RetroDuo NES/SNES Clone Official Thread. Castlevania III, StarFox WORK, SMRPG WARNING

[ooXxXoo]

After Reading fog's post, I went ahead and did another test...This time,using a 50/Hz PAL system LCD screen that I had in storage and that totally forgot about, since I don't have much use of it living here In the US (NTSC).....These were the results:

The SNES side worked ok with Ntsc SNES/SFC games...They run in full 60/Hz PAL mode...
Fog's description states that PAL system games work with it too....SNES multi-system compatibility perhaps???....

Now, when I tested the NES side with NTSC NES games running in the same PAL system LCD screen, the image was in the very common known incompatible Black & White screen....I don't have any PAL NES games for further testing, but it is quite possible that they'll work in PAL system tv's set ups (duh!...it'll make sense)....
Hopefully, fog or any other PAL user can keep us posted whenever they get to test some PAL NES games..,..

This definately gives the Retro Duo another extra point on my list!.....

[fog]

All the NES games i've ordered are USA carts but I will let you know if I get some PAL ones.

I have a problem!!!

OK - so I have been playing with the Retro Duo for a few hours today on and off. The problems started with the Zelda cartridge which wasn't letting me create a new game - I managed to get it to do so twice after a bit of cleaning of the cart however now the SNES is having trouble booting at all - have I wrecked it? I used some cotton buds sprayed with record cleaner but thinking about it this could have been a really bad idea as it does contain water - now the retro duo struggles to boot and just glitches with the occasional successful boot. Hopefully after a rest it will be OK but I don't know - the other thing is that I am not using a step down converter for the power as the adaptor says it can handle the current here.

[ooXxXoo]

All the NES games i've ordered are USA carts but I will let you know if I get some PAL ones.

I have a problem!!!

OK - so I have been playing with the Retro Duo for a few hours today on and off. The problems started with the Zelda cartridge which wasn't letting me create a new game - I managed to get it to do so twice after a bit of cleaning of the cart however now the SNES is having trouble booting at all - have I wrecked it? I used some cotton buds sprayed with record cleaner but thinking about it this could have been a really bad idea as it does contain water - now the retro duo struggles to boot and just glitches with the occasional successful boot. Hopefully after a rest it will be OK but I don't know - the other thing is that I am not using a step down converter for the power as the adaptor says it can handle the current here.

The power adapter should be fine, the label claims to be 100/240V 50/60Hz compatible....Although,I don't recall the RetroDuo having an internal IC power regulator.....Are you having problems with all of your SNES games to boot up, or just Zelda?......Check the Retro Duo SNES connector, since you used cotton buds, look for lint residue in it...

I was having problems with "Yoshis Island" saves, just to find out that the cartridge internal battery was dead....I Replaced it,and now is fine.

[fog]

It's all of them - what worries me is that I wiped the contacts on the retro duo with a lint cloth after I was having trouble with Zelda - I didn't use hardly any of the spray on the cloth though. I'll try the console again in a while hopefully it will be ok.

I was playing ZELDA - played it for about 20-30 minutes then rebooted the cart after a save to see if it had saved which it had not so then turned off and tried another cart - ever since then 9 out of 10 boots results in either a blank screen or weird glitching.

UPDATE

OK - I just enjoyed 5 minutes on STREET FIGHTER then 5 minutes on WILLIAMS ARCADE and then ziltch - what the heck - it's a real shame as i'm really impressed with this unit when it works.

I can't really think that my little attempts at removing dust could really have caused this - i'm going to have to mail the seller and see if they can replace it I think.



ANOTHER UPDATE

OK - I THINK I'VE WORKED IT OUT - Basically I think I have misunderstood the whole process of why you need to down-convert the voltage - even though the adaptor is capable of handling the power basically the console is not wired to deal with the 240V that the UK mains gives out and I am probably frying the unit - well you live and learn.

I'll have to get a step down converter and cross my fingers that I haven't caused too much damage.

[ooXxXoo]

It's all of them - what worries me is that I wiped the contacts on the retro duo with a lint cloth after I was having trouble with Zelda - I didn't use hardly any of the spray on the cloth though. I'll try the console again in a while hopefully it will be ok.

I was playing ZELDA - played it for about 20-30 minutes then rebooted the cart after a save to see if it had saved which it had not so then turned off and tried another cart - ever since then 9 out of 10 boots results in either a blank screen or weird glitching.

