NES mod by Tim Worthington + Geek Island Gaming Power board replacement part 2

Part 2 of 2.
Part 1 here:
• Nintendo Entertainment...
In which I struggle with a brain that forgets things, and with a bug in the firmware and instructions that are a bit spread over the internet.
Matteus Beus Sega Retro Dev
/ @matteusbeusretrodev
Merlin Shaw - Power module creator
github.com/ShawMerlin
SECOND CHANNEL!
/ @morefunmakingit2
More Fun Website
www.morefunmakingit.co.uk/
My Twitterings can be found here
/ morefunmakingit
Discord Channel
/ discord
00:00 Intro
01:00 Test With Power
02:19 Wiring the RGB Board
04:35 Interlude and a Problem
05:00 Reset Timing Issue Part 1
09:33 It Still Won't Work!
17:19 Reset Timing Issue Part 2
18:12 Testing and Failing Again
19:42 Testing and Success!
24:23 My Thoughts
27:57 Screen Capture Comparisons
#nes #rgbnes #nintendoentertainmentsystem

[@Merlin_Shaw]

The power board does have a name and it’s on the Silkscreen ;) “The NES Revival” but it never gets referenced so perhaps it’s not a very good name either. Oh well. :). I’m glad you were able to get it going!!

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

It's a fine name! I just didn't see it at that moment 🤣

[@RetroSegaDev]

@@MoreFunMakingIt The NES "Viva" board

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Nice!

[@stephenwhite506]

A good design would be to have the mod board hold the NES in reset by default (pull down). Then, when the FPGA boots the firmware can take it out of reset.

[@RetroSegaDev]

My goodness that looked like such a pain in the arse to do! Thank you again for sorting it out for me :)

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Pleasure! Was fun 😜

[@wargameboy72]

I have so much respect for you!!!! I can see and feel your frustration, but you never gave up!! Wow!!!!! This mod would have broken me... You are the man, great job.. Awesome conclusion to your first video.🤩👍👍👍

[@user-um2cd7hd9x]

I shared your despair with the reset thing, so relieved when you made it to work 😂!! Thanks for your nice videos and positive vibes 👊

[@joshmiller887]

That looked painful. Thanks for showing the struggle. It’s great to have these solutions in video form.

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

It was a journey! :D

[@frankbizzoco1954]

I've had that grumpy "its not working" face plenty of times before lol. You go nuts thinking scenarios like you have a defective RGB board, to the PPU is dead, to all of the caps are dead, to the video cable is bad exc. That's when you put the thing down, walk away, have a cup of coffee/tea, and come back to it before you throw it out the window. When it comes down to it, it is usually a bridge that you didn't notice, or a wire that you thought was soldered is not. When you make those discoveries, fix it, and it actually works is an amazing feeling. I feel like Doc Brown when he saw the Flux capacitor for the first time. I was fortunate to have this RGB install to go very well. But the N64 RGB kit gave me some trouble. My jaw dropped when I saw the nesrgb through a retrotink for the first time. Fun video!

[@mogwaay]

Well done for getting that working! As someone who has ambitions of making boards for old computers for fellow tinkerers I think it's good to be reminded how important documentation is. There is always the temptation to hand wave away installation niggles when you've gone through all the hardware design and coding needed to make a board like this, but if it doesn't work for folks in the end then it's all for nowt. Cheers!

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Beautifully put Chris. I think it gets forgotten all too often. One of my pet bugbears is assumed knowledge.

[@josedias5514]

Hang in there mate. There are some twists and turns out there that can make you dizzy but you stuck to it and persevered! Congratulations on making it!

[@CurtisOvard]

You are great at keeping on. That looked rough and difficult. Good job.

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Cheers Curtis 😍

[@covildofreddy]

Great work, I built a Nes with the Opentendo board for a friend and recorded the process on my channel, and now I'm going to build another Nes with the Opentendo board with this power board that you built, I'm looking forward to seeing the result.

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Excellent! The power board has been updated to fix a problem with ground bounce. Not a big problem, but Merlin is a perfectionist and fixed it anyway!

[@chrisstephens7901]

Interesting video. Thank you for the content and time spent making it. Out of interest have you cone accros retrosix, luke makes these type of boards for all tyes of retro consoles. The instation guide is spot on and covered in his wiki. Have a great day thank you

[@Stefan_Payne]

As far as I know, the HDMI Board is no longer made. So the NESRGB is the best you can get out of the NES and Famicom at this point in time.

