*Note:* At the point I said the Z80 was PLCC - it's not, its QFP. JaysVintageJunk Repair - ua-cam.com/video/jJvdFkMQEaY/v-deo.html Gruss Newton's Repair - ua-cam.com/video/72SkfZXO254/v-deo.html CA1 - Capacitor Array?
i've always been impressed at the build quality of megadrives, when fixing them i've normally only come across problems that are user created like the power jack being overstressed or the pins on the cartridge port bent. It's great to see you put this mk2 back in action as they often get thrown away with how common they are.
Me too! They are so much more robust and reliable than the SNES. I think that's one reason they are so cheap - there's more of them surviving than the SNES, which means a flooded market.
This video gave me the courage to try and fix my Model II Mega Drive (which was made six days before yours, going by that date stamp), it had the same problem but it was a different cause. I also found out afterwards that it had controller issues in port 1. The cause of that problem was pin 104 and 103 on the 315 chip having been lifted. Reconnected those and it was great, because I then had something to put my MegaAmp in. So, even though the process was different, I'm still thanking you for indirectly encouraging me. I also love your content.
I'll be working on a video that quickly sums up some recent repairs that I did over the last couple of months and the Mega Drive will be a part of it. Thanks again!
You are a pro Chris. Fixing these rotted traces is ace work. Not trying to sound snobby but I did think the first time round those wires were making conact. Of course they weren't actually but I'm quite proud of myself having spotted that :)
The Highlander - I spotted it too, but assumed it would be fine (non-conductive). I learned something today! I was also feeling pretty smug for knowing the data bus traces needed to be matching lengths, so that was a nice little fix there.
Yeah, there was no electrical join - ie. measuring on continuity showed infinite resistance. It was just the fact they were so very close. If you look at how spaced out the traces are - there's a reason for such a large gap =D
It did get me thinking. Normally on a PCB traces are not a huge distance from each other. I wonder why it is that their signals never interfere with each other.
They can, and that's typically why there's a gap of a certain size between them. If you look at the close up on that particular zoom in where I added the two wires, there's quite a comparitively large gap between the traces (compared to their thickness). And to the left of that chip there you can see some traces that end abruptly between other traces (those are grounded, to stop interference with the traces next to them - audio outputs). On many boards (especially modern ones with 4 or more layers) there will be a ground layer usually under the traces too.
32:44 I KNEW IT!!!!! You're getting more like MsMadLemon with each video. Next will be a shot glass of small tea! I bet she could tell you the closest nail polish shade. Or just go to Debenhams and ask if they have PCB Green nail polish. People say the SNES is superior because it had a larger colour pallet and "Mode 7" and basic sprite scaling. Which I must admit was used well. I remember reading somewhere that the after seeing the Mega Drive in action at a tech show, Nintendo bosses basically scrapped the current Super Nintendo development and told them to start again. Great work on the Mega Drive. I'm getting all nostalgic for my MD so I'm gonna go play some right now.
Clear fingernail varnish is a good way to cover your trace patches since it can easily be removed with nail polish remover (acetone) and will not obscure the work. Edit: OIC. You mention both a bit later. :)
Does anyone know why the Sega mega drive2 makes a buzzing sound? No music at all in the game just a ”hizzing” sound. Is it something with the tv? Thankful for any help I can get😪😪
Late in commenting, but I have to say that finding those bad traces (inductive coupling, and all) was a brilliant move. And I'm diggin' the nail polish -- it's most definitely your colour. ;)
I had wavy lines interference on the RGB image of sega mega drive 2 model MK-1631-50. As advised by a friend I went in and replaced the voltage regulator with a new one ,L7809CV. The console was working before just fine now it boots fine and seems to still output a signal since the TV seems to detect something, but the screen stays black and there is no sound. Any idea what could have happend? Could be that I used the wrong kind of voltage regulator?
A 7809 is a 9v regulator - chances are that has destroyed something on the board. Instead of providing 5v out, 9v has been fed into chips. They die with more than approx 5.25v typically.
Awesome job. Yeah 68k and Z80 were a tried and tested staple of the arcade. The megadrive was a power house of its time all was missing was sprite scaling.
Yes, you can try and resolder the connections holding the socket to the PCB on the underside, or you can swap the DIN socket (just need to find one with the same profile).
Extension of the ground to isolate inbetween those traces! follow them to the left you can see they connect to the large ground plane area. EDIT: And it looks like its the audio ouputs going to the op amp on the left. Those grounded traces kind of act like a mini shield. Stopping noise getting onto the sound outputs before they go to the op amp.
Excellent as always! wow that had some serious corrosion issues, bet a can of something fizzy got spilt in it back in the past. A testament to how robust they are compared to the SNES that you could fix it. And know what you mean about the sound I've noticed the difference between the audio on the MK1 versus the MK2. MK1 just sounds so much nicer.
Thanks =D Yeah, does seem like something got spilled on there. Although, those 2 traces that needed patching - there was no corrosion or anything liquid looking - just black traces. Kind of looked like trace rot I spotted on the CPC I fixed.
Heyyyy hoping for advice, I have a megadrive and a 32x, Megadrive games don’t run (I’ve tried several) they only load the initial produced by sega enterprise screen, then goes black. What’s weird is the 32x games work through the 32x but megadrive games don’t work through the 32x or through the normal cart port. Just wondering if you’ve come across this ? Thanks 😊
The first thing to do (and you've probably already done it...) - reseat the flex ribbons (at both ends). Then clean and inspect the cart slot, and the part that fits into the Megadrive (pcb edge). Assuming that hasn't revealed anything, I next wonder if its a region thing... What region 32x games are they, and what region is your Megadrive and the carts it does work with when the 32x isn't connected?
