Ask general Genesis/MD/Sega CD/32X questions here (for new members)

[lumclaw]

You mean this? http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_BDCqpuwRnf...1600/cable.jpg

Yes. Remarkable difference.

Of course, I view RGB as a luxury due to my US background.

[Foxix]

Hmmm, I'm having a little trouble again. I'm on my second 32x and it's having the same problems as the first. I've got it hooked up to a model 1 genesis and CD unit, I don't actually have any 32x games yet but it's still giving me headaches with my CD and genesis games.

It's extremely finicky. CD games don't work at all, they will load up to the sega title screen and freeze, and if it gets farther than that it won't last much longer than a few seconds. Cartridge based games are choosy at best, so far Shinobi III works fine but Phelios freezes at the exact same spot the other 32x does. I'm starting to wonder if it's not my genesis that's the problem. I've cleaned the contacts, and reseated and cleaned the ribbon cables as well.

It also appears that there's been some... work done on it in the past. I certainly don't remember seeing anything like this in my last 32x. ee8iCuY.jpg

[rabidferret]

I have a model 2 genesis, and it would shut off after wiggling the power cord. I looked online and found that the solder on the power input will break, and after taking my genesis apart, I found that is what happened, so I resoldered it.

But after doing so, I found that it would no longer power on at all. I took my multimeter and checked the continuity from the power to the ground, and there was continuity between them. My first thought was that I had accidentally soldered them together, but after removing all of the solder, and actually removing the power plug from the board, I was still getting continuity between the two spots on the board. Does anyone have any idea of where I might look next? I've looked all over the board and I don't see anything out of the ordinary, no broken solder spots, no foreign objects that may be shorting something out. If anyone can help me, I'd appreciate it.


EDIT: Nevermind, I found it. I determined that it was shorted out before it got to the power button, and the only thing between the power in and the power button is a small thing, I'm not sure exactly what it is, right after the power in. On the board it says CF1, on the thing itself it says RC 04 F. I opened it up and there were tiny wires wrapped up in a coil, one on the ground side, one on the power side, and they were making slight contact. Everything is working now.

[onganju]

Hello all. This is a lovely place here.

I stumbled onto the forum after hooking up my old systems to a newer LCD TV. After seeing what my 16 and 8-bit systems look like on a non-CRT display, I've been on a (rather fruitless) search for better cables/output options. That's when I noticed a lot of the A/V and S-Video mods out there.

Long story short, is there anyone on the forum that does any modding services right now? I found a few old threads (here and on other fora) and tried to get in contact with folks, but I haven't seen or heard anything in response just yet. If anyone is still in the business of providing mod work (or can point me in the direction of someone who does), I would definitely appreciate a hollar. If there's a reputable modder (preferably in the US) who's familiar and able of doing the following mods:

• S-Video/Audio out on a Sega Genesis Model 1
• Overclock boost on a Sega Genesis Model 1
• S-Video/Audio out on a Sega CDX
• VGA/Audio out on a Sega Dreamcast
• A/V out on a NES Top Loader
• 50/60hz Switch on a Sega Saturn

Please let me know. Thanks!

[Mauricio]

Hello! I just bought a SEGA Genesis model 1 and I couldn't be happier. My problem is that my controller doesn't seem to work; I wanted to play Altered Beast and the start button won't start the game until I press it repeatedly. Also the A button won't punch, but buttons B and C work well. What got me confused is that the controller works fine when I play Sonic. All three buttons work fine, the D-pad moves in any direction and the Start button pauses the game with a light touch. So, I'm confused. Has this happened to any of you? At first I thought the controller was broken, but after playing Sonic I wonder if the problem could be the Altered Beast cartridge. I don't own any other games and I the console came with only one controller. Any suggestions? Thanks a lot!

[villahed94]

Hello! I just bought a SEGA Genesis model 1 and I couldn't be happier. My problem is that my controller doesn't seem to work; I wanted to play Altered Beast and the start button won't start the game until I press it repeatedly. Also the A button won't punch, but buttons B and C work well. What got me confused is that the controller works fine when I play Sonic. All three buttons work fine, the D-pad moves in any direction and the Start button pauses the game with a light touch. So, I'm confused. Has this happened to any of you? At first I thought the controller was broken, but after playing Sonic I wonder if the problem could be the Altered Beast cartridge. I don't own any other games and I the console came with only one controller. Any suggestions? Thanks a lot!

