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Hardware Mods - the thread of "wtf is shorting out this time?!"
Sarge
hardcore retro gamin'
Ah, gotcha. Yeah, I have the opposite problem with a couple of my CRTs - they only have component and composite, but no S-Video. It's pretty annoying, to the point that I actually finally caved and got a Koryuu transcoder to cover those sets. And I don't blame you for not wanting to play them on the HDTV - I think all that era's systems look better on a CRT anyway.
I have been meaning to do the S-Video mod to one of my Genesis systems - I have a board and the parts to do it, just was super lazy about it and haven't done it.
There's probably something out there externally that can convert RGB to S-Video without a mod, but I suspect it would be cheaper to just mod the 32X.
EDIT: Ouch, yeah, probably. Axunworks sells one but it ain't cheap!
I have been meaning to do the S-Video mod to one of my Genesis systems - I have a board and the parts to do it, just was super lazy about it and haven't done it.
There's probably something out there externally that can convert RGB to S-Video without a mod, but I suspect it would be cheaper to just mod the 32X.
EDIT: Ouch, yeah, probably. Axunworks sells one but it ain't cheap!
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Yeah, I looked into it, I am using a Genesis 2 and the 32x is just throughputting the Genesis video signal, though it might be adding interference on some level. I have been leaving it connected, but this made me realize that I play Sega CD games more than 32x games (I have a Mega ED Pro, which won't play Sega CD games with the 32x connected, because of bus issues), so I should just leave it disconnected most of the time, unless I'm actually playing 32x games (which again, is fairly rare).
Ah, gotcha. Yeah, I have the opposite problem with a couple of my CRTs - they only have component and composite, but no S-Video. It's pretty annoying, to the point that I actually finally caved and got a Koryuu transcoder to cover those sets. And I don't blame you for not wanting to play them on the HDTV - I think all that era's systems look better on a CRT anyway.
I have been meaning to do the S-Video mod to one of my Genesis systems - I have a board and the parts to do it, just was super lazy about it and haven't done it.
There's probably something out there externally that can convert RGB to S-Video without a mod, but I suspect it would be cheaper to just mod the 32X.
EDIT: Ouch, yeah, probably. Axunworks sells one but it ain't cheap!
Yeah, that's cool, but nowhere near worth the cost considering how rarely I'll play 32X games. And that doesn't even include the cost of the RGB cable!
Yeah, I had to change my setup to be able to fit the 32X on top of the Genesis while also allowing room to take it off, since, yeah, I'll be using the Mega Everdrive Pro to play Genesis and Sega CD games more often (and using s-video for a better picture, at that).
It was pretty neat to be able to change the input with my TV remote and see the obvious quality difference between the 32Xs composite output and the Genesis's s-video, though - they both still work at the same time, so seeing how blurry composite is really makes s-video shine (I mean, I always could tell it looked better, but WOW does it make a huge difference).
Sarge
hardcore retro gamin'
Yeah, I agree, just too much in the end just for 32X.
Still tempted to get a MED Pro one of these days. Sure, I have a Sega CD, but just playing them straight off a cart is awfully appealing...
I've not seen what S-Video looks like on a Genesis, but if the SNES is anything to go by, there wouldn't be a huge difference between that and RGB, and RGB (converted to component) blows the doors off of the Genesis composite. It's amazing how bad the composite video is on Sega's systems of that era - there might be a couple of models that look a bit better, but none of them are as clean as SNES composite.
Still tempted to get a MED Pro one of these days. Sure, I have a Sega CD, but just playing them straight off a cart is awfully appealing...
I've not seen what S-Video looks like on a Genesis, but if the SNES is anything to go by, there wouldn't be a huge difference between that and RGB, and RGB (converted to component) blows the doors off of the Genesis composite. It's amazing how bad the composite video is on Sega's systems of that era - there might be a couple of models that look a bit better, but none of them are as clean as SNES composite.
