hooray!]

Yeah, I had many nights of headscratching over a stuck duo until I found a bit of damaged trace. It's easy to overlook.

That's an interesting diagram Drakon...I was looking into some snes repro'ing, may just have to file this for future troubleshooting

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: Raffle: Cadash!]

Sign me up for this one, had fun emulating this (co-op is nice!) so I'd love to have a real copy!

Props for a cool raffle!

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Low cost Flash Hucard]

Glad to see an update of the software! This card has been great, run everything I've thrown at it!

People need to get on more hucard translations (myself included ), this is a great way to play them.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Composite sync stripper for the schematic illiterate]

Thanks, this is going to be pretty helpful for me in my rgb quest! 

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Does anybody have Ninja Gaiden for the PCE?]

Anyone wanting to sell me a player's copy? I absolutely love the NES/FC version. I'm still looking for one.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: English-Friendly EXCLUSIVE PC Engine Games]

Bomberman '94! Arguably one of the best in the series imo! (unless you have the means to play Saturn Bomberman )

Momotarou Katsugeki is a fun little platformer with some rpg elements. Gameplay is easy to pick up, items/story are in japanese. It would be best served with a faq. I'm working on hacking it actually
I need some help with editing the vram writes/reads...

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: SIDEARMS QUICK RAFFLE!]

I'm in! I tried this on an emulator a long time ago and it was pretty fun, would love to have a real copy to play on my duo!

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Legend of Xanadu II Translation Patch announced!]

Likewise - I would definitely try out for a dub. I missed the boat for the Ys IV dub due to some life changes (moving etc.) but would love to get in on such a project.

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: RAFFLE! loose Final Lap Twin... Winner chosen!]

Congrats! 

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: RAFFLE! loose Final Lap Twin]

Sign me up please, heard good things about this one! Would love to play 

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Low cost Flash Hucard]

I was able to build up a small amount of flash HuCards over the weekend, so I have put the checkout basket back on my web page.
 
http://www.gamingenterprisesinc.com/Flash_HuCard/

I suggest people get in on this bandwagon, these cards are awesome! Definitely worth the money.

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: The Help ApolloBoy Get Some Everdrives Sale]

pm sent. 

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: WTB: Neutopia and Neutopia II]

What's a fair going price for Neutopia II?

I picked up a Neutopia I w/case (no manual) for about $20 locally which wasn't bad. But these games do fetch a bit of money.

Like many sought after Turbo games patience is going to be key.

[Buy/Sell/Trade / WTB: PC Engine controller or TG16-Duo adapter]

Hi, I'm looking for an affordable PC Engine controller (small din) or a tg16 to pc engine cable adapter for my duo.
Not picky about the make or model - original pad, duo pad, 6 button, coregrafx etc. As long as I can plug it into a Duo. Would consider a joystick for a reasonable price.

It could even be a little junky looking if it still works. I'm just looking for a pad for occasional multiplayer.

Anyone have any spares they'd be willing to sell? Looking to let some more people in on Dungeon Explorer