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Super Nintendo in a Prius?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Audio and Electronics' started by nicksaadah, Nov 23, 2005.

  1. nicksaadah

    nicksaadah New Member

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    Hi all,

    I have a question for those of you more IT minded than I (that is to day, the vast majority of you). Like so many others, I would love to get my PC to output to my '05 Prius screen. I have done my research and realize that the issue is that the screen has a vertical refresh rate of 60Hz (quite normal) but a horizontal frequency of 15.7 kHz (not normal at all) and in addition, the screen is very low-res (400x234). I understand one option would be to find a video card which can support a monitor like this (I found one already - turns out it is the same card used by people who build MAME machines. However, before I spend $100 on this video card, I wanted to try it out with something less expensive.

    It turns out that a Super Nintendo (yes, the old 16 bit one) has RGB C/S ouputs and has the exact same frequencies that the Prius monitor is looking for! Look at this webpage:

    http://homepage.mac.com/arekkusu/GS/snesrgb.html

    Anyway, tonight I tried it, just like he suggested. I have a spare connector for N3 on the NAV ECU and I connected red to red, green to green, blue to blue (all using 220 uF capacitors), then connected composite sync to composite sync and made sure to connect those two to the 5v pin #10 using a 300 ohm resistor. I connected both grounds on N3 (the yellow line and the un-insolated ground) to a piece of metal on the car and plugged it in...and I got nothing. Nothing at all, the screen didn't change a bit - it just sat there black with some barely visable static.

    So here my favor to ask - assume (quite correctly) that I know nothing at all about this sort of thing - I was wondering if you had any suggestions as to common errors which a rookie might make doing this sort of thing. I mean no suggestion is too petty, apart from "Nicholas, did you remember to turn the power on the SNES on" :)

    I hope one of you can help - I babysit a 4 year old and it would be nice to be able to entertain him and his brother while driving.
     
    #1 nicksaadah, Nov 23, 2005
  2. c4

    c4 Active Member

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    So, let me see if I understand what you did-

    1) You got an N3 connector, and hooked up your SNES to this connector.
    2) You unplugged the existing N3 from the Nav and plugged in the one you made in step #1 above?

    Is this right? If so, you've just plugged the SNES into the NAV (which is pointless because the socket on the nav is a video *output*), but have disconnected the MFD (which is the original N3 cable that you removed).. In other words, in terms of standard home entertainment components, what you've done is basically disconnected the DVD player from the TV, and then plugged the SNES into the DVD player and left the TV disconnected.. It's no wonder that when you turn on the TV, you see a blank screen...

    What you really want to do is to take the cable end of the N3, cut the RGBSync wires, and introduce the SNES RGBSync into the cable side which is connected to the MFD on the other end. The two AVCLan wires need to remain connected to the NAV as the NAV is responsible for addressing the MFD to change input sources (internal to NAV display).. If you want to be able switch sources (between Nav and your own), you further need to build or buy a switchbox (if you're building it yourself, a 4PDT switch is perfect for switching the 4 signals back and forth).


    In terms of simple ASCII art:

    MFD------R------X------
    MFD------G------X------
    MFD------B------X------
    MFD------S------X------N3=NAV
    MFD------(T+)----------
    MFD------(T-)-----------

    As indicated above, you want to cut the RGBS wires at the "X" in front of the N3 connector.. Inject the SNES RGBS into the MFD side of the cut wires to test. If it works and you want to permanently hook up a switch, drop by digikey.com and purchase a 4PDT switch and hook it up like so on each of the RGBS wires:

    MFD-----------+
    NAV_____ o / o______SNES

    To operate the system, first you select the NAV from the console buttons, then set your switch to choose which display you want- the nav or the external display..
     
    #2 c4, Nov 23, 2005
  3. nicksaadah

    nicksaadah New Member

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    C4,

    Now you know why I said no suggestion was too petty - you have accurately judged just how stupid I can be when I really put my mind to it ;-)

    You nailed it - I was sending the RGB and sync inputs INTO THE NAV UNIT instead of sending them up the wire which comes out of the NAV unit! I seriously could beat my head against a wall right about now.

    Degrees from Purdue and Stanford and a rocket scientist for NASA - just goes to prove that book smart people can have absolutely no common sense!

    Thanks again C4 - you have solved weeks of frustration.

