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Topics - megasilverx1

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Hardware and Tech / Saturn Laser Going Bad?
« on: September 20, 2023, 08:40:46 pm »
Earlier this year I got two Japanese Sega Saturns that were listed as "for parts" and it ended up that both worked but with different issues. I ended up naming them Saturn A and Saturn B. Saturn A's issue was the CD door didn't open nicely, but otherwise worked fine. Saturn B has video noise issues resulting in a faint horizontal snowflake-like noise (I ended up replacing the PSU on this console which sort of fixed the noise), but otherwise worked too. One of the first games I got for the Saturn was Saturn Bomberman and until recently, my copy had been working fine. About two weeks ago, I tried to start up the game, but the disc would not read. There are not deep scratches, fingerprints, or dust on the disc and no signs of disc rot when I put the disc in front of a bright light. Only thing I noticed was a VERY small piece of the reflective layer was missing by the center of the disc. I ended up purchasing a second copy of Saturn Bombmerman to see if my original copy had somehow just died (not sure if that's the right word). That copy worked ONCE after several tries which made me wonder if the issue was a hardware one rather than a software one. Turns out, yes, it is a hardware issue; just a very particular one. Saturn B read both copies of Saturn Bomberman fine. I would assume that means that the laser on Saturn A is starting to go, but Saturn A is reading my other five Saturn games along with audio CDs no problem. I'll eventually replace the laser on Saturn A, but I find it so strange that just one game is affected. If the laser was starting to go, wouldn't it struggle to read all games and audio CDs, not just this one particular game?

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Hardware and Tech / Mystery GBA SP EXT.2 cable
« on: December 20, 2022, 11:50:42 pm »
Went to a Goodwill and looked through their bin of assorted cables on Monday and I found what looks like a link cable for a GBA SP. I'm specifically saying GBA SP since both ends of the cable have the same type of connector that the charging cable and headphone jack adapter have that go into the SP/original DS's EXT.2 port. It can't be for link cable stuff since the EXT.2 port isn't wired for that, just power and audio. I thought that maybe it could act as a sort of jumper cable to use another GBA SP to power your GBA SP as dumb and pointless as that'd be, but I got no reaction from either of my SPs when I plugged the cable into both. Looking at a pinout for the EXT.2 port doesn't seem to help much. This cable has four pins: detecting headphones, one side of audio, 5.2V power, and ground. Both ends have the same pins. Does anyone have any ideas what the purpose of this cable is? Does some other electronic device happen to have the exact same port as the GBA SP/DS?

https://imgur.com/a/HgsyH6R

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Hardware and Tech / Sega 32X not working with VA4 Genesis 2
« on: May 19, 2022, 10:19:28 pm »
So earlier this month I got a Sega 32X at my local used game store and cleaned the crap out of it (outer shell, cartridge pins, and ribbon cables) and it works great...sort of. On my main Sega Genesis (a VA4 model 2 (a late model Genesis from October 1996)) with a Sega CD & 32X connected to it, Knuckles' Chaotix refuses to load after the title screen and even then, the title screen is full of garbled graphics. I made sure the cartridge slot of the Genesis was cleaned and still the same issue is happening. I also tested it with the Sega CD disconnected to no avail. When I switched to my second Sega Genesis (a VA7 original model (last revision of the original model Genesis)) the game works perfectly fine. So I'm wondering if their are any kind of compatibility issues with the 32X and certain models of the Genesis family. I know the 32X won't work with the Genesis 3 and Nomad, but I'm wondering if such issues exist within the model 2 Sega Genesis family. I know the VA4 model 2 consolidated the console's CPUs, sound chip, and whatnot onto a single chip, but I can't find anything about this particular model having compatibility issues with the 32X.

While the easiest solution would be to just use the Sega Genesis that works with the 32X, I'd prefer not to for two reasons:

1. That particular revision of the original model Genesis has infamously bad audio and while the model 2 Genesis consoles aren't much better, the VA3 and VA4 versions fix the audio issues a bit.

2. The original model Genesis is a bit longer than the model 2 Genesis and with my current gaming set up, the Genesis 2 and Sega CD are fitting perfectly in a cubby and switching Geneses would make it no longer.

