EPISODE 1: Function & Disappointment
...and so work begins!
I'm hoping to be able to build this using what I already have in my workshop...I found a couple of these guys sitting around. Adjustable output, rated for upwards of 4A...should work fine
I also have plenty of speakers and buttons and such in stock.
Next up...getting the DC to power on sans a fan.
Due to a surprising lack of info available for the VA2 board, I was sort of on my own here. Fortunately, I knew what chip to poke at, resulting in a quick and easy trace cutting and solder blobbing.
aaaand SUCCESS!! (ignore the lack of ribbon on the DD..I did find one later)
Unfortunately, that was all the success I could muster...as is the case for me, something always fails to work or stops working for no apparent reason.
First issue is that while one board will actually try to boot a disk, it won't output any video, only a black screen.
The others will boot up and give video, but won't spin the disk up properly (so no game loading).
...and then there the most annoying issue: NONE of my 3 mobos will give me VGA video. I can't win >_<
I know the fancy screen I got via our homey
YveltalGriffin will work with the VGA, as I tested it with my previous and still working DC portable. So it's probably safe to say that the screen isn't the issue. Worst case scenario, I guess I can go composite only lol
In our next episode....hopefully I'll figure out the video/disk issues....