I got my VUE-Debugger set in the mail today, and wow, is it a beautiful piece of hardware! 😀

I’m making this thread to show pictures of its different parts, and other details about it. Let’s start with the head unit!

I’m very happy about this head unit, because it seems to be the very earliest model with the dark blue plastic and the thicker foam eye piece we’ve seen in old pictures.

Details I noted that differs from a regular VB:
-The cord. (Duh!) Since it connects to the debugger it has a cord coming out right above the cartridge slot. In fact, the cartridge slot is empty. There is no connector inside it, so you can’t put a cart into it.
-No VIRTUAL BOY logo on the front.
-Dark blue plastic (instead of black). Both on the bottom piece, the speakers and the knobs on top.
-No rubber bumpers on the sides. Molded Nintendo logos instead.
-Eye shade: Thick gray foam rubber, with a thin black velvet-like outside.
-Many differences in the plastic mold, both top and bottom half. No text anywhere, single long “dust-cap holder”, triangular shapes on the top corners etc.
-No controller- or link ports (just holes)
-Sticker on the bottom that sais “SUB Ver.A”

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Very glad the Debugger arrived well, Dan! 🙂

The head unit looks very much like this pre-production model: http://www.planetvb.com/modules/hardware/?type=vb&sec=protos&show=8

Seems to be very early indeed, but isn’t this weird? Because the debugger itself seems to be a later version, with the included link cable, non-prototype controller plug and all. Will be interesting to see the version number and serial of the Debugger!

This mysterious floppy disk was included together with the normal system disks. Can anyone read the hand-written japanese? Maybe it’s the source code of Dragon Hopper? 😀 I don’t have a floppy drive here at the moment to check it…

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VUEデバガーを使うにあたり。

My contact wasn’t entirely sure what to make of the word あたり since he’s still learning Japanese, but the best we can figure is something to the effect of “How to use the VUE-Debugger”. Sorry, it’s the best we could do. (-:

Guy Perfect wrote:
My contact wasn’t entirely sure what to make of the word あたり

http://jisho.org/words?jap=%E3%81%82%E3%81%9F%E3%82%8A&eng=&dict=edict&romaji=on

but the best we can figure is something to the effect of “How to use the VUE-Debugger”. Sorry, it’s the best we could do. (-:

I’m pretty sure you guys are right.

Nice looking unit there, Dan! Truly a great score!

RunnerPack wrote:

Guy Perfect wrote:
My contact wasn’t entirely sure what to make of the word あたり

http://jisho.org/words?jap=%E3%81%82%E3%81%9F%E3%82%8A&eng=&dict=edict&romaji=on

According to this page:

http://www.renshuu.org/index.php?page=grammar/individual&id=245

“にあたり” is the equivalent of “にあたって”

So it translates as:

“Starting to Use the VUE Debugger”

In that case, I think the most specific localization would be “Setting up the VUE Debugger”

Onto the debugger itself! Like KR155E mentioned, it’s a newer model with the final controller port, which makes it a little strange that it came with this head unit. I can’t find a serial number on it though, unless it’s hidden on the inside.
All the other revision letters are on the pics below. (Anyone know what BRKHIS stands for?)

It is however a complete and fully featured model with all the optional parts included (TV-out card, 4 MB of extra ram (8 MB total), cart slot for flashing/dumping on top and the SCSI ISA card for PC connection, with all needed cables)

It also includes a metal bracket that can go on top of the cart slot, to keep the cart securely in place. (Translation of that note please) 🙂 (Is it safe to plug a regular game cart in there, or did all debuggers/EEPROM carts have the different pinout?)

The included system disks also are of a newer version (1.3) than any of those available here on PVB, so I’ll make sure to copy them and send to KR155E for archiving.

The SCSI ISA card doesn’t look like anything special, but appearently it’s hard to get the debugger working without this exact model. I’ll have to dig out an old PC from the basement to try it out. (Some sort of SCSI to USB adapter would be handy instead 😛 )

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The note looks like “本体上部のVBカセットスロットの止め具です。” to me, but I’m no expert.

HorvatM wrote:
The note looks like “本体上部のVBカセットスロットの止め具です。” to me, but I’m no expert.

I won’t attempt a transcription, but I’ve attempted to clean up the label.

