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u/National-Put-6937

r/SEGA32X r/consolerepair
Image 1 — [Sega 32x] garbled license screen no boot follow up
Image 2 — [Sega 32x] garbled license screen no boot follow up
Image 3 — [Sega 32x] garbled license screen no boot follow up
Image 4 — [Sega 32x] garbled license screen no boot follow up
Image 5 — [Sega 32x] garbled license screen no boot follow up
▲ 14 r/SEGA32X+1 crossposts

[Sega 32x] garbled license screen no boot follow up

Hey, im making another post since ive done quite a bit of trouble shooting since my last post and figured if i posted pics of my board maybe someone more eagle eyed than i can find something.

Again like my last post I had AI write up all ive done so its organized. But overall I'm troubleshooting a Sega 32X and have reached the limit of my knowledge. I can only get it to boot to a garbled license screen. Here's everything I think would be helpful to know that AI wrote up.

"Setup:

- Genesis Model 1 (High Definition Graphics version, VA6)

- Sega 32X

- Aftermarket 32X power supply (~9.4V measured output)

- NBA Jam TE (32X)

- Known-good standard Genesis cartridges

Symptoms:

- Initially I would get a very garbled Sega license screen for about 1 second, then the screen would go black.

- Standard Genesis games also fail when inserted through the 32X.

- Genesis works perfectly by itself when the 32X is removed.

- At one point I tried bypassing the 32X A/V jumper and got only a white line on screen.

Things I've already done:

- Thoroughly cleaned Genesis cartridge slot.

- Thoroughly cleaned 32X cartridge slot.

- Cleaned ribbon cable contacts.

- Reseated both ribbon cables multiple times.

- Inspected ribbon cables under magnification.

- Continuity tested every conductor in both ribbon cables. All passed.

- Verified Genesis works normally without the 32X installed.

- Tested with both a 32X game and standard Genesis cartridges.

- Verified power supply output at approximately 9.4V.

Power troubleshooting:

- Measured approximately 9.4V at the DC input.

- Measured approximately 4.6V on the VCC pins of:

- Sega ASIC 315-5788 (Pin 1)

- Sega ASIC 315-5684 (Pin 32)

- Measured approximately 4.6V on IC13 VCC.

- Measured approximately 4.6V on IC14 VCC.

- IC14 output measures approximately 0.65V, but IC14 appears to be a PST993 reset supervisor/reset regulator rather than the main voltage regulator.

Service manual findings:

- Traced power path from DC IN through:

- C81

- CF1 (CMD4RC01)

- C82 (0.1uF)

- D1 (1SR-35-100A)

- IC13 (switching regulator/controller section)

- System appears to be receiving power and distributing it to the major chips.

Other observations:

- I have not yet recapped the unit.

- No obvious broken traces found yet.

- No obvious cracked solder joints found yet, although I have only inspected visually under magnification."

OK so I'm just trying to determine if this is where and when you recap? Nothing looks swollen or leaking. It looks the same to me as all my other functioning consoles. Chat GPT has been ardently against recapping for some reason?

Has anyone had an experience with any console being near non functioning, and then recapped it and it sprang to life?

I'll post a video below of what it's doing as well.

Any other advice I'd be grateful for as well.

Edit: Update: After doing the VA6 VCLK mod (thanks so much for the suggestion) I saw a huge improvement—the Sega license screen appeared perfectly. However, after that screen, it still cuts to black. I tested the Genesis standalone, and it runs games fine, so I don’t think my soldering is at fault.

Now a few hours have passed and I came back to it and swear nothing changed in the set up, except time and it's back to garbled video and not getting passed the license screen.

Nothing should have change I don't know why it's acting this way. Any insights would be appreciated.

u/National-Put-6937 — 12 days ago
▲ 6 r/SEGA32X+1 crossposts

[Genesis 32x] garbled graphics on license screen then goes to black.

Hey everyone first time posting, I can usually find info online but there's just so little/so much with the 32x.

Full disclosure I wrote something up but I've been using ChatGPT this whole process trying to figure this out and it wrote up a pretty good summary of everything I tried. Just want to make sure it's clear, and I don't want to take credit for something the robot wrote up. the only thing id add is that i dont have a CD attachment or anything. Anyways it said:

I recently picked up a Sega 32X and am trying to get it working on my Model 1 Genesis (High Definition Graphics model).

Symptoms:

  • Powers on.
  • Displays the 32X license/warning screen briefly.
  • The license screen is garbled/flickery.
  • After less than a second it goes to a black screen.
  • Same behavior with my 32X game (NBA Jam TE) and with standard Genesis cartridges.
  • Reseating the ribbon cables inside the 32X did not fix the issue.
  • Cleaning contacts and reseating connectors changed behavior slightly but did not solve the problem.

Power supply:

  • Using an older aftermarket Model 2/32X style PSU.
  • Measures about 9.4V unloaded with a multimeter.
  • The cable is physically frayed near the brick, although voltage appears stable during a wiggle test.
  • I plan to test with a known-good replacement PSU.

Questions:

  1. Does the garbled license screen point more toward a power issue, Genesis-to-32X bus issue, or an internal 32X fault?
  2. Are there known compatibility issues between certain Model 1 Genesis revisions and the 32X that could cause this?
  3. What voltages, signals, or components would you check next?

Any advice is appreciated.

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u/National-Put-6937 — 15 days ago