No pics of it in action?
So how did it worked out?
It works perfectly. Sorry, no pics yet. There are plenty of shots of the NESRGB’s output on the web.
I don’t want to take any more pics of my own screen though until I’ve fixed the bowing. I had some success getting rid of it by changing the angle of the deflection on another TV I was working on, now I just need to get it done on the set that’s in my gaming setup. It’s on the to do list.
I love this thread.
Yo dawge that is legit motherfuckin CRT
This thread is a friend of mine.
I bought two of the NESRGB boards for Jason @ GameTechUS to install. I need to pester him more to get them done. He has a bunch to do so I’ve been letting mine sit in the queue.
I modded a SNES mini for RGB. It is impressive how much better it looks than my Super Famicom. The picture is loads sharper.
Someone requested a wiring diagram of the sync circuit in my main switchbox, so I added it in. See the second post here on the first page.
Not directly related to 240p, but I felt this would help contribute to other peoples possible set ups. Also R-CADE Gaming’s work here help inspire this.
DIY Manual VGA+Audio KVM Data switch
So I tried to look for a VGA + Audio KVM solutions for my entertainment setup. I got a XRGB 2 Plus and a Xbox 360 (via VGA cable) sharing a VGA port on my TV.
Every VGA KVM switch out there that does Audio are intended for PC and needs a Keyboard connected to work.
Most are kinda cheap and flimsy looking.
So I looked into older Manual Data switches, and I found this.
http://cablesdirect.com/prodimages/CA293-4RL_LR.jpg
[Edit - please note this photo is the wrong box as there DB9s in this picture instead of the HD 15s that VGA uses]
These older Manual Data switches are great. No real electronics inside, just wire and a BIG Switch (See R-CADE Gaming older posts in this thread for how the innards would look like)
That means I can use the VGA ports as intended and I can re-purpose the DIN 5 Ports.
I order of some Din 5 connectors and a quick trip to radio shack to cannibalize some headphone spliters and a Stereo RCA adapter.
Here is the back of the actual thing.
Since there no actual modification made to the switch box, I can change out the connectors used as needed.
A single Audio adapter dongle
Soldering the wires into place. The Order of the wires in the picture are Left, Ground, Right. If I would use the Pin numbers used, they are pins 1, 4 and 2.
Pin 3 is not used as that goes to Keyboard Reset. (What the Red button is for on the front of the switch).
http://old.pinouts.ru/Inputs/KeyboardPC5_pinout.shtml
I have been as well, no dice. I will most likely have to go the ebay route. And good to see he PVM is doing you well. I have been checking CL as well but nothing. Will give you a holler if anything comes up.
Darksakul, nice work. I know that isn’t the switch box you actually used in your first picture, but any idea what that red button is?
That red button is for older AT Keyboards. At one time Keyboards were not Plug-n-Play compatible.
The Button allows you to reset the keyboard so you can use the keyboard on a PC without shutting the machine down first.
After you turn the dial to the another letter you would hit the red button so your keyboard would still function.
It still around on newer model Automatic KVM switches as a keyboard key combination.
I open it up and the button is directly wired to the Input/Output Din 5 port. If I am right the Button is wired to Pin # 3.
Female connector from the view of the back.
The only real difference from the photo I posted and the device I used is the style of the print on the box.
Is the red button normally closed?
I’ve always had the same problem with PS/2 keyboards and mice; if you plug one in it doesn’t work until the PC is reset. I wonder if there’s a way to reset those by disconnecting one of the pins and avoid resetting the PC?
I noticed that the stock photo has DB-9’s whereas yours has DB-15HD’s, so I wasn’t sure if yours had the red button or not.
I did not check but I assume its normally open. I have to get my Multimeter and double check.
I based my assumption from the following
http://pinouts.ru/Slots/USB_pinout.shtml
I did not even notice that those where DB 9s instead of HD DB 15s. Good Eye.
I see on your Thread (the Shmup’s version of this guide) Your 2 way switch box has Din connectors minus the Nice red button.
http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?p=866366&sid=7f2b2a592e401d3a890517f6d6f4681f#p866366
Was that you installing the VGA Scan-Line-Generator into the Box?
Never mind, on the Wikipedia page I noticed that AT keyboards had pin 3 dedicated to this reset function. It doesn’t seem to be present on any PS/2 pinout I can find, just +5v, G, clock, and data.
