Originally, it was put in to act as a shield to conform to electromagnetic interference regulations, as engraved into the plastics on the back of the case. However, since it was designed as an integral part of the case, removing it will leave a big hole in the case where dust can enter much more easily than it could have otherwise.
402 Jun 21, 2014 6:58 am
Re: Arduinoboy midi in problem (31 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
To comment on what was said above. You can theoretically skip the optocoupler, yes, but preferably not using pins 4 and 5. Pins 4 and 5 are connected to +5V and the signal, respectively. You would have to ideally connect pin 2 to ground, and pin 5 to the input. With this way you probably need to add a pull-up resistor to guarantee that it would work with all MIDI sources. But doing this risks introducing hum since you now have a ground loop. This is what the MIDI standard originally set out to eliminate.
403 Jun 20, 2014 4:47 am
Re: Arduinoboy midi in problem (31 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
Could you arrange them by which ones work and which don't and take a picture? Or describe what's printed on each.
404 Jun 19, 2014 8:31 pm
Re: Arduinoboy midi in problem (31 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
friendofmegaman wrote:
(although I'm using 914 so it shouldn't be reversed)
This doesn't make sense. The black marking should indicate the cathode on a 1n914, just like on a 1n4148. And there's no reason you should not reverse the diode either. It should always be pointing the opposite direction to the diode in the optocoupler, or it will mute the signal.
405 Jun 19, 2014 5:20 pm
Re: Arduinoboy midi in problem (31 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
+5V on RX and TX is nothing to worry about. A positive voltage is the normal idle state of the serial lines. Communication is then started by pulling the serial line low, the so called start bit.
Have you checked that the arduion is correctly programmed, ie that it does the startup blink sequence and can cycle through the modes if a button is attached?
If that is working, something must be wrong on the side MIDI receiving side. Basically recheck everything there. Common errors: the resistor is the wrong value, for example if you misread the exponent stripe so you have a 2,2k or 22k resistor. The protection diode (1n4148) is reversed, which would kill the signal. You may have reversed the two pins coming off the MIDI wire. Or, something may be wrong on the other side of the optocoupler. Check that you didn't confuse the RX and TX lines on the microcontroller board.
406 Jun 14, 2014 5:13 am
Re: Typeface Unicode Testing Wanted (11 replies, posted in Graphics, Artwork & Design)
I would much rather than you put the heart on one of the heart code points instead of on the euro sign code point, such as U+2665, and put an actual euro sign on U+20AC, accessibility be damned.
407 Jun 14, 2014 12:34 am
Re: how do i delete a song (2 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
You click edit submission, then remove item at the bottom of the page.
408 Jun 13, 2014 12:01 am
Re: Removing a variable clock mod (9 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
Adil Soubki wrote:
If it's already in there why not just add a switch to it? The effort of removing it couldn't be much more than throwing in a switch.
Yeah, but adding a switch is also a risk. The switch may break during a gig or make the GB more crash-prone.
409 Jun 12, 2014 10:09 pm
Re: Anton Maiden Topic (17 replies, posted in General Discussion)
410 Jun 12, 2014 10:06 pm
Re: Upcoming Releases (617 replies, posted in Releases)
New goto80 in two days!
Preview: https://soundcloud.com/goto80/l-n-ce-ne … out-sunday
411 Jun 12, 2014 4:36 am
Re: Flappy Bird ported to Gameboy, any interest in some carts? (45 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
Domu wrote:
nitro2k01, fuck flappy bird, you have the skills to do canbalt man, so do it. please
Canabalt is a cool idea, but I think at least DMG is the wrong platform for Canabalt because of the slow LCD response time. I do have other thing in the pipline, though.
412 Jun 12, 2014 4:34 am
Re: Removing a variable clock mod (9 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
All the leeway you want, basically, with one caveat. With an original close to 4 MHz clock, the lowest possible frequency (because of hardware limitations) corresponds to about C-3. No problem. With a close to 2 MHz crystal, it would instead be C-2, which is just one octave below. (Often done to gain an extra octave of bass.) Also no problem.
If you put in say a 3 MHz crystal, the lowest frequency would be something G-2. You now have a couple of options. Make the scale start at G-2. Map everything to their true notes starting at C-3, and ignore the newly available half octave below C-3. Map everything to their true notes starting at C-2, but map C-2 to F#2 (or so) to the frequencies one octave above. It can be a bit extra tricky, but anything is possible, really.
Things to keep in mind though, too low clock frequency, LSDj or other software may run too slowly to play your song without lagging. Too high frequency, and you put a limit on how low notes you can play, and also, there's some limit on how hgh frequencies the CPU can tolerate.
413 Jun 12, 2014 3:22 am
Re: Removing a variable clock mod (9 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
If the clock crystal (indicated in the picture) is still in there, you should be able to just desolder the mod and it should work normally. If not, you need to replace the clock crystal with a new one (or one nabbed from another Gameboy). If possible you should get a replacement one that is exactly 4.194304 MHz. If not, you can use a 4 MHz one or any value in the vicinity, ordered from any electronics part distributor like Mouser. Using a different clock crystal than the stock value will offset the note pitches and BPM values, however. This can be fixed with a ROM modification, though.
414 Jun 10, 2014 4:35 pm
Re: Flappy Bird ported to Gameboy, any interest in some carts? (45 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
Maybe I didn't toot my own horn loudly enough. 
My version of Flappy Bird will is soon finished. It will be awesome (at least by flappy standards) and it is planned to be released on cartridge.
415 Jun 9, 2014 10:37 pm
Re: Flappy Bird ported to Gameboy, any interest in some carts? (45 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
FUCK! This is what happens when you delay your releases. I've also been working on a GB version of Flappy Bird which is basically finished, and this is the second or maybe even third person to release a port before me.
416 Jun 8, 2014 5:05 pm
Re: Want info on 8bit collective .com owners - want torrent of all music! (30 replies, posted in General Discussion)
katsumbhong wrote:
Don't put too much weight into what he's saying, especially not in part 2 of the interview.