[SOLVED][PICS] Mega Drive 2 Clone I have a pretty nice russian mega drive 2 clone complete with an original looking box. There's no SEGA logo on the front of the console, so that's how I'm sure it's a clone. What I wonder is, since most russian clones use japanese style carts, if it is compatible with original japanese carts? Basically I want to test if it still works but all I have is a lousy european nhl 96 cart that doesn't fit.. And japanese carts are plentyful and cheap here, but will it actually play original jap carts or do these clones only play russian bootleg jap style carts? EDIT: OK, so I tested it. Either my tv doesn't like RF gaming or it's the cartridge or the console itself.. I have no idea lol I did both manual and auto channel search and found nothing. I did notice that the whitenoise kind of changes patterns on some channels with the console on. Apparently it didn't have any cartidge restrictions, so I could just insert the cart normally. The test cartridge is sweden exclusive Elitserien 95 which basically is a version of NHL 95 only it features swedish teams (so it's not nhl 96 as I first thought). There are two switches on the back of the console, I have no idea what they do. I tried changing the A - B switch and searched through all channels in both modes. Then I did a channel search for each of the four positions of the other switch. Still nothing. What could it be, what's more plausible? What options do I have, besides throwing it with the trash. Anyways here are the pics Console front http://i.imgur.com/XyCehqf.jpg Cartridge slot http://i.imgur.com/sJM3ybk.jpg Warranty seal #1 http://i.imgur.com/PEi7FJR.jpg Warranty seal #2 http://i.imgur.com/e8yIOv6.jpg Backside and switch #1 http://i.imgur.com/fOiRnID.jpg Backside and switch #2 http://i.imgur.com/66H5cw5.jpg Insides http://i.imgur.com/W8FfqKu.jpg Insides back http://i.imgur.com/EX7t8W2.jpg Box front http://i.imgur.com/JnAY5hu.jpg Box back http://i.imgur.com/pGPUV5p.jpg Box inside (power adapter, rf unit, pads) http://i.imgur.com/SboLea5.jpg The back of what looks like a legit sega pad http://i.imgur.com/L6UrJ0L.jpg Warranty & instructions front http://i.imgur.com/DljkjTR.jpg Warranty & instructions back http://i.imgur.com/DBtwr9l.jpg "Elitserien 95" game cartridge http://i.imgur.com/XRwFlL4.jpg White noise channel search with the console on and off http://i.imgur.com/yZc1bA5.jpg http://i.imgur.com/Ef3AObi.jpg Here's some close-ups of the av/rf ports and the power adapter http://i.imgur.com/Gstdy4I.jpg http://i.imgur.com/16aHzT0.jpg http://i.imgur.com/IwyWz6G.jpg http://i.imgur.com/Hso6mMB.jpg http://i.imgur.com/C7kRlNV.jpg
instead of expanding cartridge slot, open the shell and try that way or open the cartridge and try with bare cart pcb.
Thank your for the reply. So the pcb's are all the same no matter region? The megadrive is far away from me atm, but I'll probably be checking it out in a week or two.
maybe it's better to use rgb scart cable and try that way, that switches are similar to megadrive versions, sets pal, ntsc and languages. Have you tried the cart with other console that works?
Nope and I don't know anyone who would have one either. Is there maybe a crazy collector that could imagine borrowing me an RGB cable? I don't want to buy one because I wouldn't want to throw it away if it turned out the console is fried, seems wasteful. So I googled for mega drive switches and found some info on an almost identical clone. What bugs me about that explanation is if the four mode switch is for regions how come there are four modes? AFAIK there are only three regions, so what could that fourth mode be for?
The hardware has four settings, language and hz are independent. At least I'm not aware of any risk from using Japanese at 50hz.
So this switch is for pal 50Hz / ntsc 60Hz http://i.imgur.com/fOiRnID.jpg ? Why does it say A & B instead of PAL & NTSC? What do these modes stand for on the region switch ( http://i.imgur.com/66H5cw5.jpg ) U/N 1 U/D 2 J/N 3 J/P 4 Like wise why does it say PAL I & NTSC II and with Roman numbers as opposed to the arabic numbers on the above four modes? Confusing.
Maybe. Color encoding is a separate mod from region. No idea what A & B could mean. Just a guess, most likely the region switch goes like this. U/N 1 = USA (English & 60hz) U/D 2 = Europe (English & 50hz) J/N 3 = Japan (Japanese & 60hz) J/P 4 = Japan PAL (Japanese & 50hz)
Well I'm assuming J means Japanese, N means NTSC, and P means PAL. U might be US, standing for English. Don't know about D. Unless there's a more logical theory.
Ok, well that makes sense I guess. What did you mean with "Color encoding is a separate mod from region." If that's the case then shouldn't the 4 switch be only region.
it also depends on monitor you are using, does it have scart, svideo, component? if I'm not wrong you cannot play ntsc on pal tv or B/W on some tv's.
Oh ok. So back to the four modes. Is it safe to assume that both PAL and NTSC are used in Japan, based on your guess on the region switch? Also if you are correct then what's the point to the two mode "AB" switch? Sure it has scart, no s-video. But it does have rca and scart. The thing is I don't want to buy an rgb cable in case the console is dead. Cause then I'll be throwing away the console AND the new rgb cable. Would be nice if someone with an extra cable would be willing to borrow me one so I could test this clone out. Of course I'd pay for the shipping back and forth. Just don't want to be throwing working things away. Or hording things for that matter.
Sorry, poor choice of words. The country Japan doesn't use PAL. I was referring to the mode's effect.
No, I was just thinking why would there be a japan pal mode at all. For some reason I thought it must be because japan uses both. The idea of playing japanese games on a pal tv never crossed my mind as a reason lol.
Yeah useless as it is a few games have Japanese text, but are 50hz only. Knuckles Chaotix PAL for example. (tutorial hints)