One of the pins at the controller port might have desoldered or gone bad. Pin 7 controls the mode in which the controller works, and if it's bad, the system will think the controller is in Master System mode.

[Snowsolo]

Hi guys. Total noob here to this site. First off I've been moddin model 1's VA2 VA3 VA6 and VA7 for S-video and composite video and stereo out and recently do a region mod and have got nothing but happy customers on ebay. The problem is, I have a handful of VA2 and VA3 model 1's with the FCC ID FJ846EUSASEGA that I wont put on ebay yet because of this question.......Do the non-TMSS FJ846EUSASEGA play any game you put in them because they arent region locked? Does this mean I can buy Jap mega drive games that have a region lock in them and they will play on the FJ846EUSASEGA Genesis? I just dont wont to be misleading on my ebay adds and want to have the truth posted so the buyers know exactly what "NO region lockout" means. Thanks

[omp]

You will still have to region mod it. The earlier models you refer to, don't have tmss. There were a few early games (EA pls someone else confirm) that will only work on these early consoles. Sega put tmss on there to help stop unlicensed games.... I believe.

[lumclaw]

TMSS has little to do with region. In fact the settings already existed before launch. Master System games can switch language too.

50hz needs a compatible TV, and RGB for color (NTSC color encoding at 50hz is non-standard so few TVs accept it).
On fully modded systems you'd have to warn people about region locked PAL games.

[Hellistor]

Hello, I recently bought a Sega Mega CD model 1. Everything seemed to work fine, until one day it would no longer save anything. Now you may think that this is not a unique problem, but it is. If I format the internal memory, exit back to the CD player and go back to the menu it is as if I never formatted it in the first place. Many people have the problem that it won't hold the save when it is turned off, but I can't even get that far. I have already checked the battery, replaced it with a super capacitor (as the correct replacement would have cost 26 times as much). Further I have replaced every single capacitor on both the motherboard and the PSU board and have replaced the finnicky fuse. At this moment, it reads audio CD's and plays non-save-dependent games fine. If you have any suggestions as to what I can still do, I would be very thankful.

*Update*: After coming home right now, it now says when trying to format: "cannot format" coupled with a negative sounding beep. I found in a post on spritesmind from TmEE, that this might be the power regulator.

[fluxcore]

Tried a search here but didn't really find anything, so befitting my newbie status, I'll ask here.

After jubilantly discovering the MD1 I just obtained is not a VA7, I now realise the controller ports are pretty mangled. Looks like 1 pin is snapped off, and a couple are pretty bent.

Any suggestions on how best to remedy this? I can't imagine it's easy to find new port assemblies for these machines anymore. I'm tempted to sacrifice a MD2 for its controller ports, if they are compatible. Would be nice to simply replace the pins somehow instead though, if anyone knows how.

Cheers!

[fluxcore]

Answering my own question here. Seems many of the old computer joystick ports are the exact same part, in particular Atari and Commodore 64 control ports. I had a junk C64 lying around the garage, so tore that up for the ports. Perhaps it would have been possible to use an MD2 port, but the screws are in different places (it's a single part for both controllers, as opposed to two separate ones in the MD1). Would probably be a bit of work.

Be very careful when removing the ports from the donor, though. I broke a couple of pins on the pcb side, and it's a REAL hassle fixing it.

Best Electronics (an Atari parts supplier) sells the part (FK100307 / CO19062), however it has minimum orders, which would have required 16 of the buggers.

[daleboy]

hi all, please tell me if anyone ever Sega MD1 va6.8, as there is with the image? I have this model and a very bad picture, glare, the image has too much white, Is this normal?

normal sony cxa1145


much white MB3514

[rift]

I'm having some problems for the first time with my jvc x'eye. It loads the game fine, plays the opening sequences fine and gets to the title screen, but it will freeze up and not load when it gets to the actual game portion. I cleaned the lens and that helped slightly but not much. I'm not hearing anything scraping (I think) or similar. Has this happened to anyone else?

I was also thinking of switching over to a cdx instead...but am unclear if it does RGB out of the box? And is it a 9-pin a/v out like the x'eye so I can use the scart cable I already have?

[Assman]

Yes, the CDX does RGB and the A/V-out is the same as the X'Eye.