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!

Hiatus. Here's the TL;DR...

Taking a bit of a break as I wait for parts.

1. Stopped work on the Sega Saturns. I tried replacing the RAM with FRAM, but ended up burning 2 of the good Saturns. Took the break after that.

2. Working on an AV Fami that I inexplicably broke a few years back. Waiting for a replacement AV Fami to move the NESRGB (verified working in another NES) to the new one.

3. Finally getting around to modding the white PC Engine with the usual mods (Composite, S-Video, RGB, volume boost, Nintendo Multi-out connecotr), but in the middle of testing, I found out that the RGB mod board I made wasn't displaying the colors properly, so I ordered a slightly higher resistor than I installed. There was a power issue that turned out to be a blown fuse. That was easily replaced and verified working. While testing the mods, the ribbon cable that connects the HuCard connector to the mainboard broke. I ordered a replacement board from a maker in France that eliminates the use of the ribbon cable to an FFC. That's another wait time.

4. A lot has been happening the past few days that pretty much put me in a depressive mood. Just a bunch of worry.

I've started working on the PC Engine, at least installing the S-Video mod board. I do have a recap kit for it, but I want to make sure that the mods that I do work perfect first.

The replacement AV Famicom is here. I just need to find time to go to my friend's place to go pick it up to start work on it. I already harvested what I needed from the bad Fami to put into the new Fami.

For the Saturns, I'm just gonna get them put together and on their way. I'm too worried that the FRAMs that my friend bought for them were all bad. It might just be that one that I used, so I'm gonna try another one from the reel. 

I guess stay tuned. I'm not sure what and when something will happen, but I will get around to stuff. 

My Neo Geo story...

I'm fighting some stupid insomnia right now, so while I wait for the melatonin to take effect, here's my Neo Geo story.

I guess it started during the whole Street Fighter II craze. Everyone was lining up to play this pretty awesome fighting game. I'd always get my ass kicked, no matter who I played as. SFII was everyone's first foray into the fighting game genre.

One day after school on a Friday, my friends and I went to the arcade to hopefully get some time in before all the best players got there and occupied the SFII machine for the rest of the night. While exchanging cash for tokens, I noticed a big, red machine. It seemed to have 4 games that were selectable, including one called Fatal Fury. A few people were playing it. It looked Street Fighter like, but only had 3 selectable players. 

I took a chance and played a few rounds. The game felt...stiff...the first time playing it. I wasn't used to the scaling of the characters, being able to go to the background and foreground for the fight. The move marquee was there, so I practiced with Terry Bogard, getting the Power Wave and Crack Shot moves down. All in all, the gameplay was fun, but really didn't make it that far into the game before going back to SFII. 

A few months or so later, Art of Fighting came out on the big red. It had many attributes that were similar to SFII, but the whole stamina gauge, it felt more strategy than fighting, and I just wanted to spam fireballs at my opponent. I wasn't a huge fan of that game, so back to SFII...and I think Mortal Kombat was out then as well.

As time went on, more games were released for the Neo Geo. Fatal Fury 2 was the next game that I played, and immediately fell in love with. As a typical male teen, I used Mai Shiranui as my main. It was mainly for her sprites, but after learning her moves, I mained her because it was easier to do combo moves. Kim Kaphwan was my second. Just gotta love that air kick move he does.

Now, it wasn't just for the fighting games that were good. The Neo Geo had some action games and puzzle games that I loved playing. In college, I fell in love with Bust a Move. It was a unique puzzle game that I just couldn't stop playing at the arcade. Magical Drop II was another one that was fun to play. But the fighting game I loved playing was The King of Fighters '94. KoF brought all the Neo Geo fighting game characters into one fighting game. 

With the release of KoF '94, I felt I needed to invest into getting a Neo Geo AES (home console). My friend, Sam, had one that he was selling off along with KoF '94 and another game. I bought it from him and played the hell out of it. I wanted to get more games, but all the games were pricey. And, since it was before internet shopping became a thing, I had to mail order games. The risk was the same as it is today. In most cases today, you could always do a charge back or dispute it. When sending out a check for a mail order, your risk never seeing your game or your money ever again.

Since it was hard to get another game without major risk, I ended up trading the Neo Geo AES for a modified PlayStation and Tekken 2...Biggest mistake of my life. I do love that PlayStation (I still have that thing, modded with an Xstation), but I still miss having that Neo Geo.

To sate my Neo Geo appetite, I tried emulators with my slow Windows '95 machine. At the time, the better Neo Geo emulator was Neo Rage X. To get it to run on my old computer, there was a lot of setting that I needed to change on my computer in order to get it to run at a decent speed with minimal frame skipping. I also didn't have a decent controller, so playing Breakers (another fighting game) was hard with a keyboard.

From there on, I've been trying to get my hands on another Neo Geo home console. However, because of the niche market the Neo Geo has, it was very costly. I gave up on that dream and kept on using emulators to play games. I've even gone so far as to get Neo CD games burned and play them on my Dreamcast via emulation. That was probably the best I could do to play any Neo Geo game. 

It was probably about the same time I discovered Neo-Geo.com. It was there that I discovered their marketplace, but also, I learned about consolizing arcade boards. Through the market place, I bought some of the Neo Geo MVS (arcade) carts and an MVS board. That's about the time I started this blog.

