Author Topic: Questions About VGA Box and Consoles (Read 4933 times)

Demon-Seed · « **on:** November 11, 2002, 01:07:22 pm »

Hi,
Rescently I bought a VGA box from levelsix.com. Its below:

http://www.levelsix.com/products/dreamcast/treamcastvga.shtml

Now I hooked it up.. went from DC to the VGA box, and the VGA box directly into my HP PC Monitor. Now, I have tried all 3 setting son it USA/JAP/TV and I get absolutely nothing on the monitor. I have tried original games and backups, but still get nothing on the screen. All I want to do is get my dc onto my pc monitor. I thought thats what a VGA box did? I am frustrated with this and wondered if anyone knew why this is occuring? or what I need to buy to make it work? I prefer someone other than levelsix as it took 4 weeks to get this thing. Thats the frustrating part! Anyways, if you have input on this I would appreciate any info you may be able to give.

Thanks
Jim

hyiu · « **Reply #1 on:** November 11, 2002, 01:32:19 pm »

to play your dreamcast with computer monitor...

my friend has just won something from ebay which is
suppose to do the trick....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1396615268

this is the ONLY guy selling this thing....
(he said he had searched all over the web...)

and this guy is selling 1 at a time in ebay....
it runs up to like $50 or so at the end of the auction everytime...

but its original dreamcast parts.... (I think it means that it should work right....)

once his arrives, I'll ask him how it is and let you know....

tom61 · « **Reply #2 on:** November 11, 2002, 01:46:34 pm »

Make sure the plug going to the Dreamcast is all the way in, some third party devices seem to be pluged in all the way when they're not. You may have to press harder than then seems safe to get them all the way in.

Its odd that it took so long to long to get your VGA box from Level-Six, I got mine in less than 2 weeks from them. I got different VGA box though, so I'm not sure which mode enables VGA mode (I'm guessing Jap from the online instructions).

Demon-Seed · « **Reply #3 on:** November 11, 2002, 02:52:15 pm »

Which one did you buy? and are you going into a pc monitor?

thx
Jim

SNAAAKE · « **Reply #4 on:** November 11, 2002, 03:06:25 pm »

hyiu,
Your friend is in NY?
$50 sound way too funny...You can go to manhattan and buy 3 vga boxes and still have $5 left for that money.Who knows why he didnt do it

.

demonseed,
I got this one(exact) and works great.
http://levelsix.com/products/dreamcast/haisvga.shtml
Even with all the backups(I got over 200 dreamcast games and very few didnt actually work).

for example,mortal kombat gold is funny.
you can start the game but once you loose then you can't continue(freezes up).

hyiu · « **Reply #5 on:** November 11, 2002, 03:46:12 pm »

yes... my friend is in NY, but he's ONLY interested in buying the ORIGINAL dreamcast parts.... no 3rd party stuffs...

that's why its so expensive...

I think that's the difference....

SNAAAKE · « **Reply #6 on:** November 11, 2002, 04:44:40 pm »

well...yeah..

But the offical version is kinda funny.Wont play backups for some reason(secret locks by SEGA

).
I dont know about this box not playing backup(I only heard that it has some kinda lock thats all)

Demon-Seed · « **Reply #7 on:** November 11, 2002, 10:37:08 pm »

Hey,
Well I really want one that will work with backups etc. But the one I bought does not seem to want to work with anything. has anyone had any success with this VGA box?

Is it the wrong thing what should I get?? I need some guidence please!

thanks
Jim

Dave_K. · « **Reply #8 on:** November 12, 2002, 12:18:02 am »

This whole deal with markting certain VGA boxes as being able to play import/backup is pure BS. Any VGA box will work...all you need is the right boot disc.

Anyway, here is what you should do to test it. Turn off the DC. Insert the VGA box into the DC, then connect the monitor to the vga box. Switch the VGA box to "JAP" mode. Turn on the monitor. Turn on the Dreamcast without any disc in it. You should get the DC menu screen.

If you don't get the menu, check the pins on the VGA box AV connector. Make sure they extend all the way and evenly. If that doesn't show anything, confirm your monitor can do 31.5khz (with pc at 640x480).

If all else fails, you can open up the VGA box, (with all power to DC OFF) and use a multimeter to probe which pins are grounded. Check the gamesx site for which pins mean what....and make sure at least the 31.5khz wire is grounded. Its of if both the 31.5khz and 15khz wires are grounded. Still not right, check the JAP/USA/TV switch.

