ok...like it says. i picked up a dc and two controllers (with game inside) for 20 bucks...

it doesnt have a power cable, but i learneded that the ps2 and dc use the same kind of plug...so that problem is fixed...it boots and spins. now, i need video. i have a component cable from said ps2 that i have started modding with. i connected the Audio L & R and the Video wires (as those are the only three in the cable) i tried to boot it, but no picture...what all do i need to do? please pm me...ill probably rarely check this...but i might.

thanks for any help guys

You can hardwire vga or svideo right into the mobo.

but how? i've never done any AV mods. ill google, but if anyone can tell me how to make component work, id appreciate it, cause thats all i got in my bedroom (which is where its gonna be)

Are you sure you've only got component? Most HDTVs will have composite and S-Video as well.

The Dreamcast does not have component output, it however has RGB output. If you don't want to open your dreamcast to do a composite/s-vid/vga internal mod, then head to a EB, Gamestop or a pawn shop and look for dreamcast cables. If you do then heres a site that has the pinouts from inside the dreamcast to solder on to and also has a schematic in order to create a custom VGA output. Click Here for the site.

ok...i need the one to make it work with the cable that uses yellow white and red cables. obviously component is for hi-def..i dont have that...

i just want it to play. i have a tv that only accepts the yellow/white/red inputs

buy a set of composite cables, theyl cost no more than a couple bucks on ebay or something

Yes ebay is your friend for Dreamcast accessories - I picked up an S-Video/composite cable, 4 jump packs, and 8 controller extensions for around 10 shipped... can't go wrong

umm...wouldnt it be even cheaper for me at the momnet, as i have everything already, minus maybe one resistor if neccessary...as i have the stuff already, and slightly installed...to do one myself...ok...time to google:

VGA
composite
RGB

outputs

http://devcast.dcemulation.com/mods/internalvga/vga.php

no doubt it would be cheaper but obviously your really cheap. personally the costs outweighs the time it would take.

A VGA adapter requires a number of chips and other components to do... it's actually cheaper to buy one then it is to build one.



Unless of course you have a couple of 74HCT244 chips laying around and the tools to etch your own PCB.

the PCB stuff alone is at very least 80% of the price of just buying one.

it's not as easy to hook up either... there's literally no good place to mount this stuff. the interals on ta Dreamcast are ridiculously tight, and to make matters worse the AV port isn't throughhole and half of the pins are covered by part of the connector + the other half is covered by a large metal plate that will need to be cut away before you can even run wires to it. You'll be hunting vias on the mobo for hours trying to find even a semi-usable place to hook up your converter, nevermind figuring out where you'll actually be able to fit it.

I looked at doing a built in VGA port with a "cost is no object" attitude and determined that it just wasn't worth it.

ok...well. i have a ps2 version of this:



that i cracked open. which pins can i solder to to make it work? do i need a ground anywhere?

i dont give a rats..........................about vga...i probably will never use it...

(ps. those connectors in the pic are what i need to get it working...)

inside the cable are three wires of the same color... so that simplifies what goes where...kinda. dont know if i need anything extra...i really need to know just this.

http://www.gamesx.com/wiki/doku.php?id=av:dreamcastav

have fun

let me apoligize if i came across rude to all you who have helped me. i never intended to be rude. i appreciate any and all ideas.



but now..ok. i know this much:

red---right audio
white---left audio
yellow---video


do i need any grounds, 5v, 12v, anything? make any connections?

you wont need any power, those are for external converters like the VGA adapter that need power to run the chips.

you DO however need to provide a ground for each of those lines (tie them all to pin 9 of the dc connector) the ground should attach to the metal ring of the AV connectors while the Red/white/Yellow will connect to the pin in the center.

i understood the rest...what did you mean by that? i know that i wire the pin 9 to each indiviual red/white/yellow wire. but what pin in the center?

That part of the sentence is useless without the context provided by the preceding phrase:

the ground should attach to the metal ring of the AV connectors while the Red/white/Yellow will connect to the pin in the center.

