Well, the thing with Mednafen is, it’s actually based on a bunch of other open-source emulators, usually with improvements to each, so it emulates each system quite well. Its GBA support is especially well done. The lack of a GUI is moot; just associate file types and use your system’s built-in file browser! Besides, with its nice help system to list the major hot-keys (press F1), and an automatic controller mapper, it’s quite “GUI-like”, only lacking a (superfluous, IMO) file chooser. On top of all that, it’s pretty much the best VB emu out there (sound support being a prime example of this), and the only one (to my knowledge) still being maintained.

If you still want a “single-system” emu, there’s always VBJin, which is (a usually out-dated version of) the Mednafen VB core, with a GUI tacked on.

DO NOT ATTEMPT THE OVEN TRICK!

PM sent 😀

[RunnerPack]

Welcome back, Kyopsis 😉 I have basically the same meter (bought from a different retailer, and a different color, but the same front panel layout and likely the same manufacturer).

If you’re absolutely new to DMMs, check some tutorials. YouTube has a few. The one from MAKE is probably pretty good. Being a largish, maker-friendly, corporate entity, they’re less prone to (unchallenged/uncorrected) errors than Joe Nobody off the street.

EDIT: I watched the MAKE one, and he doesn’t go over choosing a range on non-auto meters like yours. Just choose the lowest range high enough to measure the highest voltage you’re likely to see. In this case, the 20V range will work, since your battery voltage and Vcc are both well under this, and much higher than the next lowest 2V (i.e. 2000mV) range.

One tip you’ll probably get from the tutorials, but which bears repeating, is to NEVER use a meter set to “resistance” (designated by the Greek capital omega: Ω) on a live (i.e. powered-on) circuit!

Once you’re familiar/comfortable with your meter, just check the voltages as per the above comments by myself and DogP, and report back your findings.

• This reply was modified 13 years ago by RunnerPack.

Virtual_Ben wrote:
Thans RunnerPack for the info.;)

Any time, Ben. BTW, what prompted you to ask about this? Are you having a problem with your VB’s amplifier, or are you working on something new, or…?

Gotmished wrote:
I believe, too, that I may have misunderstood the Virtual Boy power situation; I thought that a separate Virtual Boy adapter was sold originally, and the tap connected to a SNES adapter to save one from buying a new Virtual Boy adapter. However, it seems that I was wrong here (unless someone now tells me otherwise).

The first-party adapter consists of an SNES “wall wart” and a “tap” for the VB controller, but there was also a 3rd-party adapter, sold under the name “Performance”, that is one unit; the wall wart is permanently wired to a “tap-like” device. I own one.

http://www.planetvb.com/modules/hardware/?type=accessories&sec=main&id=11

The red wire (pin 1) is +5V.
Pin 2 is left audio (cartridge pin 58).
Pin 3 is right audio (cartridge pin 57).
Pin 4 is GND.

I can’t find the pinout of the MM1030B audio amp with a cursory search, but a little circuit tracing would fix that.

I think the 22 is a typo. According to the V810 manual, there are 9-bit and 26-bit branch instructions. As for the 9-bit branch having a “bitsize” of 26, I have no idea. It should probably also have a “size” of 1 (short) too, since the 9-bit branch instructions are 16-bit. The “Rightshift” value will probably also need correction.

Unless that “HOWTO” structure is documented somewhere, it’s probably going to take some experimentation to figure out what the proper settings are.

Have fun 😉

I would take a whack at it, but I don’t know if I have the right gcc installed to recompile gccvb from source…

Nah, I think a decade is a good run as a PVB member; RunnerPack is out! Peace!

😉

But seriously… I’m by no means an electronics expert, but I’ll help however I can.

I’m definitely interested in this topic (and squashing the bug), I’m just too dumb to add anything of use 😛

…although, I don’t think your “broken linker” theory is all that weak. In my experience, “what works in GCC2 should work in GCC4” is far from a valid assumption. But, again, I don’t know enough about the inner workings of either to say for sure, or to help fix it if that’s the problem.

Is there a certain pattern of code that triggers the bug, or is it just when a project gets to a certain size? Have you got a minimal example? Have you checked to see if anyone using another GCC4 target has encountered a similar bug?