UPDATE

OK - I just enjoyed 5 minutes on STREET FIGHTER then 5 minutes on WILLIAMS ARCADE and then ziltch - what the heck - it's a real shame as i'm really impressed with this unit when it works.

I can't really think that my little attempts at removing dust could really have caused this - i'm going to have to mail the seller and see if they can replace it I think.

I had experienced with a faulty new RetroDuo in the past....Yes, from a brand new sealed box....I'm sure its going to happen to others...(hope not)... managed to fixed it because I didn't wanted to go thru the whole shipping back hassle....Besides, I removed some of the cheap parts and upgraded it with better quality ones while at it....You should take full warranty advantage....Hopefully,retailers will send the word out to who ever is manufacturing them so they can be aware of these problems....
If you've decided to give the converter a try,let us know how it goes...

[NayusDante]

I'm heading out in a few minutes and I'll be at Radio Shack. Would a composite-to-svideo adapter work for NES?

[fog]

Right - I let it cool again and switched it on just for a second or two with 3 different cartridges and they all worked so that kind of suggests that I have overheated the unit and it was smelling a little strange.

What do you reckon are my chances of scraping out of this one with the console intact.

Anyone here have any experiences of blowing or burning out consoles?

[ooXxXoo]

I'm heading out in a few minutes and I'll be at Radio Shack. Would a composite-to-svideo adapter work for NES?

I have a friend who got one of these composite/s-video converters in the past from the shack, according to him, he had paid around $23 bucks.....He wasn't very pleased with it.

Hey, You can always returned it if not happy!

[NayusDante]

I have a friend who got one of these composite/s-video converters in the past from the shack, according to him, he had paid around $23 bucks.....He wasn't very pleased with it.

Hey, You can always returned it if not happy!

Yeah, I saw the price and left it alone. They're much cheaper online. I'd build my own, but I don't have the right capacitor on hand, and the aesthetics of my electronics work isn't exactly pretty.

Just curious, does anyone else get an image like THIS on their LCD? And ONLY on composite connections?

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Yeah, I saw the price and left it alone. They're much cheaper online. I'd build my own, but I don't have the right capacitor on hand, and the aesthetics of my electronics work isn't exactly pretty.

Just curious, does anyone else get an image like THIS on their LCD? And ONLY on composite connections?

I get a tiny bit of artifacting in certain NES games with the components in, but nothing to that degree!

You can see the general smoothness of the system on my Panasoic LCD in my first post.

[NayusDante]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...r=8-24&seller=

There's my cheapest option.

[NayusDante]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lStwZyKUZpM

Notice how when something passes over it, it doesn't do anything. When there's movement to the side of it, however, it goes away and comes back. Youtube kills the quality, give it a while and see if the high quality option comes up.

[ooXxXoo]

dude, I don't think that this is normal...Is Megaman the only game with these sort of glitches?

[NayusDante]

dude, I don't think that this is normal...Is Megaman the only game with these sort of glitches?

Nope, it's ANYTHING over composite inputs. SNES did it too, but I get a perfect image over S-Video. It's just this TV too, the RD works perfectly on my retro TV. The only visual flaw it has is the vertical barring over NES, and I got that to go away by changing the contrast settings.

Anything with more detail looks fine, which is understandable. TV makers aren't going to optimize their sets for NES, they're going to optimize for TV and modern gaming.

[remowilliams]

Update on my sound issue - it was the RD unit itself. After swapping it out for another one (thanks Joe! ) I now have NES sound that sounds like it should.

The RD NES sound is still a bit poppy and percussion heavy but it sounds a hundred times better then it did before. The audio part of the chip must have been somewhat borked.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

As awesome as the Duo is as a bit of dual clone hardware, it's becoming pretty painfully obvious via this research/report thread that more than a handful of units seem to be facing some issues on the manufacturing side of things.

Non-standardized (as in not every Duo has the same chips/parts) and/or varied components on the board seem to be an issue causing different users/owners to experience varied audio, video and compatibility per system and per game.

My love for the system has not diminished due to this, but it's certainly a warning worth taking into account if you're thinking of picking one up.

[Don Skippy]

Hello all. I recently received my own black RD from an eBay seller. Thanks, everyone, by the way...all your posts helped lead to my purchase. My brother-in-law just ordered one, too, and since the RD world seems to be growing, I thought I'd post my own experiences, some of which confirm issues and compatibilities that others have brought up:

1) I can confirm that the NES Battletoads does freeze in the second level. It's like when you're on your way down in the vertical scroll, the colors seem to go to negatives, and then fade to black as the game freezes (about a minute into the 2nd level).

