MiSTer FPGA Forum

Hi guys, first post here.

So I recently got a QMTECH clone board and the MiSTer software on it works fine and great. No problems with my 4K OLED but I want to hook it up to my JVC PVM. So I bought a HMDI to VGA adapter from ICY BOX, the IB-AC502 which according to this spreadsheet https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... id=0#gid=0 should be 5 stars. And it works great and I got a good picture. Now, since VGA doesn't carry audio and I have no IO board, I don't have audio.

So the first thing I did was buy a HMDI audio extractor with toslink because I wanted good clean audio into my HiFi DAC, but from what I understand, when using direct video, the HDMI port gets used to transmit RAW VGA data, so this didn't work as it's no longer 'HMDI' video.

Then I bought a Logilink HDMI to VGA adapter with the AG6200 which I thought was a tried adapter with 3.5mm audio out (even though I wanted optical). But I got a jumpy image with it and not a stable one like with the icy box. Don't know why this one didn't work and I tried turning composite sync in the ini file on and off, both of which did not solve the problem.
I also have a VGA2SCART in the chain because I connect it to my PVM via SCART, and the VGA2SCART had a 3.5mm jack, but unfortunately for me this is only an input and not an output so this also didn't work.

Save for getting another IO board, what other options do I have if any? I am building my DE10 in a SNES case so space is really important which is why I haven't went with the IO board route (yet).

Thank you.

I bought this one with audio for my DE-10 nano and it works perfectly.

BENFEI Adaptador HDMI a VGA, HDMI... https://www.amazon.es/dp/B01KLKQN9U

There was a report of a user having problem with Direct Video on QMTECH board. So maybe that's the issue, not the Logilink adapter (which I have myself and audio works fine). Other thing is maybe it's not the board but your TV which doesn't like this particular adapter. Overall, it's a bit of a lottery with DV dongles.

Also, the stars in that spreadsheet rate the reference levels, and are not necessarily an indication whether the given adapter will work or not in your setup.

Most of the adapters in that list aren't able to be externally powered which is a requirement for them to work with this specific clone board because they didn't accurately clone how the HDMI pins were hooked up, unfortunately.

Probably your best bet is to get an I/O board. Perhaps you can use ribbon cables to get it to fit in your case.

akeley wrote: ↑Tue Aug 06, 2024 12:15 pm

There was a report of a user having problem with Direct Video on QMTECH board. So maybe that's the issue, not the Logilink adapter (which I have myself and audio works fine). Other thing is maybe it's not the board but your TV which doesn't like this particular adapter. Overall, it's a bit of a lottery with DV dongles.

Also, the stars in that spreadsheet rate the reference levels, and are not necessarily an indication whether the given adapter will work or not in your setup.

DV works but it requires a powered HDMI > VGA adapter as per Lu’s Retro Source
Source

aberu wrote: ↑Tue Aug 06, 2024 12:46 pm

Most of the adapters in that list aren't able to be externally powered which is a requirement for them to work with this specific clone board because they didn't accurately clone how the HDMI pins were hooked up, unfortunately.

In some ways its good QMtech didnt copy the HDMI 1:1 especially with the CEC issues and non electrically isolated HDMI tbh

There are plenty of HDMI to VGA adaptors with power and audio available and from as cheap as a few $ on the likes of Ali

The DAC testing is very limited in what it covers

This is a great option for the QMtech clone and only a few $.
Far better image quality than the AG based dongles using a CS MX9292 DAC which hasnt made it the DAC testing yet, The analogue Pro board uses a CS DAC too.
The listing states it uses AG6200 for some reason but this could be the model without audio and power ?

Just make sure you pick the correct model as there is two variants,

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006743663741.html

Here is a photo of the DAC chip :

aberu wrote: ↑Tue Aug 06, 2024 12:46 pm

Most of the adapters in that list aren't able to be externally powered which is a requirement for them to work with this specific clone board because they didn't accurately clone how the HDMI pins were hooked up, unfortunately.

Funnily enough then, my Icy Box adapter doesn't have an external power source and works fine. I already sent Lu a message about this.

It is POSSIBLE that my board is different than Lu's because I have the board with the integrated SDRAM and he has the classic one. So I could have a revised board.

This all goes to show that there are differences and that's why I'm open to trying new things. This is a little bit of uncharted territory it seems since the board is so new with pro's and con's in relation to the original DE10.

Armakuni wrote: ↑Wed Aug 07, 2024 8:20 am

aberu wrote: ↑Tue Aug 06, 2024 12:46 pm

Most of the adapters in that list aren't able to be externally powered which is a requirement for them to work with this specific clone board because they didn't accurately clone how the HDMI pins were hooked up, unfortunately.

