*READ* FINALLY MY DREAMCAST WORKS ON MY ARCADE MONITOR!

[stellarola]

Hey, I looking for someone who knows how to get the Dreamcast to display on my arcade monitor. I want someone who has done this before and has gotten the correct results. I will pay you to help me do this. Seriously. I'll pay really good money too. Check this out....

In my Mame Cabinet:

-WG 19'' inch arcade monitor (came out of an Arch Rivals cab)
-Arcadevga card with Ultimarc video amp
X-arcade stick...I gutted this beast and used the insides in my mame cab. (So I have a Dreamcast extention I would love to use!! )


What I'm thinking is with the ultimarc video amp I could do this. Basically it seperates the R,G,B, Sync and Ground...for an easy install to the monitor. I've read that you can use the Dreamcast vga box to be converted to a 15hz video signal. So...Can I somehow use the video amp to help with this?? Someone help me or point me in the right direction or something. I'll pay someone some top $$$ to help me out with this. EMAIL ME AT ecousticforkris@insightbb.com

or just post on this topic. THANKS SO MUCH!!!



-Ben

[Dave_K.]

The instructions are posted in the Game Consles FAQ on this site:

http://arcadecontrols.com/arcade_consoles.shtml

Its pretty simple as you just open the VGA box and snip one wire...no soldering!

[stellarola]

Dave would this work with the Ultimarc Video Amp???

[stellarola]

Also Dave if this is the case..Can anyone out there sell me a hacked vga cable and a hacked vga box that I can use. Ill pay ya $$.

[Dave_K.]

The Ultimarc amp does not seperate RGBHV...its requires an RGBHV signal coming in and simply boosts on the other side.  From the pic it looks like a db15 vga extension cable.  Most arcade monitors use a 5 or 6 pin molex header.  So do you already have this cable hooked up to your monitor?

The DC hack should be compatible with this cable, as you get a 15khz rgb signal out the DB15 connector of the hacked VGA box.  But I've never had to use a video amp when hooking my hacked dc box up to a monitor before.  So I don't know if maybe the picture would be too bright or washed out with this cable.

[stellarola]

Holy crap...I cant do this, wtf is wrong. AHHHH!! I give up. I will never get this dreamcast running on this arcade monitor. Thanks to everyone who looked at this topic. I give up. heh... 

[Dave_K.]

Ben,  do you have a working Mame cabinet?  Is the monitor working with the ArcardeVGA and Ultimarc video amp cable?  If so, then hooking up a dreamcast to your monitor is a VERY simple operation.  Don't loose hope just yet.

[stellarola]

Dave, my man. I've got the mame cabinet working fine with the Arcadevga and Videoamp. I connect a standard vga cable from the arcadevga to the videoamp, then the video amp to the r,g,b,ground and sync molex connectors...which go to the WG 19'' inch monitor. I just dont know what I'm messing up man. I seriously will pay you to make me a hacked vga cable and whatever I need to do this operation. Hope is almost lost, thanks in advance for the reply.


-Ben

[Dave_K.]

Well the good news is you don't have to do any additional wiring.  So there is nothing to mess up.    All you'd be doing is unpluging the cable from your ArcadeVGA card, and pluging that into the hacked Dreamcast VGA box.  Thats it. 

Now, hacking the VGA box is also very simple.   All you do is take out the screws, open it up, and snip 1 wire where the Dreamcast cable plugs into the circuit board.  To make it even easier for you, if you buy a Blaze DC VGA or Madness Gameware VGA box, I'll even tell you which wire to snip (since I have both of these model boxes and can confirm for you).  I just looked out on ebay and you are in luck as both are available (these are kinda rare nowadays).  So try and get one of these.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=4303&item=8153240212&rd=1
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=41053&item=8152699448&rd=1

[stellarola]

Ok, i'll purchase one of these vga boxes. So even with the videoamp plugged in, I shouldnt have any problems?

[Dave_K.]

Ok, i'll purchase one of these vga boxes. So even with the videoamp plugged in, I shouldnt have any problems?

I think it should be just fine.  Your monitor may be one that requires the gain boost.  Basically, the output of the DC VGA box should be at the same levels as the ArcadeVGA card...so in theory it should be just fine.

[stellarola]

Dave...your my demi-god. Thanks a lot man.   

[stellarola]

Check this out...what I plan doing is buying a vga switch box and just being able to switch from the dreamcast to the pc on the fly. I actually bought a serial switch box on eBay so I could go from the X-arcade (pc) to the dreamcast extention. I can't wait to see how it turns out...hey wanna sell me one of your vga boxes???

