Dreamcast Arcade

[falcons7]

Hello everyone..... I seem to be having trouble figuring out how to make my arcade monitor display my Dreamcast. I have purchased a Naki Vga Box off ebay and am wondering how i set it up.. I know i have to cut a ground wire. Although that isnt my issue. It doesnt seem as if my monitor has a vga plug. Do i need to make a vga cable to plug into one of my connectors that are currently hooked up to my cps2 box. If it helps Im using a Street Fighter Alpha 3 cabinet. Please help 

[Dave_K.]

You need to find a VGA extension cable, hack off one end, and wire up a molex connector that hooks up to the video input connector on your monitor's circuit board.  It should have about 5 pins or wires for Red Green Blue Sync and Ground.  For more help on this, post in the Video/Monitor section.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/board,4.0.html

Note: you may want to test that your hacked VGA box is actually outputting 15khz before hooking it up to an arcade monitor, otherwise you will most likely break your arcade monitor trying to run it at 31khz.  After cutting the correct ground wire in the vgabox, hook it back up to a PC monitor, if you get no picture you've succeeded (make sure you have it on PC and not TV!).

[falcons7]

bump

[Goz]

Why bump? Dave answered your question dead on.

[crzywolf]

If you don't want to hack your VGA cable you could order a "VGA-RGB Connector Adaptor Board  # 49-3211-00 " from Happ.
I think the board cost $3.95 .

[HaRuMaN]

If you don't want to hack your VGA cable you could order a "VGA-RGB Connector Adaptor Board  # 49-3211-00 " from Happ.
I think the board cost $3.95 .

Oh, now that's a good idea

[falcons7]

good to know... thanks

[clanggedin]

If you don't want to hack your VGA cable you could order a "VGA-RGB Connector Adaptor Board  # 49-3211-00 " from Happ.
I think the board cost $3.95 .

Now you tell me after I hacked my cable.   

[Shmup-o]

I wasn't sure if I should have opened a new topic in the Video/Monitor section, but I figured I might as well bump the last post on this subject...

Anyway, I'm having some difficulty modding a VGA adapter to connect the Dreamcast to my cab.  Here is what I know in a nice list :

A) I am trying to go from DC to VGA box to JPAC to cab.
B) The JPAC is not showing any sort of sync when hooked up to the DC.
C) The JPAC is showing sync when hooked up to the computer (the guy I bought the cab/JPAC from is trying to find the ArcadeVGA card, so I haven't tried to get MAME to work.  But the JPAC is showing a connection here, where there is nothing with the DC.)
D) (This is so stupid) I don't know if the VGA box worked in the first place before I tried modding it.
E) The wires were numbered in my particular VGA box and I snipped wire 6.
F) This VGA box works as a switch and the computer to monitor connection works perfectly.

Now, I already bought a DC lot on ebay that has another VGA box.  I assumed that the VGA box I currently have is just dead because I can't confirm that it worked previous to my butchery. 

Should I just give up on this box and try the next one?  Keep fiddling with the current box?  Did I mention that I know next to nothing about how electronics work ?

Thanks!

[Dave_K.]

Could it be the little switch on the VGA box is in TV mode and not PC mode? 

Otherwise to test your VGA box, try hooking the DC up to a regular computer monitor, make sure the little switch is on PC.  If you get a picture, then you cut the wrong wire, if you get no picture, you probably cut the correct wire.

You can also reverse this little wire snipping mod, but simply stripping the ends of both wires (the one you cut) and just twist them back together.

[Shmup-o]

Thanks for the help Dave!

Got home and finally found the time to try this out - unfortunately I don't have a box that has an actual switch.  I guess the box is supposed to detect the DC when it's turned on and route it automatically to the monitor (like the performance box?).

I tried googling the vga box for answers, but came up with nothing (it must have been a real bad box to not come up with anything).  I don't have it in front of me, but I'll update this post later with the name.

Anyway, it still doesn't light up the sync at all on the JPAC (DC to VGAbox to JPAC) but just hooking up the computer to JPAC lights up the sync.

I tried going from DC to VGAbox to Monitor, but that doesn't work either. 

I'll try once more, but I think the box is dead.  If I find the time to reverse this baby, I'll give it a shot on the monitor again.

I'm thinking I'll need the VGA box that's on the way .

[jfunk]

I had a problem with my VGA box that if the date/time wasn't set on the DC, it wouldn't output to the VGA box at all.  I had to  plug it up to a TV, set the date/time, then try it through VGA...  Maybe the same thing..?

[Shmup-o]

I never thought of that... I think both of my DC's batteries are dead and don't hold a save for current date.  When I was testing, I just powered the DC on and fiddled with the JPAC.  The game itself would have never loaded.

I'll check this out tonight!

[jfunk]

Well, let us know if it worked.  I lucked into it myself..  Told the guy I bought the VGA box from (Racketboy..  he sells a lot of them) and he'd not known about it, either..  He had been trying to help me troubleshoot for like a week..

So, good luck 

[Shmup-o]

I think the vga box isn't cooperating with the dreamcast.  I tried to compensate for the battery being dead and no luck.  Then I figured I could check the audio to make sure the dreamcast signal is getting to the vga box... and the audio didn't work.  So after wasting probably 4-5 hours on research and troubleshooting I'm thinking the box was either dead before i started or I screwed something up.

We'll see if it was me when I mod the box that's in the mail right now.  I'll let you all know if I succeed. 

[Frosty]

You can also easily hack a Dreamcast VGA cable, too.  It's given me no problems.   Check out this thread for more info.

Man, I wish I had known about that cool VGA adapter from Happ before I had hacked my cable from my monitor!

[Shmup-o]

Well, the new VGA box came in with the lot the other day and I tested it out via VGA to the computer, works.

Ok, now that we got that out of the way, I snip 6 and get the wrong sync message on the computer.  So far so good.

Hook it up to the JPAC, get both sync lights up, power on the Exceleena, DC screen shows up.  Awesome.

Then it does this.

I'm sure those are good directions, but I would really like to see pics before I try to solder resistors onto the board.  Should I even try this?  I've soldered for the first time a few weeks ago...

I appreciate all the help guys, I feel like such a newb. 

[clanggedin]

FWIW... The dreamcast light guns will work on your arcade monitor. You will need to adjust the contrast so the guns will register from further away from the monitor. I played a little HOTD II on it..

[Dave_K.]

Hook it up to the JPAC, get both sync lights up, power on the Exceleena, DC screen shows up.  Awesome.

Then it does this.

I'm sure those are good directions, but I would really like to see pics before I try to solder resistors onto the board.  Should I even try this?  I've soldered for the first time a few weeks ago...

I appreciate all the help guys, I feel like such a newb. 

Not sure why you are going through the JPAC in the first place....I assume because you don't want to hack a VGA extension cord to your monitor?