Doesn’t work for me, either. Plus, on the redirect page, it just says “read” instead of something like “All topics have been marked read”.

You could probably fit a bigger one in with the current speakers/displays. It sits below the displays, and the speakers are actually quite small.

Excellent work, as always, KR155E!

*yoink* 😉

(BTW, it won’t let me download the PSD. It ends up as a zero-length file.)

No problem. If you make one, you should do a new write-up (including sources and maybe a rough cost analysis) and take some updated/better-quality photos of the process (no offense to Qbert intended ;-))

Kyopsis wrote:
Thank you for the response, however I’m not sure how I would check that…

You’ll need a meter that shows voltage. The cheapest DMM (Digital Multimeter) or VOM (Volt/Ohm Meter) from RadioShack, Harbor Freight, eBay, etc. will do.

Im wondering how it went from getting power and everything working fine (except for one of the eye displays) to not powering on at all but Im determined to try your method

It’s possible that you zapped something with static electricity while you were in there, but the VB is actually pretty immune to stuff like that. It’s probably either a problem with the power coming from the controller, or the regulator just coincidentally crapped out while you were messing with the VB.

what do you mean by the VCC exactly? and where is P6?

VCC is the main supply voltage that runs everything in the VB. It’s a (nominal) +5VDC generated by the regulator from what comes in from the battery terminals on the controller. The pin that supplies it to the controller and link port is labeled in the list above.

The connectors (and their first and last pins) are all clearly labeled on the board. If you look at the connector the controller attaches to, and follow the group of wires (like a ribbon cable, only not all connected together) to the mainboard, that’s P6. You can get to the pins on the back to take measurements. You’ll have to do it with the VB powered up.

Sounds good to me! 🙂

I hope we don’t have to use that particular (and quite expensive) editor, though… There are many free, open-source ones that are quite usable. Many of them are hosted on SourceForge.

ca. 76.2mm x 112.7mm

From the chips on the top to the tallest component on the bottom (the cartridge connector) it’s about 25mm (1″) thick.

I assume you’re talking about Qbert’s Headband. The strap on a gym/travel bag is called “nylon webbing”. Looks to be about $3/yd. on eBay, or you can try a local sewing/craft store. If they sell the webbing, they’ll likely carry the rest of the stuff, too. If they don’t have the shoulder padding piece, you can pick up some foam or fleece to make one. Just be sure you can get the stuff for less than the price of a bag, otherwise you might as well just “upcycle” the bag…

Some handy person should start making these and put them up on Etsy or the PVB Marketplace.

Have you checked all the other cables connected to the mainboard?

Despite the presence of the red light, it could be an issue with the voltage regulator (the “black square”).

You can check the VCC and battery voltages on connector P6. Here’s a pinout:

P6 - Controller ("serial") and Link Port ("Ext.")

	Serial	Ext.
P6	Pin	Pin	Description
1	6		Battery + (Red)
2	3		Serial Latch (Brown)
3	5		Ground (Black)
4	2	2	Vcc (+5V)
5	4		Serial Clock (Orange)
6	1		Serial Data (Yellow)
7		4	Rx (Data input)
8		8	Tx (Data output)
9		3	Ext. Clock (50 kHz out; ~230 kHz in, max.)
10		7	Ground
11		1	COMCNT (open-collector)
12		6	Ext. Sync Out
13		5	Ext. Sync In

Let us know how it goes.

Well, I guess we both learned something today! 😉 I wonder why you guys put the space… Probably to avoid confusion due to use of accent marks.

I don’t think anyone would be angry if you posted a changed file. In fact, why not post a “version française” as well? :thumpup: (Of course, then you’d have to translate all the other ones, too ;-))

On the other hand, I guess it wouldn’t be too hard for others to fix it themselves… I would fix and post it for you, but it’s already a JPEG 🙁

Craby wrote:
Thanks RunnerPack ! :]

My pleasure, Craby. You did a great job on the rest of the cover.

One thing, though: why the extra space between the sentences and exclamation points? Is it an artifact of the font you’re using, or maybe the software you’re using? I know I didn’t put them in the copy I posted (in fact, I specifically removed them from your original).