Console Mods

[Anonymous No.651886]

I have a model 2 genesis that I would like to get better picture quality out of. Should I AV mod it, just get the AV cables you can get now, or is there an S-Video mod? What are you favorite tutorials about this.

Also console mod general I suppose.

[Anonymous No.651923]

>>651886
I've been thinking about overclocking my Model 1 genesis, I want to play Zero Tolerance, Road Rash and Hang on 10 mhz. But im not very sure about it, how hard it is?

[Anonymous No.651929]

>>651886
There are no s-video cables for the Genesis 2. Its multi-out port has fuck all for options. It is possible to do an s-video mod on a model 2, but be advised that there are MANY variations of the model 2, and some are just complete shit as far as base video quality and sound quality are concerned. There are audio enhancement modifications too, though. I have a Genesis that's ripe for an s-video mod on my shelf right now, but it's been "ready" for six goddamn years. Lost the initiative to bother building the mod board for it. Maybe some day, when I care again.

[Anonymous No.651930]

No idea on either question, but why wouldn't you just go and RGB mod the thing instead?

[Anonymous No.651941]

>>651929
Didn't know there were variations of the model 2. From what I have seen you just have to solder some copper wire.
>>651930
I dont have RGB input on my tv

[Anonymous No.651973]

>>651930
It doesn't need a RGB mod.

[Anonymous No.652007]

>>651941
Here is a pretty shot of one of my mutant Genesis 2 boards. The chip there is a signal filter, but damned if I know what it's filtering.

[Anonymous No.652038]

You can buy AV cables for it, or just add an S-video port.

http://www.damomonster.com/Mod_Pages/SegaMegaDriveM2.html

[Anonymous No.652092]

>>652038
Hey thanks for this. I just wish he was a bit clearer with the grounds.

[Anonymous No.652415]

Just got done overhauling my old Colecovision.

Replaced the memory chips with modern 5V versions.
Replaced the bios with a custom one that skips the 10sec intro screen before starting a game.
Added in a switch to the CPU's WAIT pin to give it a pause feature. Had to use a 4-pin/2-position switch so I could disconnect the system's audio and run it through the switch's "unpaused" position or else wow what a noise.
Put in a component video mod since the video chip outputs color difference natively and just needs to be amped.
Put in audio taps to go with the component, both wired to the same signal since the system only does mono sound.

Pretty much the whole system uses 5V now with the exception of the RF modulator I no longer use.

So to finish off the mod I took apart a 5V power supply and installed the circuit into some of the empty space by the controller bays & put the jack beside the original one.

Really easy system to mod. All the components are standard off-the-shelf stuff.

[Anonymous No.652438]

>>651886

They output RGB, so why not look in to getting a screen that can display it instead of fucking around with the console to get worse picture quality?

[Anonymous No.652493]

>>652007
Could you do more pictures of that? full board back/front, and some pics where that filter boards serials are visible?

I've NEVER seen such a board... nor have I seen a Genesis 2 with a YM2612 come to think of it.

[Anonymous No.652565]

What the hell is AV, do you mean composite?

If so, go to svideo, the gap between it and composite is much larger than svideo and rgb

>>652415
That's awesome, all I've done is svideo and a TSOP flash on a hueg. One day I'll be motivated enough to do a coax audio out on it.

[Anonymous No.652586]

Not OP but if I were to get my Genesis modded with RBG, what kind of output would you guys suggest? Most CRTs TVs in the US seem to have component as the highest quality input, unless I get something like a PVM. Or since non of my consoles are RGB modded, would it be best to just get an adapter of some sort?

[Anonymous No.652584]

>>652415
Damn, that's actually cool as hell, especially for a console most people don't even know existed

How experienced do you have to be to do stuff like this? Did you learn it off a tutorial or you just figured out shit yourself?

[Anonymous No.652602]

>>652586
The Genesis does RGB on it's own, so you just need a cable.

[Anonymous No.652609]

>>652584
Same guy again, I just wanna be able to know my way around consoles/circuitboards in general, where do I start?

