Dead Master System II PAL

Does anyone know the SMS II? My first guess was the regulator, but when I measure, it does not even have power to the input. I have tried to follow the 9V from the connector, but I cant seem to find out where i stops. Im not even sure how the power switch works, it kinda dont make sense right now.

 

No power to the input, how do the solder joints look on the underside of the board? Dry / cracked? Might just need a little bit of a reheat and some fresh solder, maybe! Photos?

 

Ive touched up the solder joints, no change. When I said there was no power to the input I meant to the regulator. There is no 9v to the regulator. But im starting to suspect that eighter there is something seriously wrong with this thing, or that this thing has the polarity reversed. The unit came with an generic psu. Could it be that easy??

 

yea it could be the psu you used has cooked it whats the specs on it

 

And if it is generic enough to have no specs, got a multimeter handy to poke at the DC plug on the power adapter?

 

I'd check/replace the power supply first...but if you're sure the input supply is good, then check diode D2 just above the pause button. It is the only component between the input voltage and the jack (when the power switch is on).

 

I traced the power all the way to diode D2. It stopped there. So I changed it. But still no power. Thats when I tried to ask here, because things just did not make sense. I was about to give up. Suddenly I reealized that this would make sense it the polarity was wrong. I found conflicting info on the web about the PSU, so I took a chance to swap the polarity on the PSU plug. Suddenly there was 9v on the input to the regulator! Turns out the PSU connector on it has negative on the inside!

Of course now the regulator would not give me any 5v output, so I changed it and now the system works!!! Wohoo! Im glad to say there is now one more working system in the world! Seller told me it had sonic built in, but it turned out it was Alex Kidd or something. Maybe he just found this thing on the dump and sold it as-is. Thank you for all the good advice! Im impressed about the quick responses, guys!!
Im glad they put in that diode, or this thing would have been toast!!

Now where to buy a cheap multicart??

 

Glad you got it going! Welcome to the forums!

The Everdrives are generally the best flash carts...however, they're not particularly cheap. See: http://krikzz.com/store/home/36-master-ed.html

 

Hmm maybe since I also has the Game Gear it would be better to buy the everdrive GG and an adaptor for the master system? But I noticed that the description says that the gg version also can be used on the gg. Looks like he just copied the content from the master system version. I feel it would be better to have the adapter on the master system than on the handheld. Im hoping that would work.

 

Ohh you mean the Master Gear Converter? Hooking one of those onto your Game Gear makes it feel even more powerful! Mainly because it doubles the size of it If I were you, which I'm not by the way, I'd pickup a Master Gear Converter and a Master EverDrive probably from these guys.

I've not tried it the way you say, putting an adapter on the Master System and then using a Game Gear cartridge, I didn't actually know there was such a device - I'm more a 16-bit kind of guy!

 

I don't know if anyone has tried to build such adapter. I'd say it's success depends on whether or not the Everdrive GG's menu OS will run on a Master System. Most GG code won't run on a Master System because of palette incompatibilities...but it's just a two or three color menu so...maybe?

Pinouts are here if you're feeling like experimenting: http://www.smspower.org/maxim/Documents/Pinouts

If you do, please report back. I'd probably build one for myself if it works.

That's because there isn't. This wouldn't have a chance of working on normal GG carts. However, the Everdrive GG may load Master System ROMs and play them on a Master System if an adapter is built and the OS code runs on a Master System. That's what's in question here.

 

The reason why I thought of it was because of in the description on this device
http://krikzz.com/store/home/36-master-ed.html
It says "Cartridge also can be used on Game Gear via the Master Gear Converter"
I ASSumed that if the Master Everdrive could be used on the GameGear, then it would be possible the other way around, namely to use the GameGear Everdrive on the Master System. I just felt it would be less of a hassle to have the converter on the system on the table rather then having the adapter on the handheld system.

If you look at the description on the GameGear version
http://krikzz.com/store/home/37-everdrive-gg.html
It says the same thing: "Cartridge also can be used on Game Gear via the Master Gear Converter" I figured it was a typo and he meant that it can be used on the master system. Now Im not sure what he means..

 

This thread states that the firmware for the Everdrive GG and Master Everdrive is exactly the same: http://krikzz.com/forum/index.php?topic=3461.0

So this actually might be worth a try if you wanted to share an Everdrive between the two.