@@GadgetUK164 so the region they are all megadrive pal games, console also megadrive and 32x is megadrive, what are these flex ribbons?? I will google it now! I thought it may have been a region issue so I double checked it wasn’t a genesis etc 🤣 last time I checked it after cleaning it isn’t even displaying the sega enterprise productions screen anymore just a black screen now hope it haven’t broken it even more. I checked the traces and they all link up to from the carts pins to the chips hmmm 🙈
Nice job mate! Looks like a few knackered traces there! You should have kept the nail polish, looks good on you! :P 37:25 that would have gone well in your dirty remix video :P
It seems to be only early SNES/SFCs that are having chip failures. The biggest issue doesn’t even seem to be a chip failure: The earliest SHVC boards with the modular APU/SPC700 often stop working with RGB/S-Video/Composite. RF continues working but people often fail to realize that. I’m not sure what’s going on because the RF modulator is running off the same composite signal that no longer works through the multi-out.
Emmett Turner I'm glad I'm not the only one to notice this. I've got ten mds with damaged traces but not one with a dead chip. My sfc haul on the other hand have plenty of dead ppus.
Russell Brunskill Yep. Same can’t be said about copies of Sonic the Hedgehog though. Lots of copies of that game are dead (bad ROM chip). :( There’s a website out there where a guy does component-level repairs to Nintendo Super System arcade machines (SNES hardware inside) and the vast majority of the time it ends up being a proprietary chip (CPU, PPU1, PPU2, APU/SPC700, etc).
ElectronAsh LOL! Sure was. Guess I’ll never live that one down. :) It wasn’t the first time I found something interesting hiding inside an NES game (recorded myself finding a Xexyz prototype many years ago) but I doubt I’ll ever top that one. :) People at the flea markets keep telling me about “some guy who found heroin in old Nintendo games.” Their reaction is kinda funny when I tell them it was me. :) It really hits them when they realize how close to home it is. Heard it once on Friday and again yesterday. Next time I plan to pretend it wasn’t me and steer the conversation toward what an idiot “that guy” was for calling the police. ;)
FYI: There are a lot of failed Sonic the Hedgehog mask ROMs. I suspect that they had scaling issues when it became their first huge hit and one of their suppliers was using less robust technology for the ROMs. Heck, it might not even be a mask ROM (OTPROM?).
My Megadrive 1 has a black screen with weird blue vertical blocky lines on the screen? I can't see any noticeable corrosion on the console. Where do you suggest I look in terms of a potential shortlist of faults? Do you think faulty VRAM is likely?
Also thanks for this - thanks to this video I was able to diagnose a broken link next to R80 and half a dozen broken links around the cartridge slot on the Megadrive 2 I have that isn't working. Not confident with the repair myself so I might find a friend I can work on it with.
Are you getting sound though? If you had sound but graphical issues, that would suggest VRAM. If it doesnt output sound and appears to crash with those blue vertical blocks, I am more inclined to thing work RAM or a VDP / arb fault.
@@GadgetUK164 No sound either. How straightforward a repair is it or am I better off sending it off for repairs. I'm trained as an electronics technician, but it's been years since I've used the skills, so I'm a little rusty.
If you've never done much desoldering of chips it could be tricky! You are best using a desoldering station or something to remove the IC. It can also be quite hard trying to source some spare parts too.
So, I'm not sure if there's answer to this, but I'll go ahead. I have a Japanese MD1 that works just fine, however the plastic on the pin connector and DIN socket leave an oily residue on connected parts. I have no idea how to stop it. It's really annoying, because other MDs I own aren't doing it. I'm close to swapping the parts.
@@GadgetUK164 That's the thing. I've checked all the caps and they're fine. I also use an HD Retrovision cable. The plastic on the connectors themselves seem to be "sweating".
@@GadgetUK164 Hmm. At least in this video, you remove the pin connector. How do you go about removing the metal pieces? Do you have a video showing the process?
in terms of pcb coating i've always used vallejo acrylic paint (it's essentially nail polish but with a matt finish) they have a full colour sheet on their website but something like an ocean turquoise normally does the trick.
Lol the green nail polish 😂 funny how that overlap caused that data corruption. Just shows how much insulation matters with data. That demo is sick. Just one thing... your tissue will put marks in the console. I found that out on piano black gloss. Use a lint free microfibre 😉 ANOTHER QUALITY VIDEO GADGET!!! ❤
Haha =D Yeah, that small overlap drove me nuts! What was surprising is that it didn't affect the Megadrive games at all... I use soft tissue =D But I know what you mean, microfibre is the best thing to use if you aren't sure! Thanks mate =D
I have a VA0 with the same black screen problem. I replaced the cartridge slot because it had some wonky pins, but still have the black screen. The initial Sega "copyright" screen does come up for some carts then goes to the black screen. I've checked that each chip is getting 5V and they all are. The voltage out of the regulator is good too. Wondering if you could give a pointer on what to check next? If you don't have the time, totally understand and no worries
More good stuff as usual, Gadget! Couldn't you use some nylon bolts/nuts for your cart slot there? Or even metal hardware with nylon (or other non conductive) washers? You have a good eye for spotting/fixing the damaged traces; I will try using solder braid next time. I've not had good success trying to repair traces by tinning them. Always end up with a bunch of bodge wires! I'm starting to note how much you focus on heatsinking/improving cooling on these old systems. Maybe heat is more of an issue than manufacturers let on? I know there was a Sega arcade board series that met a fiery doom because they didn't bother to engineer any heat dissipation. Even if it's overkill, it can't hurt!
