I’ve been contacted by at least one user who has informed me that they had difficulties installing the VirtualCable, in that they could not form a solid solder bridge from board to cable. I wouldn’t give it much credence if it were not someone who is a professional.

That bothers me a little bit. I mean, I had some trouble with it, but I’m by no means an expert. But if an expert has issues, what does that mean to the amateur?

Fortunately, this user relayed to me that they arrived at an unorthodox solution.

By bending the cable pins in half underneath themselves, this user was able to create a solid connection.

I think that, if there is interest in a second run, that I will remove the castellated holes idea and try for a less finicky solution. Turns out 0.6mm pads are a little too small for castellations to be as helpful as I had first imagined.

My apologies, everyone.

plep wrote:
Just wanted to leave a comment to say my cables arrived today. When do you plan on getting installation instructions up?

As soon as I can find my camera. And the camera mount. And some free time. My fiancee is down with laryngitis (as in an actual throat infection laryngitis), so this doesn’t exactly have top priority at the moment.

Also, just a reminder – Payment is due by 11:59pm this Wednesday! If you fail to pay or contact me about payment, you will lose your allocated cables and they will be offered up on a first-come, first-serve basis. Ten buyers comprising 20 pairs of cables have not paid.

FLEX CABLES ARE HERE!!!!

Attachments:

1. 

   img_0304-scaled.jpg
   

Flex cables are on their way!

Sway wrote:
Hello,
New member here.
How does the virtual cable actually work?
Do you have an installation video?

Whoo. Being sick sucks. Like HARDCORE.

To answer your questions, Sway:

1 – The old cables had a design flaw, namely that they were only held in place by pressure from an adhesive. Over the past twenty-odd years, that glue has weakened, causing the pins to separate, making ‘dead’ displays more and more common.

Now, a common solution is to solder the side that has the glue in place, creating a solid and ostensibly permanent connection that will not weaken over time. However, the cables themselves are starting to become brittle and the copper in them is beginning to corrode. My cables are pin-compatible, all-new production cables that will replace the original cables, allow a solid soldered connection, and be much easier to solder into place, thanks to design features like an adhesive strip that will stabilize the cable during soldering, and castellated holes to allow much easier connection between the board and the cable.

2 – I don’t currently have an installation video. My cables, according to my fab house, are 90% through the production process, so I’d like to hope I’ll have them on-hand in a week, give or take a few days. After that, I’ll be collecting from those member who haven’t prepaid and shipping the cables out. Once that’s done, I will probably make an install video.

Fire-WSP wrote:

nmalinoski schrieb:

RetroDan wrote:

Fire-WSP wrote:
I am still in need for this Chip/Board to replace the Mirrior Unit. Is somebody out there who can make them?

Looks pretty simple – just an ATtiny25 on a small board. I could probably manage it, no problem.

If you want to do a small run, I’d be in for two.

I would take two aswell 🙂

Hold hard, lads. I’m still working with the VirtualCables project! One thing at a time…

😀

Fire-WSP wrote:
I am still in need for this Chip/Board to replace the Mirrior Unit. Is somebody out there who can make them?

Looks pretty simple – just an ATtiny25 on a small board. I could probably manage it, no problem.

SpectreVR wrote:
I have a classic mac pro running osx version 10.12.2 sierra. I cant figure out how to get the padder application running. I downloaded and installed visual studio, I dont know what else to do. When I click on the “Padder” executable in the “Padder.osx-x64” directory I get

“Last login: Sun Jun 2 12:26:43 on console
AmishIndys-MacBook-Pro:~ sethjones$ /Applications/Padder.osx-x64/Padder ; exit;
Error:
An assembly specified in the application dependencies manifest (Padder.deps.json) was not found:
package: ‘runtime.osx-x64.Microsoft.NETCore.App’, version: ‘2.1.5’
path: ‘runtimes/osx-x64/lib/netcoreapp2.1/Microsoft.CSharp.dll’
logout
Saving session…
…copying shared history…
…saving history…truncating history files…
…completed.
Deleting expired sessions…none found.

[Process completed]

”

There is no readme or instructions with this program. I downloaded it from planet VB

It looks incomplete, like the package is missing some files.