    -Nicholas
     
    #3 nicksaadah, Nov 24, 2005
  4. Tigerops

    Tigerops New Member

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    This sounds like a great idea! I was sitting in my car waiting to be seated at Olive Garden and was bored out of my mind! I'll have to pursue this. Now, I assume from your chat that you have the Nav option installed? I don't have this. I have an '04 basic package. Would I still be able to hook up the SNES to my car in any way??

    Thanks in advance!
     
    #4 Tigerops, Nov 28, 2005
  5. nicksaadah

    nicksaadah New Member

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    Tigerops,

    Thanks for the encouragement - I have had some success, but am not quite there - I still need to get the image to stabilize. See my new thread titled "Super Nintendo in a Prius - almost there"

    As for your question, the answer is yes and no. Whether or not you have NAV, the monitor is the same and can therefore support the SNES input. However, if you have the NAV unit, the computer is located underneath the driver's seat and it is an easy place to inject the signal. The question becomes, if you don't have NAV, does the same wire exist there and is simply not connected to anything (in which case it would be easy for you to do the same thing I am doing) or would it be harder to find a place to inject the SNES signal.

    Perhaps someone with more experience can answer.
     
    #5 nicksaadah, Nov 29, 2005
  6. Tigerops

    Tigerops New Member

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    Bump. There are no cables under the driver's seat since I don't have a NAV unit. Is there another way to input these signals? How about using the VAIS iPod interface that also has the optional video input. Wouldn't I be able to just plug the SNES into this unit? Any help at all?? Thanks everyone.
     
    #6 Tigerops, Dec 7, 2005
  7. nicksaadah

    nicksaadah New Member

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    Tigerops,

    I just replied to your e-mail to me, but just to put it out for all tos ee, I don't think buying the VAIS is necessary. The SNES outputs RGB C/S already, so no conversion is necessary. Also, installing the VAIS adaptor involves (I believe) getting back behind the monitor anyway - if you are going to be back there, you might as well just splice into the RGBS wires and save yourself several hundred dollars.

    -Nicholas
     
    #7 nicksaadah, Dec 7, 2005
  8. eflier

    eflier Silver Business Sponsor

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    I just happened to read this post and thought I might save a bit of time and some disappointment. Only NAV equipped Prii have any RGBs wiring at all. Without NAV, the MFD has an empty RGBs socket but simply hooking up RGB and composite sync to the appropriate pins on this socket won't do anything.

    Thats because a device on the IEBUS has to request the MFD to connect that port. Normally thats the NAV ECU doing that. A camera ECU would do the same thing. Thats why VAIS state all their video adapters are for NAV -equipped vehicles only. I may be wrong (and if I am I'm sure someone will pounce immediately) but I'm not aware of any device other than the CAN-view offering external RGB with a none-NAV Prius.

    You could buy my CAN-view of course, hint ,hint, but if the Nintendo is your only wish, then a cheaper way to get the port to open up would be to buy the monchrome Toyota camera adapter 08635-28020 from Japanparts.com (US$65??) and modify it for RGB and sync wires like Frenchie and Brosnan did (See old topic: (http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=5997&hl=camera) and then hot-glue together a connector for the back of the MFD for the RGB sync TX+ and TX- and ground needed.

    That adapter puts its RGB on the MFD whenever +12 is put on its reverse input pin, so you could simply use a dash mounted switch instead to activate it. A bit time consuming maybe but by far the most economic approach.
     
    #8 eflier, Dec 7, 2005
  9. Tigerops

    Tigerops New Member

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    Actually, I was going to use the SNES 2 which doesn't have the RGB option. It only let's me use the Stereo A/V cable. Any ideas for how this can be hooked up with a NON-NAV 04 Prius?
     
    #9 Tigerops, Dec 7, 2005
  10. Tigerops

    Tigerops New Member

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    Well I asked Eugene if the AVIC-100i (iPod and video interface for about $600) would work with NON-NAV Prii and he said yes. Their website says it's for NAV equipped vehicles, but he said it would work.
     
    #10 Tigerops, Dec 8, 2005
  11. nicksaadah

    nicksaadah New Member

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    FYI - there is a fairly simple mod you can do to get RGB output from an SNES2 - see this website.
     
    #11 nicksaadah, Dec 8, 2005
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