Thanks =D When manufacturers design any electronic system, they are looking at reliability for say 2 to 5 years (sometimes longer depending on the system - eg. safety systems and security systems tend to be design to last decades!). So when a console is designed, if it lasts more than 2 years with very limited cooling - they will just sell it as is. Whereas with more cooling on certain components, it can very often make a difference where it lasts longer. Ultimately they will all die. I mentioned entropy and thermo dynamics a number of times now, and some people prefer to ignore it, but temperature is a factor in the life of any electronic component.
great video as always. I guess if you're gonna use the nail varnish trick it's probably worth painting a bit on some plastic and making sure it's non-conductive before you use it.
Good job Gadget. I agree with you on the audio, still have my MK2 from when I was a kid but I prefer the audio from the MK1 Good to see you found your color :). Still using clear nail varnish here but if I find a nice PCB green I'll let you know. Have three mega drives, tempted to do a switch less mod but would need to pick another one.
I know this might be a little late to help out but I use credit cards and put a piece of clothe or something around it and slip it through the connectors works great too
I love the sega mega drive II! Me and my Family still have our console, however since we are Australian, we used Antenna plugs to play the system, but since we are in the future now, antennas do not get used anymore due to internet and stuff like that. Since thats there now we cannot use it anymore due to our new TV not using antenna. Im hoping to buy a Antenna to AV cable converter, need to save a bit more... ALSO at 27:32 i thought you were pissed off about the incompatibility! but it was just the case... you shocked me a lot!
Great video, i have a Black Screener too (whas suppose to work when i got it for free, i came from a dutch coffee shop and i got it from some one who had to clean out the shop after it closed.) hope i can fix it with this video. Thank you for it :)
In the UK they are pretty cheap at around £10 to £15 for a MK1. The MK2 seems to sell at a similar price too. But that excludes a PSU, AV cables or joypad.
You're right Chris; this is definitely a contender for a switchless mod. It would be a shame to spoil a case in such good condition by adding switches to the side of it. I also use nail polish to go over exposed traces, wilko and boots do some good shade of green just go in with the missus or you'll get some funny looks at the checkout, Ha. If you can't find the correct green I'd use clear coat nail polish it will work just as good.
I guess these consoles need splash guards instead of dust covers. It is a nice bit of backwards compatibility in there just from using the same previous chip to do something else in the next generation. Well the SNES is a lot of helper-chips strung together like the NES, impressive in compatibility but weak in core raw performance.
Yeah, lovely design =D I guess Nintendo did a similar thing with the Wii and GameCube - kind of making a super GC really, that way it would be backwards compatible.
So as you can see my nail polish has arrived i pissed my self laughing at that bit and the hissing thinking it was one of the dacs back in the day i thought it was a bad cable 😂
The audio amp in the model 2 isn't as good as the model 1's that's why the sound quality is kinda off. Ya the Genesis/Mega Drive is a monster compared to the SNES, and the 32X actually could render 3d textured polygons and such faster then the Saturn and could do some other effects that the Saturn couldn't do, its a shame no one tapped in to the full potential of it.
I have a lot more nostalgia for the SNES and I definitely still prefer it overall but, the Genesis/Mega Drive is a very impressive system! Each system had things the other couldn't really do! I believe the MD may stand the test of time better than the SNES. The outer case is definitely superior but the internals also seem more rugged and less proprietary.
No, NO!! An actual failed Mega Drive? With corrosion? There are so many unloved Mega Drives out there rotting away but there are so so many more of them in good condition just waiting to be played! It’s my favourite console I like it even more (for games anyway) than Amiga and Atari ST! I have never ever played a Mega CD but have 4 lovely Mega Drives, a Mega SG and 2 Mega Drive X clones.
Haha, yes there are loads of Megadrives knocking around - it's amazing how people have held onto them and most of them have stood the test of time well!
These are my favorite Megadrive/Genesis (Music) "Demos" because it shows what the Megadrive is really capable of: No.1: ua-cam.com/video/zG1H_88Vmh0/v-deo.html No.2: ua-cam.com/video/h9WzrJ5OyWA/v-deo.html its so awesome
I wonder how they (Titan for overdrive) did most of these effects... i mean each 86k instruction takes 4 to 70 cycles... and if you want to do one 4-cycle instruction per pixel at 25fps, you already ran well out of CPU time! And there isn't much in terms of special purpose hardware. DMA eats CPU time. It's tough all around. The cartridge space used is under 4MB, so it's not a video player for the most part, though i suspect there's a small vector video section here and there.
It is very impressive! Especially some of the high speed video stuff in that demo. I've not looked at Megadrive development before, and spent very little time looking at 68K ASM, but the CPU is pretty fast @7.6Mhz, Amiga-ish. The DMA must be better than you think!?!?