Update: I remembered that I also have a second model 2 Genesis (this one being a VA1.8 ) and the game is working perfectly fine on that model too. Switching to this model 2 would solve the space issue I would have if I used the original model, but the audio issue would still be a thing. I know about the Triple Bypass mod for Sega Genesis consoles which I guess I could do to solve this problem, but I'm still curious about the weird compatibility issue I'm having with the VA4 model 2. I find it so strange.

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Hardware and Tech / Game Boy Micro Questions
« on: January 16, 2022, 08:55:42 pm »
So I've owned a Game Boy Micro for a little over a half year now and while I enjoy using the tiny console from time to time, I noticed that it's not really holding a charge for longer than 1-1.5 hours, which given that the Micro is about 16 years old now, I'm not surprised that the lithium battery is starting to go. Looking for a replacement battery for the Micro has been a little bit difficult since the ones I see listed on Amazon seem to be a very mixed bag. The reviews are either: "This replacement battery worked fine" OR "Don't buy this battery! It fried my Micro." So my first question is, for any other GB Micro owners who have had to replace the lithium battery, is their a particular brand you would recommend? One that actually fits and didn't fry the unit.

My second question (or maybe more of an observation) is why are link cables for the Micro so expensive? And more importantly, why do essentially no third party/off brand link cables exist? I understand that the Micro didn't sell that particularly well, but I mean...really? $130+ for a damn link cable on ebay? The only one priced reasonably is what appears to be a third party link cable seller from Australia, but that's a Micro to Micro link cable, when what I'd really like is a GBA link to Micro link cable. I didn't see anything on Amazon or AliExpress either. I attempted to make my own link cable and got pretty far with it, but was having too much trouble soldering the wires to the Micro side since the pins on the Micro side are much closer together than they are on the GBA side. Maybe I'll get lucky and find an GBA to GB Micro adapter (OXY-009) and a Micro to Micro cable (OXY-008) at a thrift store in the future? This isn't a major problem, I can simply use my original model GBA or GBA SP to do trading, but still, I'm really surprised no off brand cables exist for the Micro outside of charging cables.

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Hardware and Tech / Wonderswan Screen Burn
« on: September 28, 2020, 11:20:04 pm »
I purchased a non-functioning original model Wonderswan for cheap a few days ago and I was able to quickly fix the original issue the handheld console had which was that it didn't power on (ended up being battery corrosion). However, a second issue I noticed the Wonderswan likely had when looking at pictures in the listing was that the screen was a bit dark looking which would mean that the polarizing film is burned and upon getting the console, it ended up being the case. So I know I have to remove the old polarizing film and stick a new one on top of the old screen, which in of itself, seems like a fairly easy job from this youtube video https://youtu.be/FF1QrDz-jGc. I do however have a few questions that this video doesn't really answer:

1. The person in the video removed two polarizing films, but only put one new polarizing film back in. Do I only need one sheet of film or should I purchase two sheets?

2. Aren't games on the original model Wonderswan supposed to be black/white like the Game Boy Pocket screen and not black/green like the original DMG Game Boy screen? Mine and the one shown in the video are black/green but other videos I see on youtube show that games are supposed to be black/white. I don't mind the black/green look but I was curious.

3. When purchasing polarizing sheets, should I go with standard or educational grade? Should I get sheets that are adhesive? I would imagine adhesive ones would be best considering the ones removed in the video were stuck to the screen and screen protector.

Not sure how many people here have a Bandai Wonderswan, but thought I'd asks these questions anyway to see other people's answers/suggestions.

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Hardware and Tech / Sega CD model 2 no power issue
« on: July 28, 2020, 09:15:57 pm »
So I had recently purchased a Sega Genesis model 1 that had a Sega CD model 2 attached to it at a thrift store. Knowing what I know about the model 2 SCD, I had a feeling it probably wouldn't power on and to my non-surprise, it did not. I tested out the F301 fuse which is the fuse that apparently causes 99% of the no power problems, but it still seemed to be working. I also cleaned the pin connector where the Genesis goes with 91% alcohol and I don't see any problems with broken solder or a dirty connection where the AC adapter goes into the SCD. I'm not sure if this makes a huge difference outside of the location and shape of the F301 fuse, but this Sega CD 2 is one of the later models where the F301 fuse is on the bottom of the board and is a small white rectangle. I tried looking up videos on youtube but pretty much all of them just cover repairing the F301 and don't go over any other potential hardware issues these can have.

