Cloning the GameCube component cable

[Unseen]

Ok I got the OSD working: http://imageshack.com/a/img673/6486/l6bUqm.jpg

Yay!

I have to say its a bitch soldering to the GPU vias,

Sorry about that... I would've preferred to specify something bigger, but the alternatives were an even smaller via or a pad of one of the resistor networks on the top of the board.

Ok so what should I do disable linedoubler or enable it? and on what setting 280p,480p,480i?

The main issue would be to make sure that 480i works (on a PAL cube that would be 576i) since that is the mode of the main menu as well as the "Do you want progressive?"-question-screen. Just toggle it from what it is currently set to (I think I set the default to on?) and check if that signal is more acceptable to your TV.

[andre104623]

Ok I got the OSD working: http://imageshack.com/a/img673/6486/l6bUqm.jpg

Yay!

I have to say its a bitch soldering to the GPU vias,

Sorry about that... I would've preferred to specify something bigger, but the alternatives were an even smaller via or a pad of one of the resistor networks on the top of the board.

Ok so what should I do disable linedoubler or enable it? and on what setting 280p,480p,480i?

The main issue would be to make sure that 480i works (on a PAL cube that would be 576i) since that is the mode of the main menu as well as the "Do you want progressive?"-question-screen. Just toggle it from what it is currently set to (I think I set the default to on?) and check if that signal is more acceptable to your TV.

Well on the computer screen 480i works fine on the qoob bootup screen then I put F-zero GX and held down B button while booting saw the progressive scan screen and turned it on works fine but only on computer.

[andre104623]

sony, and sharp TV's there newer I just bought them within the last 2 years.

Weird, it works fine with my Sharp, although that one is a few years older.

So this wouldn't work: http://www.amazon.com/eForCity-538581-H ... B005QWH4QA

Indeed, this seems to be just a passive adapter for those few devices that can output (or accept?) analog Component on an HDMI connector.

Can you give me some products that would convert the DVI over HDMI signal to component or VGA that would work with my TV's that is on the cheaper side.

The SPDIF works great even with no video I have it hooked up to my sound bar via fiber optic line. I must note that my one TV does pickup a signal and says 480P on the screen but has no picture

[andre104623]

Something like this:
http://m.ebay.com/itm/251886495026?nav=SEARCH

I'm happy that my curse is broken. I have this thing where if I try something new like gcvideo-lite I always fuck it up the first time and get frustrated and start throwing shit at walls. Luckly this was not too bad and I did it without removing the digital connector hopefully I will find a converter for my TV and it would be a perfect setup

Final pic till I figure out a way to mount the pluto without sticky tape
http://imageshack.com/a/img538/5108/IWTgiB.jpg

Do you think changing the full-range or limited-range RGB levels will affect my TV?

[Unseen]

Can you give me some products that would convert the DVI over HDMI signal to component or VGA that would work with my TV's that is on the cheaper side.

I have used this HDMI-to-VGA converter successfully, although with the caveat that 240p and 480i over VGA is rarely supported. Your Dell monitor will likely accept it because it looks very much like the U2410 on my desk which does accept these resolutions (inofficially and with a few OSD bugs), for your TVs you will likely need to turn on linedoubling to ensure that GCVideo outputs a 480p(-like) signal.

I wouldn't recommend ordering from amazon.de unless you live close by, but a quick search for "hdmi vga" on amazon.com lists a number of similarly-looking converters that might work. Mine is a version that has an analog audio output and can optionally be powered via Micro-USB, but (for now) you won't need audio via HDMI and if you replace the 100 ohm DDC resistor with a wire you can power the converter from the Gamecube.

I must note that my one TV does pickup a signal and says 480P on the screen but has no picture

Very interesting, that means your TV picks up most of the DVI signalling as it should but then fails to process the image data for some reason. I'll have to look into this further, if you're lucky (and patient) I might send a test firmware (or a dozen) in your direction in a few weeks.

EDIT: Oh, and one more question: How long is the HDMI cable that you used to connect to the (non-compatible) TVs?

