Recently bought some AV carts. Easy to wheel around for optimal playing location but also to keep them out of the way when I'm not using them.[upl-image-preview url=//i.imgur.com/nG995Z6.jpeg]
I love this thread. So here is my updated tiny basement studio retro setup. Everything has an ODE or Everdrive. All supporting RGB and connected to the TVs through Component HD Retrovision cable. (Though the Dreamcast is still S-Video until a component solution exists)
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Got a cool package in the mail today! This is a reproduction Wonderwitch, seen below playing Self-Produce by M-Kai (developers of the well-loved Judgement Silversword). With a cameo from my P/ECE in the last picture.
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I met this guy through Discord and he‘s super sharp, very interested in Wonderswan hardware in general. I don’t think he‘s planning on making this into a business, but he is working on a new Wonderswan flash cart that will hopefully surpass the relatively limited ones you can get right now. He’s also posted his repro work on github. He‘s also got hookups for new-old-stock Wonderswan console ICs that he’s wanting to eventually use to make new hardware with.
Unfortunately he's really not interested in selling these, so please don't track him down and bug him about it. This was a case of him having some extra boards and components laying around and being willing to hook a few people up. He has some actual products he's looking at making for the Wonderswan, but component shortages mean he's a long while out from being able to make anything at scale. This was really a one time, private sale kind of thing.
I ended up springing for the [rather expensive USB cables](https://www.retroonyx.com/product-page/wonderswan-usb-link-cable) put together by RetroOnyx, but it's not here yet. My understanding is that this is all done over serial so hopefully there are fewer weird driver issues than there were with the P/ECE. Very excited about this, I've been curious about the Wonderwitch forever and many of my favorite P/ECE devs were also Wonderwitch devs.
@“Syzygy”#p46282 I ordered mine from Walmart. Not my preferred retailer but the brand is Vevor if you want to search elsewhere.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/VEVOR-Steel-AV-Cart-26-41-Height-Adjustable-Media-Cart-Electric-Power-Cord-25-x-18-Presentation-3-shelves-150-LBS-Rolling-Projector-2-Brakes-Suitable/471582043
Been spending a bunch of time in the home arcade lately.
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@“milo”#p46340 Blessed images
@“donrumata”#p46281 Awesome. You know I‘ve been waiting for a decent-er WS flash cart, because I know one will eventually come. That’s awesome that you were able to produce a wonderwitch cartridge.
@“milo”#p46340
Hi. I’ll bring whatever snacks and drinks you like. 
So how do I beat _Outrun_ on stock difficulty? I can’t seem to ever make it past the third stage on default settings, but the game becomes easy if I give myself more time in the M2 packages. I feel like there is something I’m missing about speed or turning in that game beyond “don’t crash”.
@donrumata oh! this is the guy making the ws e-ink flash carts! See, I‘ve seen these mentioned/covered in many places, but had no idea where it was going to be for sale or the creator’s info at all! So I'm glad to know where to keep checking now.
@“antillese”#p46395
From my experience it's a balance of learning the track and getting good at weaving between the cars. Pick a route you like and learn the crap out of all the turns, knowing when to decelerate/shift gears.
I will say that having owned an actual machine for the last few years, the steering wheel makes a huuuuuuge difference. No matter what other system I play it on, I'm not able to make such precise movements with a joystick as when I'm playing on the actual machine.
@“treefroggy”#p46414
Nah, that guy makes the cables but the Wonderwitch cart was put together by a different guy. I believe the e-ink cartridge is going to be a single-ROM affair similar to his Virtual Boy carts. I don't think the Wonderwitch guy has posted any prototype shots or anything.
@“donrumata”#p46421 I see! Yeah I was mainly talking about the e-ink cartridge guy then.
I'm totally fine with single-rom carts for obscure hardware, like my neo flashmasta for ngpc, as long as it has better compatibility than the other WS flashcart out there, the WS flashmasta or whatever.
Plus, to be frank, I think having cover art in any form is something that is very undervalued by the scene at large, so many people who are like "just give me games and nothing else who cares it doesn't matter".... Cover art and manuals are something that, down the line, will be totally lost if we don't preserve it, and with all games from early 2000's and before, the manuals and art assets add a ton to the experience...
So IMHO the e-ink label is really bad ass, especially for WS, a console which put a huge emphasis on the cover art, having it 100% visible while the cartridge is in the console, and an elegant design overall. So, yeah, if I can get one, I'll be using it. I want a billboard on the back of my device that says I'm playing _Turntablist_.