I acquired all the parts that was needed to consolize the MVS board and built it up. I was very excited to be playing KoF '94 again like I did with my AES. Shortly, I bought a different MVS board and consolized that, using parts from my first project. I also went ahead and bought up a bunch of games as well, ending up with a very hefty collection of Neo Geo games to play.

Later, I was able to get a Neo Geo CD console for insanely cheap, including free shipping. It did not have an adapter for it, but I managed to find one that works fine. All the old burns that I made for the Dreamcast emulator all worked perfect with the Neo CD. 

A few years later, I finally achieved something that I've always wanted since the first day I discovered the Neo Geo: An actual MVS arcade cabinet! I've already highlighted the plight I had with it to get it to where it was in a better working condition today...mechanically. Cosmetically, I still need to work on that. 

And here we are, about 30 or so years later. I still have my consolized MVS 2-slot board, my MVS-4 cabinet, and a Neo CD. I've since bought a 161-in-1 cartridge for the arcade cab, a NeoSD for my consolized Neo Geo, and a Neo SD Loader for the Neo CD. 

Once in a while, I will power on one of them and play a game of KoF, Metal Slug, or Bust A Move for hours, still having the exciting feeling that I had when I was a teenager. I don't think that feeling will ever leave me. 

....If the story went wonky, it's because the melatonin kicked in...

The story thus far...

It's been a minute...anyway.

Figure I needed to finalize the console collections by obtaining this:

 Yeah, I know I didn't need it, but I got it anyway. It's already set up underneath the PS5 where my XBox One formerly sat. I'm using the One to get my son to get better grades and clean his room.

I've also been working on some Sega Saturn stuff. My friend had some consoles, all taken apart. Optical pick ups on the disc drives are questionable. I figured I should test all the disc drives first, then figure out the mainboards after. 

Not gonna lie: it's pretty daunting.

I've made some nice discovery while testing the drives. Here are some of them:

- Without a disc drive connected or properly connected (properly seated FFC), the sound from the Saturn is slowed down to almost <50%. Video is fine, just the sound is eerie sounding. 

- Certain drives will work with certain board revisions. From what I thought wasn't working with one mainboard, it'll work perfectly on another.

- You can bypass the trap board with mainboards using Sanyo disc drives. 

Of the 17 disc drives I've tested, 8 of them work fine. All that's missing is the FFCs for said disc drives to finish up all the consoles up.

It'll be a bit.

Newest addition to the console collection...

How should I start this?

Oh yeah. After little over a year, I was finally able to get a PlayStation 5! I had to drive a little over an hour after work to a new store that opened. I kept checking inventory at said store throughout the day. By the time I was off, a little over half the inventory the store started with was sold. 

There was a 15 minute traffic jam that I had to navigate through. I was able to jam through an album in that traffic. I was starting to worry since everyone else was getting off of work and possibly racing there to pick one up. 

Long story short, the store still had inventory, and I was finally able to snag it at a good price for the bundle you see in the pic. It came with:

- PS5 Disc version

- DualSense controller

- Pulse 3D headphones

- 12 month PlayStation Plus card

- 1 month PlayStation Now

The drive back home was long, so when I did get back home, I just unboxed it to snap a pic of it, then went to bed. After I got home from work the next day, I rearranged my entertainment center and set up the PS5 to its final resting place. Turned it on, set it up, then let it update whatever needed to update.

I'll mess with it a little more in the morning. But yeah, a console that I thought I had to wait another year to acquire is now in my collection. I'm glad I started adding the free PS5 games for PlayStation Plus members to my library. Gonna start downloading some to the console tomorrow.

SNES Mini RGB + S-Video bypass installation...

My friend had some SNES Minis that he got that he wanted cleaned and checked. I suggested while I had it opened up for cleaning that I should get Voultar's SNES 1CHIP/Mini RGB Bypass Kit installed. He ordered some boards for me to install and as soon as they got in, I got to work.

I got the Minis taken apart, scrubbed the cases down, and brushed the mainboard and shielding clean. While waiting for the cases to dry, I went ahead and started the bypass mod.

That red PCB is the bypass kit that I linked to. Fairly simple to install. I had to snip some long component leads that would've gotten in the way. All that was left was soldering the PCB in place.

I was doing 2 Minis at the same time. These pics are from the second install. In this pic, although it's hard to make out, I changed out C11 for the capacitor that was ordered with the kit. To the left of R1/C1 are VIAs that was used to get the RGBS signals from.

Here's where the Luma and Chroma signals from. This is the top of the mainboard, so slightly longer wires were needed to route to the bottom of the board. Luma (red wire) was a little more hard to install. With the heatsink removed, soldering the wire was easier. 

So, on the first install, I got the wires to go through the VIAs and RGB working perfectly. For this console, after soldering the wires the first time, I got off colors, on all connections (composite, S-video, RGB). I removed the wires from the RGBS and tested again with just composite, thinking that something might be wrong with the PCB itself. With composite, the colors were back to normal. Trying S-Video was also displaying proper colors. 

...

As shown in the picture above, I used different wire and soldered the wires to the top of the VIAs. I tested it once again. This time, all connections showed the proper colors!

Final installation. Not as the clean of an install as the first one, but still cleaner than what I used to do.

There's one more Mini that I have to do (my own), but that's being sidelined for now. My friend also asked me to clean up and test a Sega Saturn. I just finished the teardown before posting this blog, so I'm gonna dive into that next...after a nap...