S-Video cord for Gamecube ~ Dot Crawl still!?

Post by **Mozgus** » Thu Jan 03, 2008 7:41 pm

What the hell? It took weeks for this ebay seller to ship me the cord, with the memory card and 2 controllers. The memory card was actually screwed but I fixed it. The chip inside wasnt level with the plastic shell, but I took it out and layed a 4x folded chunk of paper under it and now it's level and makes a fine contact.

But this s-video cord is shit. I still have the dot-crawl effect. 2 years ago I used s-video on another gamecube on this same tv, and I did not have this issue. I specifically remember the red letters on the Zelda Wind Waker title screen not having this nasty effect. This and Mario Sunshine are totally hampered by this effect because they have such strong sharp colors, especially red and yellow.

Oh and these controllers have extremely short cords that are even shorter than the s-video cable. The Z buttons are extremely stiff and the analog sticks seem to be way too sensitive, having very short range. It makes Smash Bros a bitch to play because I can hardly ever walk without just running full blast.

Post by **racketboy** » Thu Jan 03, 2008 8:06 pm

I can send you one of my S-Vids if you want...

Post by **Mozgus** » Thu Jan 03, 2008 8:17 pm

racketboy wrote:I can send you one of my S-Vids if you want...

Are you absolutely sure your's dont have the same problem? Anyways I'm going over to a friend's tonight and I'll compare my cable to his and make sure there's a difference. If so, I'll probably buy one off you.

Post by **racketboy** » Thu Jan 03, 2008 9:18 pm

Mozgus wrote:
racketboy wrote:I can send you one of my S-Vids if you want...
Are you absolutely sure your's dont have the same problem? Anyways I'm going over to a friend's tonight and I'll compare my cable to his and make sure there's a difference. If so, I'll probably buy one off you.

I haven't noticed anything on my living room TV, but haven't tried it on my LCD in my home office. Unfortunately, my Cube's cables are a mess upstairs and I'm too lazy to move everything out right now

I'll just send you one and if it isn't better, just send it back to me.
Sound good?

Post by **Mozgus** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 12:56 am

racketboy wrote:
Mozgus wrote:
racketboy wrote:I can send you one of my S-Vids if you want...
Are you absolutely sure your's dont have the same problem? Anyways I'm going over to a friend's tonight and I'll compare my cable to his and make sure there's a difference. If so, I'll probably buy one off you.
I haven't noticed anything on my living room TV, but haven't tried it on my LCD in my home office. Unfortunately, my Cube's cables are a mess upstairs and I'm too lazy to move everything out right now

I'll just send you one and if it isn't better, just send it back to me.
Sound good?

Yeah just send me one. Thanks. I'll PM ya. I just got back and confirmed that my cable here is indeed to blame. My friend's cable is this ps2/gc/xbox composite/s-video dealie and it has zero dot crawl and looks so much better. He also has the exact same TV as me, since we both bought them at the same time. My best guess is that my cable is some kind of fake that doesn't actually keep the chroma and luma separated. I'll let you know if your cables are the same, but I sure hope not. Most people obviously don't care about this stuff, but I do.

Post by **lordofduct** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 4:05 am

I certainly care about it as well.

I once bought a Dreamcast S-Vid cable several years back and had this same issue. Then on day 3 the picture just went black and white (only luma coming through). I took the cable and noticed something weird about the little bit of plastic covering the pins that connect to the DC.

Alas, the thing wasn't even sealed... it was one of those pop in kinds. I pried the little bugger apart with my fingers and found out it was a cable the guy made with an S-Vid cable cut and wired onto a cheapy old cables (probably composite or RF) and then a new bit of plastic casing popped on that wasn't even sized for the DC... you could tell because he had cut it with an exacto knife to get it to fit.

I gave the guy negative feedback (ebay) and explaied my reasons why. He got all pissy with me, gave me negative feedback "because I didn't allow him time to settle the matter with me". Screw that, he is selling bunk home made crap as legitimate stuff.

I don't let that fly.

Kinda like those pricks who sell Beats Of Rage as "New Release, Dreamcast STILL Alive" shit for like 20 bucks.

Post by **Droid party** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 4:46 am

lordofduct wrote:I certainly care about it as well.

I once bought a Dreamcast S-Vid cable several years back and had this same issue. Then on day 3 the picture just went black and white (only luma coming through). I took the cable and noticed something weird about the little bit of plastic covering the pins that connect to the DC.

Alas, the thing wasn't even sealed... it was one of those pop in kinds. I pried the little bugger apart with my fingers and found out it was a cable the guy made with an S-Vid cable cut and wired onto a cheapy old cables (probably composite or RF) and then a new bit of plastic casing popped on that wasn't even sized for the DC... you could tell because he had cut it with an exacto knife to get it to fit.

I gave the guy negative feedback (ebay) and explaied my reasons why. He got all pissy with me, gave me negative feedback "because I didn't allow him time to settle the matter with me". Screw that, he is selling bunk home made crap as legitimate stuff.

I don't let that fly.

Kinda like those pricks who sell Beats Of Rage as "New Release, Dreamcast STILL Alive" shit for like 20 bucks.

Who the hell would waste all that time slapping together crap cables to sell on ebay, I mean the time it would have taken to put together would have been a pain in the arse and the piddly amount of money he would have made would not of anywhere near worth it... dumbass.
The other thing that is bugging about Ebay sellers are the ones who put "Rare" on every item they sell to jack up the price.

Post by **Mozgus** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 5:15 am

Droid party wrote:The other thing that is bugging about Ebay sellers are the ones who put "Rare" on every item they sell to jack up the price.

I should start doing that...

Post by **Mozgus** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 5:41 am

I was hooking up the gc, ps2, dc, and saturn up to a 4 input switchbox and just found an s-video/composite av cable for the cube. I didn't realize I kept it from when I last owned the system. And sure enough, the dot crawl is gone. Fantastic! The weird thing is, I inspected the jack on this cable like Duct said and noticed some odd looking solder drops on the contacts inside, and it made a scraping noise when I plugged it in. So maybe this cord had the same issue as my other one, but the ebay seller I bought this cord years ago from fixed it himself? Anyways, thanks for the offer.

Post by **Droid party** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 7:54 am

Mozgus wrote:
Droid party wrote:The other thing that is bugging about Ebay sellers are the ones who put "Rare" on every item they sell to jack up the price.
I should start doing that...

And I should break open your skull and feast on the pinky grey goo within.