I received the switch this afternoon and have had a chance to do some initial testing. Results: PC Engine Duo-R :: RGB Mod and SCART cable by doujindance on ebay :: Success Genesis with 32X :: SCART cable by RetroGamingCables.co.uk :: Success Sega Saturn :: SCART cable by retro_console_accessories on eBay :: Success Neo Geo Omega CMVS :: SCART cable by ArcadeWorks.net :: Fail - Unstable sync with LM1881 switch off, no picture with LM1881 switch on Dreamcast :: Hanzo + Kenzei + Generic Male/Male SCART cable :: Fail - garbled sound, picture extremely dim with LM1881 switch off, no picture with LM1881 switch on Jaguar :: SCART cable by 20112012abc on eBay :: Fail - garbled sound, no picture PS1 :: Sony official SCART cable (SCPH-1052) :: Fail - distored sound, no picture with LM1881 turned on, sync not stable with LM1881 turned off Video 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsNI6P6h7Lc Video 2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAbbo760VpE PS1 :: SCART cable by retro_console_accessories on eBay (uses Luma for sync) :: Success with and without LM1881 N64 :: RGB mod by myself, Nintendo Official DOL-013 SCART cable :: Fail - distored sound, no picture with or without LM1881 N64 :: SCART cable by retro_console_accessories on eBay :: Success with and without LM1881 NES :: NESRGB mod by Yurkie, Nintendo Official DOL-013 SCART cable :: Fail - sound is OK, no picture with or without LM1881 NES :: SCART cable by retro_console_accessories on eBay :: Success with and without LM1881 SNES :: RGB mod by myself, Nintendo Official DOL-013 SCART cable :: Fail - sound is OK, no picture with or without LM1881 SNES :: SCART cable by retro_console_accessories on eBay :: Success with and without LM1881
Thanks for your effort! Most of the problems are because of insufficient power. To make sure it isn't power issue you can try this: You need to power up switch using console which doesn't have any problem with switch but using priority hack display picture of console, you have problem with. For instance: put Jaguar into first SCART and Genesis in second (or vice versa, I am still at work cannot check right now), turn on both consoles and check how does it work. My notes: 1. Dreamcast: I didn't tried 31kHz RGB VGA, both SCART cables I have for Dreamcast works (one is official, one made by Pelican http://www.ebay.com/itm/121295189349?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649). Official cable output somehow is too dark (even if I connect it directly to my XRGB) 2. Jaguar: SCART cable from http://www.ebay.com/itm/251393709151?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649 doesn't supply power on SCART pin 8 3. PlayStation: official cable doesn't work for me even if connected directly to XRGB (similar sync issues). Unofficial is perfect (schematics taked from here: http://members.optusnet.com.au/eviltim/gamescart/gamescart.htm) 4. My N64 is yet to be modded for RGB
Regarding the Dreamcast + Hanzo + Kenzei: it works with my cheap Bandridge SCART selector, no LM1881 in the chain. Jaguar also works with the Bandridge, no LM1881. Neo Geo works with Bandridge + LM1881.
Sony SCPH-1052 works with Bandridge + externally powered LM1881 Nintendo DOL-013 works with Bandridge + externally powered LM1881 Cable with external power and LM1881:
Interesting, it's manual switch, right? Did you tried trick with power from different connector for all non-working consoles?
I tried the trick as you suggested. Results: PS1 with Sony SCPH-1052 in slot 1 PC Engine Duo-R in slot 2 Turn on PC-Engine, then turn on PS1 gives picture and normal sound, but picture is slightly out of sync - jerks up and down a bit every 10 seconds or so. LM1881 switch on seems to decrease it a bit but not entirely. Fail Neo Geo in slot 1 PC Engine Duo-R in slot 2 No picture and some high pitched static noise - LM1881 switch makes no difference. Fail Dreamcast + Hanzo + Kenzei in slot 1 PC Engine Duo-R in slot 2 Picture and sound OK with LM1881 switch on and off Success N64 and Nintendo DOL-013 in slot 1 PC Engine Duo-R in slot 2 Picture and sound OK with LM1881 switch on. No picture with LM1881 switch off. Success NES and Nintendo DOL-013 in slot 1 PC Engine Duo-R in slot 2 Picture and sound OK with LM1881 switch on. No picture with LM1881 switch off. Success SNES and Nintendo DOL-013 in slot 1 PC Engine Duo-R in slot 2 Picture and sound OK with LM1881 switch on. No picture or sound with LM1881 switch off. Success Jaguar in slot 1 PC Engine Duo-R in slot 2 Picture is shaky and has scrolling distortion with LM1881 turned on. No picture or sound with LM1881 turned off. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIHOMVn2huo Fail
Did you removed LM1881 from your SCART->MiniDIN adapter? I've noticed a lot of issues when I was testing daisy-chaining with two LM1881 turned on.