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Second serious mod project down! This time it was replacing the volatile RAM in one of my Saturn consoles with non-volatile FRAM. I'm just unreasonably wary enough about losing my (still basically nonexistent) Grandia progress that I decided to teach myself how to replace surface mount components…
Here's the offending chip, with adjacent components masked off to avoid any collateral damage (i.e. tiny SMDs flying off under the influence of the gale force heat gun).
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After drowning it in no clean flux and waving the heat gun over the area for a few minutes (it felt like wayyyy longer) I could hear the flux sizzling and with some gentle nudging from my tweezers the package came off. I was a little worried about this part for a few reasons: Some chips are epoxied down (this one clearly had some adhesive, which fortunately the heat softened up nicely) and there is a risk of tearing off pads if you are too forceful (fortunately did not happen!). After removing the chip and cleaning off the old solder with some desoldering braid I was left with a nice clean landing spot for the new chip:
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I then prepped the FRAM chip by bending up pins 22 and 28 (destined for ground and +5v solder points on the board) and then tinned the bottom right pad and tacked down the first leg so that I could position the chip. I was going to solder each leg individually, but my fine motor skills weren't quite up to it. Instead I drowned it in some more flux, tinned the soldering iron tip, and dragged across to fill everything in, then down each leg (dragging away from the chip center) to clean it up. There was one tenacious solder bridge I formed, but that was dealt with using the braid pretty nicely. I then cleaned the old solder off the CE111 pads just below the chip. This was what I was left with:
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Finally, using some 28 AWG wire and heat shrink tubing I attached the uplifted pin 22 to ground and pin 28 to +5v, leaving me with this (I think) pretty handsome looking final result! (even kinda looks like a heart, which I'm into).
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I roughly assembled the system back together for testing (leaving the CR2032 battery out for now) and booted it up with my Action Replay cart. I transferred a test save over, powered down, and let it be for a while. When I powered back up and checked the system memory it was still there! Woohoo!
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This was a tough one, but it was all about the prep...watching videos, making sure I had the right equipment. Next step is to decide whether I want to recap (they all look ok, but I might try it as a preventative step...this would be my first recap) and then figure out how I want to cobble this all together. I have a different Saturn with my MODE installed, so I will probably transplant this mobo into that machine.
@“kory”#p46911
I work in tech, and this is high-quality SMT rework. Good job.
@“antillese”#p46913 Thanks, that means a lot! I had some trepidation about this one, but it ended up being a real confidence-builder.
What is the opposite of a show off? A PS5 bundle in a black trash bag stuffed in a closet…
I‘ve been an Xbox/ Nintendo person since the PS1.
I haven’t been chasing the PS5 for months/ a year like some people. I‘ve just had a lingering desire to play Bloodborne and Death Stranding for a while now.
I thought about getting a used PS4 or PS4 Pro but it never made much sense with a brand new console / experience out.
I’ve been checking out PS5s seriously for just a few weeks now and then I heard about a Gamestop restock and my town was listed. I went out of at least a little curiosity, and there were only 15 people in line. Unfortunately the only option was a bundle with Ghost of Tsushima, NBA2k22, a Gamestop gift card and a year of PSN. I want to play GoT, but of course no use for NBA. And they were priced at MSRP of 69.99 (Youch!) Total $750 before tax.
I took it as a buy-now think-later opportunity, but now it's time to think! I'm definitely a more value-oriented gamer now, and get a good amount of gamepass. I'm really 50-50 about keeping or returning it, and feeling pretty weird.
I've got enough moolah sitting in the bank that it's probably not financially irresponsible, but it might be.. morally irresponsible? Financially.. stupid? Growing up stinks! A little bit. Console exclusives definitely stink.
@“kory”#p46911
That is a clean chip swap. Good job!!
Finally assembled my ultimate Sega Saturn, consisting of:
It's been a journey putting this thing together, but I'm pleased with how it turned out! Here's some interior and exterior photos:
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might hit you up for that batch of hacks and translations later. I'm all about piggy backing off the hard work of others, ha ha…. (not really, but kind of)
@“kory”#p47086
Gotta ask as you‘ve clearly put in the time + cash to get a good experience out of your Saturn. How are the Retro-Bit controllers? I’ve been eyeballing the different USB controllers out there as my MiSTer is on it‘s way soon and I really don’t like fussing with adapters. I like the 8bitdo M30 a lot but it‘s not quite as good as the real deal Saturn controllers were. I know they got the license and everything but I always associate retro-bit with the kind of stuff you’d get with Famiclones.