New Homemade PCe to TurboGrafx-16 Converter

[db-electronics]

Hey guys, just wanted to show you all my creation:

wayback://db-elec.com/home/pc-engine-to-turbografx16-converter

https://www.amazon.com/Turbo-PC-Henshin-Mod-Less-Region-Converter/dp/B07CVLJ42Z/

[HailingTheThings]

I'm sure there will be some folks that'd be interested here.

[tknjin]

Wow, that is some great work you did there 

I have been curious as to see if there converters that could do something like this, but I do have one question though.  Does work on PC engines?

Thank You

[Bernie]

This is pretty cool.  Will you be offering these for sale anywhere but eBay?

[db-electronics]

Does work on PC engines?

No, PC Engine games do a region check in software, my converter cannot patch that.

[db-electronics]

This is pretty cool.  Will you be offering these for sale anywhere but eBay?

Yes, when I find the time to do so I would like to setup a simple store front on my website. I guess someone could always request a purchase through email and I'd send invoicing through Paypal if someone was looking to avoid eBay...

Right now, eBay is giving me alot of exposure (at the expense of their OUTRAGEOUS final price fees!) so it's not all bad.

[Bernie]

Yeah, I actually seen them on eBay before I saw your post.  I thought it was pretty damn nifty.  This will benefit a lot of people that don't want to mod their systems.

[esteban]

The diving board lives!

Very nice-looking product. 

[PunkCryborg]

Does work on PC engines?

No, PC Engine games do a region check in software, my converter cannot patch that.

I do not believe this is true, most converters and switches work on PC Engines but you have to ground a pin on one of the chips inside the system. Your converter might work, just try to find info on which pin and give it a test!

[Tatsujin]

I was curious of why do you use additional IC chips on your converter, when there is only the need of reroute few data lines?

[db-electronics]

Good question!

This project is part of a global domination scheme! Haha no!

Actually, this project is part of a larger group of projects which I am working on for the TG-16. I needed to test whether or not adding a propagational delay on the databus had adverse affect - old ROM chips are pretty slow and I was worried that more delay might be bad. These chips cost pennies, are fun to solder, and once I created the PCB I didn't bother to make a new one without the ICs because I am always short on time!

Also, to prove a simple point that I can make a product with 2 PCBs, a custom connector, take the time to solder it by hand, include 3 ICs, and not charge an arm and a leg...

[db-electronics]

Does work on PC engines?

No, PC Engine games do a region check in software, my converter cannot patch that.

I do not believe this is true, most converters and switches work on PC Engines but you have to ground a pin on one of the chips inside the system. Your converter might work, just try to find info on which pin and give it a test!

Sorry it's the other way around, my mistake, TG-16 games do a software read of the pin you speak of and detect whether or not they are running on a US or JAP console.

[Bernie]

Just bought one of these. 

[Bernie]

Bump for a question..  Has anyone used this converter, with an Arcade Card Pro?  I am trying to use it on my TG-16/CD setup, and it boots the PC Engine 3.0 screen, but will not load the Arcade games.  I get the screen letting me know I need an Arcade Card.  I am wondering if this is a compatibility issue....  The converter works great for booting HuCARD games, just for some reason, its being an asshole with my Arcade Card Pro.  Anyone else willing to test it out?  The Arcade Card Pro I have, does work.  I got it from Old Rover.

[ParanoiaDragon]

Bump for a question..  Has anyone used this converter, with an Arcade Card Pro?  I am trying to use it on my TG-16/CD setup, and it boots the PC Engine 3.0 screen, but will not load the Arcade games.  I get the screen letting me know I need an Arcade Card.  I am wondering if this is a compatibility issue....  The converter works great for booting HuCARD games, just for some reason, its being an asshole with my Arcade Card Pro.  Anyone else willing to test it out?  The Arcade Card Pro I have, does work.  I got it from Old Rover.

Ah, you got it from Old Rover, so that explains the Arcade Card fiasco!    Kidding.

Anyhoo, that sounds like the same problem I had with the old diving board converter.  When I first got it from TZD along with an Arcade Card  & Strider, it would take me to a screen saying I need the Arcade Card.  It "might've" actually ran Strider a few times, but glitchy IIRC, though my memory is hazy.  I traded that converter back in to TZD for that purple box one.  So maybe this one is having the same problem the old diving board had??

[db-electronics]

My guess is that the Arcade Pro Card checks the region bit in bit 6 of the I/O register - this is the fabled grounding of pin 29 mod (pin 29 being read in bit 6 of the I/O register).

If the Arcade Pro Card does in fact work on a system with the pin 29 mod it would confirm this hypothesis...

[thesteve]

I would suspect it doesn't check, it should be a system3 BIOS and acd card

[OldRover]

As far as I know, the region check only applies to US cards when run on Jp systems, not the other way around... and that's why we patch TG16 ROMs to run on the PC Engine and not the other way around.

[Bernie]

Sounds like it is just going to be a compatibility issue for now.  If it didn't work at all, then that would be a whole other issue...BUT...  Thing is, it's booting the Japanese 3.0 menu, but not allowing the ACD extra ram to work.    Either way, this converter is very well made, and I would suggest it to anyone looking for an affordable way to play PCE on a US system.  Some people don't like to have their system region modded, and this is just the trick.  Hopefully, in the future, we can figure out the issue with the ACD Pro.

[dshadoff]

Bump for a question..  Has anyone used this converter, with an Arcade Card Pro?  I am trying to use it on my TG-16/CD setup, and it boots the PC Engine 3.0 screen, but will not load the Arcade games.  I get the screen letting me know I need an Arcade Card.  I am wondering if this is a compatibility issue....  The converter works great for booting HuCARD games, just for some reason, its being an asshole with my Arcade Card Pro.  Anyone else willing to test it out?  The Arcade Card Pro I have, does work.  I got it from Old Rover.

It sounds a lot like a "write enable" line (or possibly a different line) is not getting through properly.  Not sure if this would be a design defect (ie. affecting all units) or a flaw in the manufacture of just this unit.

Does every single pin on the cartridge bus get routed to the connector (ie. 1-for-1, even though 8 of them are in a different order) ?

I recall there were a few lines which had questionable value, but turned out to be necessary - one was a "shorted to ground if cartridge inserted", another was an IRQ of some sort (direction = from the cart to the system), etc.

[db-electronics]

Does every single pin on the cartridge bus get routed to the connector (ie. 1-for-1, even though 8 of them are in a different order) ?

I routed every single line to the HuCard on my design.