Messages

151

Classic Video Games / Re: Throwing away infected classic consoles

« on: January 05, 2014, 05:03:06 am »

I recently picked up a ColecoVision although not as disgusting as that PS3 was still pretty grody. It and the games included with it was $40 including the shipping. The only reason I bought it was for an included copy of Up N Down, which goes for $40+ easily just by itself. I didn't have any expectations that the console would be salvageable aside from it's controllers, and If it turned out to be unfixable than Up N Down alone would easily justify the purchase.The other three games included were mystery games which turned out to be all commons (Qbert, DK, SMURF) which is pretty much what I figured they'd be.


The ebay listing picture

One of the joysticks had a hole bunch of some kind of sticky crud inside it that was a dark purple color which I assume was ancient grape jelly that some kid somehow managed to cram inside it. The console was filthy and It must have been stored in a damp basement because a lot of the metal structures including the RF shielding and modulator had had quite a bit of rust on them. I sanded off all the rust off cleaned the motherboard and case and replaced all the electrolytic caps and re-flowed all the solder joints on the board. Cleaned and rebuilt the power switch ( a common point of failure for the CV) and It fired right up after all that. 



The end result. I hated having to remove the service sticker but it was falling off and completely filthy and stained and just looked terrible so I just to removed it.
Since I was already in there I also composite modified it.

152

Classic Video Games / Re: AV Switcher

« on: December 02, 2013, 11:29:11 pm »

For composite/S-video I use two of these http://www.walmart.com/ip/RCA-4-Way-AV-Switcher-With-S-Video/3312963 daisy chained together which gives me a total of seven CVBS/S-video inputs. A good thing about these is that they don't have any of the jacks on the front of it like so many do.

For component I just use two of these cheap switches which you can get on ebay/amazon for a couple bucks each. One for the component video signal the other for audio.

153

Classic Video Games / Re: Atari 2600 games

« on: November 18, 2013, 10:45:46 pm »

Dragonfire
Seaquest
Battlezone
Frostbite
Stargate (AKA Defender II goes by both names)
Stampede
Millipede (To a lesser extent Centipede)
Warlords (Killer multiplayer game that supports up to 4 players with 2 sets of paddles)
Berzerk
Joust
Missle Command
Jr and Mrs Pacman
Moon Patrol
Gravitar (My personal favorite)
Crystal Castles
H.E.R.O.
Moon Sweeper (My 2nd Favorite)
Moon Patrol
Phoenix
River Raid
River Raid II (note doesn't work on 6 switchers)

154

Hardware and Tech / Re: SD Game Consoles on HDTV Screens

« on: November 18, 2013, 05:33:29 am »

I really hate that those scanline generators only use VGA. I don't really understand the line of thinking behind that. Only the Dreamcast has the option to output VGA and it doesn't make sense for computer use either as most emulators have a scanline option. Or you could use an external program. Having to buy the generator and than a converter is the main reason I haven't bought one yet.

I have bought a HDMI scaler exactly the same as that except it was under a different brand name Portta. http://www.amazon.com/Portta-PETCSH-Composite-S-Video-Converter/dp/B0088HNNZ6 I haven't noticed any lag with any of the consoles that I have tried with it.  Also you should take note that  these scalers don't necessarily do any better upscaling than your TV itself may be capable of doing. Which was the case with one of my TVs.
The only reason I bought it is because finding new TV's with S-Video input is starting to become rather difficult. Also it has the additional benefit of converting pal video signals.

155

Hardware and Tech / Re: NES Blue Screen

« on: November 17, 2013, 01:35:34 am »

This is not necessarily true....  In bad cases a lockout pin can indirectly cause blue screens....  I have had many, many blue screens fixed at work by only disabling the the chip sometimes....  Not all times, but sometimes.... 

What the 10nes chip does is when it doesn't detect the companion chip on the cartridges pcb it power cycles the cpu at every cycle. If all the other connections necessary for the game to run and not the ones assigned to the lock out chip are made than it would cause the game to start but then constantly reset again and again.

I suppose it's possible that an issue like the one the op described can be caused by the 10nes. The only reason I can think of is if the 10nes chip itself has actually gone bad, but it's a lot more likely that his pin connectors is at fault. Since all he has to do is to disable it is to snip a leg off of the chip he can certainly try it if he wants.

156

Hardware and Tech / Re: PS2 controller d-pad and "shape" buttons don't work

« on: November 17, 2013, 12:08:59 am »

Could be a break in one of the traces on the conductive film. Examine it closely and see if there's a spot where a trace has worn or broken away. There do exist replacements which I'll link for you but it's no guarantee that it'll fix your problem and for what they cost you can just buy another used controller for not much more.

There's three different versions of the conductive film that the Dual Shock 2 uses if you decide to go this route make sure you get the correct one for your controller.

SA1Q42Ahttp://www.ebay.com/itm/Controller-Repair-Parts-PCB-Ribbon-Circuit-Board-Type-SA1Q42A-for-PS2-Dualshock-/251308965223?pt=US_Video_Gaming_Replacement_Parts_Tools&hash=item3a832e7d67

SA1Q107A / Bhttp://www.ebay.com/itm/Controller-Repair-Parts-PCB-Ribbon-Circuit-Board-Type-SA1Q107A-B-for-PS2-Duals-/281140391484?pt=US_Video_Gaming_Replacement_Parts_Tools&hash=item417545ee3c

M Typehttp://www.ebay.com/itm/Controller-Repair-Parts-PCB-Ribbon-Circuit-Board-M-Type-for-PS2-Dualshock-2-/281140391528?pt=US_Video_Gaming_Replacement_Parts_Tools&hash=item417545ee68

157

Hardware and Tech / Re: NES Blue Screen

« on: November 16, 2013, 07:36:38 am »

The lockout chip won't cause the game not to come on at all. It only solves that occasional problem of the game starting normally but then reseting over and over.

It doesn't surprise me that bending the connectors wouldn't work. Once you start bending the connectors it's hard to have them line up exactly at the same angle where they all would make good solid contact with the cartridge pins.
I'd  recommend getting a new 72 pin connector you can get one on ebay in $7-8 USD range. Even if it doesn't fix your problem you'd still have it for your next NES.

What you can try doing as a last ditch effort to save that old 72 connector is take a piece of sandpaper fold it over something like a credit card and insert it in and out of the connector. (not side to side) If there's something like a bit of rust or corrosion that's causing a connectivity issue that will make short work of it.

158

Classic Video Games / Re: Console's for repair/parts

« on: November 16, 2013, 07:07:31 am »

Like sin2beta said most if the time the problem is a bad laser and it'd most likely it wouldn't be much more to buy a known working console and also a lot less risky.  Also there isn't a whole lot of user serviceable parts inside a Saturn. It's mostly integrated circuits and since none of them are socketed if one of them are bad than that's the end of that.

I've bought a broken Saturn once for it's motherboard because the one on my Saturn died but the laser was still good. So I deliberately looked for one that the seller said would turn on but not read disc's and transplanted the motherboard and that was a success. 

159

General / Re: The Top 10 Most Wanted Items on Your Wishlist

« on: November 04, 2013, 12:03:12 am »

1. Panzer Dragoon Saga - Saturn
2. Stadium Mud Buggies - Intellivision
3. Turbografx-16
4. Ninja Gaiden III - The Ancient Ship of Doom
5. Coleco Gemini
6. Montezuma's Revenge – (ColecoVision or SMS, I haven't decided which version to go with yet.)
7. R.C. Pro-Am 2 – NES
8. Asterix – SMS
9. Klonoa Door to Phantomile
10. Eternal Darkness Sanity's Requiem