In some ways its good QMtech didnt copy the HDMI 1:1 especially with the CEC issues and non electrically isolated HDMI tbh

There are plenty of HDMI to VGA adaptors with power and audio available and from as cheap as a few $ on the likes of Ali

The DAC testing is very limited in what it covers

This is a great option for the QMtech clone and only a few $.
Far better image quality than the AG based dongles using a CS MX9292 DAC which hasnt made it the DAC testing yet, The analogue Pro board uses a CS DAC too.
The listing states it uses AG6200 for some reason but this could be the model without audio and power ?

Yes thank you. I had this sent to me by BedroomNinja who basically said the same thing so I had it ordered. It's supposed to come in on Friday. So hopefully I can confirm then if this is working or not. I hope so and will let you guys know, in the name of science!

Phoenix91 wrote: ↑Wed Aug 07, 2024 10:41 am

Funnily enough then, my Icy Box adapter doesn't have an external power source and works fine. I already sent Lu a message about this.

It is POSSIBLE that my board is different than Lu's because I have the board with the integrated SDRAM and he has the classic one. So I could have a revised board.

This all goes to show that there are differences and that's why I'm open to trying new things. This is a little bit of uncharted territory it seems since the board is so new with pro's and con's in relation to the original DE10.

I have the Sdram QMtech and my AG2600 based adapter would not work without a +5V feed, so it does seem YMMV type of affairs

What i have done is use a Y DC splitter and DC to Micro USB so i can power the clone and DV adaptor from a single PSU

I find the cons of the QMtech clone minimal really especially for the price point, I have been using it now for well over a week and its brilliant.

Wow, so there is variation from one to the next even within the same model. That shows there has to be some pretty bad QC going on there.

Armakuni wrote: ↑Wed Aug 07, 2024 8:20 am

aberu wrote: ↑Tue Aug 06, 2024 12:46 pm

Most of the adapters in that list aren't able to be externally powered which is a requirement for them to work with this specific clone board because they didn't accurately clone how the HDMI pins were hooked up, unfortunately.

In some ways its good QMtech didnt copy the HDMI 1:1 especially with the CEC issues and non electrically isolated HDMI tbh

It's not good because apparently for one person it is connected for another person it isn't connected. Makes me question the whole thing. I don't really trust QMTech in general, they use reclaimed FPGA stock, check /r/FPGA, they don't have a good reputation. I'd wait on the Taki clones to get reviewed independently if people are waiting for a cheap one.

To be fair to QMTech many HDMI > VGA adapters aren’t exactly what I would call consistent.

Though I totally agree, I think the prudent thing to do is to wait on the Taki clones. Do we know if the Taki DE10-nano clones are using reclaimed chips?

aberu wrote: ↑Wed Aug 07, 2024 11:37 pm

Wow, so there is variation from one to the next even within the same model. That shows there has to be some pretty bad QC going on there.

Armakuni wrote: ↑Wed Aug 07, 2024 8:20 am

aberu wrote: ↑Tue Aug 06, 2024 12:46 pm

Most of the adapters in that list aren't able to be externally powered which is a requirement for them to work with this specific clone board because they didn't accurately clone how the HDMI pins were hooked up, unfortunately.

In some ways its good QMtech didnt copy the HDMI 1:1 especially with the CEC issues and non electrically isolated HDMI tbh

It's not good because apparently for one person it is connected for another person it isn't connected. Makes me question the whole thing. I don't really trust QMTech in general, they use reclaimed FPGA stock, check /r/FPGA, they don't have a good reputation. I'd wait on the Taki clones to get reviewed independently if people are waiting for a cheap one.

Its probably just variance with the adaptor chipsets rather than the clone boards

Who cares if they used reclaimed FPGAs as long as they work as they should ? When they are cutting the buy in price in half nobody should moan

You can look on Reddit and find people moaning about everything anyway

Soon the market will be flooded with clones so it really doesnt matter, if Takis have minor issues nobody will care especially when you can buy a complete setup for $160. Nobody will pay double the price just to not feed 5V to a DV adaptor for example

If i noticed any major issues i would have posted about as i only picked the clone up for fun and to see what a clone could offer.

dickhardpill wrote: ↑Thu Aug 08, 2024 1:48 am

To be fair to QMTech many HDMI > VGA adapters aren’t exactly what I would call consistent.

Though I totally agree, I think the prudent thing to do is to wait on the Taki clones. Do we know if the Taki DE10-nano clones are using reclaimed chips?

No he is buying direct from Altera and with the numbers he is talking it would be hard to do via reclamation

So just to update you guys, I received the Vention with the CS MX9292 DAC chip and it worked!
It wasn't perfect though. I had some really crushed blacks so I had to enable HDMI limited mode and this seems to have fixed the problem for now. Don't know if this is as it should since now it uses 16-235 instead of 0-255 but, I will not complain further. Thank you guys for your help and input!