[Anonymous No.653465]

>>652584

Most of it is well documented on the net and a lot is adapted from that. Some of it's just knowing the tech specs & pinouts of the parts. Like the video output is way too weak to drive a TV (the modulator boosts while it combines to give you the RF signal), and amps are simple circuits so you just go ahead and do the obvious.

You don't have to be very experienced to follow a tutorial. There are several, though most AV mods out there seem to be concerned with pulling just composite out of the modulator.

You do need to be somewhat practiced with soldering and desoldering and frankly the latter is a lot more difficult. The Coleco's solder pads are ridiculously fragile and some will very likely come right off if you use a vacuum desolderer.

[Anonymous No.653551]

>>652493
It's currently in storage. Here's a few more pics I took the night I had it out.

[Anonymous No.653561]

>>653551

[Anonymous No.653570]

>>653561
Different camera.

[Anonymous No.653576]

>>653570

[Anonymous No.653591]

>>653576
Now, it's not DEEP in storage, and I could PROBABLY dig it out and maybe take some high resolution pictures or video of it, but I do have a horrible job to get ready to go to... barf.

[Anonymous No.653621]

Also here's a thread someone started years ago about it with more info on the IC.
http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showthread.php?208650-WTF-is-this-Sega-Genesis-model-2

[Anonymous No.653656]

I've modded my model 1 genesis to play games at 10MHz and output in s-video. I mostly followed this guy's tutorials: http://www.damomonster.com/ . I did a few things differently though:
- I added a pause switch
- Instead of severing the clock pin of the CPU from the board and grabbing the stock clock from there, I only severed the clock pin's trace and grabbed the stock clock from the cartridge slot.

To those of you thinking of doing some mods yourselves, here are some tips:
- Be wary of the board version you have. I originally attempted to mod a VA7 model 1 genesis, but those are internally closer to model 2's than model 1's. VA7's also have terrible audio (like the model 2) but this can be fixed by rebuilding the amplification circuit
- never ever use single strand wire - it's too stiff, and you may rip components off the board. I ripped the CPU clock and video chroma pins off their respective chips this way. use multistrand wire instead and twist the ends
- If you replace the LED, make sure you figure out in advance if you're going to need to add any resistors.
- Be mindful of getting the case to close at the end

The most stressful part of modding I find is drilling the holes. Luckily the plastic is a lot sturdier than it looks, but I suck at getting the holes to line up.

[Anonymous No.654240]

>>653656
Thats what I am most stressed about honestly. I dont want to crack the plastic. Also in damo monster video for the s-video mod on the model 2 I cant tell if he just bridges the ground across all of the AV jacks. It's in this video >>652038

[Anonymous No.654272]

>>653591
ooh, it's a VA2. It just occurred to me that I've never seen any of those.

Thanks a lot for the pictures!

If you do get it back out, can you take some pics of
- the back with the console serial
- the back of the PCB, and a closeup of any 837-x or 171-x serials? I'm building a DB out of those.

[Anonymous No.654293]

>>654240
just took apart my model 2 genesis and found out I cant s-video mod this chip anyway. damnit that really sucks.

[Anonymous No.654341]

>>654272
Well, as fate would have it, the box with my Genesisisisises is right in the front of my closet, so it won't be hard to get to, but I have to do it after work around 2AM EST tonight, since I have to leave in a half hour, and I don't even have my shoes on or my lunch packed. I'll keep the thread open.

My resources are a BlackBerry Z10 (all the wiiiide shots), a Sony Mavica FD-200, a Magnavox VHS camcorder, and a Canon flatbed scanner that doesn't freak out when scanning objects with depth.

Anyway, I'll haul the systems out right now so I don't forget.

[Anonymous No.654403]

>>654240
You can just use a common ground for all of your mods. That way you only need one ground wire to go into the top of the case. Things can get crowded otherwise.