2) I can also confirm that the NES Paperboy is unusable. It boots fine, but for some reason none of the controller functions work. I can't even navigate in the startup screen to start the game. So since it just idles with no controller input, the game defaults into demo mode, and I just see the kid riding down the street, but I have no control over anything.

3) The sound does seem to reproduce percussion with harsher mid and high tones than an actual NES would. I notice this the most on the original Zelda, which has the anthem continuously looping the whole time. At one point when I was in one of the levels, the sound started quirking altogether, with the frequencies sounding tweaked all around, but the music was still recognizable. However, it went away after I beat the level, and has sounded normal ever since. Probably a one-time glitch. In my experience, the 8-bit NES has always had little quirks here and there anyway, most of them temporary (ie, the proverbial 8-bit slow-down when too many moving objects are in one screen).

4) I found a copy of Burgertime on the NES in pristine condition (and for a great price). Both the cart and the board contacts look brand new, however, it won't even boot on my RD. I took it to back to the store, and they could not get it to boot on an FC Twin, either. Unfortunately, no one has a working NES toaster or official top-loader around here, so we weren't able to try that. In spite of the problem, I wasn't willing to part with the game for store credit, because for all I know, that is a pretty rare find, especially at $5 in such great condition (I could be wrong, I'm no expert, but I thought, what if I eventually get an official top-loader and it works?).

**Does anyone else have this game?**

5) NES games seem to play with washed-out color. I have played them on a high-def CRT TV, and a regular 40" CRT, and both times, the colors seem to be less saturated, kind of like when you increase the brightness of a picture in PhotoShop...the colors look more faded. Maybe adjusting the TV will compensate for this, but it has happened on more than one set. On the other hand, I played the NES Zelda on an FC Twin running through an LCD TV at Play 'N Trade, and the colors were definitely more full, looking more like an actual NES. That being said, on the SNES side of things, everything looks great, both through composites, and the S-Video.

**Can anyone who has both a black RD and a white RD report any color differences between the two units? I wonder if only the black units tend to wash out NES games like this.**

6) For those of you hoping to be able to find a Super Mario RPG that runs in your RD, don't give up. I found a copy of it at my local Video Game Exchange for $20 before my RD even arrived in the mail. I went shopping there a few days later, again, before my RD had arrived, and someone else had happened to trade one in. When I got my RD, my copy of Mario RPG did not work, but the next day I brought the system to the store, and showed the clerk. We then tried his newly arrived copy, and ta-da, it worked perfectly. I explained the known issues with this game on the RD, and he happily made an even trade with me. And the bonus was, the new cart I got is in pristine condition, whereas the first one had a lot of after-market stickers to clean off.

**By the way, both my first non-functioning copy and my new working copy say "Made in Japan," so it looks like the manufacturing location is not a way to tell.**

7) I thought I heard somewhere that DK Country 3 might not work, since it had an SA chip. However, it works fine on my console.

Well, that's it for now. All in all, I'm happy to be able to play my games again. And while not perfect, I appreciate the RD's ability to play SNES games that other clones couldn't. I have never owned an FC Twin, but when I did my comparison shopping, I liked the fact that the RD could play Japanese and European Super Famicon games without any mods. I never ran across any confirmations or denials about the FC Twin's ability to do this...so just so us less educated ones know, can anyone give a word about this?

P.S. I heard that the RD plays the SNES Kirby's Adventure games, but that they might freeze up later in the game due to SA chips. Can anyone give their experiences with these games? Thanks a lot. Be back later.

[NayusDante]

My $3 S-Video adaptor came, and now my NES outputs in full color with a crisp, NON-CORRUPTED picture, heh. Only problem is that it looks exactly the same as the previously shown pictures of NES over S-Video. Most solid colors are filled with diagonal lines, but at least there's no more "shadows."

If we've had reports of Mexican AND Japanese manufactured Mario RPG working, then I think that there's more revisons to this game than we think. For all we know, there could be 1.0s made in both regions. Japan definitely made the later revisions, but Mexico is still unsure. Does anyone have a Mexican NON-WORKING copy?

[remowilliams]

**Does anyone else have this game?**

I don't have the cart itself, though the game loads and works fine on my PowerPak.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

For the record, my copy of Burgertime works perfectly on my RD.

That cart may be blown. Have you tried it on a real NES?