It's been a minute, what's been done?...

Where do I start.

I've been in a slump lately. Really don't feel like working on anything mod-wise. I have a few Saturns that I need to finish (repair, Fenrir install, etc.), a PSX that need's to be finished (Xstation install), and other miscellaneous things. I've been reluctant do to it because of work exhaustion, family, and tendinitis working it's way back into my hands. 

The Arcade 1up is complete, fully operational. There's just a few things that need to be buttoned up on it before I can move on. Again, life is becoming slightly overwhelming, so I'll finish it when I finish it.

I've been improving my office a bit...

I mounted my LCD TV to the wall. The studs were not centered where I wanted it, so I used some scrap wood from some old Ikea shelving to screw some lag bolts into the studs. I put some countersunk bolts on the back and secured the mount itself with some nuts. I used regular nuts, but I'm thinking that I should have used some locking nuts instead, but it works the way I have it now.

I installed a sound bar mount and secured that to the brackets behind the TV, just so I have more room on my shelf for consoles to display. The mount itself is an articulated mount, so I can pull it out and tilt it left or right to watch TV or play games on it. It's nice to have it up on the wall now. Next is to get my consoles set up.

We also inherited a truck ('99 Nissan Frontier) from my wife's grandparents. We lovingly call it "Grandpa Truck". The truck was completely stock. The stereo was stock, the speakers were horrible sounding, meh power...but the main thing is that it runs. I've been able to do a lot of recycling runs and large item deliveries with it.

But it still had a really bad stereo system...and I need some good music while I'm driving.

First thing invested in it was a new head unit. 

I invested in an Atoto F7WE. I bought a refurbished unit from eBay. It has wireless Android Auto on it, which is a big deal for us. I also ordered a wiring harness at the same time to make the install easier. It was a pretty straight forward install. 

The stereo worked great since we can now stream from out phones, but the sound was still awful. I ordered some new MTX component speakers. They were relatively inexpensive, and it had some installation parts for free.

The reason why the stock speakers sounded bad? The 20+ year old speakers were falling apart. There was no speaker surrounds to speak of! As I removed the door panel to install the speaker, all of the surround material fell out from the bottom of the door.

After removing the old speakers from the door, I realized that none of the holes on the speaker didn't align with the speaker mounts. The kit that came free with the speakers were of no help as well. The stock tweeter location had a special mount that didn't fit with the tweeters that came with the speakers. I couldn't find a way to install the tweeters in without drilling a hole in the door panel, which I really wasn't in the mood to do.

So I just used some zip ties to secure them to the old mount locations. Yes, I did drill some holes, but it was just in the old speaker mount housing. These speakers sound amazing! There still a lot of tuning that I have to do to make it sound even better, but that's for another day. 

I still plan on installing some rear 6x9 speakers and possibly a powered subwoofer as well. But again, that's for another day.

Interesting little tidbit about the speaker wiring in the truck. Because it's a extended cab truck, there are no "rear" speakers to replace. The speakers in the door were wired that the tweeters are the "front" speakers and the lower door speakers are the "rear" speakers. When I install the 6x9 speakers, I'm gonna have to do some of my own wiring from the head unit to the speakers. 

I have hopes and aspirations to go back to fixing those console repairs and installs soon. Stay tuned!

The Arcade 1up is finally going somewhere...

As per my last post, I had a stripped down Street Fighter II Arcade 1up that I killed the monitor in. I still couldn't figure out the issue with the weak kick on the board; I made it as far as reflowing the pins on the IDE-ish connector on the main board before killing the monitor. 

Then we had the fiasco with getting the monitor out and stripped down. That where I stopped working on it. I went and started looking for a replacement monitor. I ended up using a monitor that I found a while ago.

I proceeded to strip it down from its casing and started to figure out how I'd get it mounted in the cabinet.

To get it as flush as I could to the monitor panel. To secure it to the panel, I used some T-Rex tape. I taped both the front and back of the monitor to the panel.

Along with taping the monitor to the back of the panel, I also used some scrap wood I had to securely mount the monitor to the cabinet. I used some angle brackets that I had for a different repair project to firmly get the monitor mounted in place.

I used my Raspberry Pi to test out the monitor, using a DVI to HDMI cable. I had an old Retro Pie image on it, so I figured it would just load up with no issue. 

Nope...

I was greeted with an error saying that the image couldn't be displayed. Also, because the monitor that I was using had a auto screen rotation option, it was stuck rotated 90 degrees. 