So most important consoles for the moment are: 1. Dreamcast: just rechecked everything with my SCART leads - I see those problems even with 15kHz RGB, dunno how I missed that, maybe some other console was turned on at the time. Looks like there is some pulsation on 12V power line, it drives multiplexors and LM1881 crazy. For test I put 220mF electrolytic capacitor to voltage regulator output, and it improved situation a lot. 2. Jaguar: looking into it. 3. Playstation: will try to reproduce their SCART schematics and to understand what they are doing there, no idea why official SCART cable doesn't work even if connected directly to my XRGB. 4. DOL-013 SCART cable: looks like Nintendo does some power manipulations there, need to see internals 5. Neo Geo Omega CMVS (I don't have that one, and from what I know these are quite expensive) Looks like external DC jack wasn't that bad idea after all, I planned to have one in initial design . Maybe I will get myself that Bandridge SCART for testing, it's interesting how did they resolve similar problems in their design.
I have this exact scart switch and cant fault it at all especially considering the price. How does it compare to superg's device any difference in picture quality?
@Superg Though I'd really like to test out your switch and give feedback on what I find I only have 2 consoles in which i could do this. Would it be worth your while me only testing consoles that have already been done and proven to work? I mean don't get me wrong id still love to be able to test it but with the console i have already shown to work and the faults with other consoles not working (I hope that doesn't come across as me bashing it) I'm not sure it would be worth while in the long run for you and for me since i only make such a small amount of money if you see where I'm comming from
@STARBAR Don't worry, it's good airs found some problems, I am working on it . I totally understand that majority of people want to have fully working device. @BlockABoots At least one of the reason is: 24 / 5 > 24 / 8
Would it be possible to add the dc jack as an either or option (as in having the switch powered by the consoles or the external power jack)? I had initially bought a convertor cable from retro_accessories on ebay with the sync stripper included and ended up having to remove it as some of my consoles were not powering it. I cannot remember exactly which ones they were now, but it was more than 1.
@mickcris - I believe this is what superg is thinking about doing. @BlockABoots - I did not really test for picture or audio quality but from what I saw the gscartsw had great picture quality on the consoles I had success with. Be aware also, the Bandridge has some issues: the built in red indicator LED robs some power from SCART, which can cause problems when combined with LM1881 that is not externally powered. Also, when the fifth SCART port is populated it sends power to other ports, causing various issues. Mods to remedy: cut the leads to the LED and cut a trace on the PCB for the 5th port (picture below from eightbitminiboss on the Shmups forum). The gscartsw is well worth the cost over the Bandridge for reasons other than picture/audio quality - eight ports, daisy chaining ability, plus automatic switching. @superg - I have not performed these mods on my Bandridge yet but you are welcome to do so when you receive it.
Kenzei can't power a LM1881 circuit alone, it needs to be modified. It doesn't output 5v on the pin8. I don't think that It's reliable. A short wire from the middle of the switch to the pin8 of the Scart connector should be soldered to allow 5v output required for that circuit. TBH I would use the EL1883 instead which works with lower voltages but it's SOIC. I think this will solve your problem without a trick...
superg - I have the DOL-013 working with your v1.0 switch. After doing some research it looks like the problem is a combination of three things. These pages helped: http://www.mmmonkey.co.uk/official-pal-gamecube-rgb-cable-on-ntsc-consoles/ http://retrorgb.com/snesminirgb.html 1.) My NTSC SNES Mini does not output CSYNC on pin 3 of the AV Multiout 2.) PAL AV Multiout has +12V on pin 3 of the AV Multiout 3.) ...and DOL-013 expects there to be +12V on pin 3 of the AV Multiout (and maps this to SCART pin 8) So I performed these mods: 1.) Wire CSYNC to pin 3 of the AV Multiout on my SNES Mini 2.) Joined pin 16 and pin 8 in DOL-013 (pin 16 was getting +5V so now pin 8 is as well) 3.) The red wire in the picture above is coming from AV Multiout pin 3 so I routed this to composite video pin on the DOL-013. Result is clear, stable picture and audio with your switch (LM1881 switch in on or off position does not have any effect).
Got your Bandridge yesterday, going to look into it. I see, so all your problems were because of different AV-Multiout pinout for NTSC consoles (and DOL-13 is obviously PAL). My GC and SNES are PAL that's why it was fine for me. NTSC GC doesn't output RGB so I didn't bothered with it, as of NTSC SNES - I have properly routed 3rd party cable for it. I always knew that PAL and NTSC Nintendo consoles have different MultiAV layout, but somehow due to the fact I've spend most of my time in Europe I didn't thought about it . Ok, so DOL-13 problems sorted out, thank you for this! Dreamcast: as of now, I put 220uF capacitor on voltage regulator output, and it works. Jaguar: it works here, no idea what can be wrong on your side - is your Jaguar cable routed like here: http://members.optusnet.com.au/eviltim/gamescart/gamescart.htm#jaguar? You need to make sure you have ~8V on SCART pin 8 and some voltage on SCART pin 16.
