32X problems

[DinnerX]

I have a 32X that I can't get to work. I've cleaned the genesis cartridge slot. I've cleaned the 32X cartridge slot. I've cleaned the 32X's bottom cartridge pins. I've cleaned the ribbon cables inside the 32X. I've swapped the ribbon cables inside the 32X. I've tested my new 3rd party 32X/Model 2 powersupply with a voltmeter.

I haven't made the AV cords to go from my model 1 High Definition Graphics Genesis to the 32x yet. I have been testing using the video output from my genesis. Most genesis games to not boot at all, and I get a black screen. A few games go to the TMSS screen and then show a black screen.

The Genesis works perfectly except for the reset button as far as I can tell. The capacitors seem to be fine. The rainbow banding is very minimal, and the audio jack hiss is extremely quiet. You can't hear it unless you set the jack volume pretty low.

I think I may need either a Sega CD or that weird expansion port dongle to make this 32X work with this genesis. I cannot find good pictures of the internals of the expansion port bit, but I think if I could look at some decent photos of the thing's circuit board I could solder up a temporary fix.

Any help is appreciated.

[Hobie-wan]

You're talking about the side port on the Genesis? It's just a plug edge. There is no dongle. Just a cover cover and a red vinyl OMG WAT R U DOING IN HERE GET OUT thing that covered the pins as well for those that poked around without a Sega CD.

[DinnerX]

You're talking about the side port on the Genesis? It's just a plug edge. There is no dongle. Just a cover cover and a red vinyl OMG WAT R U DOING IN HERE GET OUT thing that covered the pins as well for those that poked around without a Sega CD.

I actually have that silly thing.

I'm talking about this.

More pics here, but I still can't make out what is going on.
http://gendev.spritesmind.net/forum/vie ... hp?p=13810

[Hobie-wan]

Hmm, never seen one of those before. My loose 32X didn't have one, which isn't surprising. But the boxed complete one we sold in the mega pile didn't have one either, and it had the metal clips and even the plastic baggies for the cords along with everything in it.

[DinnerX]

Hmm, never seen one of those before. My loose 32X didn't have one, which isn't surprising. But the boxed complete one we sold in the mega pile didn't have one either, and it had the metal clips and even the plastic baggies for the cords along with everything in it.

It's a very odd piece of hardware and I've read only some 32Xs shipped with the thing. Seems it just connects the data bus lines in the expansion port to ground through some resistors. That's what it looks like. I don't know the resistor values, but I may just wing it sometime and see what happens.



What could possibly go wrong?

[Teh Lurv]

I have one of those port terminator things. A design flaw in the Rev. 0 of the 32x would cause certain model 2 revisions to crash if the expansion port wasn't terminated or plugged into a SegaCD. The flaw was fixed with the next revision of the 32x so not all boxed sets have one. The 32x port terminator only fits the model 2 expansion port, model 1s never suffered from this issue. In addition, the thing is as ugly as hell when plugged into a model 2, it makes my model 2 look like it has tumor growing out of its side.

[DinnerX]

I'm pretty sure it fits in a model 1. This post on sega-16 says it does, and there is a pic of it in a model 1 here, but it does look like it barely fits.

I had the idea of looking at the sega CD schematics to see what it did with the expansion port, and I think I've finally found the answer to my problem.

The 4.7k Ohm resistors are connected to the data bus lines in the expansion port and directly to ground, which is what I suspected the dongle does. Whenever I can get the resistors from radio shack, I'll hook something up and see what happens.

EDIT:And I do appreciate the responses. I wouldn't have thought of this solution without responding to you guys.

[Teh Lurv]

I'm pretty sure it fits in a model 1. This post on sega-16 says it does, and there is a pic of it in a model 1 here, but it does look like it barely fits.

That isn't what I found when I tried plugging my terminator into my model 1 awhile back out of curiosity. The plastic cover on the model 1 appeared to be slightly different than the model 2 cover, preventing a full insertion of the terminator.

In any case, let us know how it goes.

[DinnerX]

That isn't what I found when I tried plugging my terminator into my model 1 awhile back out of curiosity. The plastic cover on the model 1 appeared to be slightly different than the model 2 cover, preventing a full insertion of the terminator.

Will the mysteries of Sega hardware never end?

I soldered on some 10k pulldown resistors to the data lines today and the 32X still doesn't work. The difference between 4.7k and 10k shouldn't matter for pulldown resistors. Going lower than 4.7k might be a problem, but I have a hard time imagining going higher would.

So I'm back at square one. I'm also fairly certain it isn't the ribbon cables inside. I've reseated, rotated, and swapped them and I've also put a thin bit of paper in between the sides of the cable to ensure the pins are forced into the connector sides.

I've taken the 32X completely apart and cleaned the pins on the bottom cartridge slot with alcohol and qtips. I've cleaned the 32X's cartridge slot with rubbing alcohol on a paper towel wrapped around the edge of an old ID card and I did the same thing for the genesis cart slot. The Genesis cart slot has a pretty strong grip and games have no problems starting with the console. The 32X cart slot seems a bit loose, but it doesn't seem that bad.

Genesis games rarely show the TMSS screen and it doesn't seem to be consistent at all. Sometimes the same cartridge will fail to boot to TMSS right after working moments earlier. The one 32X cart I have, Virtua Racing Deluxe, shows the TMSS consistently, but never goes any further.

I'm at a loss.

[Hobie-wan]

Does pushing it forward or back in the slot make a difference?