...

I thought I did something wrong with it when I stripped the casing off of the monitor. I did some online searching and learned that there are some options that I need to change in the configuration file to have Retro Pie to work with the cable I was using.

After changing the settings, I retried again. This time it loaded properly, even while the monitor's OSD was rotated still. I began testing some games, then this happened...

...I just realized that I was using a backup to the backup monitor to test the image. Anyway, the video setting was incorrect. It was very stretched out. I wasn't too inclined to figure out what to do to make it work, so back to searching for a prebuilt image that I could use with the Arcade 1up.

I managed to find a smaller image that was arcade games only. I burned the image to SD card and tested it with the monitor (that's already installed in the cab, not the backup monitor in the above pic.) I didn't get a pic of it, but it did run just fine. I used a USB controller to check that the image ran the game fine.

Moving on, I ordered 2 USB encoders for the controls. I didn't want to upgrade all the buttons and joysticks since it's really for my son to play with (since I already have the 3 arcade cabs in the garage), so the stock ones work just fine, albeit a bit loud and clicky. I also took the Raspberry Pi out of the Argon One case.

I wanted all PCBs mounted in the case using some sort of stand-off. I found a few good ones on Printables that worked perfectly. 

I had a few miscellaneous screws that worked with the print. I'm also planning on getting a fan possibly installed that would regulate the temperature in the cab, mainly blowing on the Pi. I have a possible way of mounting the fan, but I'm not sure where I have the Pi currently position is where I want it to stay.

 I printed the same stand-offs for the USB controller boards. Some of the wires from the stock buttons needed to be resoldered. After getting it all secured, I did some wiring management...because...

I didn't want it to look like this or know that I left it like this.

I was trying to design a button that would fit in the original power and volume switches originally were. I got a bit frustrated trying to get a decent design, so I decided to just drill out the holes to fit some extra arcade buttons that I had. 

I first used my hole drill bit that I got to drill out the holes for the Atomiswave cab. As you can see in the pic, it tore out. The Arcade 1up panels are made of MDF. Using the drill bit ripped at the layers of the MDF, just making it look ugly. If I could do it again, I would use a stepper drill bit to get the hole bored out.

I redid the SD card with a different image and did the initial set up. So far, it works just right. I called it a day after doing some button reconfigs and getting the right screen shader up and running properly. I still have to finish getting speakers installed and getting some sort of clean power management system in the back of the cab. I have several things in mind, but I still need to plan for it.

I hope to finish this up soon, but I still need my son to finish cleaning his room before we get that thing in there.

Bunch of fails right off the bat...

I'm also testing a new keyboard that I got. It's nice and clicky, but when in Bluetooth mode, there's a bunch of lag from typing. Might be my Bluetooth adapter, might be the keyboard, I don't know. Anyway...

Right off from the last post I did, I managed to kill the monitor of the Arcade 1up SFII. I've looked around for failed components, but I didn't see any on the mainboard. I thought it could be the monitor's mainboard.

The screws of the monitor's brackets were very tight, so I ended up stripping the screws. I tried using a screw extractor on the screws, but it ended up making it worse. I ended up using my Dremel to grind down the screws so I could just pop off the bracket from the monitor's frame. I couldn't see anything wrong with the board behind the monitor, so I just gave up on it. I ended up finding a perfect monitor that would fit in the Arcade 1up cab with a little bit of work. 

Prior to stripping the screws, I did order an LCD driver board that was compatible with the Arcade 1up's monitor, but that didn't work at all. I returned it and pretty much called the monitor dead.

The plan now is to first retrofit the "new" monitor into the cab, then order USB encoders for the joystick for my Raspberry Pi. I really didn't want to do it this way, but it is what it is. 

...I'm not sure about this keyboard. It's giving me phantom key combinations...or my ham hands are just way too massive for this thing. I'll have to play with it a little longer. 

2023! What's going on?

Yeah, not much really.

Well, here we are with another year gone by, and me not keeping record on what I've been doing repair or mod wise...There's a lot going on.

I've just become...lazy...there's no other way to say it. There's a lot going on and I'm not mentally ready to take on those tasks. 