Oh i was mistaken, this is Overdrive 2, an 8MB cartridge. Still, no less impressive. Megadrive makes things that you expect to see in games very, very fast and easy, you normally don't even need pervasive line interrupt since there are line and column scroll registers, per pixel. So even games with pretty advanced effects are actually doing pretty benign things from the hardware perspective. Also if you can express computation as selecting tiles that are already pre-drawn, this can pretty much always be done quickly enough. But when you get to individual pixel level, the system tends to fall short easily. Many of the approaches you'd be used to from an Amiga would not quite work. DMA controller will copy 2 bytes per cycle, which is fine, but during this time, CPU is halted.
But I guess that makes sense - the 68K can hardly be allowed to access the RAM whilst DMA is working with it. That's where some kind of split RAM system we be mega useful. eg. a region where the CPU can access whilst DMA takes place into another RAM region etc.
Well it might not be a baby NeoGeo, but it is a stereotypical baby arcade console from 1986-1993 era. A simplified video, more compatible with Master System relative of SEGA System16. SNK, Taito, Capcom, and Konami all made systems with 68k, z80, and usually Yamaha FM, and custom video hardware at one point or another.
To me its a baby neo-geo, nothing will change that ;) But I accept it has a lot more in common with the arcade boards you mentioned there - certainly much closer spec'd =D
Gadget how have you been my friend hopefully fantastic, with what's been going on for the pass 2years hopefully you haven't been greatly affected by what's going on or what has been going on, I pray that your health is amazing and had been that way all this time I've been praying for you and your family as well as everyone else in the UK may God always shower you with success in all that you do stay blessed and stay safe and everyone in the UK my friend 🙏💯✅, say hi to Mrs Mad Lemon for me 😊!
Thanks, very kind of you! All is good! Just run down with CFS at the moment! I don't really talk with Ms Mad Lemon tbh, or many other channels for that mater - I just never find a minute! She's been quiet on her channel since she got married, she's moving I think as part of that, but I am sure her channel will be back soon!!!
You make excellent videos^^ Though, "tap-tap" on your videos is... how to say... very #!@* xD Especially when english is not your native language like me ^^
i had sega like this one at a time but US version and what is weird about it some games wouldn't work unless the controllers were unplugged hope you never run into that problem lol
Hehe, never had that before! I imagine that maybe that particular Genesis had a problem with one of the inputs and its pull ups or something. I have heard of Megadrives having dodgy controller input problems due to a failure inside of the chip that handles the controller ports.
*Note:* At the point I said the Z80 was PLCC - it's not, its QFP.
JaysVintageJunk Repair - ua-cam.com/video/jJvdFkMQEaY/v-deo.html
Gruss Newton's Repair - ua-cam.com/video/72SkfZXO254/v-deo.html
CA1 - Capacitor Array?
Looks like CA1 is a capacitor array on the data bus:
gamesx.com/wiki/lib/exe/fetch.php?media=schematics:genesis-2-md-2-schematic-va1-1_of_4.png
+1 for Capacitor Array.
24:10 These are SMD version of LM324 opamp ;)
I love this channel, no one explain every single second of a repair like this guy.
Thanks =D
i've always been impressed at the build quality of megadrives, when fixing them i've normally only come across problems that are user created like the power jack being overstressed or the pins on the cartridge port bent. It's great to see you put this mk2 back in action as they often get thrown away with how common they are.
Me too! They are so much more robust and reliable than the SNES. I think that's one reason they are so cheap - there's more of them surviving than the SNES, which means a flooded market.
This video gave me the courage to try and fix my Model II Mega Drive (which was made six days before yours, going by that date stamp), it had the same problem but it was a different cause. I also found out afterwards that it had controller issues in port 1. The cause of that problem was pin 104 and 103 on the 315 chip having been lifted. Reconnected those and it was great, because I then had something to put my MegaAmp in.
So, even though the process was different, I'm still thanking you for indirectly encouraging me. I also love your content.
Thanks =D Glad you got your Megadrive working and pleased I could inspire something positive =D
I'll be working on a video that quickly sums up some recent repairs that I did over the last couple of months and the Mega Drive will be a part of it.
Thanks again!
You sure saved lots of otherwise dead landfill consoles !! GREAT woek
Thanks =D
Extraordinary and marvelous explanation of a problem. You truly are a Genius! Keep it up!
Wow, thanks!
Great job! Love watching your retro repair vids!
Thanks =D
You are a pro Chris. Fixing these rotted traces is ace work. Not trying to sound snobby but I did think the first time round those wires were making conact. Of course they weren't actually but I'm quite proud of myself having spotted that :)
The Highlander - I spotted it too, but assumed it would be fine (non-conductive). I learned something today!
I was also feeling pretty smug for knowing the data bus traces needed to be matching lengths, so that was a nice little fix there.
Yeah, there was no electrical join - ie. measuring on continuity showed infinite resistance. It was just the fact they were so very close. If you look at how spaced out the traces are - there's a reason for such a large gap =D
It did get me thinking. Normally on a PCB traces are not a huge distance from each other. I wonder why it is that their signals never interfere with each other.
They can, and that's typically why there's a gap of a certain size between them. If you look at the close up on that particular zoom in where I added the two wires, there's quite a comparitively large gap between the traces (compared to their thickness). And to the left of that chip there you can see some traces that end abruptly between other traces (those are grounded, to stop interference with the traces next to them - audio outputs). On many boards (especially modern ones with 4 or more layers) there will be a ground layer usually under the traces too.
32:44 I KNEW IT!!!!! You're getting more like MsMadLemon with each video. Next will be a shot glass of small tea! I bet she could tell you the closest nail polish shade. Or just go to Debenhams and ask if they have PCB Green nail polish.
