Project Genesis - Repair

The first step in Project Genesis is to try and repair it. After all, if I can't repair it what good would it do to perform maintenance or "mod" it? Right away I know I will need a new power cord as the power cord that came with the system was cut.


For testing purposes I can use my bench power supply. Before I even try and power it up, I opened the console and immediately found additional problems. There were two blown traces on the top of the circuit board, and two more on the bottom. The two on the bottom were right where the power comes into the motherboard, and the two on the top were near the on/off switch. Here's a picture of the damage on the bottom of the motherboard. It was hard to get a picture of the top side so there's no picture of that damage.


To repair the traces on the bottom side I decided to solder the power wires onto the first component after the break. As for the traces on the top side, it was easier to solder some jumper wires onto the underside of the board.



With so many problems related to the power, I suspect the previous owner tried to use the wrong power cord with the Genesis. Either the polarity was backwards and/or the voltage was too high. This cause several traces on the motherboard to blow. The big question is was anything else damaged on the board? With the traces repaired I was finally ready to test it so I would soon know. I connected up my bench power supply, put a cartridge in, and turned the system on. It worked on the first try! So the Genesis is alive. I can now order a replacement power supply and get ready for the next task, maintenance.

Project Genesis

No, I'm not making some obscure reference to Star Trek II / III. No, "Project Genesis" refers to the latest project on my workbench.


I recently purchased a Sega Genesis off eBay for a whopping 99 cents, and it included a controller plus Sonic 2. Why was it so cheap? Simple, because it was being sold as "broken." This is the perfect project for me. I can work on it, have fun tinkering with it, and in the end if I can't fix it or if I break it even further, no big loss. This project is purely for fun as I already have a working Sega CDX.

My plan on this project will be in three distinct phases; 1) repair, 2) maintenance, and 3) modding. The repair phase is obvious, I hope to repair it and return it to working order. In the maintenance phase I am going to clean it up and make it good to go for another 20+ years. And finally I plan to "mod" the Genesis by adding S-video output. Each of these phases will be documented here and I'll include lots of pictures along the way.

Before I get started, I should say there are tons of different Sega Genesis models out there (or Sega Mega Drive for those who live outside North America). There was the original model 1, the model 2, and also the model 3. Each version was smaller than the previous. This is a model 1 Sega Genesis. Also, within each model there are different revisions. Specifically mine is the "VA6" model.




Below you can follow along with the next posts in the series.

• Project Genesis - Repair
  
• Project Genesis - Maintenance
  
• Project Genesis - Modding
  

The return of cartridges?

What do the Atari 2600, Sega Genesis, and Nintendo 64 have in common? They are all cartridge-based video game systems. But there hasn't been a cartridge-based video game system since the N64, nowadays everything is disc-based (be it CD, DVD, or BluRay). Well I wouldn't be surprised if future video game systems return to cartridges.

I know, at first that sounds like a step backwards - but if you think about it such a step would actually make sense. First off, why did companies stop using cartridges in favor of discs in the first place? The answer is simple - cost. Back in the day the chips needed to make cartridges were very expensive whereas mass producing discs is dirt cheap. But discs have some real drawbacks.

1. They are slow to load. Whereas cartridges are near instantaneous, discs are slow to spin and read. Also, disc loading speeds cannot improve beyond their current state. To load faster the disc needs to be spun faster, but they are already spinning the discs at their maximum, to spin them any faster would shatter the discs.
   
2. Discs are more fragile than cartridges. Discs are easy to scratch or break.
   
3. Discs are relatively large in size. Discs are 12cm (approx 5") in diameter, which means the drive has to be at least that large, which also means the game console has to at least be larger than the drive. For example look at the Wii, the console is the size of a disc drive, so without the drive how much smaller could the console be?
   
4. Discs are limited in capacity. Already it's not uncommon for games to come on multiple discs. One of the original selling points to discs was their greater capacity, but their capacity hasn't progressed at the same rate as memory chips.
   
5. Discs are relatively easy to duplicate (pirate). Yes, all modem video game consoles employ counter measures to prevent pirating, but still it happens. There are ways to modify your console machine to play pirated discs. As long as game consoles use the same media as home computers, pirating will be prevalent.
   