After PRGE (this past October), I had one major job going: repair 2 Sega Saturns for someone. So far, I fixed one of them, the other is still needing to be looked at. I've already recapped the power supply since it was giving the same low power issue similar to the one I worked on before. But after the power supply recap, it still didn't show anything. I'm gonna try and recap just the video section of the mainboard, but the task is just, I don't know, daunting (?) for me. I just have to muster the energy to do it. Work has been zapping all my mental energy that I'm on zero when I get home.

The whole FZ-1 3DO repair thing is a major plus from last year. Getting something working I've been meaning to fix for 5 years is something, albeit it was just an ODE going in. But nothing like having 2 working 3DO's ready to do work. I have been playing Guardian War a bunch. Maybe I should finish that game first thing for 2023...

My friend also got me an Arcade 1up Street Fighter II for Christmas. The only issue with it is that LK on the second player side isn't registering. Everything else works just fine. I've already checked continuity from the button to the connector to the mainboard already. There weren't any issues there, so I'm gonna check the cable itself to the mainboard next. When that will be...? 

There's another Saturn that I'm working on personally that I'm installing another Fenrir ODE in it, along with an FRAM mod. That'll happen as soon as I can finish the other Saturn.

My wife got me a Wowstick for Christmas. It's a nice, rechargeable, mini electric screwdriver. That will help a lot with some of the work I'm doing. It's really slick, but the torque on it is a bit lacking.

I also treated myself to a few new flashcards: the Mega Everdrive Pro and a Neo Pocket GameDrive. Krikkz has been teasing a new Turbo Everdrive Pro as well, but Ced (of Fenrir fame) teased a similar project as well. I'll just have to watch both of them on Twitter (if it doesn't implode).

I didn't think I mentioned it, but I also got a PC Engine IFU case. it's complete (minus the adapter and system cards for the CD). The only thing that doesn't work is the CD-ROM², which I'm thinking the culprit is the infamous cracked gear (similar to the 3DO). I haven't cracked it open just yet, but I'm betting that even if that's not the main issue, it is damaged anyway and needs to be replaced...which brings me to the next thing...

I bought another 3D Printer. It's a resin one. I bought it back in October, but I haven't had time to try it out just yet. I have it set up in the garage and it's ready to go, but since it's winter time, it's not a good time to test it out just yet. I'm hoping to print the gear that I need to get the CD-ROM² fixed. I also have a washing station (a ultrasonic cleaner) and a curing station (my UV box for Retrobrighting) set up so it'll be all in one shot to get a print processed.

I also swapped out the joysticks in the Atomiswave cab. The sticks that I had in there kept double inputting directions, making it annoying to select games in a menu. These sticks were chosen by my son, and I think they're a good fit. I may look at getting longer joystick shafts, but for now, this works great.

I also swapped out the joystick gates as the "8 way" wasn't working as well as I wanted it to. I printed out a proper 8 way gate that fits and works perfectly. 

I'm not sure what I'll be working on in 2023, but just like any other year, I'm gonna make the most out of it. Maybe I'll start by trying more 3D modeling and part creating. I guess that could be one goal.

Well, Let's get stuff done in 2023!

Back to the 3DO FZ-1...

There was an attempt back in September 2020... Well, maybe 2 attempts... on repairing my 3DO FZ-1. I did get it back in 2017 for $80 on the fact that it powered on with no problems (unbeknownst to the seller), but when I got it home for initial testing, it wouldn't read discs. I tried to replace the gear that's notorious for breaking due to old age. So, I gave up and sidelined it.

Right around 2019 or 2020, there was an announcement for a new optical disc emulator (ODE) for the 3DO, but it was still going through development. The only ODE available for the 3DO was from a maker in Russia. It was quite pricey, and you left it to good faith on the maker that it'll be sent to you. A lot of people were giving positive reviews for it, but it does take some time for it to be shipped to you. There were 2 varieties of the ODE available: internal and external USB connection, with the price difference of $15. For a while, when I was seriously looking at finally getting one, the maker decided to do sales using only crypto currency. At that time, it was a hard pass from me. Checking recently, the maker stopped taking crypto currency and went back to regular payment methods.

Fast forward to February 2022. The announcement for the new ODE was made. Everything had been finalized, and it was ready for release. The price for it was $249. At first the price didn't excite me. I went back and forth about buying it, but then the first batch of the ODE preorder already closed. I finally bit down and got in on the second batch. I placed my order in August.

I finally got it the other day. 

Awesome! The whole time the FZ-1 was sidelined, I always wondered if the whole console might have gone bad after testing the disc drive with the replaced gear. With the ODE, I'll finally figure it out.

