I'm looking to modify my Genesis to play games from other regious, but I can't find modding instructions that are detailed enough. Does anyone know of a site where I could find photographs of where things need to be soldered, and where the writer isn't at a 10-year old spelling/grammer level so I don't end up soldering the switch to the underside of the 68000 by mistake on account of bad directions? Any help would be appreciated.
Genesis 1: http://www.mmmonkey.co.uk/console/sega/md1switches.htm 2: http://www.mmmonkey.co.uk/console/sega/md2switches.htm I've done it on a Mega Drive 1 - It's very easy. 2 Switches between 2 jumpers each, just requires a bit of reasonably fiddly soldering. Mega Drive 2 Looks much harder - I'd try to get hold of a model 1 if you're doing the mod. Also, Don't forget for JP games you'll need to file the cart slot down a bit so they fit in, and that you'll need to cut the traces between the jumpers If You're doing it on a MD/Gen 1 Then contact me if you need a hand
I modded my system with a little set of four dipswitches instead of two DPDT switches because there's actually other positions besides US NTSC, Japanese NTSC and European PAL. There's at least Asian PAL and I think Brazilian has its own setting, too, but most importantly there's a sort of developer's mode when all the jumpers are open in which the system will run all games and even give you debug options in a couple games (first generation games mostly, though also with the Sega Channel adapter). ...word is bondage...
Ah, sorry, I should have clairified - I have a Model 1 Genesis. That link was just what I needed though, thanks the_steadster. SweaterFish, I'm really interested in this mod you mentioned. Obviously, it's going to require a bit more soldering, but I think a fully 'tricked-out' Genesis would be fun to have. Do you have any links to directions for the mod?
I haven't Seen directions but I'd guess it goes like this- Should be pretty simple: - Cut all tracks between Jumpers - Solder one wire to the each pad - For each pair of pads, take each wire to the Dip Switches (Though 4 "normal" switches could be substituted - Dip switches is probably tidier. One final thing to bear in mind when doing the mod - and i dont think its mentioned on the site i linked to, is that if you have a cap across one jumper, you should probably leave it there if at all possible. Not sure what it does, but it could be important... However, this is only on particular internal models of the Genesis 1 (Possibly only those with serial ports, if they don't all have them...)
Strictly speaking you don't have to solder wires to all eight solder pads since on one side JP1 & 2 and JP3 & 4 are the same and on the other side JP1 & 3 and JP2 & 4 are the same, but that takes some thinking (I used pen and paper to make sure I was doing it right), so it may just be easier to put a wire on each pad. And yes, normal switches can certainly be used, but dip switches look so much cooler. My local electronics store didn't have an array of four dip switches so I had to get one with six. I considered hooking the other two switches up to some of those other jumpers inside my Mega Drive just to see if they would have any effect, but I ended up just leaving them unused. Neither of the systems I've modded had a capacitor across any of the jumpers. One was a later model Genesis without the serial port and with the "Produced or licensed by Sega" screen and the other was a very early Japanese Mega Drive (which of course had the serial port). ...word is bondage...
Well mine did, ITs a PAL Mega Drive, With serial port, but im unsure where its originally from - I got it from a friend of mine who was born in aus and has lived in aus, cyprus, italy and the UK, so it could be from pretty much any pal region around the world...
i dont know about other systems, but you dont really need to mod your model one genesis to play japanese ntsc games. the shape of the cart is the only thing holding you back...mutilate your games, your system, or use a gamegenie. dont mutilate your games.
Nah, later games with regional lockout need a switchmod to be done - They "detect" the region of the console, and if it isnt correct they won't run. Theres a list somewhere on the web of region-locked games. Edit: And here it is http://db.gamefaqs.com/console/genesis/file/genesis_lockout.txt
I've never heard of this develpor's mode before. Any chance of a list of games that have and some screen shots? Sounds Cool.
But the fact that most import games can be played with no mod is definitely worth mentioning in case Greatsaintlouis didn't know it. I had to mod my Japanese Mega Drive since a lot of U.S. games I owned had the lockout. I only owned two games that didn't work with my system switched to U.S. mode (Yu Yu Hakusho and Micro Machines 2). The mod is so simple that it's worth doing anyway, but it's probably not even necessary if you have a U.S. system and only plan on iporting a handful of games. Sorry, but I don't have my modded system or any Genesis games anymore, I sold them all last year. I didn't have a lot of games anyway, but the ones I found interesting stuff in when all the jumpers were open were Alex Kidd In Enchanted Castle and Space Harrier and as I said the Sega Channel adapter, too. In Alex Kidd you just got infinite lives. I actually can't remember what the benefit was in Space Harrier...it may have been some sort of level select. With the Sega Channel adapter, you were shown a screen with all sorts of modem strings and memory data and settings. It seems like there was one other early game that I owned that had some special stuff, but I can't remember what it was...possibly Revenge of Shinobi. And of course I don't know that this was a "developer's mode" per se, but that's what I always assumed it was because nothing else made sense. As I mentioned, all games seemed to work fine in this mode, too, including Yu Yu Hakusho and Micro Machines which normally didn't work in U.S. mode. Multilanguage games (that's another reason to install a region switch, by the way, some games have multiple language versions with different title screens and everything that are selected by the region of the system they're in, which is sometimes cool) seemed to always play in English. ...word is bondage...
Ive recently been modding several MD2 systems. Its quite good fun, though lifting pin 107 can be a bit hair raising at times. the_steadster, what kind of SCART cable are you using? Im using the official French SCART cable, and it produces a strange wavy bar effect on the left of the screen. Does anyone else have this problem? But yeah, modded systems are the only way to go.
Lifting a leg off of a chip? It doesn't sound like it's worth it anymore . I may just go out and buy a Model 1 if I ever get interested in importing games. As of right now, I haven't seen many Japanese Megadrive games I'm very interested in. Hell, I haven't seen many Genesis games I've been interested in (with the exception of Shadowrun...).
I'm just using one which someone from ebay made. The original one he did had a socket for audio, so you could take the stereo audio from the headphone port, but it seems my headphone port on my megadrive is dead, So i got him to replace it with a normal mono one.
Taemos: If you're going after Shadowrun, I say for either for the SNES or Sega CD version. steadster: Ahh right. A homemade job then? How much did it cost if you don't mind me asking?
Really dont remember I'm afraid. I soldered caps onto the RGB lines though, as the colours looked a bit shite without them.
I love the SNES version . I would go for the MegaCD one if it wasn't so damn rare/expensive. Also, it's in Japanese only, if I remember correctly.
BTW, an interesting feat perhaps: for modding my MD1 (PAL, serial port) to 60hz, I only needed to cut the track, not resolder anything. Later I added a switch though. It's a mod that I recommend to EVERY PAL Megadrive owner, everything gets so much better (Sonic and TFIV spring to mind)
Yeah, but some PAL games won't load as a result of this, meaning you MUST put a switch. It's the same with the MD2. You just cut one track, and voila! it's like owning a Sega Genesis.
