Just Finished my first neptune, All Pal and working fine with all my 32x games.. and 32xcd games too.. so how come i cant get a single megadrive game to get past the produced or under license of sega screen??? the only way it works is if i plug in ANOTHER 32x in the top of the neptune?????!!!! and then ALL my megadrive games work.:banghead: the second 32x isnt even powered.. any help would be great.
Nice job, I really would like to do this sometime. To have a Genesis Model 2 with the 32X totally stealthed into it would be sweet to have. If you are having problems with your MegaDrive games but they work when you put another 32X in, your connector is probably dirty. Maybe the connector on the 32X you soldered in isn't that great. So when you put in a dirty MegaDrive cartridge the game fails to boot. But when you put it in another 32X, it has better connection quality and then it works. That would be my guess. What you should do is take a MD game that doesn't boot, open it up and clean the contacts real good and try again. Be sure to show us a picture of it with the case closed too.
Thanx for the ideas guys, ive tried cleaning all the contacts, the ones on my carts and the ones in the 32x.. sorry neptune:icon_bigg , but still nothing. With some megadrive games i get a red screen, which ive been told is a checksum error?, if this is the case it looks like faulty wiring on my part. Only thing is ive re-wired it twice now and not one of my 32x games crashes or bugs or freezes at all.. i have 21 by the way.. I literally have played all my 32x collection for hours just to see what happens.. Its as if the 32x is "locked" on somehow, Ill keep trying.
32X is disabled by default and is initialized by software, and the fact that MD carts don't run seems REALLY odd... 32X and MD carts have nothing different from each other (except maybe faster ROM on 32X carts....)
Good idea about the switch on the reset, a bit like the 50/60htz mod i did on my megadrive 1.. I tried cutting the power to the 32x only and it works great with all my megadrive games.. or it would if the video wasnt patched to output through the 32x's output 9 pin din permanently.. so i cant really do that, so in desperation i started to clean the neptunes cart slot pins with some very fine wet and dry sandpaperh: ... its about 600 grit so its more like rough toilet paper.. i then did the same to the offending carts, then a final blast with PCB cleaner to remove any residue and guess what?? They work.... cant believe it.. I still dont understand how all my 32x carts work in the dirty old thing.. yet the megadrives didn't... Very happy now. and thanx for all the advice. in future ill try not to panic post..:lol: and fix things myself..
Yay I win! Good to hear you got your Neptune working properly. Your MegaDrive carts are older than the 32X carts which also have probably seen ALOT less play. Also the 32X carts are only put into 32X cartridge slots, which generally have seen alot less play than the MegaDrive. So it all just means that the 32X cartridges probably make much better electrical contact. When I have a cartridge that doesn't work that's usually what I suspect is wrong. All sorts of dust and dirt will get on those contacts. I wish that I had a spare Model 2 Genesis to do a Neptune mod on. I do have the spare 32X. If I did the mod then I'd actually play the few 32X games I have.
cde i sent you a pm, asking if you would make me a neptune, as i dont have the required soldering skills i have a spare 32x and megadrive 2, base unit, just wondering if you could make me one let me know Ben
Out of interest how many PSU's are you using to run it? I've thought about doing the mod myself but i only want to use one PSU and from my calculations i don't think it will power up both consoles.
So get a PSU with the same voltage but DOUBLE the current output ;-) Don't forget, if you were to replace your original PSU you need to look for one with: The same connector The same polarity (e.g. inside = positive) The same voltage AT LEAST the same current output (it can be higher) The same type of current (AC or DC) Preferably know if it is regulated or unregulated, although often the console has a regulator anyway.
I'm not sure where I read this, but I heard the Mega Drive 2 + 32X can be powered off just the MD2 power supply (850ma). So I'm guessing you can bridge the power and ground between the 32X and the MegaDrive boards and be just fine. Hope you don't wanna play the MD Virtual Racing SVP cart. I'd still like to make my own Neptune but I don't know if I'll ever get around to it.
European MD2 brick is powerful enough to power MD2+MCD2... it won't be powerful enough to power all 3 units though, only 2 at time.
TmEE, Mega CD2, has its own MD1 Power Brick, so surely the md2 psu would power the md2 + 32x, the euro brick that is, since the mcd2 has its own power brick, or are we talking about it wouldnt have enough power to send to the exp connectors into the mcd2? Ben
Pwr Supply I'm only using one power supply, i just bridged the connectors on the md2 to the 32x, works fine. md2 and 32x power supplies run at 850ma, the earlier md1 and mcd ones run ant 1200ma, but the plug on the end is different... ive had no probs running the neptune for 2 to 3 hours at a time. Started work on another one now as i see this one as a prototype. looking for good working 32x's and md2's to start again. (SHHH dont tell anyone).. also working on a case!!!!:nod:
