Messages

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: WTB: Broken PCE/TC-CD, Duo, TG, PCE etc (or: WTfix/trade? Also, desoldering gun)]

Heh.  I'm fairly experienced with soldering - just not desoldering, or working with too much SMD stuff.  (I've built SMD kits, and it was "fun" in the Dwarf Fortress way, though I did succeed).

Desoldering, though... that's a different story, and I've lifted traces in the past.  Reaaaally hoping to get some better tools for that process.

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: Turbo Crap For sale.]

Tricky Kick is actually a pretty sweet puzzle game.  Just sayin.'

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: WTB: Broken PCE/TC-CD, Duo, TG, PCE etc (or: WTfix/trade? Also, desoldering gun)]

Clackattack - I've definitely got the impression that braid works well for certain stuff, but folks seem pretty exited about the 'proper' (or semi-proper) desoldering pumps ala the Hakko stuff.  (The bulb ones... I'm not too into, heh).  I'm curious how people have done with braid on the TurboGrafx thru-hole stuff.  And the Turbotap thing would be great, but no pressure and no rush!

DrOrangejuicer - that's actually a really interesting point; I rarely think about those systems; I'm going to go look in that direction, too!

[Buy/Sell/Trade / WTB: Broken PCE/TC-CD, Duo, TG, PCE etc (or: WTfix/trade? Also, desoldering gun)]

Hey folks - I have no idea what the fair / market / whatever price is on broken / "junk" (in the eBay parlance) TG/PCE stuff, but I'm working on my electronics skills and am totally excited to get some stuff fixed / working / etc.

For what it's worth, I'm pretty good at re-capping stuff already (having fixed several switching power supplies, etc), but am not quite there yet.  Taking some EE courses, finally, so I can put my existing skills into greater context.

So, I'm hoping to find some broken TG/PCE stuff to fix.  Is it for resale?  Well, if I'm any good at that, maybe I'd do that eventually, but if I ended up fixing something I got through this forum, that's definitely where I'd end up reselling.  But, resale isn't what I'm most interested.  Right now, I'm interested in learning, and also, maybe finding a "guinea pig" - send me a broken unit, and I'll work on it, with NO GUARANTEES that I'll be successful, and you'll get a discount/we can trade/whatever.  I'm also pretty confident I can do modchip installations; as a test I rewired on of my TG-16 units to the PCE pin order, without cutting any leads from the HuCard socket.  Works great!  (And once I end up either with a proper "obey" PCB/chip, or set up my own w/whatever multiplexer/demultiplexer, etc, it'll be "chipped!")

I know there are plenty of other folks here with the skills already; I've just finally decided it's time to take my own skills to the next level, and I'm confident in being able to handle the basics.  I'm handy with a multimeter, and I'm slowly becoming handy with an oscilloscope as well; just missign some practical and theoretical electronics knowledge.  I know how a transistor works, what a capacitor is for, and in a general sense what inductors are, but I couldn't design an LC circuit, oscillator, etc to save my life.

So, ramblerambleramble, let me fix your stuff!  If you're willing to take the risk of being a guinea pig, I'll give it a shot!  Or, if you just want to sell some of your broken stuff, be it controllers, CD units / docks, or TG, PCE systems?  I'm game.

And I'm serious about not wanting to step on any toes here; there are obviously a lot of really talented folks who have put a lot of time, energy, and money into being good at what they do.  Go to them first!

(Oh, and if anyone has a desoldering gun / de-soldering iron they want to sell, I'd be pretty exciting - rubber bulbs suck, but I'm not sure I can reasoanbly afford a Hakko 808, FR-300, or the like.  If you're upgrading to a newer desoldering setup and have an older one you'd want to sell, I'm definitely interested!)

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: Raffle: Blazing Lazers]

Let me rephrase - the music is OK, it just seems rendered poorly - like, even out of tune, almost?  I dunno, it may just be taste.  (And I like - and write - some WEIRD music).

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: Raffle: Blazing Lazers]

I def. own this, so I'm not entering.  I'm just going to say - this game is great, so far as I've gotten through it!  I don't like the level 1 music, though, and haven't progressed past it (don't laugh).  Does it improve?

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: WTB: Terraforming (USA)]

Terraforming is one of the games that got stolen out of my car like 12 years ago, along with bonk 3, bomberman 93, gate of thunder, a duo, and i think shadow of the beast and maybe Ys I+II.

 :cry:memories :

[General Gaming / Re: Niche PS2 & Xbox (Original) Stuff: Any Maine residents? (Softmod offer!)]

They are "driving in trenches" because the snow is so deep in their neighborhood.

Trenches are good.  Trenches mean that when your car loses control, you hit a snowbank rather than going into a ditch.

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: (TRADE) Wanted: Gate of Thunder, Splash Lake, TG16 Contollers, OBEY Chip, Duo?]

Wait, you have a Valis III and Sidearms on the bay? Why not post them here first, instead of people who are going to buy them and gouge the heck out of them..

Honestly, because the thought of posting them here didn't even occur to me until after I'd listed them.  As they're my first two eBay listings, I'm trying to be careful & diligent, I figure pulling them might be a bad idea.  (The first under my account,. anyway.  Back in the early 2000s I ran a ton of eBay listings for a business, but that doesn't count re: their ranking).  I'll probably aim for here first, rather than there, going forward.  (Still debating putting Chronotrigger for the SNES there, though, unless someone here wants to make me a nice offer.  It's just priced so nicely there, for a seller).

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: RAAAAAAAAAAAAFLE: Sidearms box only]

I think  you're a little short on the post count there, Overand. Pretty sure Winnie didn't live in the 13-acre wood. 

Indeed - but I'm sort of a nut once I start getting active on a forum; wholly possible that I'll be past Tigger's stomping ground when the raffle goes, and not through intentional inflation either.  I figure, at this point I've been lurking long enough - I just recently landed on some posts I made in 2005.

(Yes of course this has nothing to do with me skimming the rules and missing a detail, nope, nothing at all.)

Addendum: What do you suppose the Chicago Manual of Style says about smileys/emoji - do they go inside or outside of the parentheses?

[General Gaming / Re: Niche PS2 & Xbox (Original) Stuff: Any Maine residents? (Softmod offer!)]

So many snow storms. SO MANY.  Original post updated; I'll help you softmod your Xbox original, too!

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: RAAAAAAAAAAAAFLE: Sidearms box only]

Sidearms is underrated, I really like it.  (I wish the TG16 one had the animation 'frame rate' (detail) of the Arcade one - the first enemies rotating are GORGEOUS on arcade).  This box would align nicely with my Sidearms CIC!

Anyway, check out the much-worse-music and smoother enemy animation on the arcade version:

[Buy/Sell/Trade / (TRADE) Wanted: Gate of Thunder, Splash Lake, TG16 Contollers, OBEY Chip, Duo?]

• Location: Northeast US
• eBay name: Overand
• References: None here, can point elsewhere, provide video, phone, etc
• Cats: 2 Male, 1 Female, All Crazy

Hey folks - I'm looking for Gate of Thunder & Splash Lake (I'm not sure if I care about the region), plus some US TG16 controllers and an OBEY chip or similar region "mod" chip.  (I'm not feeling up to doing SMD on protoboard just yet, and I'm having a heck of a time finding the chips I want in a DIP package).  I've got a few things available for trade, let's figure something out.  US unless otherwise mentioned.  I could possibly be convinced to give or receive money, and you could potentially convince me to receive other games in trade - or systems.  (Duo-R / RX perhaps.  I'm handy with a soldering iron and not afraid to recap something, so if someone has a broken US Duo with a working optical system, I might be into that too.  Advice accepted on likely Duo issues beyond bad caps).

• Valis II (Case, Manual)
• Blazing Lazers (Case, Manual)
• Cadash (Case, Manual)
• R-Type (Case, Manual)
• Legendary Axe II (Card Only)
• Galaga 90 (Card Only)
• Galaga 88 (JP, Card Only)
• Bonk's Adventure (Card, Case, Manual, no sleeve)

Also, a few heathen thingies, if those are allowed!