Do you think changing the full-range or limited-range RGB levels will affect my TV?

Unlikely, it should only change the image contrast a bit - but feel free to experiment with it. Usually you'll get gray instead of black if the Cube sends limited RGB and the TV expects full or very dark grays are all crushed towards black (and very light grays to white) if the Cube sends full-range and the TV expects limited.

[andre104623]

Can you give me some products that would convert the DVI over HDMI signal to component or VGA that would work with my TV's that is on the cheaper side.

I have used this HDMI-to-VGA converter successfully, although with the caveat that 240p and 480i over VGA is rarely supported. Your Dell monitor will likely accept it because it looks very much like the U2410 on my desk which does accept these resolutions (inofficially and with a few OSD bugs), for your TVs you will likely need to turn on linedoubling to ensure that GCVideo outputs a 480p(-like) signal.

I wouldn't recommend ordering from amazon.de unless you live close by, but a quick search for "hdmi vga" on amazon.com lists a number of similarly-looking converters that might work. Mine is a version that has an analog audio output and can optionally be powered via Micro-USB, but (for now) you won't need audio via HDMI and if you replace the 100 ohm DDC resistor with a wire you can power the converter from the Gamecube.

I must note that my one TV does pickup a signal and says 480P on the screen but has no picture

Very interesting, that means your TV picks up most of the DVI signalling as it should but then fails to process the image data for some reason. I'll have to look into this further, if you're lucky (and patient) I might send a test firmware (or a dozen) in your direction in a few weeks.

EDIT: Oh, and one more question: How long is the HDMI cable that you used to connect to the (non-compatible) TVs?

Do you think changing the full-range or limited-range RGB levels will affect my TV?

Unlikely, it should only change the image contrast a bit - but feel free to experiment with it. Usually you'll get gray instead of black if the Cube sends limited RGB and the TV expects full or very dark grays are all crushed towards black (and very light grays to white) if the Cube sends full-range and the TV expects limited.

Ok this is a lot to take in. As far as the firmware updates I would like to keep 1.1 on it and work with that just because I flashed it before I installed it because it's hard to get to the pins. If I find a HDMI to component/VGA converter that would work with the GCvideo-DVI everything would be fine so that's all I really need. The sound is in perfect sync with Video when I use my S-video cable and GCvideo-dvi for sound. I don't know how many people have done this project but I would like to know how people are mounting the Pluto board to the outside of the cube. I would like to use hot glue but it's to hard to get off and since I seen mega use 2 sided sticky tape (like all the time) I said what the hell and bought a roll. But it's not holding well when plugged in.

So would these work? http://www.ebay.com/itm/HDMI-HDCP-To-RG ... 35e766a936
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Gold-HDMI-to-VG ... 4d30e59b0c
http://www.ebay.com/itm/HDMI-to-Compone ... 2a4e20a169

I really like the first one HDMI-HDCP-TO-RGB-Component-YPBPR-VGA-converter because it has component and VGA but will it work

[Unseen]

I would like to know how people are mounting the Pluto board to the outside of the cube.

Mine is still hanging from the wires... I'm not sure if double-sided tape is a good option for this board because of the components on the bottom: The Tape only sticks to the highest of these components or even just to the edges of them, so you have a relatively small contact area and thus a small amount of force can dislodge the connection. I've seen some thicker kinds of double-sided tape that could help to offset this problem, but I don't know any brand names for them.

So would these work? http://www.ebay.com/itm/HDMI-HDCP-To-RG ... 35e766a936
http://www.ebay.com/itm/HDMI-to-Compone ... 2a4e20a169

(Note: Links have been re-sorted)
I haven't tested either of them (or anything looking remotely similar), but I would guess that they might work.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Gold-HDMI-to-VG ... 4d30e59b0c

Nope.

[andre104623]

I would like to know how people are mounting the Pluto board to the outside of the cube.

Mine is still hanging from the wires... I'm not sure if double-sided tape is a good option for this board because of the components on the bottom: The Tape only sticks to the highest of these components or even just to the edges of them, so you have a relatively small contact area and thus a small amount of force can dislodge the connection. I've seen some thicker kinds of double-sided tape that could help to offset this problem, but I don't know any brand names for them.

So would these work? http://www.ebay.com/itm/HDMI-HDCP-To-RG ... 35e766a936
http://www.ebay.com/itm/HDMI-to-Compone ... 2a4e20a169

(Note: Links have been re-sorted)
I haven't tested either of them (or anything looking remotely similar), but I would guess that they might work.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Gold-HDMI-to-VG ... 4d30e59b0c

Nope.

So hdmi-to-VGA cable bad anything with a box and power input good I guess. That one you have the Hdmi to VGA can't output 480p? I found one for cheap 8.00usd but will it be in HD or is a step up better then S-video.

The HDMI cable I'm using is about 4 feet

[Unseen]

So hdmi-to-VGA cable bad anything with a box and power input good I guess. That one you have the Hdmi to VGA can't output 480p? I found one for cheap 8.00usd but will it be in HD or is a step up better then S-video.

The one I have works fine with all resolutions that GCVideo can output (240p/288p/480i/576i/480p/576p).

[andre104623]

So hdmi-to-VGA cable bad anything with a box and power input good I guess. That one you have the Hdmi to VGA can't output 480p? I found one for cheap 8.00usd but will it be in HD or is a step up better then S-video.

The one I have works fine with all resolutions that GCVideo can output (240p/288p/480i/576i/480p/576p).

Cool I'm ordering that then. Thank you Unseen I'll let you know how everything works out

[LOCtronicz]

@Unseen Awesome work man!! Been gone for awhile. My first batch of the original gcvideo are still working perfectly. I think I will also try this one out.

I had a quick question though. It is possible to code the pluto board to work for the n64 like your original board did but then with line doubling? I used the original gcvideo board on my n64 and get a 15khhz vga signal. Sadly my small monitor that I was going to use for it doesn't work well with the sync signals. It does work with a gamecube 15khz signal though But also cuts out now and again. I think that when the sync line switches to a different resolution my monitor can't retrieve the sync again. I wrote about this a while back.

So a hdmi out with line doubler for the n64 would be awesome if possible

[Unseen]

It is possible to code the pluto board to work for the n64 like your original board did but then with line doubling?

In theory yes, but I do not plan on doing it. While the Gamecube uses a standard video frequency for its pixel clock (13.5 or 27MHz), the N64's video is based on a rather unusual pixel clock rate (12.something MHz). Converting this into a signal that is close to a standard video timing would require quite a bit of signal processing magic (sample rate conversion between two rather close rates) which isn't something I'm very familiar with, so I'll wait until someone else releases their solution for it. With the analog version it doesn't matter, the display can't (easily) tell the pixel clock from the video signal.

[LOCtronicz]

Ah ok then. Thanks for clearing that up. Keep up the great work!

[andre104623]

Ok so I ordered the HDMI to VGA active adapter it will be here on Tuesday. I took my cube over to a friends house he has a HDMI to VGA converter like yours and a vga-spdif-dvi to HDMI also so I hooked up the cube to both converters and I was able to have HDMI with audio that works on the TV very cool! I won't be buying all that stuff I'm happy with just getting VGA and my sound bar for sound because at this point I spent just as much money as buying a nintendo component cable but at least I have digital sound which in my opinion is the coolest part of this project. When I hook up the fiber optic line to the sound bar then the sound bar to my subwoofer my god the difference is fucking insane when playing resident evil 4 I'm hearing things I couldn't hear before.

This is by far the coolest thing I've done on the GameCube. I wish I could buy you a beer unseen too bad your on the other side of the world.

[Unseen]

This is by far the coolest thing I've done on the GameCube. I wish I could buy you a beer unseen too bad your on the other side of the world.

There are links to a few Amazon wishlists on sd2iec.de if you think that's an appropiate substitute. =)

(unfortunately they don't have any HDMI protocol analyzers...)

