Mega Drive/Genesis problem.

[retrolinkx]

Hey guys, I'm having a bit of a problem with my Mega Drive 2.

Basically, in February, I found my brothers old one, and fixed it up. I did a lot to the system as I was following a guide. Problem is, I didn't have any connections.

So, I bought a composite cable, and finally I bought a power cable.

Now, at first it didn't work, but now it turns on fine, but it keeps on freezing, or staying on a black screen after the "produced by Sega enterprises" part.

Now, I'm not sure what the problem may be, but here's what I'm thinking.

1) My Mega Drive Mark 2 requires a 10V 850mA power supply, and the model number is MK-1636-50, the one the seller sent is 9V 850mA and has a number MK-1635-05, it turns on fine, and does work using this power supply, but the fact that it is not the right one, is maybe affecting the system.

2) It has been gathering dust for 16 years or so, I finally cleaned it in February, and I'm not sure if I did a proper job, I followed the guide, and what he did, but I did mess up some part. (I used compressed air on the motherboard, although I read that it's fine to do that, and I used the credit card method of cleaning the cartridge slot, and instead of moving it up and down, I sort of moved it side to side for a few seconds before noticing my mistake)

3) I don't own a controller yet, and I can't continue off the main screen. So it may be that I'd need a controller to continue.

4) The only games I have are either ones I've had for years, or ones I've recently bought, so I can only test 2 games right now, the game I am testing freezes and gives a black screen, and the other games doesn't show up on the screen. I have an Asian version of Sonic 2 and a converter, but they don't show up either.

So, anyone know what could be the problem might be?

[Lazlo Falconi]

I don't think the power adapter is the problem. I seem to recall them as being interchangable when I had both versions. I assume this is the Mega Drive you're using, with the older power cable, and the older versions' power cord, which is the way I always did it. My guess is that it's probably the pins on the cartridges themselves, as these can get very dirty, even if they just sit in storage for years. I would suggest using a similar method to the one you used to clean the console--and then maybe cleaning the console again just for good measure. I can't see anything here that should be going wrong, except of course if your power supply is a bit busted and sending dirty power, but I doubt that's the case.

[retrolinkx]

^

Yeah, it seems to be the cartridge/connector pins.

Someone else told me that if I'm seeing the Sega Enterprises screen, the console is fine, but if it's having problems with reading the game it must be the pins. I'll clean them soon.

[Lazlo Falconi]

Well, I can't say for European versions but in the US, the Sega logo was actually stored on the cartridges. I assumed this was the way it was worldwide but I could be wrong. In either case, it still means the console is working fine.

[BumblebeeCody*]

So many contributing factors and much of what you said is most likely the cause. Dust, power adaptors, controllers etc.
However I don't think it's the controller because you generally can't select anything options during the opening splash screens.
I doubt it's the power adaptor because if it was, it would cause the system to shutdown due to power over/underload
So I think it's the pins in the system or cartridge and the MegaDrive is having problems accessing that part of the cartridge memory.
Easy way to test is if you have access to another MegaDrive (friends etc) then test it there to see if that's the problem. If it loads then it's the system however, if it freezes, then it's the cartridge. Since Japan and and PAL games are compatible then it should run Asian Sonic.

Sorry for no clear answers. Basically:
Try using a friends system to test the cartridges to narrow down the possibilities.