Best Ultimate Tech Talk Hang Out Loud Edition 2K

[Hawkingbird]

2 hours ago, Iduno said:

Not quite sure if this fits but it's about using tech to play fighting games.

Looking to pick up a TV over black friday but basically haven't bought a TV in years now and not quite au fait with stuff about input lag besides knowing its something to be bothered about Are the TVs here worth looking out for for fighting games or am I looking at going after 1ms full stop?

 

Just asking because I'm trying to get 4K but apparently the viewing angles on the BenQs already on sale on amazon are kind of ass and the extent of my input lag knowledge was "BenQ good" lol

 

https://displaylag.com/best-low-input-lag-tvs-gaming-by-gamers/

Here are some helpful guides

 

https://www.cnet.com/news/best-tv-for-gaming-of-2020-low-input-lag-high-picture-quality/

 

https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/best/by-usage/video-gaming

[Iduno]

Thanks, that rtings site in particular seems pretty useful

[Hawkingbird]

I've used rtings to purchase my last two TVs. Their testing methodology is very extensive and gives me exactly what I'm looking for.

[YourFavGrandpa]

Right before the other site blew the fuck up and I migrated away, I bought a 360 VLX. Yesterday it arrived in the mail!

Highlights:

The box was neatly packaged. All of the stuff came with it!
The stick works (tested in joy.cpl and in SFV)

I'd love to gut the stick and put a UFB in it, but I cannot bring myself to do that to such nice a stick. I may get one of the new Brook converters after the holidays for 360 to PS4 use and hope for offline events to come back next year.

 

[misterBee]

On 11/24/2020 at 11:29 PM, YourFavGrandpa said:

I'd love to gut the stick and put a UFB in it, but I cannot bring myself to do that to such nice a stick. I may get one of the new Brook converters after the holidays for 360 to PS4 use and hope for offline events to come back next year.

 

Putting in a UFB is worth it.  You can probably save the old PCB too!

[globe]

I got a pretty good deal on a Qanba Obsidian on eBay and I think the seller was a little mad that the bidding didn't go higher. He sent the package in an oversized boxed and as shipping material is was pretty much cut up scrap cardboard. I can't be too mad since he actually sent the item (undamaged) and shipping was free. Thought it was funny.

[misterBee]

12 hours ago, globe said:

I got a pretty good deal on a Qanba Obsidian on eBay and I think the seller was a little mad that the bidding didn't go higher. He sent the package in an oversized boxed and as shipping material is was pretty much cut up scrap cardboard. I can't be too mad since he actually sent the item (undamaged) and shipping was free. Thought it was funny.

As long as it gets there in one piece -- some friends of mine ordered a PS2 on eBay once and it came in a box that was too large for it and wrapped in a single thin sheet of bubble wrap...

[YourFavGrandpa]

On 12/8/2020 at 12:57 PM, misterBee said:

Putting in a UFB is worth it.  You can probably save the old PCB too!

From what I heard and understood, the old EZMod kits for the PS4 VLX will work here too; minus touchpad access and some other stuff. I took a month's break from anything stick related to focus on EOY stuff for work, and now that I have a PS5 in-house and will potentially have a crapton of time to kill; if I don't get a Q1 contract renewal for my client, I may look into this a little further. 

Edited January 10, 2021 by YourFavGrandpa
blah

[DarkSakul]

Look what I did. 

After not being able to find my installation USB drive for a OS reinstall, I ended up making  new thumb drives up for Install and Recovery, using Keytags to label the drives so I can identify them easily. The Extra Install drive is going to a friend as he starting a PC build soon, and I am going to be helping them out. 

 

[YourFavGrandpa]

I have a similar setup to you @DarkSakul, except I have a 240gb SSD on a USB 3.1 dongle for installing Windows, then I have a couple of other drives I use. I have a 32gb drive that's used just for Windows PE and my backup software; then I have a 256gb drive with my drivers, game launchers, etc etc on there. I also have my 4gb drive that's used for DBAN and updating BIOS between my computer and the missus' PC.

[DarkSakul]

My cousin's husband just told me about Ventoy, I need to look into it so I don't need to reformat the boot drive any more. 
It's appears to be it's own bootable environment and you only need to swap the ISO or EFI files for OS updates.

Also Ventoy could do multiple OS installs. 

 

https://www.ventoy.net/en/index.html

Edited January 13, 2021 by DarkSakul

[misterBee]

5 hours ago, DarkSakul said:

My cousin's husband just told me about Ventoy, I need to look into it so I don't need to reformat the boot drive any more. 
It's appears to be it's own bootable environment and you only need to swap the ISO or EFI files for OS updates.

Also Ventoy could do multiple OS installs. 

 

https://www.ventoy.net/en/index.html

Sounds neat if you have a pile of liveUSB drives that you want to consolidate into a single drive, or try out new distros constantly.

[KingTubb]

Anybody in here mess with Raspberry Pi much?

 

Finally got everything I needed to boot mine yesterday and it won't boot. Pretty sure that my EEPROM is corrupted, considering the pi's reaction to trying to boot, and how it acts when I turn it on without a SD card inserted, and from what I gather this is a pretty common problem with RPI4 model B.

 

Anyone have any advice? 

[misterBee]

On 1/14/2021 at 8:18 AM, KingTubb said:

Anybody in here mess with Raspberry Pi much?

 

Finally got everything I needed to boot mine yesterday and it won't boot. Pretty sure that my EEPROM is corrupted, considering the pi's reaction to trying to boot, and how it acts when I turn it on without a SD card inserted, and from what I gather this is a pretty common problem with RPI4 model B.

 

Anyone have any advice? 

I don't own a Pi, but it looks like if the boot code in the EEPROM is corrupted you can just try replacing or updating it:

 

https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/hardware/raspberrypi/booteeprom.md

 

I'm sure there must also be Raspberry Pi forums or something that will have boot files you can update your EEPROM with.

[KingTubb]

2 minutes ago, misterBee said:

there must also be Raspberry Pi forums

there are, but it's sort of a nightmare to navigate and a lot of the threads are about before the RPI4. 

 

I think they moved to discord like everyone else. 

 

Thanks!!

[DarkSakul]

I did some PS5 Dual Sense controller customization

[DarkSakul]

https://crazypoppins.com/en/zootopia-flash-finally-starts-using-windows-98/?fbclid=IwAR0aA2Rms4yXIZFzEX-U2x-KfXKpQ4hXErIJ-3SmUmUzvHHfXYjdsRuT1sw

[Hawkingbird]

This is awesome. These guys made a custom water cooling loop for the PS5

 

 

[Dayaan]

Just got a new smartwatch. Someone gimme fun stuff to do with it?

[DarkSakul]

What model smart watch? 

[Hawkingbird]

On 3/17/2021 at 8:12 PM, Dayaan said:

Just got a new smartwatch. Someone gimme fun stuff to do with it?

Which one you get? I have a Galaxy Active 2

[Dayaan]

1 hour ago, Hawkingbird said:

Which one you get? I have a Galaxy Active 2

Same, that's the one.

[Hawkingbird]

5 hours ago, Dayaan said:

Same, that's the one.

I downloaded a couple of watch faces and played around with Bixby. I also made some phone calls with it and the speaker on the watch is absolute crap. I wouldn't use it unless you have to answer a quick call.

[Dayaan]

3 hours ago, Hawkingbird said:

I downloaded a couple of watch faces and played around with Bixby. I also made some phone calls with it and the speaker on the watch is absolute crap. I wouldn't use it unless you have to answer a quick call.

Get this, I have 2 Bluetooth headphones, so I'm always wirelessly listening. I have wireless chargers for my phone and watch. I literally have 0 cables to worry about with my phone, watch and audio solutions. It's glorious.

[globe]

Never used DHL, but damn it was pretty fast getting stuff from China to the USA. Order some switches not even a week ago and it arrived yesterday. Here's some MX buttons, just playing around with it.

 

 

Kailh Speed Gold - Kind of feels like regular Sanwa buttons.

 

Kailh Box Silent Pinks - Feels like the Gen 2 Sanwa silent buttons.

 

Gateron Black Ink V2 - The ones I went with for the other 5 buttons. I'd put the feel in the middle of Sanwa and Seimitsu. 

 

Personally I don't really see the hype behind mechanical buttons nor do I see the worth of paying extra. But they sure look cool. I got my switches from KBDfans if anyone is curious. Shipping was like 18 bucks, but if you order from their aliexpress shop then you do have an option for free, but it'll take a month instead of a couple days. The PCB itself is from ParadiseArcadeShop

[misterBee]

14 hours ago, globe said:

Personally I don't really see the hype behind mechanical buttons nor do I see the worth of paying extra. But they sure look cool. I got my switches from KBDfans if anyone is curious. Shipping was like 18 bucks, but if you order from their aliexpress shop then you do have an option for free, but it'll take a month instead of a couple days. The PCB itself is from ParadiseArcadeShop

HOT-SWAPPABLE buttons that support the MX switch form factor are invaluable.  I prefer Gamerfinger button shells that allow for hot-swapping MX switches to the custom PCB style sold by ParadiseArcadeShop.  The Gamerfinger solution is much closer to how hot-swappable mechanical keyboards work.

 

By swapping out different types of switches you can make buttons feel radically different, and the fact that these types of switches are readily available means you never have to worry about running out.