[Dave_K.]

Regarding the switchbox, sounds like a good plan.  I don't want to sell you one of mine because I need them both  .  Trust me you will have it hacked inside 5 minutes, and be all that much happier you did it yourself.

[stellarola]

You think you could do me a favor and show me a picture of the arcade monitor playing the dreamcast.   THAT WOULD BE GREAT DAVE!!

[Dave_K.]

You think you could do me a favor and show me a picture of the arcade monitor playing the dreamcast.   THAT WOULD BE GREAT DAVE!!

I plan on finishing up my latest cab project this weekend and will take some pics and post in the project forum.

[Hiub1]

How is the picture quality on the Arcade monitor? I have a hacked DC in my cab, but I am using a TV and hooking it up through an S-Video Cable. I am thinking of making a new 2 player Fighting Cab, and this time I will go with an Arcade monitor if the results on the DC are good. I just LOVE Cap VS SNK 2 and SF3! Enough to make a dedicated cab for them.

Thanks in advanced, Fred.

[Dave_K.]

How is the picture quality on the Arcade monitor? I have a hacked DC in my cab, but I am using a TV and hooking it up through an S-Video Cable. I am thinking of making a new 2 player Fighting Cab, and this time I will go with an Arcade monitor if the results on the DC are good. I just LOVE Cap VS SNK 2 and SF3! Enough to make a dedicated cab for them.

Thanks in advanced, Fred.

Going RGBHV direct to an arcade monitor is the best quality you can get.  The difference over s-video should be better color, resolution wise it should be similar.  If you buy a multisync monitor that can do 31.5khz as well as the standard 15.7khz, then you can make the dreamcast output rgbhv in high res and have the absolute best quality period.

[stellarola]

Hey Dave. How do you know this vga box will work with the videoamp? You said it doesnt seperate the rgbhv, right? I forget. Lemme know, thanks man!

[Dave_K.]

The Dreamcast VGA box outputs RGB natively through the 15pin port (just like the ArcadeVGA card for your pc).  Its already seperated at that point.  The video amp just boosts the gain on the RGB signal before it goes to the monitor.  Thats pretty much it. 

[stellarola]

Dave the Demi-god. Thanks man

[Dave_K.]

Just posted pics of my latest cab running with a Dreamcast.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,28845.0.html

I also notice you won the auction for the gameware madness VGA box...sweet.  Let me know when you get it and I'll tell you which wire to cut for 15khz.

[stellarola]

Dave are those pics in 15khz or 31khz? Thanks!

[Dave_K.]

Dave are those pics in 15khz or 31khz? Thanks!

Those are pics with the dreamcast running in hires (31khz).  I take a comparison pic at 15khz tonight and post it to that thread.

[stellarola]

Hey anyone know how to hack a vga cable? Im trying to figure out which color wire does what...


I have wires that range from.....

Brown, Yellow, Gray, Purple, Pink, White, Blue, Red, Green, Black, Orange, Black (with white line on it), Brown (with white line on it), very light Blue wire, and some exposed wire (I suppose its a ground wire???)

[Dave_K.]

I tried taking comparison pictures of the dreamcast at 15khz and 31khz, and you can't really notice a difference with the camera.

Regarding the VGA cord, do you happen to have the end that you hacked off?  IF you still do, then you could look at the diagram of the pinouts and tell which color maps to which pin.  Otherwise you will have to use a multimeter on continuity test to see which wire maps to which pin.

[stellarola]

how would i match the pins with the wires? I dont get that part.

[Dave_K.]

how would i match the pins with the wires? I dont get that part.

Well I was assuming you still had the end you hacked off, and could just open that up to see which wires go to which holes/pins....and then use this picture to map that what each wire is. http://www.bbdsoft.com/video.html

[stellarola]

I used a mulitimeter. Now...which ground wire do I want to use?

[Dave_K.]

Use pin 10 (see the picture in the link above).

[stellarola]

Yo. I Hooked up the hacked vga cable to my monitor...I got like a sorta distorted srambled video....so in turn does that mean I need the video amp, or is this another problem?

[Dave_K.]

Yo. I Hooked up the hacked vga cable to my monitor...I got like a sorta distorted srambled video....so in turn does that mean I need the video amp, or is this another problem?

Are you using the arcadevga card? and is it in 15khz mode?  if you can still see a picture on a normal monitor, then you aren't putting it in the proper mode for arcade monitors.  Anyway, I thought you said you already had that part working!?  And were wondering how to hook up the Dreamcast?