I haven't used an actual Sega CD in years, but may I tempt you with - from what I can remember from back then - faster load times?
muteKi
Geno Cidecity
Ironically, one of the reasons that I appreciate having a 32X is that its composite encoder is significantly better than just about any stock genesis aside from, perhaps, the Nomad. But I got it for like $30 a little over a decade ago and thus it was a much easier solution than any sort of hardware mods, and this way I can play Virtua Racing Deluxe
Sarge
hardcore retro gamin'
Yeah, I was looking around and apparently it really is cleaner than most Genesis systems. I saw a comparison on YouTube and was impressed how it didn't have the rainbow banding problem.
@Kazin: Please, don't tempt me.
I think I'll let the MiSTer be enough for now... but only for now. 
Still, the s-video coming from my modded Genesis looks WAY sharper and has better colors than the composite coming out of my 32X. I'm tempted to mod the thing. I've always intended to finally play through Knuckles Chaotix, and it'd be nice if it was sharper...!
EDIT: I just bought the parts needed to follow this video, which is far from the best mod tutorial video I've seen on YT, but should be good enough, since the mod is simple enough (it resembles the s-video mod for the Genesis), and the parts themselves are cheap. I'm a huge dumbass
EDIT: I just bought the parts needed to follow this video, which is far from the best mod tutorial video I've seen on YT, but should be good enough, since the mod is simple enough (it resembles the s-video mod for the Genesis), and the parts themselves are cheap. I'm a huge dumbass
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@Sarge Got an update via email from StoneAgeGamer that my Virtual Boy is being shipped back to me and should arrive on Friday the 19th. If it does indeed get back to me that day, that'll be an 8 day turnaround including the repair and shipping both ways, which is super fast imo. Presumably them shipping it back means the repair went well. I'll probably post some pics of the repair after testing the unit out, too.
Looks like Switch flash carts are now a thing.
Becksworth
Aging Hipster Dragon Dad
Clunky interface requiring you take out and reinsert the cartridge to switch games, doesn't appear to enable homebrew, and requires the cartridge's unique id, which potentially could lead to users getting banned from online services/cratering the used physical game market/make online sellers of new game sus because they could be hawking bootlegs that could also get you banned.
Why do people want this?
Why do people want this?
It's not perfect. But it does mean you can carry all your games on one cart. I can see the want for that. Or even for backup purposes if your actual cart stops working.
I'm sure at some point someone will figure out how to spoof the unique ID thing. But who knows.
I'm sure at some point someone will figure out how to spoof the unique ID thing. But who knows.
@Sarge Got it back, it works fantastically! I guess I won't be taking pictures of it, though, because it turns out my screwdriver is too thick to unscrew the Virtual Boy, even with the little extender thing. It's probably for the best, I'd probably break some plastic getting in there. In any case, both Jack Bros. and Virtual Boy Wario Land loaded up perfectly without issue just now on my flashcart! I'd recommend sending yours in if it's worth the cost of repair for you, it's great peace of mind for me to know that my VB is useable for likely the rest of my natural life
Becksworth
Aging Hipster Dragon Dad
I can totally believe the rumor that the Switch flash cart is secretly Team Xecuter coming back out of the hole they were hiding in after Gary Bowser was convicted, because this honestly feels like a deliberate poison pill of a product.
Granted the Switch is nearly in its 8th year and it's a probably too little too late for that kind of fuckery, but still.
Granted the Switch is nearly in its 8th year and it's a probably too little too late for that kind of fuckery, but still.
Becksworth
Aging Hipster Dragon Dad
That makes me even more leery of this cart. If it can't use dlc\updates then there is probably still some identifiable way Nintendo can tell the backup is different from the original cart.
Though that also might be good news for the used game market in that case.
Though that also might be good news for the used game market in that case.
32X s-video mod SUCCESS!
Not sure how easy it is to tell from this cell phone picture of my CRT TV, but I was able to successfully follow the video I linked above to get my 32X to put out clean s-video. This is leaps and bounds better than the base composite signal, good lord. Only thing I have to finish now is a good mount for the s-video jack, since the hole I drilled was too big. We're going to take the top half of my 32X shell with the hole in it to Home Depot tomorrow (lol) and get a washer to try to screw the s-video port into. Worst case scenario, I have that busted 32X sitting on a shelf, so I can always try to drill a new hole... Or glue it, I suppose.
