3rd February 2016, 8:28 PM
Tonight has been an interesting night. I've got far too many Sega Genesis consoles, but I've managed to make good use of the extras. I ordered a very high quality soldering station which came earlier today. I've got a model 1 (the VA3) which is my go-to system, but I also had two model 2 consoles. Of those, one of them is the rare "VA3" Model 2 with both good sound and a good video chip (a rare variation of this rare revision). The only problem is it has a wobbly power port, which means it can get shut off with the slightest wiggle of the cable. That was the easiest to fix. I added a bit more solder to the connecting circuits and reflowed what was already there, and bam, the system works without issue now.
There's a sad little Sega Genesis Nomad system I found at a local used game store. Helpful people there, but they didn't know what they had. They had the thing placed next to a bunch of modern imitation Genesis handheld systems. I bought it for a pittance (compared to what it would go for on eBay). It had the same issue as that model 2, at first. As time went on, it got worse until even the battery pack stopped working. After some research, someone told me that the battery pack routes through the AC power port, so if that port is damaged it'll kill the battery power too.
I went to work fixing it, but ultimately it was too damaged to be saved by my meager skills. I opted to remove it, which was still tricky as half the solder holding it to the board was on the other side, directly under the port itself. Eventually, I got it off. As a replacement, I found the Genesis 2 ports are exactly the same port as used in the Nomad. My OTHER Genesis 2, the one with the bad sound, was turned into an organ donor. I removed that one's power port (far more easily, though my desoldering braid doesn't work all that well so I may purchase a solder sucker pen at some point) and just soldered it onto the Nomad. Now the Nomad is working better than it ever did. There's no sign of wiggling powerdown issues and the battery pack works fine again too.
On topic, I tested it with Sonic the Hedgehog. It's a great "test" game.
There's a sad little Sega Genesis Nomad system I found at a local used game store. Helpful people there, but they didn't know what they had. They had the thing placed next to a bunch of modern imitation Genesis handheld systems. I bought it for a pittance (compared to what it would go for on eBay). It had the same issue as that model 2, at first. As time went on, it got worse until even the battery pack stopped working. After some research, someone told me that the battery pack routes through the AC power port, so if that port is damaged it'll kill the battery power too.
I went to work fixing it, but ultimately it was too damaged to be saved by my meager skills. I opted to remove it, which was still tricky as half the solder holding it to the board was on the other side, directly under the port itself. Eventually, I got it off. As a replacement, I found the Genesis 2 ports are exactly the same port as used in the Nomad. My OTHER Genesis 2, the one with the bad sound, was turned into an organ donor. I removed that one's power port (far more easily, though my desoldering braid doesn't work all that well so I may purchase a solder sucker pen at some point) and just soldered it onto the Nomad. Now the Nomad is working better than it ever did. There's no sign of wiggling powerdown issues and the battery pack works fine again too.
On topic, I tested it with Sonic the Hedgehog. It's a great "test" game.
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)