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Well, Google translates that into
“It is a stop of VB cassette slot of the upper body.”

which seems about right on target :thumpup:

The controller itself is nothing to write home about, it’s just the regular released model. Same story with the stand, no prototype round knob or anything.

What’s interesting though is a sticker on it that sais “BPS”.
Could this be a hint as to who originally owned this kit? (A certain Faceball/Tetris developer) 😉

Or does it just mean “Battery Pack Storage”? 😛

Oh, and does anyone know if the controller needs batteries in this setup, or can it magically draw juice from the debugger?

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HorvatM wrote:
The note looks like “本体上部のVBカセットスロットの止め具です。” to me, but I’m no expert.

According to my contact:

The guy that posted the transcript of that text was exactly right. 😛

“This is a top-part VB cartridge slot fastener.”

DanB wrote:

Oh, and does anyone know if the controller needs batteries in this setup, or can it magically draw juice from the debugger?

The controller doesn’t run directly off of the battery. It’s powered from the 5V regulator, just like the rest of the system. I’m guessing the debugger has a mains PSU, so there should be no need for batteries (except, if they’re absent, it will trigger the “low bat” signal; which is another thing that needs to be debugged, after all).

Also, “BPS” could mean “battery power supply” or something along those lines. It seems an odd place to put an ownership label, but I guess it’s possible.

DanB wrote:

… What’s interesting though is a sticker on it that sais “BPS”. Could this be a hint as to who originally owned this kit? (A certain Faceball/Tetris developer) 😉

Or does it just mean “Battery Pack Storage”? 😛 …

Well, I believe that there are at least two other owners of VUE Debuggers on this site. Not sure if they have original controllers to go along with their units, though. If they do, and their controllers don’t have the “BPS” on them, then I’d say it would be good evidence that this truly did belong to Bullet Proof Software.

It would certainly make sense, then, as to why the original development team had a link cable, since they were working on 2-player Faceball. It would also make sense as to why this particular Debugger made it out of developer hands and into the wild, just as the original Faceball prototype cart did.

Benjamin Stevens wrote:

DanB wrote:

… What’s interesting though is a sticker on it that sais “BPS”. Could this be a hint as to who originally owned this kit? (A certain Faceball/Tetris developer) 😉

Or does it just mean “Battery Pack Storage”? 😛 …

Well, I believe that there are at least two other owners of VUE Debuggers on this site. Not sure if they have original controllers to go along with their units, though. If they do, and their controllers don’t have the “BPS” on them, then I’d say it would be good evidence that this truly did belong to Bullet Proof Software.

It would certainly make sense, then, as to why the original development team had a link cable, since they were working on 2-player Faceball. It would also make sense as to why this particular Debugger made it out of developer hands and into the wild, just as the original Faceball prototype cart did.

I agree… I’d guess it’s BPS, as in Bullet Proof Software.

DogP

DanB schrieb:
Oh, and does anyone know if the controller needs batteries in this setup, or can it magically draw juice from the debugger?

No battery pack needed. I am using a hacked regular controller and my unit has the prototype PS/2 connector, but that should make no difference.

Benjamin Stevens schrieb:

Well, I believe that there are at least two other owners of VUE Debuggers on this site. Not sure if they have original controllers to go along with their units, though. If they do, and their controllers don’t have the “BPS” on them, then I’d say it would be good evidence that this truly did belong to Bullet Proof Software.

It would certainly make sense, then, as to why the original development team had a link cable, since they were working on 2-player Faceball. It would also make sense as to why this particular Debugger made it out of developer hands and into the wild, just as the original Faceball prototype cart did.

Very good point, makes sense. But I wonder why they did not put a “BPS” sticker on the other parts as well then? Also, since the battery pack is not needed at all in the VUE Debugger setup, why was one included? Maybe the controller originates from a regular VB unit that BPS had for testing purposes?

thanks for showing your stuff. awesome pics.

Dan, Dude! I noticed directly. Your Head Unit is a Shoshinkai Model!!! It just missed the Logo but it seems the same mold.
Now I really miss my Shoshinkai Prototype even more 🙁

On the picture of the bottom, it says

Memory Ver. C
PAL Ver. A

Perhaps the TV-Out for this is PAL-only? If you plug it in to a US/Japanese NTSC TV and get all sorts of weird imagery, that’s probably it.

Oh man, what a great win! Thank you so much for sharing the pictures? Are you going to take it all apart for us? 😀