NTSC 64 playing PAL games! update: screen alive!!!

Includes but not limited to: SNES, Genesis, Sega CD, PlayStation 1, Nintendo 64, Dreamcast, Game Gear and I guess the Virtual Boy.

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OhSnap!
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Re: Uber budget style portable n64 project progress thread

Post by OhSnap! »

ok,
so the n64 that i got is NUS-001(EU). its weird that it would be european and it was sold in australia and it says for use with an australian power cable on the sticker.
anyways, i know for certain that it won't be rgb compatible.

so what do people think is the best option

1: trade with my pal n64 xcvg for his ntsc n64, put the pal PIF chip in it that bacteria has kindly offered me and rgb mod that.
cons: have to pay shipping for the trade
pros: easy to do the chip switch and don't have to wait for somebody willing to trade.

2: keep the pal n64 that i have and switch out the video output chip for a ntsc one that can do rgb.
cons: harder to solder and have to find somebody who will give me a chip from their fried board
pros: dont have to ship a large item

3: trade me lovely screen for an av compatible one
cons: harder to find somebody who needs an rgb only screen and have to pay for shipping
pros: mod free

tell me what you guys think =D
XCVG
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Re: Uber budget style portable n64 project progress thread

Post by XCVG »

No, you misunderstood me, my N64 can't be RGB modded. And it's broken.
OhSnap!
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Re: Uber budget style portable n64 project progress thread

Post by OhSnap! »

uh hu....
why offer it them without that information? :lol: i obviously wanted one that is rgb moddable and worked
OhSnap!
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Re: Uber budget style portable n64 project progress thread

Post by OhSnap! »

ok so i carefully opened the n64 with my anti-static wristband on (incase i was going to need to trade it) and to my dismay, as predicted it had the MAV-nus chip on it. no rgb for me.

i am also amazed at how small it is!!!
i also forgot to mention before that my friend also gave me four controllers, 3 clear and 1 gray (guess which ones getting hacked apart), and a list of games as follows:

-mario kart 64
-diddy kong racing
-mario party 2
-nft quarterback club 99
-starwars shadows of the empire
-donkey kong 64 (yes the n64 also came with the memory expansion pack)
-the legend of zelda- majora's mask
-my second copy of extreme g2

i probably won't be adding the expsansion pack into the unit as it would use power and the only game that i want to play that uses the expansion pack is donkey kong 64. but if i dont put it is is it required that i have a jumperpack? will it still book with nothing in the slot?
blaze3927
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Re: Uber budget style portable n64 project progress thread

Post by blaze3927 »

you need to have the jumper pak in there, and im pretty sure zelda majoras mask needs the expansion pack aswell
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OhSnap!
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Re: Uber budget style portable n64 project progress thread

Post by OhSnap! »

so basically i have to rewire the expansion slot too? damn...

Well i have another question:
could i use a ps2 controller joystick instead of the n64 controller's? i ask this because the stick of the gray controller i have is all loose and cruddy.
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Re: Uber budget style portable n64 project progress thread

Post by blaze3927 »

I wouldn't recommend relocating the expansion slot, when you take a jumper pak/expansion pak apart the actual chip is a lot smaller than the casing.

and generally speaking you cannot use a ps2 analog stick on a genuine Nintendo 64 controller (see below), but some 3rd party controllers use the same analog sticks as the ps2/ps1

*the genuine Nintendo 64 controllers do not even use potentiometers (which is what most other game controllers use), Nintendo 64 controllers use stuff similar to whats found in mice/trackballs.

I would recommend buying a third party controller that uses ps1/ps2 type analog sticks though, there a bit smaller than the n64 one
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OhSnap!
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Re: Uber budget style portable n64 project progress thread

Post by OhSnap! »

well since this is an uber budget project so i think buying more stuff than i need isn't a good idea :D

so i will use my best controller (one of the orangeclear ones) that has a good joystick and put the not so amazing guts from the gray one into the clear one.
blaze3927
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Re: Uber budget style portable n64 project progress thread

Post by blaze3927 »

sounds like a plan
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Re: Uber budget style portable n64 project progress thread

Post by Basement_Modder »

OhSnap! wrote:so basically i have to rewire the expansion slot too? damn...

Well i have another question:
could i use a ps2 controller joystick instead of the n64 controller's? i ask this because the stick of the gray controller i have is all loose and cruddy.
You can directly transplant 2 expansion pack chips in place of the existing ram, then hardwire a jumper pack on and it will sense the expansion.

You can use a PS2 joystick, but only on the 3rd party controllers and you'll have to change the resistance on the potentiometers because the PS2 joystick has weird default resistance, but it is do-able.
Cheers,
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OhSnap!
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Re: Uber budget style portable n64 project progress thread

Post by OhSnap! »

i would love to be able to replace the onboardram chips but alas, i am no sldering god.

does anybody know if switching out the video output thingo is as simple as the PIF chip. i realise the pins are really close together but i think with some practice it will be possible. it is a matter of just remove the old one and put in a new one or would they be different in some way? like a different number of pins or something?
OhSnap!
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Re: Uber budget style portable n64 project progress thread

Post by OhSnap! »

well i will probably take bacteria up on his offer of a pal pif chip as i am negotiating a trade with eurddrue the involves my pal n64, my copy of donkeykong 64, his ntsc n64, my expansion pack and his paying of shipping both ways. :D

pretty good as i never intended to use the expansion pack as it uses more juice.

ok, so now that i am getting rgb out for my n64p i am interested to know if i can add a vga port to it as i noticed that computer screens use rgb.
it would be badass if i had composite out, rgb out and vga out for my n64p. so i could basically bring my n64p around to friends houses and whatnot and plug it into basically, if not every, screen that i come across.
blaze3927
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Re: Uber budget style portable n64 project progress thread

Post by blaze3927 »

To make a vga signal from rgb is possible, but will only work on lcd monitors that support sync on green (and not many do). The other option would be to build a sync splitter, more info can be found here:
http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/Xbox_VGA_HOWTO
same principal, but its for xbox
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XCVG
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Re: Uber budget style portable n64 project progress thread

Post by XCVG »

OhSnap! wrote:well i will probably take bacteria up on his offer of a pal pif chip as i am negotiating a trade with eurddrue the involves my pal n64, my copy of donkeykong 64, his ntsc n64, my expansion pack and his paying of shipping both ways. :D

pretty good as i never intended to use the expansion pack as it uses more juice.
The expansion pack doesn't use THAT much more juice, and it's essential for a few games. For others it adds additional eye candy and stuff like that.
OhSnap!
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Re: Uber budget style portable n64 project progress thread

Post by OhSnap! »

so do people think its a good dealI i would have to trade majoras mask for something as it wouldn't work.
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