People say the SNES is superior because it had a larger colour pallet and "Mode 7" and basic sprite scaling. Which I must admit was used well. I remember reading somewhere that the after seeing the Mega Drive in action at a tech show, Nintendo bosses basically scrapped the current Super Nintendo development and told them to start again.
Great work on the Mega Drive. I'm getting all nostalgic for my MD so I'm gonna go play some right now.
Haha :o)
loved the demo, reminds me of the amiga trackers days xx proper oldskool jungle
Clear fingernail varnish is a good way to cover your trace patches since it can easily be removed with nail polish remover (acetone) and will not obscure the work. Edit: OIC. You mention both a bit later. :)
Thank you for an actual in depth video about this.
Does anyone know why the Sega mega drive2 makes a buzzing sound? No music at all in the game just a ”hizzing” sound. Is it something with the tv? Thankful for any help I can get😪😪
How are you connecting it to your TV? I would try with a composite or RGB cable that plugs into the DIN socket on the back.
Late in commenting, but I have to say that finding those bad traces (inductive coupling, and all) was a brilliant move. And I'm diggin' the nail polish -- it's most definitely your colour. ;)
Thanks lol =D
I had wavy lines interference on the RGB image of sega mega drive 2 model MK-1631-50. As advised by a friend I went in and replaced the voltage regulator with a new one ,L7809CV. The console was working before just fine now it boots fine and seems to still output a signal since the TV seems to detect something, but the screen stays black and there is no sound. Any idea what could have happend? Could be that I used the wrong kind of voltage regulator?
A 7809 is a 9v regulator - chances are that has destroyed something on the board. Instead of providing 5v out, 9v has been fed into chips. They die with more than approx 5.25v typically.
Awesome job. Yeah 68k and Z80 were a tried and tested staple of the arcade. The megadrive was a power house of its time all was missing was sprite scaling.
=D Yeah, I love systems that use the 68K and Z80 =D
Lets say i wanted to get replacement rivets, where could i get some that would fit in the cartridge slot connector holes?
Honestly not sure - I would start with a rivet kit from eBay or something and see if any in a kit would fit.
The problem I have with my mark 2 the part I plug or put the power cable in it’s kinda lose so the power cutting on can I fix it or?
Yes, you can try and resolder the connections holding the socket to the PCB on the underside, or you can swap the DIN socket (just need to find one with the same profile).
What is going on with the traces underneat the big IC, below the "53" silk screen?
Extension of the ground to isolate inbetween those traces! follow them to the left you can see they connect to the large ground plane area. EDIT: And it looks like its the audio ouputs going to the op amp on the left. Those grounded traces kind of act like a mini shield. Stopping noise getting onto the sound outputs before they go to the op amp.
Excellent as always! wow that had some serious corrosion issues, bet a can of something fizzy got spilt in it back in the past. A testament to how robust they are compared to the SNES that you could fix it. And know what you mean about the sound I've noticed the difference between the audio on the MK1 versus the MK2. MK1 just sounds so much nicer.
Thanks =D Yeah, does seem like something got spilled on there. Although, those 2 traces that needed patching - there was no corrosion or anything liquid looking - just black traces. Kind of looked like trace rot I spotted on the CPC I fixed.
I always find your videos interesting to watch! And I can see some nail-care videos following this one... :D
Cheers mate =D That's an honour from someone of your skill =D
@gadgetUK164 Came here from my mate vince, nice channel, deserve wayyyy more views.
Thanks, very much appreciate it =D
Heyyyy hoping for advice, I have a megadrive and a 32x, Megadrive games don’t run (I’ve tried several) they only load the initial produced by sega enterprise screen, then goes black. What’s weird is the 32x games work through the 32x but megadrive games don’t work through the 32x or through the normal cart port. Just wondering if you’ve come across this ? Thanks 😊
The first thing to do (and you've probably already done it...) - reseat the flex ribbons (at both ends). Then clean and inspect the cart slot, and the part that fits into the Megadrive (pcb edge). Assuming that hasn't revealed anything, I next wonder if its a region thing... What region 32x games are they, and what region is your Megadrive and the carts it does work with when the 32x isn't connected?
@@GadgetUK164 so the region they are all megadrive pal games, console also megadrive and 32x is megadrive, what are these flex ribbons?? I will google it now! I thought it may have been a region issue so I double checked it wasn’t a genesis etc 🤣 last time I checked it after cleaning it isn’t even displaying the sega enterprise productions screen anymore just a black screen now hope it haven’t broken it even more. I checked the traces and they all link up to from the carts pins to the chips hmmm 🙈
Nice job mate! Looks like a few knackered traces there!
You should have kept the nail polish, looks good on you! :P
37:25 that would have gone well in your dirty remix video :P
Thanks =D Haha :o)
It seems to be only early SNES/SFCs that are having chip failures. The biggest issue doesn’t even seem to be a chip failure: The earliest SHVC boards with the modular APU/SPC700 often stop working with RGB/S-Video/Composite. RF continues working but people often fail to realize that. I’m not sure what’s going on because the RF modulator is running off the same composite signal that no longer works through the multi-out.
Emmett Turner I'm glad I'm not the only one to notice this. I've got ten mds with damaged traces but not one with a dead chip. My sfc haul on the other hand have plenty of dead ppus.