[Anonymous No.654478]

>>654341
That's all cool - as long as all the board and IC labels are clearly readable, I don't mind what kind of pix you do, it's up to you. It would be unspeakably awesome if you'd end up making a gallery like this guy does out of his hardware:
http://retrojunkie.net/

Everything is clearly readable on those, it's fucking awesome, a damn goldmine.

Maybe just scanning the board is the easiest, but I don't know if the board would get enough lightning that way, it would end up too dark...

[Anonymous No.654529]

>>654478
Hm. I'll clear my lab desk, a I have an adjustable light above it, but at the moment it is full of random junk and bullets. I have six Genesis 2 systems at the moment. Yeesh.

Shitword, I do not want to go to work... Sundays are the worst. Ah well, I'll be back in ten hours.

[Anonymous No.654546]

>>654529
Nice collection! I'd buy some of those Genny 2s if shipping to Europe wouldn't end up costing more than the machines.... I'm missing those from my collection.

[Anonymous No.655763]

bump

[Anonymous No.656750]

>>654403
I really cant tell whats going on in this picture. Do you have a ground coming from every jack and then have that soldered into one ground wire? And then that grounded?

[Anonymous No.656971]

>>656750
Here's another view so you can see what the ports are. There are only two black wires coming from the board to the top of the case. In >>654403 , the black wire which carries ground is the one attached to the right audio port (red wire, at least I had that color). From there I hop from port to port with black wire to ground everything that needs it, including the switch on the back for the LED and the switch on the side towards the front, which is the pause switch. The other black wire coming out of the back switch goes to the CPU clock pin. I really wish I'd had more than 3 colors of wire to work with.

[Anonymous No.657365]

>>654546
We might be able to work something out. I'm not a "merchant". Let me get cracking on the photos of the VA2. I was late getting back because I have a wonderful new slow leak in my right front tire. Oh goody, I love buying new tires. They take a bite out of my goddamn paycheck.

[Anonymous No.657385]

>>651886
>AV mod
>not just getting a SCART cable and converter

[TheBigGameHunter !!5SgPkpPAhDA No.657391]

>>651930

You don't need to mod the model 1 sega genesis for RGB. It does it native if you have a euro scart cable to bnc connector.

Overclock switch is a must though. Gunstar heroes is so much better without the slowdown.

[Anonymous No.657437]

>>657391
Pisses me off that American TVs didn't go the RGB+sync route. Fucking component feels like the industry in the US was being different for the sake of being contrary to the rest of the world. I'm pretty sure neither of my TVs (which have component inputs) will take genuine RGB, and nobody who owns either model said anything online about them other than bitching about the warranties. Anyway, the video synced to my desktop, so now it's time to upload. I'll put the photos up in flickr, I guess, since I still have an account there.

[Anonymous No.657474]

>>657437

Scart is a horrible connector anyhow. The quality is worth it though.

We probably didn't adopt the scart standard because it can carry any signal it wants.

[Anonymous No.657534]

>>657474
SCART is convenient as long as it's not being plugged into a display directly.

I had the plan to get SCART cables for all of my systems, get a SCART to VGA converter, and just go with that, or SCART to HDMI.

Anybutts, here's the photo gallery.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/misterxiado/sets/72157633468475507/

[Anonymous No.657537]

The video will be here:

http://youtu.be/_k-aHAZcEKo

...as soon as it finishes uploading and processing.

[Anonymous No.657553]

>>657534

It still sucks. The connectors are very finicky.

This becomes a major problem when you have a lot of consoles and need to buy a scart switch. A lot of scart switches will not cut it due to shit connection.

[Anonymous No.657564]

Just output composite. You ain't missing that much.

[Anonymous No.657585]

I can't stand watching people mutilate original hardware just for the sake of cleaner output

emulate if you want higher resolution than the retail system actually put out, stop fucking up original hardware

[Anonymous No.657586]

>>657553

Europe seems to have this problem with a lot of cabling standards. They make fuck-off huge connectors that are so bulky and massive that they bend their own pins out of shape, or worse yet bend the receptacle out of shape.

