GX4000 mod not going well console dead? :-(

[Gryzor]

This last bit about patterns sounds a bit like astigmatism. I only have it to a very minor extend and even so with certain grille patterns I feel like a robot unable to zoom its camera. Trippy indeed.

[Badstarr]

It does actually, my mother has astigmatism or is than "an astigmatism" hmm    Well anyways years ago I went to an optician and he said he couldn't be sure but I might have had that problem, it wasn't until a few years ago when I was tested for Dyslexia that they said it was scotopic syndrome, apparently  its very common in dyslexic people.


Just to put this "on topic" my earliest memories of the 3D patterns occurring was when I was 3 years old around the same time my Dad got this interesting new thing he called a computer, it had a green "telly" and a tape player and red green and blue buttons! I tried putting my HE-MAN story tapes in there but they never worked I thought it was the single most interesting thing I had ever seen and I can remember being blown away by 3D Star Strike! To me I was piloting a real life space ship! Kids these days are so spoiled with PS3s Xbox360s etc. The most powerful graphics engine in my humble opinion is the imagination!


Might be a good topic to start actually, "Your Earliest Memory of the CPC"... well I went ahead and started it see what it brings up! Your Earliest Memory of the CPC?

[OCT]

The tutorial to mod a GX4000 into a PLUS is old and not that well documented, as it wasn't officially tried more than ... once ?

Didn't every Frenchman consider it an indispensible act of national pride and tribute to the Croco to follow each and every one of A100%'s recommendations (where The Cranium published his guide of "Pimp-My-GX4000", as they'd say these days) ?

Sharpen your soldering iron, get the flux flow, clear your mind, deepbreath...

Probably mortal in flux&solder fumes. Cf. the acid atmosphere out on Pandora.

[arnoldemu]

This last bit about patterns sounds a bit like astigmatism. I only have it to a very minor extend and even so with certain grille patterns I feel like a robot unable to zoom its camera. Trippy indeed.

I get this too.

The pattern that really throws me is the vertical blue and white stripes on the till desks at toys'r'us.
I find it really hard to see that properly, it swims and wobbles, I have to look away from it.

Also at night time when I look at lights, I see light sparkles on the lights.

But back to topic... does the GX4000 beast live now?

[Badstarr]

The Original GX4000 is in a bit of a sorry state, but I'm going to sort that when I have finished this mod. The good news is that I'm halfway through the GX to CPC mod and all is going well! So GX4000 Plus version 2.0 is progressing fine. Interestingly when I fired the console up, nothing happened, tried again, nothing, tried a third time... nothing, I tapped the cartridge and 4th time BOOM! Burning Rubber! I wonder if removing the PCB and then rebuilding causes it to relax slightly  making the contacts a little poor with the cartridge?


Anyway...Mod now going well! Maybe I should change the title of this thread somehow? As usual I will keep posting my progress! 

[Bryce]

The contacts of the daughterboard/connection will have oxidised over the years, with just a strip of un-oxidised layer where the parts made contact. When you remove it and re-plug it, you may have "landed" on the oxidised section, which would have really bad contact. Always clean the contacts on parts like this when you take them apart, even if you haven't been having problems with them.

Bryce.

[Badstarr]

I see, I wonder if this might explain some of the "dead' GX4000s out there? They show up on ebay from time to time so might be worth taking a punt when they show up 

[Bryce]

There are so many things that can go wrong with old electronics. This is just one of many possiblities, but as far as I am concerned, buying broken hardware is always worth the bother, if you are prepared to invest some time and effort to get it working again. And they usually go for a lot less than devices that state that they are fully working.

Bryce.

[Zetr0]

I had to Plus 1 that one!

There is a fine art to balancing - buying a problem and ones skills and knowledge to repair

[Bryce]

Exactly. You can be lucky and it's only a case of cleaning some contacts. On the other end of the scale you might get one with a blown ASIC / Gate Array, in which case you can usually only use it for spare parts.

Bryce.