Emmett Turner
Maybe it could be due to people smuggling narcotics in the carts as well? :p
What a strange day that must have been. hehe
Russell Brunskill Yep. Same can’t be said about copies of Sonic the Hedgehog though. Lots of copies of that game are dead (bad ROM chip). :( There’s a website out there where a guy does component-level repairs to Nintendo Super System arcade machines (SNES hardware inside) and the vast majority of the time it ends up being a proprietary chip (CPU, PPU1, PPU2, APU/SPC700, etc).
ElectronAsh LOL! Sure was. Guess I’ll never live that one down. :)
It wasn’t the first time I found something interesting hiding inside an NES game (recorded myself finding a Xexyz prototype many years ago) but I doubt I’ll ever top that one. :)
People at the flea markets keep telling me about “some guy who found heroin in old Nintendo games.” Their reaction is kinda funny when I tell them it was me. :) It really hits them when they realize how close to home it is. Heard it once on Friday and again yesterday.
Next time I plan to pretend it wasn’t me and steer the conversation toward what an idiot “that guy” was for calling the police. ;)
I've seen loads faulty where PPU1 / PPU2 or the CPU die, but I would agree that I've not seen a 1 chip fail yet.
FYI: There are a lot of failed Sonic the Hedgehog mask ROMs. I suspect that they had scaling issues when it became their first huge hit and one of their suppliers was using less robust technology for the ROMs. Heck, it might not even be a mask ROM (OTPROM?).
Yeah, I've seen a few Sonic carts faulty!
would bad caps cause a game not to boot past the sega license screen or cause a game to boot then freeze and reset once you're in game?
It's not out of the realms of possibility, but more likely to be a dirty slot, bad connection or perhaps glitchy RAM...
@@GadgetUK164 i uploaded a video to my channel showing what it's doing ua-cam.com/users/shortsTsvN0FnIZe0
Great work fixing those traces!
how did you get the try out as mine did not budge.
Hi, can you tell me where you bought your cable from that you mention in this video.
Thank you
It was just an eBay seller at the time! These days, look at retrogamingcables.co.uk/ or Cool Novelties for cheaper cables.
My Megadrive 1 has a black screen with weird blue vertical blocky lines on the screen? I can't see any noticeable corrosion on the console. Where do you suggest I look in terms of a potential shortlist of faults? Do you think faulty VRAM is likely?
Also thanks for this - thanks to this video I was able to diagnose a broken link next to R80 and half a dozen broken links around the cartridge slot on the Megadrive 2 I have that isn't working. Not confident with the repair myself so I might find a friend I can work on it with.
Are you getting sound though? If you had sound but graphical issues, that would suggest VRAM. If it doesnt output sound and appears to crash with those blue vertical blocks, I am more inclined to thing work RAM or a VDP / arb fault.
@@GadgetUK164 No sound either. How straightforward a repair is it or am I better off sending it off for repairs. I'm trained as an electronics technician, but it's been years since I've used the skills, so I'm a little rusty.
If you've never done much desoldering of chips it could be tricky! You are best using a desoldering station or something to remove the IC. It can also be quite hard trying to source some spare parts too.
So, I'm not sure if there's answer to this, but I'll go ahead. I have a Japanese MD1 that works just fine, however the plastic on the pin connector and DIN socket leave an oily residue on connected parts. I have no idea how to stop it. It's really annoying, because other MDs I own aren't doing it. I'm close to swapping the parts.
Maybe theres a capacitor leaking somewhere, perhaps in the cable?
@@GadgetUK164 That's the thing. I've checked all the caps and they're fine. I also use an HD Retrovision cable. The plastic on the connectors themselves seem to be "sweating".
It must be the connectors then =/
@@GadgetUK164 Hmm. At least in this video, you remove the pin connector. How do you go about removing the metal pieces? Do you have a video showing the process?
That flying game... I didn't know Skrillex started out as a Genesis sound dev 😂
in terms of pcb coating i've always used vallejo acrylic paint (it's essentially nail polish but with a matt finish) they have a full colour sheet on their website but something like an ocean turquoise normally does the trick.
Thanks, will give that a try =D
3:20
"Push it in and out, a good dozen times. Push it in and out of the slot."
Setting yourself up for another remix? :p
Haha =D
That was a Quagmire "Giggity" moment.
Lol the green nail polish 😂 funny how that overlap caused that data corruption. Just shows how much insulation matters with data. That demo is sick. Just one thing... your tissue will put marks in the console. I found that out on piano black gloss. Use a lint free microfibre 😉 ANOTHER QUALITY VIDEO GADGET!!! ❤
Haha =D Yeah, that small overlap drove me nuts! What was surprising is that it didn't affect the Megadrive games at all... I use soft tissue =D But I know what you mean, microfibre is the best thing to use if you aren't sure! Thanks mate =D
I have a VA0 with the same black screen problem. I replaced the cartridge slot because it had some wonky pins, but still have the black screen. The initial Sega "copyright" screen does come up for some carts then goes to the black screen. I've checked that each chip is getting 5V and they all are. The voltage out of the regulator is good too. Wondering if you could give a pointer on what to check next? If you don't have the time, totally understand and no worries
It could be a RAM fault! I have a similar Megadrive repair video coming up soon!
Awesome, looking forward to it... been on a massive Megadrive kick lately :-)
More good stuff as usual, Gadget! Couldn't you use some nylon bolts/nuts for your cart slot there? Or even metal hardware with nylon (or other non conductive) washers? You have a good eye for spotting/fixing the damaged traces; I will try using solder braid next time. I've not had good success trying to repair traces by tinning them. Always end up with a bunch of bodge wires! I'm starting to note how much you focus on heatsinking/improving cooling on these old systems. Maybe heat is more of an issue than manufacturers let on? I know there was a Sega arcade board series that met a fiery doom because they didn't bother to engineer any heat dissipation. Even if it's overkill, it can't hurt!
