Genesis Triple Bypass

[@emmettturner9452]

For attaching the mDIN in the future, I recommend tinning both surfaces then using braid to remove and flatten as much of the solder as possible. When you add solder to the sides with enough heat to flood the ground plane the surface tension will flow a thin layer underneath like capillary action. I would also scrape solder mask and add solder on the right (EXT port) side of the mDIN for mechanical strength. I usually go a bit overboard and anchor the overhanging portion to the bottom ground plane with used solder braid wrapped around the back of the motherboard. There are two DIN8 styles with the round-top one being better-suited to installing beside the mDIN since you don’t have to notch it. I saw where you notched the 3BP corner but you can notch it further to remove the ground pad too (the nearby capacitor still works as a ground) and elevate the 3BP board from the mDIN to make even more room. I also use a file to taper the bottom edge of the 3BP PCB away from the DIN8. I did one install on a PAL-modded Japanese VA6 where they had already cut a hole on the left and mounted an RF modulator off the left side ground plane. Since there is no RF modulator in the back of a Japanese console I had to gut the RF modulator and use the shielding as a place to mount my mDIN. This worked out very well since I was also able to reuse the switch as a region switch. I think I might try something similar with the next American console I do since the mDIN sits slightly too low anyway. It will center the mDIN and give me a bit more clearance with the original DIN8 as well as provide a better mechanical mount. Of course, I will have to cut a square out the back for the mDIN to protrude but I can then fold the shielding down and attach to the ground plane below for even more structural support to solder the mDIN to.

[@dwightdixon8508]

Nothing ventured nothing gained. Great work

[@emerickscott]

you don't have to lift that pin at 57:58, if you can solder to the pin/pad ok.

[@emmettturner9452]

The third “bypass” is headphone jack since it’s the only stereo output before installing the 3BP and doesn’t provide line level.

[@Seathasky]

Another great video bro, keep em coming!

[@ReddishBearGames]

Thanks! Will do!

[@Blehstor]

the capacitors you removed at 1:17:15 is done to keep the original audio amp and still output stereo through the 3bp video output?

[@ReddishBearGames]

Yes, that step is specific to the VA3 model which the community considers the "ideal" Genesis sound apparently.

[@pcb123lol]

Good video, i went with ceramic disc capacitors with the same uF instead of the SMDs since I didn't want to permanently mark up my genesis's board

[@ReddishBearGames]

Glad you enjoyed it! You know, that sort of capacitor is probably a better idea just for ease of installation alone. Given all the scraping necessary to install the mini-din though I was already making permanent board changes so I wasn't really worried about that aspect. Did you retain the standard Genesis 1 DIN when you did yours?

[@pcb123lol]

​@@ReddishBearGames yeah I kept my 8 din on my board. Lifting the CXA pins and soldering the RGBS wires through the vias was shockingly easy, I have footage somewhere of me doing it I can upload. I went with the og din for a couple reasons. I have a va3 that's recapped so it's as good as it can possibly be, and I have custom made RGBS RCA cables that I only use for the gene 1, so i didn't wanna ditch em :p

[@ReddishBearGames]

That's cool! One of the reasons I try to find out the "whys" and then pass them along in the videos is precisely because there often isn't a single right way to do it, though you might get the impression there is from some of the available instructions. Knowing WHY you do a thing better equips you to know when you might want to do it a different way. I never looked into how the 3BP board itself mounts to the original DIN though. I assume you have to cut its leads to the mainboard and then wire directly to them?

[@emmettturner9452]

@@ReddishBearGamesYes. You typically mount the miniDIN at the RF like usual then jumper RGB to the DIN8 and stereo to the headphone jack. You need to remove components and/or cut traces to isolate the DIN8 connections first.

[@ferdinandoportel]

for this model, the correct is to install the rgb bypass only, not the tiple one.

[@stevezm100]

hello, how do you know what caps to use near the VDP ? an hour into the video. cheers

[@ReddishBearGames]

Thanks for the comment, and sorry I'm so late with the reply! I missed the notification! Anyway, I tried to figure out where I'd found the value, but wasn't successful. Part of the difficulty of this mod was that a lot of the information seems scattered, especially given all the different models involved. However, I can tell you it's this part I used: console5.com/store/4-7uf-10-50v-multilayer-ceramic-capacitor-mlcc-x7r-smd-smt-metal-frame-leads.html And you can see in the description that it mentions its use in the 3BP mod too.

