Retro console and games thread
- Thread starter Baine
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Never tried mine without it, but can't see why not. Them legs just connect to the led, they don't complete any other part of the circuit, so should be no problem.
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The only retro console i have left now is an old Commodore Amiga CD32 
.
.Bah!
I'll try it with the LEDs when they come in but it looks like I'll be redoing it all again. Might get rid of the CIC completely this time though, there's a capacitor in the way of pins 7-8 of the CIC which was annoying when trying to attach the wires. My only real worry is accidentally snapping the legs of the PPUs.
. I left the CIC in mine. Too lazy to remove the chip. I would definitely try with the LED though, I suppose the programming of the chip could tell it not to work without a load on at least one of the pins, don't see why it would be done like that though.
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Just 2 games today, went into a local 2nd hand shop and seen a fair few master system games (hardly ever see them) and since my friend gave me one a while ago thought id pick a couple up, dont know whats good on the master system and what to look out for so just picked up a couple that looked fun for £2 each complete.
Also any advice on good games for the system would be good.
Also any advice on good games for the system would be good.
They still haven't arrived
. I completely redid the wiring (And it's a lot neater than before as I tried to copy exactly how Wolfsoft did it 
) but it still doesn't work so it either must need the LEDs attached or the chip is bad/not programmed correctly. I don't think there's anything wrong with the console itself and all wires look connected properly.Do you program the cic-key or cic-lock to the chip?
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Ok so looking at ordering/buy my N64 today, however need to figure out what to use to connect to the tv. I have a GC with the Red/White/yellow lead which plugs into a scart plug converter so that's better than the Rf connection I'm guessing. I have tried searching for an RGB scart but don't seem to see any, anyone with a link to what I need?
Yup that'll work. The best output you can get from an N64 is S-Video unless you buy either a certain American NTSC or French PAL/SECAM model. Those both offer RGB output after a modification has been applied to them. To be fair though, I was happy with S-Video output and didn't see the need for an expensive RGB capable machine which requires modification.
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Cool thanks, so is it just a standard S-video? How would the sound be transmitted?
S-video has the standard white and red audio connectors with it as well. Also all n64 can be rgb modded now, limited to early ntsc models and early French is out of date info, they are easier, but they are not all that can be done.
As for me, I finally got my 32x. This thing is a pain in the arse! It works but after a while it'll get too hot and the picture will wobble. Granted, this is after a good three or four hours but that isn't the point! Output quality is pretty good apart from some games causing a high frequency noise similar to that of a CRT on the audio output, but that is due to the game and not the system. The biggest problem is though that not all Mega Drives are compatible with Knuckles Chaotix! I couldn't believe it! Bought it and was annoyed to find that the game crashes pretty much all the time on my VA4 Mega Drive. So I'll try either getting another model (maybe a later TMSS one as they're pretty cheap) and see if I can actually play the game as other people have said they've had this problem.
Ahh my mistake. Can you buy FPGAs that convert the digital output? That was the only other way I could find to get RGB from an N64
Ahh my mistake. Can you buy FPGAs that convert the digital output? That was the only other way I could find to get RGB from an N64
Thanks for that, I doubt I will do any modifications to the console any time soon, will go and get an S-video cable instead for the time being.
Just won the N64 on the bay, a boxed N64 with controller and all leads (RF mind you) with Goldeneye and Mario 64 Well chuffed, wanted it boxed and as a bounus it come with the 2 games I would have wanted first. Now to get the S-video and a Rumble Pak. Will get pics up when it comes along with all my other 'Retro' stuff.
Just won the N64 on the bay, a boxed N64 with controller and all leads (RF mind you) with Goldeneye and Mario 64
Well chuffed, wanted it boxed and as a bounus it come with the 2 games I would have wanted first. Now to get the S-video and a Rumble Pak. Will get pics up when it comes along with all my other 'Retro' stuff.Thanks for that, I doubt I will do any modifications to the console any time soon, will go and get an S-video cable instead for the time being.
Just won the N64 on the bay, a boxed N64 with controller and all leads (RF mind you) with Goldeneye and Mario 64
Good stuff. Sold my N64 recently as it was gathering dust sadly. The S-Video wire definitely looks good on a nice CRT though. Works a treat with a SNES too.
Cool, well not got much space in the flat, so my CRT setup will have to wait, would love a nice 21" flat screen CRT!
Ahh just realised I'm guessing I will need a memory card! Will have to get one of them ordered too.
What's this expansion pack I see talked about now and again that plugs into the from of the console... do i need one of them too? (I never owned an N64 so don't know much about the accessories, only played on friends systems so didn't have to worry about what was what.
So the list... Memory card, S-video, Rumble Pak... anything else?
My new Retro-ness
Ahh just realised I'm guessing I will need a memory card! Will have to get one of them ordered too.
What's this expansion pack I see talked about now and again that plugs into the from of the console... do i need one of them too? (I never owned an N64 so don't know much about the accessories, only played on friends systems so didn't have to worry about what was what.
So the list... Memory card, S-video, Rumble Pak... anything else?
My new Retro-ness
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Cool, well not got much space in the flat, so my CRT setup will have to wait, would love a nice 21" flat screen CRT!
Ahh just realised I'm guessing I will need a memory card! Will have to get one of them ordered too.
What's this expansion pack I see talked about now and again that plugs into the from of the console... do i need one of them too? (I never owned an N64 so don't know much about the accessories, only played on friends systems so didn't have to worry about what was what.
So the list... Memory card, S-video, Rumble Pak... anything else?
My new Retro-ness
Ahh, the expansion pak is an extra 4MB of system RAM to bring the total up to 8MB from 4MB. The stock pak in the system is basically a dummy that terminates the signal so the system only uses onboard RAM. Some games will use the expansion pak either to run in a higher resolution or to improve frame rate etc. Some games such as Perfect Dark require the pak and won't run without it.
No off the shelf/pre-programmed parts at the moment, or at least I don't think there are. I only know of 3 methods to get it out of the later one.
CPLD + Resistor network RGB dac
http://members.optusnet.com.au/eviltim/n64rgb/n64rgb.html
Someone did attempt to do it using logic chips instead of the cpld, but last update said it was not working right.
http://eatenbyagrue.org/tags/n64/index.html
Wolfsoft do a mod for it. Different design, but still a replacement DAC.
Pull the VDC-NUS DAC from an early model and use that. Of course that requires sacrificing an N64 or having a broken one.
The CPLD one works well, don't know about the others. I did see someone had a prototype FPGA board that had VGA out, but have not read anything about it recently.
A lot more effort than the early models, but there are ways. For some reason most guides just ignore it though and say early French & NTSC models only.
Ahh cool, will put that on my list as well, infact Perfect Dark is will be on my list of games to get in the future, I remeber back in the day everyone saying it was immense and very similar to Goldeneye...
Well I got the LEDs today and it lights up correctly when holding the reset button so it seems the chip programmed fine but the screen is still garbled but looking like it's trying to do something. I'm thinking it could have something to do with the PPUs at this point so I'll try redo that part.