Thanks =D When manufacturers design any electronic system, they are looking at reliability for say 2 to 5 years (sometimes longer depending on the system - eg. safety systems and security systems tend to be design to last decades!). So when a console is designed, if it lasts more than 2 years with very limited cooling - they will just sell it as is. Whereas with more cooling on certain components, it can very often make a difference where it lasts longer. Ultimately they will all die. I mentioned entropy and thermo dynamics a number of times now, and some people prefer to ignore it, but temperature is a factor in the life of any electronic component.
great video as always. I guess if you're gonna use the nail varnish trick it's probably worth painting a bit on some plastic and making sure it's non-conductive before you use it.
Good idea =D Chances are, whilst wet it will be conductive no matter what.
Good job Gadget. I agree with you on the audio, still have my MK2 from when I was a kid but I prefer the audio from the MK1 Good to see you found your color :). Still using clear nail varnish here but if I find a nice PCB green I'll let you know. Have three mega drives, tempted to do a switch less mod but would need to pick another one.
Thanks, yes MD1 audio wins =D Clear nail varnish sounds like what I should use =D
Where was the RGB cable bought from? 3 quid can't go wrong!
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RGB-Cable-for-Sega-Mega-Drive-2-Genesis-to-TV-Scart-Lead/182768258528?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649
I know this might be a little late to help out but I use credit cards and put a piece of clothe or something around it and slip it through the connectors works great too
Thanks! yes, that will do the job =D
I love the sega mega drive II! Me and my Family still have our console, however since we are Australian, we used Antenna plugs to play the system, but since we are in the future now, antennas do not get used anymore due to internet and stuff like that. Since thats there now we cannot use it anymore due to our new TV not using antenna. Im hoping to buy a Antenna to AV cable converter, need to save a bit more...
ALSO at 27:32 i thought you were pissed off about the incompatibility! but it was just the case... you shocked me a lot!
Great video, i have a Black Screener too (whas suppose to work when i got it for free, i came from a dutch coffee shop and i got it from some one who had to clean out the shop after it closed.) hope i can fix it with this video.
Thank you for it :)
Let me know how you get on with it! Hopefully it can be saved =D
I will, going to take some time very bussy atm. Soon i get the time i will try and let you know :)
how much sega mega drive 1 costs?
In the UK they are pretty cheap at around £10 to £15 for a MK1. The MK2 seems to sell at a similar price too. But that excludes a PSU, AV cables or joypad.
ok thanks🙂
Great video as always
Thanks as always =D
hi gadget,where do you find those demo's,there nice.
Glad you found them =D I cannot remember where I found them!
In the future, you should go with nail top coat, it's clear, and you won't run the potential of having any conductive ingredients mixed it.
Great idea =D
These shoei caps are still working in all my machines.
got a mega amp on my md2, but its still doesn't sound as good as a md1
I really be no clue about this stuff.. can you not test for continuity with a multimeter either side of a suspected break in the traces?
Yes - that's how coninuity test works! It will beep if there's a very low resistance electrical join between the two points you are measuring.
You're right Chris; this is definitely a contender for a switchless mod. It would be a shame to spoil a case in such good condition by adding switches to the side of it.
I also use nail polish to go over exposed traces, wilko and boots do some good shade of green just go in with the missus or you'll get some funny looks at the checkout, Ha. If you can't find the correct green I'd use clear coat nail polish it will work just as good.
Thanks, yes - clear sounds best!!!
I guess these consoles need splash guards instead of dust covers. It is a nice bit of backwards compatibility in there just from using the same previous chip to do something else in the next generation. Well the SNES is a lot of helper-chips strung together like the NES, impressive in compatibility but weak in core raw performance.
Yeah, lovely design =D I guess Nintendo did a similar thing with the Wii and GameCube - kind of making a super GC really, that way it would be backwards compatible.
My sound doesn’t work
Possibly failed audio opamp or something like that.
GadgetUK164 - Retro Gaming Repairs & Mods any suggestions?
So as you can see my nail polish has arrived i pissed my self laughing at that bit and the hissing thinking it was one of the dacs back in the day i thought it was a bad cable 😂
:o) That hissing really did worry me lol.
Nail Polish works just fine, as long as its the non-conductive type.
imagine the magic smoke!
The audio amp in the model 2 isn't as good as the model 1's that's why the sound quality is kinda off. Ya the Genesis/Mega Drive is a monster compared to the SNES, and the 32X actually could render 3d textured polygons and such faster then the Saturn and could do some other effects that the Saturn couldn't do, its a shame no one tapped in to the full potential of it.
I have a lot more nostalgia for the SNES and I definitely still prefer it overall but, the Genesis/Mega Drive is a very impressive system! Each system had things the other couldn't really do! I believe the MD may stand the test of time better than the SNES. The outer case is definitely superior but the internals also seem more rugged and less proprietary.
Yeah, don't get me wrong - I LOVE the SNES! But I have more nostalgia for the Megadrive =D
Looks like a tin of pop or larger has been spilt on it
I think you're right!
For how many nail polishes I have accumulated to use them on motherboards, my sister now asks me to borrow them since I have more than her ...