[stellarola]

Yes I'm using the arcadevga card on my arcade monitor, it only works on it. It is in 15khz mode. Also when I looked at some of these pics of the vga pinouts...its like they were turned upside down or some crap.

[Witchboard]

I noticed that the FAQ said that some games won't work with the VGA box.  Is there a list somewhere?

[Oddfeld]

You might like to go read this too:

http://www.mameworld.net/pc2jamma/arc_dc1.html

[Dave_K.]

I noticed that the FAQ said that some games won't work with the VGA box.  Is there a list somewhere?

I've never seen a list yet.  There are a lot of games that do not natively support the VGA box...but you can still get it to display on a VGA screen using a "swap" trick: turn on dreamcast with VGA box in TV mode, wait till you hear the short beep, then wait 1 second and flip it to PC mode, you will then see the Sega Logo on the PC monitor.

[Witchboard]

Nice link Oddfeld.  That sheds some light on some things.  Thanks for the trick Dave_K.

/threadjack

[stellarola]

Hey Dave, I got that vga box in the mail today...its the Transparent Orange one. Says "DC-VGA ADAPTER" on it. Which wire do I snip?

[Dave_K.]

Hey Dave, I got that vga box in the mail today...its the Transparent Orange one. Says "DC-VGA ADAPTER" on it. Which wire do I snip?

Ok, this is exactly the same box I have.  So open the vga box by unscrewing the 4 screws on the back.   On the PCB will be one (or two) more screw that holds the other side on, so unscrew those as well.  You should now be able to seperate the case completely.  Looking at the PCB where the plug wires go into the board (its called "con16"), pin #1 is the yellow wire on the end.  You need to cut wire #6, which if you count from yellow, turns out to be the black wire. 

I suggest making the cut in the middle of the black wire between where the wire comes out of the cable, to where it connects to the board.  The reason being, if you ever want to put this back into 31.khz mode, just open the box, and twist the two halves together.

Have fun!

[stellarola]

No, I didnt get any picture on my monitor.   The vga box I bought on ebay had problems with its vga, when I hooked it up to a standard pc monitor. So I dunno if thats the problem. I guess I have to buy another one...

[Dave_K.]

No, I didnt get any picture on my monitor.   The vga box I bought on ebay had problems with its vga, when I hooked it up to a standard pc monitor. So I dunno if thats the problem. I guess I have to buy another one...

There is a PC/TV switch, you sure you don't have that on TV? 

[stellarola]

Whoa. Your right. How dumb of me. I got it to display fine. The thing is...using the videoamp The picture was wayyyy too bright. So do I just use a hacked vga cable then?

[stellarola]

Holy @%$^!!! This is awesome!!!! Dave I GOT IT TO WORK PERFECTLY DUDE!!!! I GOT TO SHOW YOU A PIC, I'll get my digi cam and take some pictures. Street Fighter 3: Third Strike looks soo clean on this monitor. Its arcade PERFECT!! Thankyou sooooo much!

[stellarola]

Here are some pics of the dreamcast running on my arcade monitor y'all. Thanks Dave!

[Dave_K.]

Stellarola, thats looks awsome.  See I told you you'd be happier if you did the hack yourself  .  Congrats.

[stellarola]

Would the dreamcast lightguns work on an arcade monitor like a standard tv?

[stellarola]

Here are some more screenshots of Soul Calibur. Surprising enough, this game was updated for the Dreamcast and looks far superior to the actual arcade game. The picture is blurry sorry. There was a lot of movement on screen. Also looking at this game on a arcade monitor looks a lot more crisp than a T.V. Like when you select your fighter you can tell a big difference. Also you all need to check out Jet Grind (Set) Radio on an arcade monitor..it looks breath-taking.

[Dave_K.]

Would the dreamcast lightguns work on an arcade monitor like a standard tv?

Yes lightgun games work fine.  You may have to adjust the contrast and brightness (just like a normal TV) to make sure the guns calibrate correctly.

Regarding Soul Calibur...yes the DC version is an update from the arcade version (which was based on older hardware, not naomi).

[stellarola]

I just got the ultimarc video amp out of the loop on my connections. I had no idea that was why it made the monitor so friggin bright. . Anyway I had to do some color/brightness changing in the ATI control panel so once I put my vga switchbox in, I wont have to go in the back of the monitor and change the settings everytime I want to switch from the PC to the Dreamcast. Everything looks soo clean, I'm very pleased with everything. Question though, does the Ultimarc Videoamp support Triple Buffering? I tried to turn it on in Mame32 and all it did was exit the program completely. Strange. I dunno. Also I have the 7000 version of the ArcadeVGA.

Thanks ya'll.

-Ben