How do I use my PERFORMANCE VGA BOX on the Dreamcast?

hehehaha · Post by **hehehaha** » Sat Sep 14, 2002 8:08 pm

OKay, i know somebody's gonna hate on me for asking this stupid question..
I have a Performance VGA adapter and Im not sure how to hook it up to the monitor. Is it suppose to come with 2 cables or something or what? Somebody gave me this and its only the box and this cord comming out from it to plug into the DC. On one side, there are TV a/v outputs and with a S-Video output (whats the S-video output for?) The opposite side has a PC SIGNAL OUT and a PC AUDIO OUT hole, the other side has the Monitor/TV switch modes, PC AUDIO OUT, and PC SIGNAL IN. Whats the first thing i should do? I plugged the box's cable into the DC, and the Monitor's cable into the box's PC output OR input, nothing shows up, how buot for the audio part? im not too technical with these stuff, so someone be nice and help.. hehe thanks.

Dr_X · Post by **Dr_X** » Sun Sep 15, 2002 9:32 am

Well, all the VGA Box models are almost identical so I think I can help you.

It's very easy:
- connect the VGA Box in the DC
- connect the VGA monitor in the VGA Box
- connect the audio output to a speaker set
- put the VGA Box switch in PC position

Now you're ready to turn on the Dreamcast!

I think your mistake was the switch position...
Good luck!

hehehaha · Post by **hehehaha** » Sun Sep 15, 2002 9:32 pm

i did that already, still dont work, I tried plugging the monitor cable into the PC SIGNAL IN but dont work, then i tried the PC SIGNAL OUT, still dont work, nothing shows uo the screen.. does it have anything to do with my monitor? Its one of those monitors where u cant really turn it off and its always on Stand by mode when theres no picture, if u want to turn it completly off, u have to turn it off before the computer shuts down. ??
Well i dunno.. help!

Heliophobe · Post by **Heliophobe** » Mon Sep 16, 2002 12:47 am

The cord from the monitor should be in PC Signal Out. You can connect a second cord from your computer to PC Signal In if you want to share your monitor betweena PC and A Dreamcast.

As Dr_X said, make sure that your switch box is set to VGA - my unit has kind of a weird switch, you have to push it with extra force into the position you want or it may not accept the change.

Also, make sure that you turn on the Dreamcast after everything is in place. The DC might get locked into 'TV' mode if you switch it after you turn it on, and refuse to display a signal, and some games aren't VGA compatible at all - although you should always be able to see the Dreamcast Swirl logo on startup.

If you still can't get anything out of it, it could be a bad unit (maybe that's why you got it for free), or it could be odd and require a cable plugged into the PC Input, even if you aren't using it. Or, there could be a manual switch which determines whether you see output from the computer or from the Dreamcast. Check for another switch.

I doubt it would be that your monitor isn't compatible. All VGA compatible DC games use a very standard VGA resolution (640x480), which is what every PC outputs by default while the bios is loading and before Windows' GUI has started. The only monitors that wouldn't support it are old, fixed-scan workstation monitors or some all-digital flat panel displays, and they all have proprietary connectors, so you wouldn't have gotten this far with it.

(SVideo output is for TV's with SVideo connector - it's a higher end connector that will result in a cleaner signal to the television, if your telelvision is capable of accepting it).

[UR4]Dutch · Post by **[UR4]Dutch** » Mon Sep 16, 2002 3:50 am

Also, (this is gonna sound really dumb

) make absolutely sure that the Box is pressed into the DC. With some VGA-Boxes the connector has to be pressed very hard for it to lock into the console. I had this problem with my first box from Panther (great quality BTW), there was a little LED on the box that should turn on when connected correctly. I didn't and I thought that it was inserted O.K, turned out otherwise.

It could also be that the box is broken, in that case kick the crap out of your friend.

Heliophobe · Post by **Heliophobe** » Mon Sep 16, 2002 10:55 am

[UR4]Dutch wrote:Also, (this is gonna sound really dumb :| ) make absolutely sure that the Box is pressed into the DC. With some VGA-Boxes the connector has to be pressed very hard for it to lock into the console

I concur. Now that you mention it, I also had some trouble with those connectors, even with the standard AV cable.

hehehaha · Post by **hehehaha** » Mon Sep 23, 2002 1:51 am

OKay, now its gonna be really stupid! YES, the adapter cable WASNT plugged ALL THE WAY into the dreamcast, thats why noting showed up, like some of u said, u had to actually push it in HARDER.. then a LED lights up. SHeesh! Sorry for all this..

You mentioned about Plugging a 2nd cord into the adapter to share the DC with the Computer, what kind of 2nd cord is that? I think thats what I want to do so i wont have to keep unplugging the monitor cable from my comp. to play the dreamcast.
Thanks all, for replying, helped me a lot. peace.

[UR4]Dutch · Post by **[UR4]Dutch** » Mon Sep 23, 2002 2:14 am

lol.....I had the same problem the first time. This whole topics proves that I'm not such a dumbass afterall

I can't help you with the second question though.....some VGA-Boxes support multiple outputs.

Gmc · Post by **Gmc** » Mon Sep 23, 2002 4:18 am

You'd need a VGA - VGA cable, its a cable with two VGA monitor cable ends. Most computer shops will have them.