Not sure how easy it is to tell from this cell phone picture of my CRT TV, but I was able to successfully follow the video I linked above to get my 32X to put out clean s-video. This is leaps and bounds better than the base composite signal, good lord. Only thing I have to finish now is a good mount for the s-video jack, since the hole I drilled was too big. We're going to take the top half of my 32X shell with the hole in it to Home Depot tomorrow (lol) and get a washer to try to screw the s-video port into. Worst case scenario, I have that busted 32X sitting on a shelf, so I can always try to drill a new hole... Or glue it, I suppose.
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Yeah, it's totally worth doing, I'm very happy with it. I ended up playing Space Squash for an hour and then Virtual Boy Wario Land for about another hour with no issues whatsoever (turns out, by the way, that leaving the stand on and laying down on your back is the way to play Virtual Boy comfortably. My wife says I look like an idiot - and she's not wrong - but whatever, it works lol).
Also to add to how fucking weird the 32X is, all sound output - all of it - comes from the Genesis itself. When I plugged in the s-video cable from my Genesis into the 32X just to test it and see if I got video at all, I said out loud "wait, how do I have sound?" Turns out, my modded mono out sound from the Genesis just worked right away lol. You can apparently get sound from the composite port of the 32X, too, if you want, just plug the audio cables from that into wherever the s-video plug is and you're fine. The tower of power, what a weird Frankenstein of a thing, sheesh.
Also to add to how fucking weird the 32X is, all sound output - all of it - comes from the Genesis itself. When I plugged in the s-video cable from my Genesis into the 32X just to test it and see if I got video at all, I said out loud "wait, how do I have sound?" Turns out, my modded mono out sound from the Genesis just worked right away lol. You can apparently get sound from the composite port of the 32X, too, if you want, just plug the audio cables from that into wherever the s-video plug is and you're fine. The tower of power, what a weird Frankenstein of a thing, sheesh.
Ended up drilling a new hole in my spare 32X shell and using glue, E6000 specifically. It is drying/curing now. I'm a little concerned I got some glue in the s-video port, but if I did it wasn't much and I'm fairly certain I got it out immediately with a toothpick. Here's hoping my 32X still works tomorrow night lol
Quick test this morning to see how things are working, and not only does the s-video work, it seems pretty solid already. I'm going to let the glue set some more before screwing the 32X back together, but I'm happy to call this a 100% successful mod. Hooray!
Quoting this here since I wasn't able to find any info online about it:
To elaborate a bit - this is an actual Knuckles Choatix cartridge that kept freezing upon beating a level, nearly every other time. The cart then loads you back to the hub, at which point the game would save. It kept freezing during that load, so after replacing the sole capacitor on the cartridge, I sat down and played through seven straight levels and the final boss without issue. Replace those capacitors if your cartridges have em, people!Just played through the rest of the levels of the game with no freezes whatsoever, so it must have been that capacitor that was causing issues, because it was seven levels and the final boss. Ran all the way through the credits, not a hiccup, thankfully. Spoiling the good ending because no one here is ever going to play through Knuckles Chaotix lol (and also because, even through my cell phone camera, that s-video picture looks so good to me, really makes this game pop imo):
Sarge
hardcore retro gamin'
Yeah, I always wondered about that with my Genesis carts - figure I'll have to swap some out one of these days. My problem with the 32X freezing I'd get was all ribbon cable-related, though, but if I start seeing issues again, this will be really good to know, so thanks for the info!
(Don't put it past me to beat Chaotix some day, either, haha.)
(Don't put it past me to beat Chaotix some day, either, haha.)
Yeah, the only reason I even thought to do it was I had a similar, though not exactly the same, issue with my copy of Shining Force 1. The slightest bit of movement would make it freeze, and I was playing on Nomad so it was inevitable. After replacing the capacitor, it stopped freezing. Just some weird behavior after all these years haha