N64 RGB mod request

i just checked my n64, and is cpu-04, so its fine to do the rgb mod right? im also interested in the job

 

Yes it is.

la-li-lu-le-lo tested the N64 I did work on for him and found it works great visually. He is using a SNES SCART cable to handle output to a TV.

 

Right. What APE forgot to mention is that mine is an NUS-CPU-04 as well. It seems that there was some contention about whether the CPU-04 could natively output composite sync, but apparently it can. It must, because that's the only kind of sync my Sony PVM accepts.

I'll be posting some pictures and a video soon.

 

APE, do you do TOSLINK mods as well? I'm looking to do TOSLINK and RGB mods to all the systems i can, and depending on cost, this would seriously help me out.

 

Optical/coax? I don't see why not. Never done one before but I'm familiar with the idea and implementation on other consoles. I'd need to find information on the N64's audio ICs to see how/if it could be done but if it is possible I can do it.

Problem is that the chips that are used to output digital audio typically are $10-20 each unless you buy a few hundred at a time.

http://gamesx.com/wiki/doku.php?id=av:dreamcastda
^The Cirrus Logic chip used here isn't dirt cheap but isn't exactly expensive either. I'd have to find out what DAC the N64 uses and pray it is an "off the shelf" part.

 

There was a thread a while back talking about adding a toslink output to an SNES.

 

I saw the page of someone who did it a few years back. For his work he needed a specific model of SNES as the audio circuitry changed a bit over time but I'd imagine with some work it could be adapted for both.

The only problem he seemed to encounter was that the frequency output by the SNES for digital purposes was off by <100hz IIRC. Didn't seem to stop the receiver from working with the audio though.

 

Well, I'm honestly not too worried about cost. this has been a project that's been a LONG time coming.

For the N64, I'm looking to put the modded motherboard in the Gold edition Toys R Us case. I want it both RGB and TOSLINK (optical) modded, as well as any other mods that might be available these days (i know i want to change the LED to blue to match my other systems)

I'm also looking to fully mod out as many of my other systems as possible:

1. N64 (RGB, TOSLINK, Blue LED, Region mod)
2. Saturn (TOSLINK, Blue Power LED, Purple or Green Access LED, Region Free Bios or auto-region changer, better battery)
3. Dreamcast (Region Free Bios with Blue swirl if possible, TOSLINK)
4. Super Famicom (Case swap, change S/PDIF Coax to TOSLINK)
5. NES (RGB Mod?)

I'll be doing my systems one at a time, but i'm really strapped for time with my class load.

 

SO yeah, APE, if you are interested let me know

 

I'd like to make a request to add something to this article. Could you include a comparison to s-video between the two? I find that alot of articles/videos/forum topics only compare composite to RGB and it isn't complete to just show those two, when s-video is quite good if you have the cables (snes ones work just fine and easy to come by).

I'm not sure if someone in the UK has s-video as an option but if that's the case, is there anyone who has done RGB and can compare it with s-video instead of the composite since we all already know comp is crap.

 

Perhaps a bit late, but you can program the XC9536XL using a one of those simple DIY LPT JTAG cables you can find schematics for on the internet. I used this one when programming the CPLD for the DAC I'm working on now.

You'll need to power the CPLD with 3.3v on pin 21 and 31 aswell while programming. I used some 6-pin molex connector in the PC. No need to connect any other ground point than the JTAG one, all of them are electrically connected in the CPLD.

Xilinx Impact, the programming software, is freely available on Xilinx website. You'll have to register though, unless you can find a working xilinx.com account on bugmenot.

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By the way, right now I'm trying to figure out what the different sync- and clamp outputs on the DAC are good for. Afaik there's no separate sync channels in SCART RGB, it uses the same composite sync signal as composite video. Anyone happen to know?

 

You're right, bit late as I do have an appropriate programmer but with the caveat of not having an adapter for the requisite CPLD packaging. I do have that circuit built haphazardly with Impact installed for programming a recently installed 360 glitch chip so I guess I don't have much of an excuse now eh?

I can't say for certain but I want to say C-SYNC is just stripped from the composite video signal. One can use both more or less interchangeably but C-SYNC appears to produce better results than composite video. Is there any particular reason you'd want to use another sync signal for this mod?

 

I did the mod and I followed MMMonkey guide but i get no picture at all on the tv with SCART, but I do get image with component.