[Anonymous No.657607]

>>657586

It is the same with the svideo standard. The commodore s-video standard was essentially two phono plugs. Why didn't we get that for S-video?

Instead we get those 4 little pins that like to bend themselves if you don't position them correctly rendering them useless.

>>657534


No crystal clear audio mod? For shame.

[Anonymous No.657609]

>>657586
Can't say it didn't happen to me when I was younger, but now I'm a lot more careful and such things never happen because I make sure there's enough room for the socket not to bend.

[Anonymous No.657749]

>>657607
I don't use that Genesis. Why would I waste time modifying it? My job sucks all the fucking fun out of my existence.

[Anonymous No.657981]

>>657534
Thank you very much! those pics are VERY helpful.

Also, judging by the video encoder, you might not be able to mod that machine for s-video.

[Anonymous No.658053]

>>657981
I know this, which is why I never use it. The system I have marked for modding has a note from my past self with a bunch of shit on it.

[Anonymous No.658071]

>>657585
While normally I'd agree with you, I make the exception for hardware that's RF only. My NES Toploader is much nicer after I got it to output composite.

[Anonymous No.658096]

>>658071
eeeeeeehhhh. I can see that, but the toploaders are rare, aren't they? Carving one up just for better output feels wrong...

[Anonymous No.658110]

>>658096
As long as it's a clean job that looks professional in the end, it's not mutilating.

Technology is not fucking magic, and doing console mods takes about the least amount of soldering or engineering skill imaginable.

I mean, unless you want to make a flashlight. That's beyond elementary.

[Anonymous No.658114]

>>658110
But it's still modding the original hardware.

Then again I'm a faggot who gets all Ship of Theseus about even reprinting labels.

[Anonymous No.658115]

>>658096
I also have a Japanese AV Famicom from Japan which works just fine with a Genesis model 1 AC adaptor and a NES to Famicom converter, but AV Famicoms are also pretty expensive, especially shipping from Japan.

The Toploader should have had composite to begin with, so any proper mod that does a clean job is fine with me.

[Anonymous No.658405]

>>657585
I'm not running a museum. And it's not like model 2's are rare.

[Anonymous No.658415]

I've got a composite modded famicom that I bought, it's pretty nice.
Also did a really simple composite mod on my TG16 to avoid having to spend heaps on the addon for it.
Plus there's my MVS board wired to BNC cables for my PVM TV

[Anonymous No.658457]

>>658115
I really want to do a composite mod for the top loader but I can't figure out how to properly hook it up to the multi-out connector and I'm afraid the way I think it will work is too simple to be correct.

[Anonymous No.658460]

So... I'm starting to get confused by all of this technical jargon, so I'm just going to skip ahead and ask:

If I have a Model 1 Genesis, what do I have to do to get it to output S-Video?
NOT RGB, NOT component, but S-Video.

[Anonymous No.658472]

>>658460
Your best course of action would be getting an RGB to S-Video converter and let it do the job for you, since installing an encoder on the board would require extensive knowledge of soldering stuff, pins, wires and whatnot.

[Anonymous No.658483]

>>658472
>RGB to S-Video converter
Right, that's what I'd figured.

Would that be something like this, or would it require an actual box of some kind?

[Anonymous No.658493]

>>658483
I think you're right about the box, that thing looks like it gets the S-Video from the SCART plug, giving you dick from a Genesis.

[Anonymous No.658756]

>>658483
thats rca/s-video(female) to scart(male) convertor, so no

[Anonymous No.659549]

>>658460
Probably pull Luma and Chroma off of the video encoder, if possible, or filter some other output until you get them, then run that to an s-video jack.

Genesis systems with the HIGH DEFINITION GRAPHICS stamped on the ring are supposed to have fuckawesome sound capabilities compared to later versions.

[Anonymous No.662778]

Also this.

http://www.damomonster.com/Mod_Pages/SegaMegaDrive.html