Just curious - has anyone ever managed to succesfully hook a monitor up to the PS2 side VGA port (the one that's not blanked off)? When I tried this, I got similar results to what I got with the PS2 linux kit VGA cable - it seems to be putting something out, but neither of my 2 LCD monitors seem capable of locking on to it. SOG strikes again? Also, has anyone had any success in configuring the TOOL to output component video? I've had no luck with component hooked up, either with the boot bits set for Y/CrCb, or for RGB.
No to both here Limey. I get 'Signal out of range' on the VGA port and none of the monitors I have attempted it with have been compatible. As for component , I've never actually tried. Now if someone managed to convert it to HDMI I'd be interested (joking folks before a flood of stats about video signals and incompatibility issues comes rushing in!) And it's not SOG (Sync on Green) as my PS2 Linux monitor (A big old Sony CRT) gives the same message.
Hmm. Well, thanks - you've probably saved me further ruining my back, by lugging my old 19" NEC Multisync in here to see if that'd work with the VGA. It's putting something out - hence the signal out of range msg - but what & following on from that, what equipment would one need connect up in order to see it?
I shall follow your lead as frankly at the moment it would be even more back breaking for me to cart it over from storage. Rather frustrating sometimes. I'd use my garage, but frankly it's not as 'water tight' as is wholly necessary. Clearing out the attic to storage as I am about to gut the entire space. Damn this DIY mania! Would really be interested to see what the VGA outputs. Not having the documentation either to hand or on this iMac, I wonder whether UJ has come across any mention of this port in his manual trawling?
Same for me, was never able to get that port to display something: but on the otherside I never really tried as I found the other working vga port quite fast. My best guess would be it displays the same as video out so the network screen (but not sure)
Now I don't claim to know shit about the TOOL since I don't have one myself (been only wanting one for myself for a while, but haven't found one with the emulator card installed for sale), but maybe the PS2 VGA port is outputting 15kHz analog RGB (approx. 15kHz is the horizontal scan rate of PAL and NTSC). Most PC monitors can only sync to 31kHz and up, though in days long since gone there used to be true multisyncing models which supported 15kHz. I'd try running a VGA / progressive scan compatible PS2 game such as Soul Calibur 3 (NTSC version only, hold triangle+X on startup) if possible and see if the monitors would then be able to sync.
The vga port works perfectly well in progressive scan with my 17" NEC Multisync. Same thing with the vga adapter from the linux kit.
Any chance of model numbers of the monitors that actually work with this. If anyone finds a monitor that works, such as UJ. What you using? An image of it working would be good too.
My NEC Multisync LCD 1525X didn't work when I tried it - unless I have to put it in a certain mode? I'm not too savvy on these sort of things.
So what, my word is not enough My monitor is a Nec Multisync M700. Connected to the Tool PS2 VGA: And to the multi-out with the vga adapter from the linux kit:
I pulled some info out of a transcript of Q+A with SCEE about the side port, and: "you need a monitor cable of syncing to 30 hertz. Most RGB monitors today only go as low as 50. Try a TV that has an VGA connector. It worked for us" and "If you'd like to develop at VESA resolutions/rates too, look for an NEC Multisync 2a or similar. I believe that syncs down there, although either might throw off more EMF than your average TV, so it'll screw with your other monitors. A Commodore 1950 might be ideal. Essentially an NEC M 2a with better shielding, and it can definitely handle PAL refresh rates as well as the NTSC & VESA"
That's the reason I keep my Amiga M1438S monitor around. It can do all the low frequence TV-like modes and still sync up to normal SVGA if needed.
Thanks for the info guys, really helpful stuff. Has anyone been able to grab a screen capture or anything from the output? I'd love to see how it handles making 480i footage into 480p. Are the results good?
limey, what settings did you use to try outputting component video? Dot50Cal, I have some vram dumps here The quality loss is due to the jpg format, I'll upload the original files later (4MB each).
i think its just outputting standard interlaced video- only through a vga port. didn't realize topic was this old. my bad
I know this is a very old thread, but I finally just purchased a nice PS2 TOOL myself, and also cannot get the VGA port on the PS2 side to output anything. Now, way back when the PS2 Linux Kit came out, I had one. UncleJun, please correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't you showing the PS2 Linux Kit installer from a PS2 memory card (vmlinux)? I ask because the PS2 Linux Kit specifically uses the RGB color space, which is why the AV multiout VGA adapter (or the PS2 TOOL specific VGA port on the PS2 side) works. The questions I have, is does the normal PS2 TOOL boot-up screen use the RGB color space? If it doesn't, I can see why it won't display with the AV multiout VGA adapter or a VGA cable from the PS2 side VGA port. It probably uses a YUV or Y/Pb/Pr color space for composite and/or component video. In addition, regarding PS2 games, do you know what the default color space is for most games? I believe only very few PS2 games output an RGB color space, which means that most won't work with the VGA port on the PS2 side of the TOOL (or with the AV multiout for the TOOL, TEST, or a regular PS2).
The PS2 only outputs 31Khz if it's TOLD to do so (you go to the graphics library and specifically tell it to output progressive video). Also I am not sure how the TOOL VGA port behaves during transitions from progressive mode to interlaced mode and vice versa. It's possible that it's designed to output VESA RGB regardless of the RGB/Component mode that can be set on the multi A/V port. I say that, because on the EARLY PS2 CHIPSET there are two RGB sources, one analog, direct outputted from the GS chip. Another RGB source is 24bit digital RGB also output from the GS chip but this one goes to the video chip which generates CVBS and RGB. Point being, it might be possible to have the dedicated VGA port aways output VESA RGB without tying up the multi A/V port to a specific output format by design. BUT the frequency setting will be the same for both ports and there's no way around that. And MOST VGA monitors will refuse 15Khz horizontal sync.
Thanks. The info on the PS2 TOOL's possible dual RGB sources from GS is interesting, and if this is the case, the issue for me squarely rests in the fact that non of my LCD or LED displays have VGA inputs that can handle 15 khz horizontal sync (all my VGA-equipped displays only go down to 30 khz horizontal sync). I'm going to just use a Playstation multi AV out component cable instead.
