Turbo Express not working. No power. please help!

[BlueBMW]

By switchless we mean that it doesnt require an external physical switch. Region locking on the express (And other NEC consoles) is done by swapping the 8 hucard data line positions. 1 to 8, 2 to 7, 3 to 6, 4 to 5... So you need a way to phsyically change the circuit paths. Normally this is done with some sort of large multipole switch (an 8PDT to be exact) or with some sort of IC switcher. Thesteve and I designed a chip using a single 10 channel bus switcher IC, but it is still switched by sending either a high or low signal to a certain pin on it. Usually this is done with a physical switch to send either 5v or ground to said pin. For the portable systems like the express though, an external switch isnt easy to mount and usually isnt very aesthetically pleasing. thesteve came up with a circuit / ic setup that basically monitors the status of the "select" button on system boot. If the "select" button is presses, the switch flips to the alternate region mode. If the "select" button isn't pressed, then the system stays in its native region.

Long story short, the switchless method basically means that if you want to play a Japanese game on your US Express, you just put in the hucard, hold the select button and while holding the button turn the system on. Very clean and simple.

More info etc here:
http://www.pcenginefx.com/forums/ind...?topic=10112.0

wow!!! that is insane!!!

hey, whats a switchess region mod?

[turboexpress]

truly amazing what you guys were able to come up with. Now I don't have to buy an overpriced overgouged converter. yaya!!

but first thing is first. I need to fix the express. Still waiting on some capacitors. They are shipped from Hong Kong, so it could take a while to arrive.

[BlueBMW]

That guy thesteve is fantastic with electronics. He came up with the design basically, I just drew up the boards and had them manufactured.

truly amazing what you guys were able to come up with. Now I don't have to buy an overpriced overgouged converter. yaya!!

but first thing is first. I need to fix the express. Still waiting on some capacitors. They are shipped from Hong Kong, so it could take a while to arrive.

[turboexpress]

still waiting on a few capacitors. They are being shipped from Hong Kong so the seller says it might take a while. It's been a few weeks already, so 1 more week I'm guessing. Can't wait to start working on the TE.

[turboexpress]

progress!! all the capacitors came in. I replaced the whole sound section caps, I cleaned the switch and resoldered some points. Resoldered the adapter jack.

Boom!!!! the system turns on, the sound is very loud and thecontrols work as I can hear that when I press the buttons.

Here is the bad news...The screen is still black. There is no life at all in the screen. It looks straight up black, just as if it would when the system is off.

So while I am definitely making some progress here, I need to figure out what needs to be done to fix the screen issue.

Will replacing all the capacitors in the video section fix this? Anything else? Thanks in advance guys. I can really use some help here.

[FABombjoy]

You need to change them all before troubleshooting further. All the surface mount caps will be bad. I've even seen that little non-surface mount cap on the controller PCB leak, too.

[APE992]

You need to change them all before troubleshooting further. All the surface mount caps will be bad. I've even seen that little non-surface mount cap on the controller PCB leak, too.

This. I've had the same thing happen with GameGears and replacing them all usually fixes it, stopping half way is only introducing a variable into the equation that is not necessary and will render the whole thing unsolvable.

Finish replacing them and get back to us, I think you'll find it works fine now.