The only other thing I noticed, especially now that I'm typing this up, is that the PCB below Q301 is brown like either something leaked or burned/blew. I'm fairly certain is now the problem. Now to buy a replacement part and see if I can even fix this thing. I posted two pictures of it on my twitter https://twitter.com/MegaSilverX1/status/1288280530434379776?s=20

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Classic Video Games / FDS Game Disk case replacement?
« on: May 11, 2020, 02:31:24 am »
A few months ago I got a Famicom Disk System and have started getting games for it and one of them is just the disk, no box or jewel case. I was looking around and noticed that replacement disk cases aren't really a thing. I understand it's pretty niche, but still I'm kind of surprised no one has made replacement cases for Famicom Disk games. The closest thing I've seen is someone using a DS game case which seems to be the solution for all loose games. Got a loose Game Boy or Game Gear game? Just shove that thing into a DS case and print out a cover. While that would certainly work, I feel that it'd look pretty stupid on the shelf next to the other FDS games that are in their actual official case. I know the disks that Nintendo went with are based off of Mitsumi's Quick Disk but replacement cases for those don't really seems to exist either, so the idea of using a Zip Disk case came to mind. Zip Disks are a little bit larger than a Famicom Disk, so one should fit in a Zip Disk case no problem...other than rattling around a bit, but I'm sure that could be fixed somehow. Plus I feel like it'd look a bit more aesthetically pleasing on a shelf that a random DS case mixed with a handful of cute little disk games. I haven't tried this yet, but I thought I'd see if anyone else has loose FDS games and what they do with them to keep protected from dust and whatnot. Currently my loose disk in kept in a protective resealable bag made for Game Boy manuals and it fits quite nicely in there.

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Classic Video Games / Weird Game Gear cartridge
« on: November 04, 2019, 06:23:11 pm »
Earlier today I found a Game Gear game that had no label besides "GG Checker" at a thrift store. It appears to be official looking at the circuit board and it brings up the licensed by Sega start up screen when I turn the game on. I assume it would be like a button test program or some other kind of test cartridge like Nintendo made for their consoles, but nothing happens after the licensed by Sega screen except that a red screen with Japanese text appears. Pressing the buttons does nothing. I couldn't find anything online about this thing, so I'm not really sure what it is. The only other thing of note about the cartridge is that rather than a game bit screw on the back it has a small phillips screw similar in size to the ones early NES game carts used.

Update: The text on the red screen basically translates to "Poor Connection." So I assume this cartridge is for testing the link cable connection between two Game Gear consoles.






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Hardware and Tech / NES Satellite issue
« on: July 10, 2019, 11:59:39 pm »
I've owned a NES Satellite for roughly a year and up until now, it has worked surprisingly great; never noticed any lag or missed button presses during that time. However, recently when I was playing some NES games, I noticed that about 40% of my button presses weren't registering or were super delayed. Pressing Start or Select barely registered at all. Also the controller 3 and 4 ports weren't working period. I know it wasn't the controller since when I plugged it into the NES directly, it worked perfectly fine. Also the batteries were still good (even put in new C batteries and it didn't fix anything). The battery compartment was and still is clean, no signs of corrosion/rust. The circuit board inside of the Satellite looked fine too and as for the receiver end that goes into the NES console controller ports, from what I could see (a metal box was blocking most of that part's circuit board) looked okay too. With all of that looking okay, I had thought that maybe the two IR lights might've burnt out since the NES Satellite is 30 years old, but both IR lights were still blinking and reacting to button presses. And yes, the NES Satellite has been set to CTLR mode and not GUN mode along with facing the receiver part this whole time.

After all of those checks, I'm left assuming that the receiver end is the problem. Maybe I should look under the metal box in the receiver or maybe get a new Satellite receiver? I noticed that Camerica also made a receiver device for the NES, but I'd imagine that was made for one of their wireless controllers and wouldn't work with the NES Satellite.

I've already purchased a NES Four Score, so I'll have a replacement multitap for the NES that should theoretically be more reliable since it's a wired connection and I know if I wanted to keep things wireless, 8bitDo controllers exist that use the more reliable bluetooth connection, but for a good chunk of time the NES Satellite has been working great for me (even on HD TVs) and I was wondering if their was anything else I could try to see if I can get it working reliably again. If not, it's no biggie. At the very least I thought I'd share a problem I had with this device. Plus when I dismantled it I noticed that HORI seems to have manufactured these since their name is printed on the circuit board of the receiver part of the NES Satellite. So that's kinda neat I guess.

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