[happy_bunny]

yer its cool I can do my dev work with the cube hooked up to my hdmi pc monitor thanks unseen

[DragoonC]

someone got Latiche Programmer? I got 6 of the gclite boards but no programmer for the chips :/

[andre104623]

someone got Latiche Programmer? I got 6 of the gclite boards but no programmer for the chips :/

Ebay

[andre104623]

@Unseen ok well today was not a good day I got the VGA adapter and no luck for it working on my TV all 3 of them. Then I got frustrated and run to micro center and got a $60 HDMI to component converter and guess what it worked with one TV but not the way I wanted it to. I turn on the gcvideo and I got qoob screen looks fine then the gameplay starts and the problems the picture has black dots floating around the picture and patterns start forming in the video it looks like I dropped acid again (really it does). So I'm confused on what to do. I'm not buying a new TV so I might return everything and just break down and buy a computer monitor. It really is a shame I could only use it on my bosses computer at work, as seen in the pictures, and the picture is amazing. If I would of known of the compatibility issues with TV's I might have reconsidered the project and waited for a designated component solution that I could have done myself other then gcvideo-lite.

Sure I could bring it to my friends house again but that doesnt help the other 98% of the time im not there. What to do

[megalomaniac]

andre, i might have missed something thru all these posts...
TVs usually have multiple HDMI ports and typically one port accepts DVI/HDMI input
are you sure you plugged into that specific port? if not, bypass all your converters and try again...

[andre104623]

andre, i might have missed something thru all these posts...
TVs usually have multiple HDMI ports and typically one port accepts DVI/HDMI input
are you sure you plugged into that specific port? if not, bypass all your converters and try again...

Yes I noticed this on 2 TVs but unfortunately it doesn't make a difference. I found out why I'm having problems the gcvideo dvi is displaying 702x688P60 which is very strange and the TV can't read it correctly.

[Unseen]

Yes I noticed this on 2 TVs but unfortunately it doesn't make a difference. I found out why I'm having problems the gcvideo dvi is displaying 702x688P60 which is very strange and the TV can't read it correctly.

Is that in the resolution popup box? It shows only the input resolution, the output should always be 240/288/480/576 lines. Still, 688 sounds like a bug - what did you run when GCVideo was showing that resolution?

[andre104623]

Yes I noticed this on 2 TVs but unfortunately it doesn't make a difference. I found out why I'm having problems the gcvideo dvi is displaying 702x688P60 which is very strange and the TV can't read it correctly.

Is that in the resolution popup box? It shows only the input resolution, the output should always be 240/288/480/576 lines. Still, 688 sounds like a bug - what did you run when GCVideo was showing that resolution?

Yeah it said that on the popup. But it was 720x688p sorry for the typo I don't know why its doing this but its fine on the computer monitor like everything is fine. So I gave up on the TV and I'm looking for a nice monitor

[Unseen]

But it was 720x688p sorry for the typo I don't know why its doing this

The typo is no problem. I don't know why it's doing this either, but I'd very much like to figure it out, so I really need to know what was running when the popup reported that resolution.

but its fine on the computer monitor like everything is fine. So I gave up on the TV and I'm looking for a nice monitor

There is even a chance that the same problem that causes the weird resolution in the popup also causes your TVs to reject the signal. My first idea was that you might have swapped two lines during the installation, but I haven't found a combination of input signal and line swap yet that looks like it could be responsible.

[andre104623]

But it was 720x688p sorry for the typo I don't know why its doing this

The typo is no problem. I don't know why it's doing this either, but I'd very much like to figure it out, so I really need to know what was running when the popup reported that resolution.

but its fine on the computer monitor like everything is fine. So I gave up on the TV and I'm looking for a nice monitor

There is even a chance that the same problem that causes the weird resolution in the popup also causes your TVs to reject the signal. My first idea was that you might have swapped two lines during the installation, but I haven't found a combination of input signal and line swap yet that looks like it could be responsible.

Its not the wiring I checked 3 times everything is where it should be. I was trying to play super Mario sunshine and it looked like shit from the HDMI to component box. On the computer screen it looks great I'm at mirco center right now looking at monitors. If I had a wire crossed I don't think it would work at all