[RetroDan]

As of this moment, the fab order is placed! A grace period is extended for 11.5 hours after this post for latecomers who would like to grab VirtualCables at the price of $11/pair +s/h. At noon EDT on June 1st, the price for unallocated cables becomes $15/pair +s/h. Emails have been sent out to all buyers as of right now. Thanks for all your support!

EDIT: I’ve received a few emails asking whether to send via Friends and Family or using the Pay for Item or Service. Always, always, ALWAYS[/i] send via Pay for Item or Service. Apart from just being the plain truth, it protects the buyer in case the seller takes their money and ghosts them.

If you send money by Friends and Family, I will return your payment immediately!

• This reply was modified 5 years, 6 months ago by RetroDan.

Wow. Got quite a few people jumping aboard at the eleventh hour. An additional 9 buyers adding a combined total of 22 more pairs of cables. Impressive stuff!

Biscuit wrote:
I don’t mind pre-paying, but just to be clear with the changes that were made, could you post the updated/final prices per set and shipping?

Of course:

Final cost is $11/pair.
Shipping in the US is $7.90.
Shipping to most overseas locations is $14.25.

For those who intend to do so, please PM me for your total.

With just about 24 hours left, I should like to make an unusual request:

Production of the VirtualCables is an expensive prospect, and one that I will make very little profit from. I would like to encourage some of you, ideally those who have indicated that they want 10 sets or so, to pay in advance. I am aware of the frowned-upon nature of this request, and to be honest, it leaves a foul taste in my mouth. Truthfully, I don’t absolutely NEED prepayment, but with rent, a new car, an upcoming wedding in August, and all the payments that life tends to accrue, I am stretched a bit thin, and I would humbly request that some of you help ease the burden. To those who may choose to help, I would strongly advise against sending via PayPal gift – this is simply prepayment for a product, and I will return any payments made with gift.

For those who may decide so to do, please include your username on these forums in a note on your payment. My PayPal address is doubledangaming@gmail.com.

Thank you for your consideration.

Three days left. It’s actually kind of fascinating – I’m still getting new buyers, to the point that I’ve increased my overstock supply for latecomers by 50%.

Only 11 days left to get in on this before I shoot the VirtualCable order in!

Bomberman94 wrote:
Hi,

i‘m looking for the US only games – just the cartridges (even protection cap not needed). Must be original and also label in „nice“ condition.

Thanks

Jürgen

PS: i‘m located in germany and shipping can be as cheap as possible

I’ve got everything but 3D Tetris. Pm me!

[RetroDan]

I have successfully talked my fab house down to $0.25 per pair increase for tape, mostly due to the large number of prospective buyers. At present, I have 42 unique buyers wanting a total of 125 pairs.

At that rate, I’m perfectly fine with eating that out of the profit margin, so the upshot is that I have all the features I want at an acceptable price.

At this stage, I’m just waiting for the end of May to shove my order in. If you know anyone who wants to get on board, point them my way!

Thanks to all for making this project successful!

EDIT: Below are pictures of the final design:

• This reply was modified 5 years, 7 months ago by RetroDan.
• This reply was modified 5 years, 7 months ago by RetroDan.
• This reply was modified 5 years, 7 months ago by RetroDan.

Weird. I’m noticing the same thing. Compiles, says it runs, but it’s not actually returning random.

[RetroDan]

Patrik wrote:
I havn’t installed mine yet. Do you by any chance have any picture of how you wired it to the d-sub? I don’t understand the VGA-wiring pic of the GND, or do you just put a wire between each pin?

I actually designed a little breakout board for the signals to easily connect them to the VirtualTap board.

Also, here’s the instructions for correct installation:

http://furrtek.free.fr/virtualtap/manual_v1_en.pdf

• This reply was modified 5 years, 7 months ago by RetroDan.

BigDen wrote:
I am already vey excited for news to come about your project, RetroDan!

It’s at least eighteen months out. Got a lot of irons in the fire.

Levine91 wrote:

RetroDan wrote:
I’ll probably do a run of these myself. I’m also working on an upgraded version in what little free time I can spare.

As long as it eventually gets a run, I’d be thrilled and would order one immediately! What would the upgrade being?

For the time being, that’s a secret.