I wouldn't be surprised if a video game console in the near future returns to cartridges. Think of those handy thumb drives (a.k.a. flash drives) you carry in your pocket. Compared to discs those are a lot smaller, more durable, faster access times, and can store more data. So why not store games on drives like that? The cost is still higher than discs, but the cost per gigabyte has come way down thanks to thumb drives, RAM, and SSDs. The industry is pumping out memory chips at unbelievable rates.

Of course, I think the primary distribution method for games in the future will be downloads off the Internet. But as a secondary media (for purchase in stores) I see cartridges as a better option that discs. I guess we'll just have to wait and see if video game manufactures agree with me.

The Power of an Icon

It's very common these days for buttons to have icons on them instead of or in addition to text. And I'm not just talking about buttons on computer programs but buttons of physical devices as well. Take the following icon (and the slight variation) for example:



This icon represent the power button. In addition to computers you might have seen this icon on a radio, microwave, washer and dryer, etc. Although most people have seen this icon, I think few people know why it represents power.

The answer is so obvious you probably missed it. If you look closer at the icon you can see the icon is the number 0 and the number 1. One and zero, as in binary, on and off. So this icon represents power (on/off) because some "nerd" (and I use the term affectionately) decided to use binary as an icon to represent power.

So the next time you see this icon it might make a little more sense.

Nintendo, are you kidding me?

So last week we bought a Nintendo Wii, the first new video game console I've purchased in over 20 years. I knew beforehand that the Wii does not have HDMI since the Wii doesn't even have HD graphics. But what shocked the heck out of me was the fact that the Wii comes standard with a composite video connector. Are you joking Nintendo!?! Manufactures want their console to look the best right, so why use such an old outdated connector?

Let me put this into perspective. In 1985 here in the US (1983 in Japan) the Nintendo Entertainment System was released, and that system used composite video. A full 27 years later the Nintendo Wii still uses the same composite video. Seriously, is Nintendo aware that technology has progressed in that time? I've already purchased a component video cable and the difference is very noticeable. Nintendo should include the component cable standard and anyone with an old TV should have to buy the composite cable.

Nintendo, let me make this real easy for you:

SOPA and PIPA suck!

If you haven't already noticed, many websites are using today to raise awareness of SOPA and PIPA, two very poorly designed bills currently in the US Senate and House. So I wanted to take a quick moment and voice my opinion about these bills.

THEY SUCK!

Let me put it in very simple terms. The idea behind these bills is simple, to reduce piracy. Whereas this is a good thing, these bills are the WRONG way to do it. Let's say someone uploads a video to youtube, and in the background of that video is a song playing. Someone like the RIAA could decide that this is violating their rights as the owner of that song and use these bills to take action. That action being to completely and totally block EVERYONE from any access to youtube. Instead of removing that one video, they now block the entire site. This is the same level of control used by the governments of China, Iran, and North Korea. Is that what we in the US have come to?

If these bills pass, websites will have no choice but to severely limit access to what people can post or say. Is this the level of censorship you want to see on the Internet? This is wrong and must be stopped.

Repairing a Sega MK-4122

Recently I was working on a project that I needed a 9V power supply for. In my infinite wisdom stupidity I decided to use a Sega model MK-4122 power supply. This particular power supply is for the extremely rare Sega CDX. Well wouldn't you know it that the device I plugged into had a short in it and it toasted the power supply. After plugging it in the power supply was producing 0 volts.

I could just buy a new power supply, although replacing it with the OEM part would be very expensive. Another option is to just buy a similar spec'ed power supply and use that. But I decided to try and repair it first.

Unlike newer power supplies, this one actually has screws to open it up. Therein lies the first and greatest problem. It's a small hex head screw, but it's recessed down in a hole and none of my sockets fit down in there. I ended up buying a 4mm nut driver to be able to remove the screws.



Once open you can see just how simple the power supply is. A transformer, two diodes, a capacitor, a resistor, and a fuse. The problem was the fuse. The replacement fuse cost .97 cents. After soldering it back in the power supply works like new again.



Oh, for anyone who might need it, here's the exact specs on the MK-4122.
Input: 120V AV, 60hz 23W
Output: 9.5V DC 1.5A
Center positive.

Also, the supply is unregulated so if you use a volt meter to test the output without a load connected the output is close to 12.5V.