The only reason I ask is that I have a trackball which still uses a PS/2 connection. I might just upgrade it to USB by swapping in the optical sensors and board from an old USB roller mouse.
Here is me taking the VGA switch mod a step further
In Installed CraftyMech’s Mini SLG
I soldered directly to the SLG’s ON/OFF switch on the PCB and extended wires to a Toggle switch where that red button was
I just unscrewed the button from its place and zip tied it to the bottom of the Case.
The switch fits perfectly right where the button was.
Best part is the whole mod is reversible. I only have to loosen some fasteners and unsolder 2 wires from the SLG
Nothing is permanently changed, No holes drilled and nothing cut.
Update, I added a NEO GEO MVS Arcade board (via custom Jasen Kicks Super gun) to my list of 240p consoles.
So those who are curious, Most Jamma boards are RGBS @ 15khz carrier frequency and 240p resolution compatible.
I even borrowed what I learned here to make my video attenuation circuit.
The Scart connector hides some capacitors on the R, B and G lines, and yes the cable is a modified PlayStation Scart cable.
I also referenced this thread on a Jamma thread I started as there no such thread on Tech Talk
I saw this 2 years ago. That’s too long to not have taken action yet. Sick of these SCART plugs.
This seems like an optimal setup, SCART as a plug is terrible and reliable switches for it don’t exist.
Since then I’ve been on and off (mostly off) working out how to adapt this to a setup for upscaling using the framemeister. I did ask about this back then but that was then, there may have been advancements that change things.
I figure first off I can ignore all the stuff about TV tuning and converting the end to component.
Next would be checking if I had c-sync on my existing cables/consoles (doing whatever mod is necessary i.e. PS1) and ensuring all future cables are c-sync as well. I wonder if doing so will make working on the switches less work or no work at all.
I’d have to swap the heads off the cables and get the emotia to force 240p on command.
The Dreamcast seems to have gotten advancements, I’ve been eyeing the toro but his cable seems to do the same thing.
For everything up to the PS2-era I can use his method but once we get there I think it would be easier and have more utility to deviate.
The move seems to be to get regular component put it through a switch and convert the out from that switch to one of these custom cables (PS2/GC/etc-switch-component out-converter?), not only do I not have to use the mini’s awful component input or chop up expensive cables like the Gamecube one this also frees up space in the switches and allows me to put it earlier in the chain, potentially even allowing all 5 games that go above 480p to work.
I could be wrong about all of this, I’m not an expert. I’m hoping by laying out my plan I can get feedback and maybe even make a template anyone with a mini can use.
The only way not to chop up the expensive Game Cube component cable is stick to component.
For me that means using the D terminal cable and hooking that directly to my XRGB 2 Plus.
Other than that I am not sure what you are even up to.
Well I also go to the shmups forum and apparently there is a way to transcode component signals to RGB. Fudoh told me: You need a transcoder and a RGB interface. Component into the transcoder, RGBHV from the transcoder the interface, RGBs into the Mini. Instead of the transcoder you can use a Kenzei, an UMSA or a passive sync combiner circuit.
I’ve been unable to do any real work on RGB related stuff for over a year and I’m frustrated. I’ll pay for things, people to build cables, whatever it takes but I finally want to finish and I refuse to settle on any front.
My goal is simple, get the best stuff, hook it in the best possible way to the mini. I want to use R-CADE’s setup as a base for it because it seems to cover all the bases, has a reliable cable and has switches.
Another thing I learned that except for maybe some arcade boards every old console pre-PS2 (and even the PS2 but that’s kind of irrelevant) can use or can be modded to use c-sync which is better. I’d want to shift all my stuff to csync.
I don’t know what to do about Dreamcast, there’s the toro and it seems to do what R-CADE’s cable does but I’m not sure if that’s accurate.
So basically what I’m trying to do is use this as a base, get all my facts straight, pinpoint what I need and get started.
And your end goal is to get everything RGB for your XRGB Framemeister Mini?
Honestly I would avoid Component. Component YPBPR signals use the chroma subsampling methods used by JPEG and MPEG compression schemes.
RGB is a lossless, uncompressed format. You have less of a chance to have image artifacts and a clearer picture.
That said I am not brave enough to modify my Game cube component cable.
As for c sync http://retrorgb.com/csync.html
What all the systems you have and want in the setup?
So far I think I see PS2, Game Cube and Dreamcast.
The Toro is your bets bet for the Dreamcast, it output RGBS or RGBHV.