[@dannyboone81]

Dude, best RGB installation guide.

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Thank you!

[@jonathanwhiteside6092]

Your frustration is palpable, and as a repairer/modder I totally understand!

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

We need a secret handshake

[@bobbus_74]

Wow, this looked like a bit of a ball ache. You're definitely a more patient man than me. I would have launched it 😂. Glad to see you got it working in the end though. It really does look great. 👏

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

I think without that firmware bug it would have probably just worked first time. Bit of a shame!

[@Cozzer79]

Looking forward to the Harlequin 128 build - I did mine a couple of days ago, and I was quite surprised that it worked first time lol 🤣

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Well now statistically you just reduced the chances of this one working first time! Thanks for that! 🤣

[@Werewolfmage]

I have not modded my nes yet.. I had to take it apart and clean the pins but that's it. the mod is coming someday lol. very nice video :)

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Good luck when you get round to it!

[@rossbennett5069]

Cracking video.

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Thank you Ross!

[@Phil-Sands]

RTFM, great advice that I give to everyone who looks upon me as the guy to fix everything that they can't understand, never fails!

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Also, have you turned it off and on!

[@SobieRobie]

Good job sir! I can fill your pain doing this, dont ask how :D

[@poppycortez6802]

Good luck on the HDMI mod. They are no where to found now. I have had it for a few years, and I wish I would have bought a few. Good job on the install I am gonna give it ago here soon.

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Good luck with your install!

[@tiemanowo]

Why this "white" background from Composite is so "orange" on RGB? Now I'm confused which one was intended by a developer :)

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

I checked by loading up the game on an emulator and the orange colours are accurate

[@RetroSegaDev]

@@MoreFunMakingIt Yup its how it should be! It's just extremely washed out on composite :)

[@UnknownUnlisted]

Thank you for this video. I asked Merlin for help and he sent me this as somewhere to start. I have followed the guides for the NES RGB and the power board, but I am hesitant to attempt the "reset the timing issue part 2" (that you have at 17:20) because I have yet to get any image to come through the composite. I know that it would be hard to diagnose because there is a lot going on here, but is there any other resources that anyone might be able to share? Perhaps a forum that I can post to for help, or other simiar resources for this mod pair? Without more guidance, I am afraid that I'll need to give up and pay even more to send it to a modder. This would be extremely defeating because this is my first mod. Thanks in advance for any help!

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

I worked mostly from the GitHub, which isn't the most comprehensive source you could wish for. I'm sorry I can't help more, I'm really just dabbling with these things as a hobby.

[@primokarmasilver]

Even I knew that, thats why they call me the Nintendo Milky Bar Kid or Jay the liar

[@Doombrain]

You’ve reminded me I need to get my SNES out in the sun!

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

I did a couple of SNES's last year and they turned out great

[@Doombrain]

Image quality isn’t great on mine to an old LCD. Marching ants type things. Any tips?

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

@@Doombrain I'm sadly no expert in Snes matters. Pretty sure I just plug mine in via RBG and it just looks great. No experience with poor image quality on that machine

[@GueroMane]

Technically u have to cut pin 22 so it’s not a no cut 🤣

[@noobguy57]

It's very interesting with that V4 board. Mine did nothing for 30 minutes. I left it on, walked out of the room to go calm down, then I come back and that green LED is finally turned on and the board works. It never did that again, but on the first install it did literally nothing for so long.

[@Retrohertz]

You must have filmed this a while ago. You mentioned 'sun' and 'bbq'. (I'm assuming you're in the UK).

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Just last week! I had a bbq yesterday 😁

[@Retrohertz]

@@MoreFunMakingIt In the rain? I suppose we need to take the opportunities when we can. 😉

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

@@Retrohertz no rain here. Was a little windy but a nice afternoon

[@R2AUK]

❤👍

[@retrorobbins]

if you need help for the h128k I have dun lots of them tips

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Cheers RR. Should be good. Nice kit and looks straightforward. :D

[@kyorin6526]

You need to write a manual for this now 👍

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

You know how engineers are rubbish at making manuals? I would be worse! 😆

[@gilbertosoto7239]

I can send me NES to you made is work?

[@ericgustin3386]

packing tape is not an insulator! and stop putting your sldering iron on joints you just flowed. its pointless.