Sega Megadrive finally died :(

[Reprise]

Well, it's been 16 years, but my first console, the Megadrive (II to be precise) has decided that it has breathed its last breath, more or less. It really sucks, because I just bought 3 new games for it, and when I was having picture problems I figured it was my cable at fault, so wasted money on a new cable. Turns out it's the Megadrive that's playing up.

The screen flickers ever so slightly, some times it's a really bad flicker and sometimes it's only slight. In fact, it's almost playable. I guess it's an internal video problem though, because it's not random. To describe what I mean, take Probotector (Contra Hard Corps to those outside Europe). The first load up screen won't display, but as soon as it gets to the main menu the screen will show. There will be a slight flicker. Then during the character select screen it will flicker more heavily, but then during gameplay it will only be slight (and in fact is almost playable if you put up with it). But during gameover screens, the screen goes down vertically in a loop (if you understand what I mean). Any game I play, there seems to be some sort of pattern to the screen issues.

I've just bought a dirt cheap replacement console (I had no idea mega drives were so cheap - hell I may as well buy 10 ), but I suppose I may as well ask for advice? I'm assuming it'll be nothing I can fix though. But I'll keep the console for spare parts regardless).

[J_Wil]

Have you tried opeing it up and doing some deep cleaning?

Back in 92' or 93' my old man's Genesis/Mega Drive conked out. Black screen with horizontal lines. He tried to clean it the cart slot with compressed air and messed with the wires but nothing worked. He gave up and juts bought a new one. I figured since it was "broken" I might as well pop it open and take a look. There was a lot of accumulated dust and someone apparently spilled a soda on it at some point. A little rubbing alcohol and a lot of q-tips later it was running like new.

It's worth a shot. They're pretty simple to put back together once you take them apart.

[Reprise]

Thanks for the reply, I have considered opening it up and giving it a good clean or trying to locate the problem. I did the same when my Dreamcast and Saturn both gave out (although neither turned out to be fixable, at least for me).

I'll probably give it a go, as it's worth a shot. It's so random though. I tried it like a month ago and it worked fine. Then I get the urge to buy some new Megadrive games and it won't work.

P.S. Despite what I said in my initial post, the flickering and screen going off and on is very much random.

[mas]

Hey reprise don't feel so bad. You or a loved one spent between 150-200.00 on your system 16 years ago. You got 16 years out of a system. People here spent 200.00 and up for thier systems today and only lasted for a few month's xbox rrod, ps3 dies, wii disc drive fails. I think you made out fine. Plus you can always get a genny anywhere now.

[Reprise]

Yeah true mas. It's was my first console and my parents bought it for me and my brother for Christmas. I was only 7 or 8. Can't believe it lasted this long. Hell, I can't believe I not only kept the box instructions and everything, I also did the same for the extra controller.

Want to know something funny? Both the 6 button pad I bought and the new cable (when I thought it was a cable issue) cost MORE than a new console. I mean what the hell? Haha.

[Reprise]

Well how's this for service guys? I ordered my Megadrive yesterday afternoon and it arrived this morning. Trying it out now and it works perfectly

[theclaw]

Yeah people take for granted just how rare pal consoles are in ntsc regions. General lack of interest among other reasons mean few here import them.

It doesn't help how newbie ebay sellers do things like create auction titles that say "pal" incorrectly, giving a false impression.

[G-Darius]

I used to sell Megadrive II`s here in the UK for a while and the little pins on the video rf cable were an absolute pain in the rear and back in the late 90`s there were no good replacement cables available. It was like you had to set the console up and then leave it which is quite the norm now of course but back then some kids did not always have their own tv in their rooms so they were often made to pack the system away every time after use.If the cable was replaced and the problem remains it is most likely of course the rf jack (connection) on the console or both as when the cable connections start to break people start to waggle and move the connector around or even wedge something under the jack to keep the connection. and this then breaks the video socket too.

[ApolloBoy]

If the video keeps flickering in and out, you may have cracked solder joints on the AV out. It's a very easy fix, just reflow the pins on the motherboard and then add a bit more solder so it doesn't happen again.

[Reprise]

Thanks. Actually, this may be related to my other thread. Now my replacement Megadrive isn't working. Or at least with the two SCARTs I have... Haven't tried AV leads or RF yet.