Japanese Mega CD Mk1 with Video Issues

Hello everyone and sorry for opening another thread, I've seen the other one but it is not related to my problem, so I'd rather open a new one.

I've bought a japanese Mega CD Mk1 (the front loader, absolute pristine condition) off YAJ together with a japanese Mega Drive and Super 32X. After hooking them up with the correct wiring, the Mega CD displays a garbled screen. Unfortunately I didn't take a picture before putting everything back in the box, so I'll try to describe what it looks like:

Once you turn on the "Tower of Power", I'll get to the BIOS screen, and you can see garbled animations of the SEGA / Mega CD logo moving around. You can clearly read the "Please push the start button" and the Sega copyright info on the screen, but the real graphics look weird. Also it looks like there's no sound. Once I press start, it goes to the operating menu and freezes after 0.5 seconds. If I turn on the Mega Drive without the Mega CD, it plays games fine. Also the Mega CD / Super 32X combo works fine without the Mega CD attached.

Do you think this poor little thing can be saved? I'd happily ship it to someone who can fix it and pay for material, time, and all shipping.

Thanks for your help and advice :crying:

 

try cleaning the contacts that connect to the machine and also try a second megadrive, first check if you are supplying with the correct voltage, if the original transformer was 100volts and you are supplying with 110 o 120 you may not blown it but you're sending too much juice to the machine, also try to reseat any connections inside the machine and check for corrosion, also check for a broken joint on the conections between the machines.

 

Thanks for the reply. I'm using the original 3 power bricks which came with each system together with a step down converter. Mega Drive and 32X are both new, so there is little to no corrosion, the Mega CD looks unused as well (it was sold as "dead stock"). As far as I could see with a bright flashlight, there are no broken joints.

 

Strange... try another megadrive in case the expansion slot is dirty or something like that, if doesnt work try reaseting any connectors inside the megacd, the failure looks like is missing some voltage or is an overvoltage somewhere, here (http://www.sega-16.com/forum/showthread.php?9915-MegaCD-1-issues) are mentioning capacitor leakage, i dunno if yours can be that because is a new machine, but on some pictures seems there are a lot of flat cables in there, the conector of those used to get rusty and causing wierd things, also check making pressure on diffrent spost on the pcb to see if there are changes.

 

I would guess that capacitors are the real issue. Even though it's a new machine, it's almost 20 years old. As I'm not really tech savvy, I'd rather have someone in the EU fix it... I guess it will go back into the storage for now.

btw: I've tried another JP Mega Drive, and the video is still garbled. The thread you linked seems to describe my issue as well, and the picture over there looks like my screen.

 

Did you make sure you converter is still working properly? I use an american power supply on my japanese mega cd model 1 and it works fine. I have even seen auctions of japanese mega cds with pal power adapters supplied so it might be worth giving a shot (I read mega drive and mega cd are not sensitive about input you are using just as long as the right output is used).

 

Time to bump my old thread.

The MCD has been in storage until today, as I thought I'd give it another go.
The issue is still the same. Sound plays fine, attract mode is garbled, main menu looks fine and option screen is garbled again with flying Japanese symbols.
After a few minutes, sometimes just seconds, it freezes.

I took some pictures and a video this time.

Can anyone help troubleshooting or even fix it?
The MCD is NOS from YAJ and I don't want to give it up ;(

(sorry about the bad audio, didn't think the camera mic would be so sensitive; filmed it next to an open window)

 

Try going to sega 16 site. There's members on there that can pretty much fix any issue with model 1 mega CDs.

 

Thanks, I will try that, but if someone has any ideas regarding this specific issue, please let me know here.

 

Would try replacing all the capacitors. Model 1 cd systems leak pretty bad, not as bad as a Game Gear but pretty bloody close.

 

VRAM would be my guess. Seems like most of the console is operating just fine.

 

I'll open it up carefully and take a peek inside. Thanks for the tips.