 

I already build mechanical keyboards as a hobby and I will never go back to using Sanwa/Seimitsu switches.   The flexibility and easy access to spare parts is too good to give up.

[YourFavGrandpa]

My wife has a Samsung S20+, and Bixby just gets brought up during conversation all the time. That's when I tell her she's a piece of shit, and she (Bixby) replies not to treat her that way. 😂

Edited April 11, 2021 by YourFavGrandpa
boob

[Hawkingbird]

Is there any place that are doing mods for the duel sense controller? I went to battle beaver customs but they are sold out of their stuff (which is on their third wave). Though they are offering their d-buttons as a separate purchase to mod myself. I definitely want to get micro switches on the face and shoulder buttons as I want mouse clicks. 

[YourFavGrandpa]

On 8/1/2021 at 10:17 AM, Hawkingbird said:

Is there any place that are doing mods for the duel sense controller? I went to battle beaver customs but they are sold out of their stuff (which is on their third wave). Though they are offering their d-buttons as a separate purchase to mod myself. I definitely want to get micro switches on the face and shoulder buttons as I want mouse clicks. 

I know of one other place doing stuff you describe in Evil Controllers, but buying that level of customization is not cheap.

[Hawkingbird]

2 hours ago, YourFavGrandpa said:

I know of one other place doing stuff you describe in Evil Controllers, but buying that level of customization is not cheap.

I looked them up and definitely not what I'm looking for. All their mods are geared for FPS players. 

[DarkSakul]

 

[DarkSakul]

I think this belongs here too

 

 Someone reversed Engineered the GBA Motherboard

Link to full article: https://www.retrorgb.com/gba-motherboard-reverse-engineered.html
 

Quote

 

 

Developer Zekfoo has recently launched a github page for a reverse-engineered Game Boy Advance motherboard.  The design is based off the more streamlined GBA SP motherboard, but is a drop-in replacement for the original GBA motherboard.  The purpose of the design is to improve some of the shortcomings of the original, using mostly off-the-shelf parts;  You’ll still need the proprietary GBA chips to use it.  This is not going to be something made available fo purchase (at least not yet), but hopefully the project will eventually be open sourced.

 

Project Link:  https://github.com/Zekfoo/AGZ

 

 

 

 

[DarkSakul]

 

[DarkSakul]

https://gizmodo.com/engineer-one-ups-apple-by-adding-a-working-usb-c-port-t-1847846266

Engineer One-Ups Apple By Adding a Working USB-C Port to an iPhone

 

 

Apple has no excuses now

 

[misterBee]

Something I've been working on:

 

[globe]

Hitbox sent a cease and desist to JunkFoodArcades

 

 

So that's something.

[YourFavGrandpa]

20 hours ago, globe said:

Hitbox sent a cease and desist to JunkFoodArcades

 

 

So that's something.

I've been keeping an eye on this quite closely. The tl;dr is that Hitbox apparently patented a bunch of stick layouts, and JFCA either had something a little too close to call or something like that. The suit was filed in federal court, and no matter what happens; there will be fallout from this guaradamnteed.

[globe]

It's an interesting case and the result of it can impact North American case makers quite a bit if it goes to Hitbox's favor. Not a huge fan of JFA since they've done some scummy things as well (like C&D open source projects that are similar to their Micro), but I'd rather them win the case. And Hitbox possibly sent C&D to other smaller companies and JFA is the only one to stick up for themselves. Anyways, here's more info if anyone.

 

 

https://supercombo.gg/2021/12/17/hit-box-sends-cease-desist-to-junkfood-customs-arcades-jfca-responds-with-lawsuit/

 

Info on JFA C&D an open source project

 

Edited December 18, 2021 by globe
Added another link

[anzhar]

i bought a couple of google stadias,  so that my nephews could play fifa 22 when they come over, i thought i was getting a bargain, 2 controllers and 2 chromecast ultras for £40 total, plus the game for £40, and £8.99 for 4k

 

its totally unplayable, and i average 70 Mbps down and 18 Mbps up

 

now that im stuck with the controllers, can they be used for anything else? hoping i could use them on my PS3................

[misterBee]

1 hour ago, anzhar said:

i bought a couple of google stadias,  so that my nephews could play fifa 22 when they come over, i thought i was getting a bargain, 2 controllers and 2 chromecast ultras for £40 total, plus the game for £40, and £8.99 for 4k

 

its totally unplayable, and i average 70 Mbps down and 18 Mbps up

 

now that im stuck with the controllers, can they be used for anything else? hoping i could use them on my PS3................

You can use stadiacontroller or XOutput to make them act as a xbox controllers while connected to a PC through USB.

 

I don't think there's much hope of getting them to work as PS3 controllers though.