[@viniciusvbf22]

Nicely done! I think it would be easier (and less risky) to cut those 3 traces and solder the wires over the cut traces instead of lifting those 3 IC pins. Probably easier to revert, too, if anyone wishes to do that. Thanks for the videos!

[@ReddishBearGames]

Thanks for the comment, and glad you enjoyed it! Although literally nobody (that I could find) recommends cutting the traces instead, after having done this once I think I agree with you. I think anyone that can position those capacitors could also handle the straight-forward trace repair here if you ever did decide to revert for some reason. That and reverting the DIN part would be quite the adventure itself! But those pins felt like you were rolling a dice every time they moved. If they broke, depending on how and where, I think that would be a much tougher repair too. I have another Genesis to put a 3BP in, and it isn't a VA3 so I might do a short(?) followup showing the audio portion on that one, and maybe try the trace cutting method instead for comparison.

[@kid.dracula]

Did this mod on my VA6, but I removed the caps for the audio, then I noticed leak of some music effects while playing the level 5 of Splatterhouse 2, after research looks like there's other ppl with similar problems in other games, so even if the 3bp amp sounds better than stock amp that leak of sounds don't convince me. Do you think your method to preserve the OG amp can be used for my VA6 too? Or it's a specific method for the VA3? (I know my va6 may not sound as good as a va3 but I don't want to miss sound effects due the 3bp amp).

[@Blehstor]

I have a Model 1 BD M5 PAL Va 6.5, do you think the process is the same? boards look very similar

[@ReddishBearGames]

I looked around for instructions; there isn't a lot of variation between VA 1 through VA 6 on Model 1, VA7 is slightly different. But I don't see any direct mention of 6.5 in any clear instructions I can find. I also don't see anything specifically talking about PAL. A bunch of them refer to "Genesis/Megadrive" which leads me to believe the PAL vs NTSC instructions are no different, but I'm not completely sure and haven't tried it myself, so I can't promise.

[@Blehstor]

@@ReddishBearGames thanks man, can you tell me the webpage of where you're getting the instructions?

[@ReddishBearGames]

The information is kind of scattered, and confusing with the variations of the 3BP out there. However, the BEST information I've found has been here: github.com/zaxour/TripleBypassV2Plus/tree/main/Documentation Just note that it covers mostly the 3BPv2+, and doesn't always fully cover the regular 3BPv2. What I tried to do was follow these for the most part but corroborate with other sources if the step wasn't obvious or I wondered about why I was doing something.

[@Blehstor]

@@ReddishBearGames hey bro its me again, i just installed my 3BP following that guide on github. it doesnt mention the small capacitor you put between the RGB cables, what uF have and why did u put it? the 3 resistors you added to the 3bp in my case worsened the image, without them the color looks better.. i dont know whats up with that. also im having horrible noise coming from the audio, it worsenes depending on whats on screen.. do you know what could be causing audio noise with the 3bp? also the power IC's where the 5v connects to the 3bp get extremely hot.. i dont know what to do :(

[@ReddishBearGames]

Hey @Blehstor. Sorry you're having trouble with this. The RGB capacitor procedure I used is found on page 16 of the VA0-VA6 guide. It DOES say that this is for VA2 through VA6, so your being on a VA7 might explain why you don't need to/shouldn't do it. I worked with Luke from Console5 to get the right part listed though, the listing is here: console5.com/store/5-6k-ohm-1-4-watt-resistor-5600k-3bp-v2-rgb-collector-resistors.html When you say the power IC is getting hot, are you talking about the regulator? If so, it is happening when you have the system disassembled without the heatsink attached? How hot are we talking, instantly burning hot? If the audio is being affected by what's on-screen that seems to suggest that you've got some bleed from the video into the audio someplace; I think I'd start with a multimeter and look for any unexpected bridging between nearby pins/contact points. Are you on Discord by chance? Might be easier than trying to troubleshoot in YT comments :D