SNES Mini RGB mod — NO AMP

I just got a SNES mini the other day because of its superior RGB video quality over the older SNES models. But unfortunately the SNES mini doesn't output RGB natively, although it clearly has an RGB chip inside. I was weighing my options for how I would perform the RGB mod when I noticed that my SNES mini didn't have the vertical/horizontal white line issue, so I decided to skip out on the retroRGB amp, save $20, and just do the mod the simpler way with just a few wires and resistors. This would prove to be easier said than done!

Here's the motherboard removed and ready for surgery!


Close up of the RGB chip... Yeah, it's small, but how hard could it to be to solder onto?! ......


C-Sync comes off of pin 18, Red from pin 20, Green from pin 22, and Blue from pin 24. I decided to start off with blue since pin 24 is on the edge. HERE GOES NOTHING!

It looks a bit ugly because I tinned my iron a little too much, but it was a really strong solder joint and I checked continuity with my multi-meter and there were no bridge connections. I left it like this because I knew this was a more challenging soldering job and it was technically perfect. On to the next pin!

This connection was much nicer. Now I got the hang of it! So I went ahead and got all the connections soldered up. Make no mistake—there was lots of cussing going on during this.


Now that I got all the connections soldered, and verified there were no bridged connections with my multi-meter, I went ahead and put some heat shrink on them.


Next I routed all the wires through the hole by the heat sink mounting hole. I labeled all my wires, too, so I wouldn't get confused which one was which later.


I decided to secure the wires on the top of the board with a bit of hot glue that way they wouldn't get pulled when I was working on the bottom.


The heat sink is sandwiching the wires a little too much for comfort, so I left that side a bit loose to prevent it from smashing into the wires. It was too late at night to fire up the dremel, but I plan on making a small notch in the heat sink for the wires to travel through. Once I do that it will be perfect and able to fully tighten without damaging the wires.


Now it's time to wire up the bottom! Almost done!


C-sync goes to pin 3 on the multi-out connector, Red to pin 1, Green to pin 2, and Blue to pin 4
I soldered C-sync first because it doesn't require a resistor.


The RGB connections to the multi-out connector require 75ohm resistors on them.
First I cut the wires to length and then soldered on the resistor.


Then I applied heat shrink.


I trimmed down the excess resistor legs and bent the short remainder into a U-shape to wrap around the pins of the multi-out connector, and made my connections.



Finally I'm finished and ready to mount the board back in the shell. Luckily there is enough clearance and it fits perfectly just like stock.


Now it's time for the moment of truth...DOES IT WORK?!
I hooked up the power, plugged in my scart connection, and..........



It works! And it's so sharp and vibrant.. the SNES mini RGB really does live up to all of the hype!
Overall this mod wasn't too hard, but soldering directly to the RGB chip was a real PITA!
I hope you enjoy the pics and if you have any questions feel free!

Also I want to thank member AtomizerZero for encouraging and inspiring me to take on this project!

Thanks!

Links to original guides from retroRGB:
http://retrorgb.com/snesminirgb-original.html
http://retrorgb.com/snescsync.html

 

Well done man. Knew you could do it! Totally worth it. Congrats

 

Thanks man, I just added a personal thank you to you at the end of the post. You really pushed me to get this done tonight (this morning)!!

 

Nice Contra 3

 

Thanks, man. I got two of them!

 

Not for long!

 

Nice job! Glad to see it's working!

I did some more research into the SNES RGB output circuitry and found something interesting. According to this guide, you can get the same RGB quality the mini has on the original model SNES by using a custom RGB amp instead of the on-board RGB amp. The on-board amp is the reason why the quality isn't as good. He only tested this on a 1CHIP SNES but it should work on the others provided you solder to the correct pins.

 

You were lucky with that soldering you didn't bridge any pins in the process - it's easy to do, and if happens, you're relying usually on desoldering braid to resolve, which it doesn't always.

I went for years without using flux, however when you try it you will not go back; you use far less solder and get far stronger joints, enabling fine soldering work. I can solder to pins 0.5mm pitch, which is about the best I can see (i'm getting old!), which is thanks to using a dab of flux before soldering a tinned wire to a chip's leg - seriously, try some. Also, shrink tubing is normally used when you join two wires together to prevent shorts, just sayin'

 

Are there any flux sticks you would recommend?

 

Heatshrink is used for many things, not just for when two wires are joined.

Just sayin'

 

wat

Looks good
Kaynar wire or just smaller wire would give you neater joints here, it looks like you are using a butane iron? correct?
When soldering to IC's, I prefer to use solid core wire (kaynar for the most part), It's a lot easier to work with as you can bend it around the top of the IC with a small right angle on the end to solder onto the leg.

If you like using hot glue a lot (we've all done it ), you can get away with very little and if you want to have a very clean looking job, use BLACK hot glue.
Also automotive silicone (sikkaflex) is really easy to use for some stuff and cleans up well with IPA.

I'm rambling now lel

 

I did use a flux marker on the chip. You can see the liquid flux on the chip in the pics. I tinned all the legs before soldering the wires to them too, if you look closely in the pics you can see that, too. It definitely helped! I personally like to use heat shrink because it gives a clean look, I know there wasn't much purpose for it on this application other than for aesthetic purposes. I just love heat shrink

YEP! Thanks!

I had some Kaynar wire but didn't have anything handy to strip it with, so I ended up just going with some 26AWG wire I had. It ended up working fine, but yeah I'm sure Kaynar would've made the job easier for the reasons you mentioned. The butane iron is what I use for heating the heat shrink. I have a digital Weller soldering station with heat control. I would never take on a job like this with a butane soldering iron! LOL
I've always wanted to pick up some black hot glue, but never got around to ordering any. I didn't use much hot glue, it might just be how small the motherboard is that it looks like a lot, but it definitely helped to hold everything in place and prevent it from getting yanked while I was running the wires through the bottom.. so it had to be done IMO.

Thanks for all your responses!

 

Heat shrink is good stuff indeed, I tend to use clear although you can get it in many colours.

No idea what is good flux and what isn't, I use a tub of plumbers flux as it's the only one I could get locally, does the job well and a tub lasts for a long time. Probably isn't the ideal stuff but it works, just a tiny amount on your solder joints is all that's needed after all.

 

I use a flux pen like this one. It makes it very easy to apply.

 

it works but be sure you clean all of it off, some pipe flux is very corrosive

 

Good point. I only use a little anyway and it all "fizzes" off when I apply solder, so i'm probably ok.

 

Notched my heatsink. Now it will fit tightly and not ruin the wires.

 

You can remove the heatsink completely if you change the DC/DC converter for one of these. It doesn't get hot at all:

http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/0/811-2196-5-ND

 

Hey retrorgb, I was your site the other day and saw you had a guide for getting SNES mini-like quality out of an older SNES. Have you tested the mod out on non-1CHIP systems?

 

Hey retrorgb! Thanks for replying! Your site has been a total help to me and I really appreciate you putting it together!
That converter you linked is really cool to know about and I probably would've used it had I known about it before.
Thanks again!