SNAAAKE · « **Reply #9 on:** November 12, 2002, 01:36:25 am »

Quote from: Dave_K. on November 12, 2002, 12:18:02 am

This whole deal with markting certain VGA boxes as being able to play import/backup is pure BS. Any VGA box will work...all you need is the right boot disc.

What the heck

?isnt there only 1 boot disc.I am not sure how many there is(all my 200 games are all like original.selfboot I mean).

And yes...dude's got a point.Any vga box works even if you wanna play the games that need boot disc.Could be a broken vga box.Just send it back to levelsix.com and get the one I have.The link is on previous posts.

gnateye · « **Reply #10 on:** November 12, 2002, 11:40:12 am »

when i first got my 'dragoncast' brand vga box (i paid 10$ on ebay) i had the same things, plugged it all in and got nothing, it was exactly like the post above said, the connector even though it felt fully plugged in wasnt, i had to push really hard to get it in there, but after thant it has worked great. so try that. and try starting the dc with no disc, if you dont even get the dcd intro screen than somehting is wrong, but really push taht sucker inthere 80)

Lilwolf · « **Reply #11 on:** November 12, 2002, 11:56:37 am »

I've also heard that there are different qualities... is this true?

I'm considering (in the future) to add a DC to my cabinet... but I'm only interested in a few games (Gauntlet Legends)... and the list goes down now that I have Crazy Taxi for the PC.

SNAAAKE · « **Reply #12 on:** November 12, 2002, 01:23:56 pm »

Quote from: Lilwolf on November 12, 2002, 11:56:37 am

I've also heard that there are different qualities... is this true?

Nah man

.
I have seen 3 vga boxes and so far....everthing look same.However,looks like.....amezing.Try it yourself and see what everyone's talkin about

.I remember buying vga box about a year ago and I cant even go near a TV to play games.TV sucks dudes.

Demon-Seed · « **Reply #13 on:** November 12, 2002, 07:48:54 pm »

Hey,
I will try it when I get home..thanks guys. Snake could u post that link to the one you purchased?

thx
Jim

SNAAAKE · « **Reply #14 on:** November 12, 2002, 08:17:31 pm »

http://levelsix.com/products/dreamcast/haisvga.shtml

Dave_K. · « **Reply #15 on:** November 13, 2002, 02:15:33 am »

Quote from: Lilwolf on November 12, 2002, 11:56:37 am

I've also heard that there are different qualities... is this true?

All Dreamcast VGA boxes function exactly the same. They simply "enable" the DC to output VGA natively (by grounding one of the pins). [You could make your own...www.gamesx.com has a circuit diagram. ]

What you may be getting confused with are the other "VGA" boxes for the PS/PS2/XBox/Gamecube (like the Redant box). These take a composite video signal and upscan it to VGA...and do a piss poor job of it. Higher end professional upscanners take a pure RGB signal and upscan. But upscanning anything isn't going to look as nice as native progressive output.

WFH · « **Reply #16 on:** November 13, 2002, 11:54:52 am »

Quote from: tom61 on November 11, 2002, 01:46:34 pm

Make sure the plug going to the Dreamcast is all the way in, some third party devices seem to be pluged in all the way when they're not. You may have to press harder than then seems safe to get them all the way in.

Its odd that it took so long to long to get your VGA box from Level-Six, I got mine in less than 2 weeks from them. I got different VGA box though, so I'm not sure which mode enables VGA mode (I'm guessing Jap from the online instructions).

I tried your advice about pushing hard on the Dreamcast a/v connector. It works ... thanks.

Demon-Seed · « **Reply #17 on:** November 13, 2002, 05:50:34 pm »

Hey,
Guys when I get home from school on Friday I will double check the connection to the DC to make sure that it is plugged in correctly.

Jim

Demon-Seed · « **Reply #18 on:** November 14, 2002, 07:11:30 pm »

Hey,
I do not understand LevelSix.com, everyone says that they are great but I emailed them on SAT in reference to this problem and still have not heard a dam thing.. I am really eager to get the DC running in the arcade cabinet!

SNAAAKE · « **Reply #19 on:** November 14, 2002, 07:51:26 pm »

one of my converter was kinda funny(cant do fireball problem) and levelsix.com dont seem to give a damn after they ship your stuff.I dont know what to say.wait couple of more days then dispuite with credit card company.Because they are ripping ya off right

?


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