AV connectors meaning the bits the plug into your TV they have a center pin and a ring around it.. the center pin is the data and the ring is ground.

so in my terms, and whilst looking at the cable im using,

the connectors are run through the cable by similarly colored wires. (red connector has red wire connected to it...yellow has yellow wire connected...white...well you get the point) so run a wire from ground to the outer rings at the tip of the connector? and it'll work?

sorry, i did the picture wrong.

yeah your first one is backwards but just to be sure I made this up:

ok. well i went ahead with my grounding (second pic, just so you know)

ran a single 30AWG wire (kynar?) along the length of my AV cable. taping it at various points to hold in place. created a joint where the AV wires split, and ran a ground to each individual connector ring. a lil bit of flux, and solder got the wire attached pretty solid, trust me, i know a solid connection when i see it. if you can't you should stop soldering forever. lol

anyways, after wires were connected and grounds finished, i kicked my bro off his ps2 for a hot second to use the av plugs. plugged in the power, hit power button, and got..................sound. i got the dreamcast sound, i guess thats what it was...never heard it before, but ill assume thats what i heard. so, after getting no picture, i disconnected it, and went back to work. this time i checked for broken lines, bad joints, etc...i cant find out what the problem is. ill see if i can get some pics of my work in a lil bit...cant promise professional quality tho... lemme do that now...

WTF

WHY

the wires should already have a ground in there... how do you think the cable normally worked... just use a multi-meter to figure out which wires in the PS2 cable connects to the rings.

Honestly 30ga is WAY TOO THIN for something like that anyway, you'll get complete Shite for video and sound using it as a ground. you need at least 20ga... 16ga recommended.

well, i know you told me that i needed to make a ground...



but there is a group of copper wires floatin around the middle of the cable...maybe if i solder them together and make them connect to the pin 9? on the mobo? ill wait before doing anything until you let me know if im doin it right...


oh, wait...i have 16AWG wire...maybe i can replace the 30AWG with that...maybe it'll work?

Take a picture please.

There are 2 wires running inside the outer plastic of each plug. A positive and a negative. With the picture I can pinpoint each for you.

The negative may not be a wire like you are used to, it may be an uninsulated bunch of wires surrounding the positive wire. You do not need to run 30awg or 16 or anything. It is already in there.

Like this:
http://www.stageselect.com/images/articles...eSega/wires.jpg

yep, thats similar to my cable...lemme grab the cable...ill tell ya if they are outside the wires or inside...

*5 minutes later*

yeah, i never actually removed the metal clip around the wires, and now i know that the free strands of wire ran to that clip, and the clip connected to the ground on the tip of the plug. so thats how the AV got its ground...dont i feel like a


now, i have free copper wires, do i solder those together? and add somethin to them to reach the pin 9? cause as far as i can tell, thats all that i can do...

ps. throwingks...your right, i havent really seen this type of ground before. but my common sense says that only those could be ground...

"provide" is not the same thing as "make"

I simply meant that there was more then one wire to solder per connector.

yes those copper strands floating around are most likely the ground... it's used as shielding in the cable as well as a data reference point.

wrap them all up together and connect it to pin 1 using a decent gage wire... actually you might not even have to connect it to pin 1 but simply ground it to the case... use a multi meter to see if pin 1 is connected to the case shielding in anyway and if it is connect your ground to that instead of pin 1 (it would make a much better connection. Be sure to test for shorts between the ground and the data pins.

your yellow wire should be connected to pin 13.

great....well, ill get those soldered together, and add some 16AWG wire...is that big enough? maybe i should go with some 6AWG...lol


im just playing...i know what you mean...but im serious about the 16AWG...


can i just gorund them to the metal part of the case, cause if i remember correctly from memory, ( ) almost any AV plug touches metal to metal to create a ground. xbox does it, playstaion does it...and dreamcast SHOULD do it...

i really dont wanna use another pin on the mobo...i had to find decent points after i popped off on of the vias i soldered to...

there's a good chance that you can solder the ground to the case... but there's a possibility you can't, it all depends how the DC was built, take a multimeter to pin 1 and the case and see if there is a solid connection. if there is you can feel free to solder to the case.

well, remember that pin 9 i tapped into a while ago...i used it again with a bigger wire. the bigger wire was soldered to the ground wires, and when it was all said and done, i booted and got nothing at first, but i figured maybe the wiring is a little mixed up, knowing me....swapped the white and yellow, and hey look theres a screen there...so ive completed my goal, and made my own cable...ill write a tut for everyone here...



with all credit going to twistedsymphony, throwingks ,and anyone else...thank you