Before the ODE arrived, I did some prep work to make the install go faster when it came in. I bought a micro SD card extender and printed a bracket so I can get the card out easily for updates.

A closer look at the 3d printed bracket. The plastic shell that usually surrounds the extender needed to be removed to work with the print. I used a bunch of Kapton tape to secure the ribbon cable of the extender and also to protect the card slot from any shorts and the ribbon cable from any sharp edges of the FZ-1's shielding.

The SD card slot and my loaded SD card in place. It's well hidden in the AV expansion bay.

Since I removed the disc drive, I needed to retain the front panel of the drive to make the FZ-1 look complete. I removed the drive door from the drive and printed some brackets to hold the door in place with the top part of the case. With some adjustment to the door, it's hard to tell that the disc drive is missing.

The ODE uses the disc drive frame to mount. I just used the screws that originally held the disc drive's controller PCB in place. The extender has been inserted and clicked in place, and the original disc drive ribbon cables were used to connect it to the mainboard and ODE.

Power ON!

Happy to say that the FZ-1 isn't dead! The ODE brought it back to life after being sidelined for 7 years! Played a few games to test it out and everything played perfectly! I closed it up right after a quick round of Samurai Shodown.

Now, I do have a working FZ-10, and I used that from time to time to play some games (backups, mainly). But, it's something about the FZ-1 that I really like. Maybe it's the square, boxy-ish aesthetic of it, maybe because the FZ-1 is what most people think when they hear 3DO, I don't know. All I know is that it's revamping my love for this console, just like how I play a lot of oddball, non-mainstream consoles.

A few things happened last month...

Basically, I got a new office rig from my friend. 

It's not the best thing ever, but it works. It's a 2nd gen i7 (4 core, 8 threads), 8GB DDR3 RAM. It originally had an ATI graphics card, but I swapped it out for a GTX 680 that I had lying around. I was gonna use my GTX 1050 Ti, but the board doesn't play well with GTX 10 series. I also had to swap out the stock 300W power supply for a 750W one that I had hanging around. I needed it to power the GTX 680.

I also ordered a new wireless card since now I have a rig that had PCIe x1 ports. That was installed with no problems. 

I got everything installed, cables routed and cleaned up, installed the OS, and was happy with the way everything was running...then my friend texted me to be sure I was home.

Apparently, he got another rig for me.

...

It is a fancier rig. It has an AMD Ryzen 5 in it and 16GB DDR4 RAM. No video card, but my GTX 1050 Ti works just fine in it. I borrowed an SSD drive to test the whole rig up and happy to say that it runs some of the games that I wanted to play runs just fine on it with little to no hiccups. On the other rig (with the i7), the games run fine as well, just a little stuttering here and there. My old rig would barely play the games, but would freeze when the the gameplay got hectic. 

I'm waiting to order new drives for the new, new rig so I can get everything moved over. It's nice to get a way better rig than what I originally had (Extreme Quad core, 6GB DDR2 RAM). 

AV Famicom done!

Nothing really different from the last time I did one. 

I've been getting better at using my desoldering gun removing the PPU. I removed the PPU, soldered in the IC socket, and installed the NESRGB (it was already set up). I also soldered in a helper board to the multi-out.

I did a quick wire up to test connections. Other than a bit of a scratchy sound output, all connections (RGB, S-Video, and composite) worked perfect. So, before finishing up the wiring, I took the case and cleaned it up. I retrobrighted the top part of the case for a few days.

While the top was in the UV box, I went ahead and started the wiring of the NESRGB to the multi-out. I needed to modify the bottom case and shielding to make room for the wires, so I snipped of the parts of the shielding, then finished it off by getting rid of the burrs with a rotary tool. I also used the rotary tool to remove some of the plastic from the bottom case.

I wired it in the same manner I did mine, nice and tight to the board. The helper board helps with the wire up since I'm not soldering directly to the multi-out's pins.

After about 3 days in the UV box, I took the top case out and washed it. I wanted to put a power LED indicator, similar to what I did to my top loading NES. So I took an LED out from the old Famicom (that the NESRGB came from), drilled a hole in the same spot, and stuffed the LED in there.

It's a little brighter than I'd usually use, but I was out of LEDs. 

Post test shows everything works fine. The sound issue seemed to disappear as well after final assembly. How? I don't know. 

Anyway, another mod done. On to more!