[anzhar]

On 1/4/2022 at 2:03 AM, misterBee said:

You can use stadiacontroller or XOutput to make them act as a xbox controllers while connected to a PC through USB.

 

I don't think there's much hope of getting them to work as PS3 controllers though.

I am going to make a youtube video to complain about the poor service and lack of compatibility for the controllers on other devices.

 

I actually created a channel yesterday, and for a practice run, I done  a video on my new iPad M1 12.9" 5g 128GB, feel free to give me some feedback
 

 

 

[Darc_Requiem]

@globeLate to the party on this but Hitbox is a small company. A very small company. They have 5 employees. JFA is presenting themselves as the little guy when they are larger than Hitbox. I don't fault them for defending their design. It's the only thing keeping companies like Hori or Qanba or any other large manufacturer from taking their designs and pricing them out of business. Patents are here for this type of situation. 

 

Hitbox's info for reference

https://www.dnb.com/business-directory/company-profiles.hitbox_llc.1be7939154b67b5bed2a4db650793243.html

[DarkSakul]

same applies to ordering directly from https://krikzz.com/

 

 

 

 

[Hawkingbird]

I been looking a place where I get a duel sense controller with clicky face buttons and d-pad. I know the HORI Fighting Commander OCTA has micro switch face buttons but the D-pad doesn't and I don't like that it's a wired controller. Battle Beaver doesn't offer it for PS5 pads yet. 

[DarkSakul]

 

[globe]

 

2022 and $150+ arcade sticks still have hard wire and flimsy cable doors.

If you're into RGB then I guess it's cool in that regard.

[DoctaMario]

How long should one expect arcade stick buttons to last? I'm having an issue where another one of the Sanwa buttons on my hitbox is going out. I had the same issue about a year after I got it, swapped button positions and now the button I swapped into the same position (it would be the Square position)  is going out intermittently.

 

I haven't had any issues with any of the other buttons and now I'm wondering if it's actually the buttons themselves or the wiring. Any ideas? I've contacted the company but haven't heard back yet and thought maybe someone would have some ideas as to how I could potentially check things out.

[misterBee]

On 11/25/2022 at 11:06 AM, DoctaMario said:

How long should one expect arcade stick buttons to last? I'm having an issue where another one of the Sanwa buttons on my hitbox is going out. I had the same issue about a year after I got it, swapped button positions and now the button I swapped into the same position (it would be the Square position)  is going out intermittently.

 

I haven't had any issues with any of the other buttons and now I'm wondering if it's actually the buttons themselves or the wiring. Any ideas? I've contacted the company but haven't heard back yet and thought maybe someone would have some ideas as to how I could potentially check things out.

Button lifespan varies greatly and is just dependent on how much wear and tear a button goes through.  You can buy SNES-era sticks on ebay that still have original working buttons.

 

How long did it take for the new button to start showing issues?  Does it show issues when you move the new button back to its original spot?  Does the faulty button work when put in another place?

 

If different buttons work better/worse depending on position then it's most likely a wiring issue.  Check to make sure all connections are solid and properly connected.

[DoctaMario]

11 hours ago, misterBee said:

Button lifespan varies greatly and is just dependent on how much wear and tear a button goes through.  You can buy SNES-era sticks on ebay that still have original working buttons.

 

How long did it take for the new button to start showing issues?  Does it show issues when you move the new button back to its original spot?  Does the faulty button work when put in another place?

 

If different buttons work better/worse depending on position then it's most likely a wiring issue.  Check to make sure all connections are solid and properly connected.

I swapped the button with the one right below it. I didn't really have issues with the buttons after the initial swap, but I swapped with a button I rarely use so while I tested it and it seemed to work, it isn't a button I use regularly. So I guess we'll see what happens, if the button I swapped into the Square button space starts to fritz out, or if the button I was just having issues with continues to have issues in the new slot. 

 

I have a HRAP3SA that got used and abused for a long time with no button issues (I was probably much less gentle on that thing than on this)  so I wonder if maybe these are just cheaper buttons.

[misterBee]

3 hours ago, DoctaMario said:

I swapped the button with the one right below it. I didn't really have issues with the buttons after the initial swap, but I swapped with a button I rarely use so while I tested it and it seemed to work, it isn't a button I use regularly. So I guess we'll see what happens, if the button I swapped into the Square button space starts to fritz out, or if the button I was just having issues with continues to have issues in the new slot. 

 

I have a HRAP3SA that got used and abused for a long time with no button issues (I was probably much less gentle on that thing than on this)  so I wonder if maybe these are just cheaper buttons.

SA version HRAPs use Sanwa parts.

 

Seeing as how it's a PS3-era stick it could just be the button is dead/dying...genuine Sanwa buttons die all the time.