Haha =D
3:42 - beat me to it!
Haha :o) I knew someone would post that, so I thought I would beat them to it!
No, NO!! An actual failed Mega Drive? With corrosion? There are so many unloved Mega Drives out there rotting away but there are so so many more of them in good condition just waiting to be played! It’s my favourite console I like it even more (for games anyway) than Amiga and Atari ST! I have never ever played a Mega CD but have 4 lovely Mega Drives, a Mega SG and 2 Mega Drive X clones.
Haha, yes there are loads of Megadrives knocking around - it's amazing how people have held onto them and most of them have stood the test of time well!
These are my favorite Megadrive/Genesis (Music) "Demos" because it shows what the Megadrive is really capable of:
No.1: ua-cam.com/video/zG1H_88Vmh0/v-deo.html
No.2: ua-cam.com/video/h9WzrJ5OyWA/v-deo.html
its so awesome
If play ecco the dolphin on a mark 1 using good headphones it sounds amazing 🙂
I wonder how they (Titan for overdrive) did most of these effects... i mean each 86k instruction takes 4 to 70 cycles... and if you want to do one 4-cycle instruction per pixel at 25fps, you already ran well out of CPU time! And there isn't much in terms of special purpose hardware. DMA eats CPU time. It's tough all around. The cartridge space used is under 4MB, so it's not a video player for the most part, though i suspect there's a small vector video section here and there.
It is very impressive! Especially some of the high speed video stuff in that demo. I've not looked at Megadrive development before, and spent very little time looking at 68K ASM, but the CPU is pretty fast @7.6Mhz, Amiga-ish. The DMA must be better than you think!?!?
Oh i was mistaken, this is Overdrive 2, an 8MB cartridge. Still, no less impressive.
Megadrive makes things that you expect to see in games very, very fast and easy, you normally don't even need pervasive line interrupt since there are line and column scroll registers, per pixel. So even games with pretty advanced effects are actually doing pretty benign things from the hardware perspective.
Also if you can express computation as selecting tiles that are already pre-drawn, this can pretty much always be done quickly enough. But when you get to individual pixel level, the system tends to fall short easily. Many of the approaches you'd be used to from an Amiga would not quite work.
DMA controller will copy 2 bytes per cycle, which is fine, but during this time, CPU is halted.
Not much of a DMA is it if the CPU is halted lol
But I guess that makes sense - the 68K can hardly be allowed to access the RAM whilst DMA is working with it. That's where some kind of split RAM system we be mega useful. eg. a region where the CPU can access whilst DMA takes place into another RAM region etc.
Don’t forget the cool undocumented stuff in the VDP!
Well it might not be a baby NeoGeo, but it is a stereotypical baby arcade console from 1986-1993 era. A simplified video, more compatible with Master System relative of SEGA System16. SNK, Taito, Capcom, and Konami all made systems with 68k, z80, and usually Yamaha FM, and custom video hardware at one point or another.
To me its a baby neo-geo, nothing will change that ;) But I accept it has a lot more in common with the arcade boards you mentioned there - certainly much closer spec'd =D
Nothing wrong with having a dirty slot.
=D
That mega cd 1 looks so sexy!
Hehe =D I much prefer the Mega CD 1 compared to the Mega CD 2 =D
I have never owned a model 1, But damn i love the look of it.
wow even the pal version looks better than US
I rather have the red buttons
Gadget how have you been my friend hopefully fantastic, with what's been going on for the pass 2years hopefully you haven't been greatly affected by what's going on or what has been going on, I pray that your health is amazing and had been that way all this time I've been praying for you and your family as well as everyone else in the UK may God always shower you with success in all that you do stay blessed and stay safe and everyone in the UK my friend 🙏💯✅, say hi to Mrs Mad Lemon for me 😊!
Thanks, very kind of you! All is good! Just run down with CFS at the moment! I don't really talk with Ms Mad Lemon tbh, or many other channels for that mater - I just never find a minute! She's been quiet on her channel since she got married, she's moving I think as part of that, but I am sure her channel will be back soon!!!
Tap-Tap.... TapTapTapTapTap-Tap.
:o) I wondered what you were on about, until I watched again. All I see now is me tapping things lol.
Once seen/herd it can not be unseen/unherd. :)
You make excellent videos^^ Though, "tap-tap" on your videos is... how to say... very #!@* xD Especially when english is not your native language like me ^^
I was just eying off the track you needed to cut for 60hz and cringing at you using 50 lol
LOL!!!
gadget,found them.
I need to vídeo tô repair in lents laser in Genesis CDX ... Relp me!
Tinha que ter um brazuka aqui falando uma par de bosta né kkkkkk
i had sega like this one at a time but US version and what is weird about it some games wouldn't work unless the controllers were unplugged hope you never run into that problem lol
Hehe, never had that before! I imagine that maybe that particular Genesis had a problem with one of the inputs and its pull ups or something. I have heard of Megadrives having dodgy controller input problems due to a failure inside of the chip that handles the controller ports.
Having a problem with a Sega Genesis 3 what the hell that's really weird
Mega drive 2 was shit back in the 90s.never seen a working one. All had sound but not picture.
Dirty slot 😁
SEGA MEGA DRIVE 2 GAME KI TV MA LAGNA WALI LEAD BANANE KA TARIKA
mega drive is pure arcade and snes is not
Well, in the 90s there were many arcade ports for Snes and all of us who had this console grew up happy and content.😊😊😊😊😊