• SNES: Chronotrigger (Game Only)
• Sega CD: Afterburner III (New in sealed but squished box)
• Dreamcast: Virtual On (Case, Manual)
• 3DO: Soccer Kid (Case, Manual)

If you were super, super convincing, you could probably get me to pull my Valis III or Sidearms eBay auctions... and if you're a hypnotist, you could maaaybe convince me to part with my Bomberman 93 US, JP, or Air Zonk US cards - but that'd be hard.

Some of the stuff I've listed, I've assembled a Youtube video of me demoing (in prep for sales), but I won't link unless requested because it's embarrassingly bad, both in video quality and play skill.

EDIT To clarify, this doesn't have to be an all-in-one thing - I don't expect to get all of that stuff from one person.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Divingboard / Arcade Card / glitch question]

Yeah, it's a Pro.  And it's not the divingboard.  (It *could* still be an issue with my Pro card, bad memory or such).

But given my recent other experiences, I'm beginning to suspect haunted CD-R media and two or three haunted burners.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Divingboard / Arcade Card / glitch question]

In case anyone's curious, I region-modded (halfway, that is, no switcher yet) my "spare" TG16, and tested out some Japanese HuCards with it; works great.  Popped the Arcade Card in, loaded said CD, and got the exact same behavior as I did with the US-stock TG16 w/diving board & arcade card.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Divingboard / Arcade Card / glitch question]

There are two reasons the converters are expensive.

• The slot component is hard to find - out of production, by most accounts
• Because people will pay that much. (Capitalism!)

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Pc engine duo - drive spindle always spins]

Get some good solid pictures of that part of the PCB.  It could be flexing a different part of the board.

(I only know electronics in general, as an amateur, and NOT Duo repair specifically, nor am I an EE - ignore all of my advice if another user contradicts it!)

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Divingboard / Arcade Card / glitch question]

For me, the big question remains:

If you use the Arcade Card Pro in a TG-16 with the Divingboard adapter specifically, will it play Super CDROM2 games?

My divingboard works great for my Japanese HuCard games, and the arcade card *boots* (and will play standard CD games), but I've been unable to get a Duo / Super CDROM2 game to work, (but only have been able to test it with CD-Rs so far).

My understanding is that you can't use the diving board with Arcade Card games, because it doesn't allow access to the RAM on the card.  That's why I'm guessing it won't work for Super CDROM2 games either.  (I'm very, very tempted to take a PCB pen to this thing and get the remaining pin connections out to an accessible spot!)

• Works fine with official TG-CD games, with CD-ROM System Card, or with Arcade Card Pro w/Diving Board
• Works "iffy" with burned TG-CD games
• Glitches during startup of Super CDROM2 Games

[General Gaming / Re: Niche PS2 Stuff: Any Maine residents? (Softmod offer!)]

Maine always reminds me of Stephen King.

What, not lobster too? 

Also, yes... it's snowing today.     This is what it looked like a few days ago!



That being said, the photo's kinda dishonest.  One of the other cars literally had a circle of no-snow around it.  VERY strange drifts, but the total snowfall was around a foot and a half.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Divingboard / Arcade Card / glitch question]

My TGCD will not play backups of most SCD's and ACD's.

That is super, super odd.  So it plays original SCDs fine, but not backups of SCDs?  I wonder what the reason for all of that could be!  Is that a common thing - people not being able to play backup SCD games on their TG16/CDROM2 setup, but being able to play the originals fine?

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Where'd you buy your TG?]

I bought one of them at a yard sale or flea market in the early or mid 90s.  I used to ride around in the back of the car with it, with the Turbo Stick velcro'd to the top, with a portable, battery-op B&W TV.  Portable 3 player Bomberman '93 was the business.

Another one I have, I bought on eBay around 2005, as part of a TGCD set, with some games.  (It was probably the worst packaged eBay purchase I've ever made; I'm amazed it's still all in working order, more or less).

I also had a Duo in between, which got stolen along with a pile of my games and other retro consoles, back in '01 or '02.  I'm actually completely uncertain how I got that - maybe Turbozone Direct?

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Divingboard / Arcade Card / glitch question]

Ys Books I and II - (actual original CD) works perfectly fine, audio and otherwise.  Load times generally seem pretty good too.

