Tim Worthingtons N64 RGB mod v3 PAL no video or audio

qnorsten

New Member
OP
Newbie
Joined
Jun 3, 2023
Messages
4
Trophies
0
Age
32
XP
31
Country
Sweden
Update: The issue has been solved. Pin 4 and 5 on the PIF chip had been bridged. Removing that fixed all my issues.

Orignal post is included below.

Hello.

Me and my friend recently attempted to mod my N64 PAL unit with Tim Worthingtons RGB mod v3.
The unit has a NUS - CPU (P) - 01 motherboard and a DENC-NUS video encoder/DAC chip.
For cable I have a Nintendo SNES PAL RGB scart cable with luma sync from coolnovelites
After soldering in the RGB mod, the N64 does not seem to produce any audio or video output either with the RGB cable or the original composite cable.
Tested to connect the console directly to a tv with scart input, and through a retrotink 5X neither will work anymore.

The D1 light turn on on the bottom of the mod board and the LED on the N64 but nothing else.

Notes regarding the mod.

  • Jumper J1, J2 and J3 have been bridged as I have an PAL cable
  • Only Red Blue and Green have been soldered to the AV multiout port, as the console already should have luma sync natively? Therefor no sync signal from the RGB board have been added
Actions taken

  • Cleaned expansion pack port, expansion pack and cartridge port with IPA
  • Tried multiple cartridges
  • Checked conductivity for all solder joints and connection
  • Checked conductivity for luma from DAC chip to end of RGB cable
  • Checked conductivity between R G B pads on RGB mod board and end of RGB cable
  • Checked conductivity between flex cables solder joints on DAC chip and various pins on RCP chip.
No shorts detected anywhere and everything looks ok to my novice eyes.

I have attached pictures of all the soldering. I know the soldering isn't the prettiest but they should be solid enough to work.

Do anyone have any idea what the problem might be? Do anything look wrong on the pictures? Is there any other check you would recommend ?

I am thinking that either something might have been shorted out/broken during the install that prevent the N64 to turn on, or some pin have lost connection for the DAC ship which prevent the sync and composite signal to reach the AV port. In that case I might just have to add a sync signal from the RGB board to the luma pin on the AV multiport.



Thank you for any input
 

Attachments

  • 531512463_b58a9d55-b3b2-4493-b2f2-729b157536df.jpg
    531512463_b58a9d55-b3b2-4493-b2f2-729b157536df.jpg
    385.9 KB · Views: 33
  • IMG_20230603_163510.jpg
    IMG_20230603_163510.jpg
    1.8 MB · Views: 25
  • IMG_20230603_142541.jpg
    IMG_20230603_142541.jpg
    2.7 MB · Views: 28
  • IMG_20230602_232438.jpg
    IMG_20230602_232438.jpg
    1.5 MB · Views: 29
  • IMG_20230602_232434.jpg
    IMG_20230602_232434.jpg
    2.2 MB · Views: 24
  • IMG_20230602_232424.jpg
    IMG_20230602_232424.jpg
    3.2 MB · Views: 26
  • IMG_20230602_232417.jpg
    IMG_20230602_232417.jpg
    2.8 MB · Views: 28
  • IMG_20230602_221101.jpg
    IMG_20230602_221101.jpg
    926.2 KB · Views: 31
  • IMG_20230602_213033.jpg
    IMG_20230602_213033.jpg
    1.4 MB · Views: 31
  • IMG_20230602_213028.jpg
    IMG_20230602_213028.jpg
    1 MB · Views: 28
  • IMG_20230602_212823.jpg
    IMG_20230602_212823.jpg
    2.2 MB · Views: 24
  • IMG_20230602_212812.jpg
    IMG_20230602_212812.jpg
    2.2 MB · Views: 26
  • IMG_20230602_212803.jpg
    IMG_20230602_212803.jpg
    919.9 KB · Views: 27
Last edited by qnorsten,

ciaomao

Well-Known Dude
Member
Joined
Feb 20, 2014
Messages
555
Trophies
1
XP
1,856
Country
Albania
I read that you were looking for shorts, but those two legs look suspicious.
 

Attachments

  • 51F0C8A8-514E-4FFD-A5F7-6A0F158641C5.jpeg
    51F0C8A8-514E-4FFD-A5F7-6A0F158641C5.jpeg
    511.9 KB · Views: 32

qnorsten

New Member
OP
Newbie
Joined
Jun 3, 2023
Messages
4
Trophies
0
Age
32
XP
31
Country
Sweden
Thank you. There is indeed a bridge there. I was just a noob and only checked around all the cables we added.
I will let my friend remove that and see if that fixes everything. No idea how that bridge ended up there, but at least I have a possible solution now. I was going crazy double and triple checking all the wires. Hopefully the PIF chip isn't damaged from this. But I guess we will find out.
 

Attachments

  • 351624629_802591697807045_3566477593127385103_n.jpg
    351624629_802591697807045_3566477593127385103_n.jpg
    144.2 KB · Views: 31
Last edited by qnorsten,

ciaomao

Well-Known Dude
Member
Joined
Feb 20, 2014
Messages
555
Trophies
1
XP
1,856
Country
Albania
Today seem to be my lucky day. Removing that bridged fixed it. Now both RGB and composite video are working again:D
Thank you for spotting that bridge.
and i am glad to see another n64 enthusiast with a working machine.
next checkpoint: install blueretro ;)
 

qnorsten

New Member
OP
Newbie
Joined
Jun 3, 2023
Messages
4
Trophies
0
Age
32
XP
31
Country
Sweden
and i am glad to see another n64 enthusiast with a working machine.
next checkpoint: install blueretro ;)
haha honestly i have first heard about blueretro a few weeks ago. since then i have spent way too much time reading blueretro documentations and dev logs. so it will happen eventually. just need to decide if I want to do an internal mod or an external that i can use for my other consoles as well.
 

ciaomao

Well-Known Dude
Member
Joined
Feb 20, 2014
Messages
555
Trophies
1
XP
1,856
Country
Albania
haha honestly i have first heard about blueretro a few weeks ago. since then i have spent way too much time reading blueretro documentations and dev logs. so it will happen eventually. just need to decide if I want to do an internal mod or an external that i can use for my other consoles as well.
why not install a 2nd ESP32 in another console? they are cheap, probably cheaper than the connectors and stuff you need to adapt it externally.
 

Site & Scene News

Popular threads in this forum

General chit-chat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.
    K3Nv2 @ K3Nv2: Sorry for accidentally bending over