Super retro trio tear down - Taking apart the SR3.

[Kouen Hasuki]

While that will extend the life of the RAM, it still doesn't hide the fact the RAM is running out of spec. In fact, at 5V, the KM68U1000s are being run beyond their absolute maximum ratings, which is 4.6V maximum. Samsung themselves warns that running the RAM past 4.6V may cause irreversible damage to the chips. If you can find TSOP versions of the plain KM681000s, those are 5V chips and should be used in place of the KM68U1000s.

Could be worth checking the ram itself see if it is being run that high, if it is it might be possible to mod it to undervolt the ram to 4.6v?

[sean]

I have tested pal games on my trio and some don't get past the title screen.
I used the smurf game and a few other pal carts. Also, the trio I have is the blue/white white unit.
the first, blue/white had and the same glitched audio that even affected Mario 3.
Also, I just noticed on the snes side their is no Samsung ram but, a SEC Korea 940 what has rph00581 number code on it.
Even, on the genesis side the video does not freak out when I play mega man the willy wars on it.

[Ace]

Do you know for sure that the memory is actually running at 5V? The interface could actually be 3.3V... No need to spread statements without confirmation.

Just noticed the mitsubishi rams are 3.3V too. Maybe the system is full 3.3V

The Mitsubishi RAM is not 3.3V. They're 5V chips, and I checked the datasheet to make sure.

And yes, the RAM does run on 5V. There is no regulation anywhere on the Super NES board and the RAM receives 5V, confirmed with a multimeter test.

Jorge, you should know me by now, I NEVER put things out like this unless I've personally tested it, and if something is purely theoretical, I will outright mention it.

EDIT:

I have tested pal games on my trio and some don't get past the title screen.

Is it me or do people not understand that these hardware clones are NOT PAL clones? They are made to output NTSC video and run NTSC games. If you want PAL compatibility as well, you have to mod your console.

Also, I just noticed on the snes side their is no Samsung ram but, a SEC Korea 940 what has rph00581 number code on it.

Do you have pictures of the RAM in question? I'll go look up their datasheets.

Even, on the genesis side the video does not freak out when I play mega man the willy wars on it.

There are no capacitors on the video outputs unlike the RetroGen Adapter, which uses a capacitor that's got too little capacitance and causes varying degrees of video sync problems depending on the TV used.

[Jorge Nuno]

Alright alright, if you actually verified it then good.
.. But this datasheet still says the other ram is 3.3V as well...:

http://pdf.datasheetcatalog.com/data...on/mXqwsvu.pdf

EDIT: wrong link before

[Ace]

...what in hell?

Well screw you, Mitsubishi. I was looking at the datasheet for the 5V version of that RAM without even knowing it. I'm going to check the VCC on those chips now.

EDIT: It's a direct 5V just like the Samsung RAM. Man, these clones are going to have one hell of a short lifespan due to running these RAM chips out of their absolute maximum ratings.

Thanks for showing me the correct datasheet, Jorge.

[sean]

Here is the picture of the snes side ram chip


How, would I make the unit work with pal games ?
It's the year 2014 and they could have wired the region to the switch they have for the genesis region select.

I like the trio more than I thought I would but, the only super thing about it is the audio does not suck compared to other clones.

[Jorge Nuno]

I'd say the easiest way to "solve" this is to reduce supply voltage to 4~4.5V, while keeping the analog section at 5.
A heatsink won't do anything here, these ICs aren't overheating

It's still not guaranteed to not fail prematurely, it would require to reduce the voltage further, but then there are other problems. Definite solution is obviously getting 5V RAMs

[MaxWar]

I checked what ram chips I have in mine and they are the same Samsung 3.3v chips Ace described. That is pretty silly of them to design the machine with an inappropriate chip.

[sean]

I checked what ram chips I have in mine and they are the same Samsung 3.3v chips Ace described. That is pretty silly of them to design the machine with an inappropriate chip.

what color paint your system maybe mine is the fix for that issue.

[MaxWar]

what color paint your system maybe mine is the fix for that issue.

Mine is the black and gray, with bad nes APU

Pretty sad with my unit so far.

-NES has bad APU
-SNES has out of spec memory
-Genesis has horrible S-video jailbars and noisy audio.

[SEGA.GENESIS1989]

Mine is the black and gray, with bad nes APU

Pretty sad with my unit so far.

-NES has bad APU
-SNES has out of spec memory
-Genesis has horrible S-video jailbars and noisy audio.

I had a feeling that it was too good to be true. I've been seeing alot of people proclaim that the system is quite good. But something told me that once someone on the forums got a hold of the system, we would discover the truth regarding the system's build quality. Even though I have no interest in the system, the one thing that is appealing about the Super Retro Trio is the ability to add scan lines. That is a pretty neat feature if you only have an HDTV.

Anyways, I'm enjoying the fact that you are poking and proding the innards of this Frankenstein to get at the truth! Let the dissection continue!

[sean]

I was able to find a datasheet for the KM68U1000CLG-8L at http://www.digchip.com/datasheets/pa...1000CLG-8L.php
And it seems that they run at 4 to 6v just fine.

Also, The MITSUBISHI chips are M5M5256DVP-85VXL on my unit http://pdf1.alldatasheet.com/datashe...DVP-85VXL.html
and they run at 3 to 4.6 V and 4.6v being the max.

I think they have a revised model of the trio like what i have or the trio is a gamble with what chips your going to get.

[Bibin]

Running 3.3V devices at 5V will kill them over time from over-voltage. However, from talking to TmEE and some other research it appears that using 3.3V devices, with a proper 3.3V power supply, they will draw excess current from the 5V devices, shortening their lifespans, and those are often much less replaceable (custom chips, ROMs). It might be worth checking current going through the lines and seeing which is really worse for which side.

[MaxWar]

I was able to find a datasheet for the KM68U1000CLG-8L at http://www.digchip.com/datasheets/pa...1000CLG-8L.php
And it seems that they run at 4 to 6v just fine.

Where do you see that?
I cannot find such information on this datasheet.

[sean]

Where do you see that?
I cannot find such information on this datasheet.

KM68V1000C, KM68U1000C Family CMOS SRAM
Revision 2.0
November 1997
1
Document Title
128K x8 bit Low Power and Low Voltage CMOS Static RAM
Revision History
Remark
Preliminary
Final
Final
History
Initial draft
Finalize
- Increased ISB, IDR
Commercial part = 10mA
Industrial part = 20mA
Revise
- Change speed bin
KM68V1000C Family: 70/85ns ® 70/100ns
KM68U1000C Family: 70/100ns ® 85/100ns
- Improved operating current: 40mA ® 35mA
- Improved power dissipation
PD: 0.7W ® 1.0W
- Improved standby current
Extended/Industrial: 20 ® 10mA
- VIL: 0.4V ® 0.6V