I'm going to put up a video of the glitchy behavior.

I *am* curious to know if anyone else has used a divingboard adapter on a CDROM2 system w/Arcade Card to play Super CD games!

[General Gaming / Niche PS2 & Xbox (Original) Stuff: Any Maine residents? (Softmod offer!)]

Updated! I'll now do original Xbox soft-mods for folks who are interested!  Obviously I only support this & the PS2 softmods to let you extend your system's functionality; both of them make pretty decent media centers, and of course homebrew development is fun.  The softmods do allow game backups & modifications, if that's your thing.  (It's nice on the Xbox and PS2-Fat with internal HD, as you can image your game right to the internal drive and not have to deal with the optical media seek & load times!)

Alright - if any of you folks live in Maine (the US state) and want to hang out with a TG-16 nut, I'm game.

But, if any of you have PS2 systems that aren't modded, I'll 'softmod' your PS2 for you - all you have to do is bring me your memory card!  Google "FreeMcBoot" to see what it's all about.

Why Maine only?  Well, for one thing, I'm curious if there are any other Maine residents here, and because the whole process is kinda interesting to discuss!

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Divingboard / Arcade Card / glitch question]

So this is a multi-part "let's get to the bottom of this" thing.

To start - I have a US NTSC TG-16, plus TG-CD.  In general, everything works.  The CD drive is touchy, and I have to poke it sometime to start (new gear needed I suspect - different thread I suppose), but when I pop in the system card and Ys or Valis, everything works.

I also have a "Diving board" style adapter - long, yellowish-green.  It works great with my Hu-cards, but here's where it gets funny.

I've burned several backup copies of some of my Super CD / Duo games - and have used my Arcade Card Pro with the diving board adapter to try to start them.

The results are... inconsistent.  Now, before I go into the Super CD game part, I'll mention that my burned backup copy of Splash Lake loads, and more-or-less works.  (The music dies a second after the first boss - odd).  It also works regardless of if I use the TG-CD card or the divingboard adapter & Arcade Card.  It does seem that the system's not thrilled about that CD, though.

Now, trying to use the backup copies of my Super CD games is a different story.  4-in-1 starts up, and during the 'Peeewwwww' falling-down-screen start, there's a brief graphical glitch.  After that, I've variously had Bonk talk and gotten the menu w/minor glitches,  had bonk load and the menu be a huge mess, or get stuck with a spotlight and no bonk.

The Bonk 3 burned backup CD also behaves oddly - first time I tried it, I got intro music, but no game; just a black screen.  The second time, not even that.  (I've only tried twice).

So, here are my thoughts.

The CDs are 650 MB golds, Kodak media (Maxell branded, but they wereburned at 8x, the lowest I can go so far.
The "diving board" adapter doesn't have all pins connected, and from what I've read, some adapters don't work with "Arcade Card" games, due to the system not being able to use the RAM on the card.

I do *not* know if the diving board works iwth SUPER CD games, though.  I'm fairly good with electronics, so I can certainly describe the pin paths on the diving board, relative to the pinout guides out there.

Also, I have no idea if the Arcade Card Pro itself works properly!  I'm not sure if I've ever used it with a Duo game successfully, but I do seem to recall having done so a number of years ago, which makes me wonder about the whole RAM/pins thing  But, my memory is NOT the best.

Unfortunately, what I don't have is a single real Super CD game to test with.

So, what are some thoughts / suggestions?  Should the Arcade Card work with a Diving Board adapter on Super CD games?  Do the issues described sound like they could just be a fiddly CD drive plus media that's not-quite-right?

Unfortunately, all of my original Super CDs are lost, stolen, or destroyed - it's absurd.  (Had my Duo, a large collection of Duo & TG16 games inc Ys, Shadow of the Beast, Bonk 3, Bomberman '93, 4-in-1, etc, plus SNES, 3DO w/games and several other things along with a car stereo stolen a number of years ago.  Sigh).

Of course, if any of you live in Maine in the US, I'd love to try out each other's equipment, mixed!  (I'll even stick the FreeMcBoot bootloader / "softmod" onto your PS2 memory card, if that's your sorta thing).