SD2SNES Pro goes crazy

[husan93]

Hi guys, first post here.

Recently bought a SD2SNES for all those games that don't run on my SNES Powerpak.
So far, I'm quite happy, until it dropped Sync quite often. The SNES is hooked up via a OSSC. To see if the SNES crashes, I plugged the SNES directly to the TV (my TV is that old).

The Picture looks.... interesting? Here is a Video of it:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ILsb42wyPEGE3ammrLUCpv_ZQggh5JO2

I tested several games and it some had this issue and some not. To be honest, I didn't test any games without any special chips yet. MSU-1 games work fine. BS-X games sometimes work.

Any of you guys have the same problem or have any suggestions?

EDIT:
I know that the game on video is Wintergold and I'm running it on an NTSC Console. The Game runs fine on my PAL console. The point is, that it behaves like that with other games too.
Another example: Star Fox runs fine, but as soon I let run with FX Speed Fast, it shows the same picture. I don't know if this is an expected behavior or not.

[Richardragon87]

I'm surprised it can even run Super FX games after the recent updates to the SD2 SNES caused those games to be an unplayable black screen as with the SA1 games which makes me wonder which version restores them again, I need my star fox 2 fix xD

[husan93]

I played around yesterday if the game and system matches, it goes crazy quite random. SA-1 worked so far for me, expect the background has some glitches.

[ikari_01]

Hm, might be a power supply issue that causes the system to drop sync/clock momentarily.
Does it only happen on the NTSC console? Does it also happen when it sits in the menu?
Could you go to the System Information screen in the menu and look up the CPU/PPU1/PPU2 revisions of your SNES? Also check if the master clock shown (should be around 21.4 million) jumps around a lot, like more than 100 counts. It will not change as long as the SD capacity and access times are calculated but it's updated every second after that.

[husan93]

That was my first though too, but it's hard to pin it down.

So far, it only happend to the NTSC console. It doesn't happen on the menu on either console.
I noticed on the PAL console, that with Winter Gold, everytime the screen goes black, the OSSC loses sync.

NTSC console has Revision 1/1/1 of CPU/PPU1/PPU2. I'll check the master clock as soon as possible.

Also note, I use for the NTSC console a generic Multi Voltage Power Supply which provides 1.5A and is set to 9V. The PAL console uses an original Nintendo power Supply.

[husan93]

So, I checked the master clock and it jumped around right after the SD card capacity and access time calculation with around 400 counts. But after 30 seconds, it changed around 20 counts maximum very slowly.

EDIT:
Just played another SA-1 game. OSSc loses again sync when the screen turns black and some menus are completly broken/ whole screen is just glitchfest.

EDIT 2:
Another update. I upgraded the temporary 16GB MicroSD to a 128GB MicroSD (which has much faster access time). But now MSU-1 Video drops sync too. I wonder if the SD card draws just too much power? Everything points to the power supply now. But after powering it down and up, it worked fine... I tested it with another 400 GB card and that worked fine (except the high access time). It's really hard to pin it down. ^^"

EDIT 3:
More updates:
I bought another generic power supply which delivers 2.2A, no change at all. So the power supply delivers enough power. I ran the diagnostics, everything passed. Finally, I downgraded to 1.10.2 and look at that, progress! Winter Gold on my NTSC consoles shows a complete and stable picture. It still drops it at all black screens and sometimes during gameplay or in the menu, but it's massively improved. For now, it seems like an firmware issue maybe?

Tested it with US version of Starfox and it loses sync while in the menu and it crashes after a minute.

[ikari_01]

Losing sync when the screen goes black could also point to a different issue (although it might also happen when you run a US/JP console on an AC power supply) related to video levels vs. sync coming from your RGB/component cable.
Other than that, internal power supply components of the SNES might come into play (capacitors, voltage regulator), not unlike the issue described here: http://krikzz.com/forum/index.php?topic=8771.msg72000#msg72000
Checking the differences between 1.10.2 and 1.10.3 I found no changes that would explain a significant change in the behaviour...
I assume that 1chip transient fixes and brightness limit are disabled in the "In-game Settings" menu?

[husan93]

Power Supply is well known to be working with JP/US consoles. Since you are from germany, the company "Voltcraft" should say enough. 
I can try it with a MD power supply, if I can find it... The video cables should be ok, they are from Retro Gaming Cables UK.
My next step would be a recap anyway. It is the oldest revision, so it would make a lot of sense that something internal has simply aged.
The firmware downgrade seemed like a good solution at first, but in the end, the lost sync problem is more or less unpredictable...
All options are disabled, including 1Chip fixes and brightness limit.

[zaphro72]

You said you lose sync when directly hooked to the TV as well? It is well documented that the SNES through OSSC may experience loss of sync through the OSSC.

[husan93]

I am well aware of the sync problems with SNES and OSSC 
That's why for all the testing, I hooked up the SNES directly to the TV.

[zaphro72]

Figured but just wanted to check. When you hooked up directly to the TV did you use composite cables? Maybe the same issue that plaques the OSSC plagues normal tv's hooked through component or SCART as well? Sorry I don't have any definitive help. I just got my OSSC and haven't invested in SNES SCART or Component cables yet.

[lee4]

using 3rd party power adapter is not good for snes USA models and required 10V 0.85A as OEM adapter output

snes cart with 46 pins does not need full power
but
snes cart with 62 pins does need full power (10V 0.85A)

[husan93]

@zaphro72
For some odd reason, my TV has some bigger tolerance for sync on its analogue inputs. The OSSC only works with 480p max on this TV.

@lee4
I was only waiting for such an answer 

Anyway, i lend an original MD Power Supply. It should be close enough to an original SFC Power Supply for now.
While I was testing it with the 3rd Party Power Supply to reproduce the issues...there weren't any. They vanished. I have currenty removed the top case cover and most of the shielding. And I reattached the edge connector. Maybe it was that?

EDIT:
I was speaking to early. I found finally a game where I can reproduce it 100% everytime. I use Starfox 2 Beta with english patch. As soon you see the map for the first time, it starts its magic.
So, I tested it with the MD Power Supply and absolutely no difference at all.

[oli_lambda]

Hey, I have the exact same issue as you @husan93 on a release SFC. Did you find a way to work around it ?

[ikari_01]

I've received a bunch of reports now, all with different flavors of losing sync, color, displaying intermittent garbage etc.
I have a suspicion that some consoles can get their system clock disturbed by the fxpak/sd2snes pro. It appears that older NTSC consoles (1/1/1, 2/1/1, 2/1/2) are most susceptible.

Recently I tried debugging this with someone on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/orzvektor/status/1238019328039149568
https://twitter.com/jtduckmann/status/1233672815909335041
I suggest a test there to see if that improves anything. If you feel up to the task it would be very helpful if you could try the same (temporarily tape off pin 1 on the cartridge) and see if it helps with the issue.