Sega mega drive

NiKelly · 13-09-2014 2:05am #1

I bought a 16 bit sega mega drive including all the cables, however I only have sky on my tv, and cannot manually tune it to pick up channels, as I don't have saorview etc. Meaning I can't fully set up my sega!

anyone have any suggestions how to fix this?

eddhorse · 13-09-2014 8:41am

NiKelly wrote: »

I bought a 16 bit sega mega drive including all the cables, however I only have sky on my tv, and cannot manually tune it to pick up channels, as I don't have saorview etc. Meaning I can't fully set up my sega! anyone have any suggestions how to fix this?

Eh you need an analogue channel.
What model TV is it?

Retr0gamer · 13-09-2014 9:02am

Get an RGB scart cable from ebay. You don't have to mess around tuning it in and you get the benefit of massively improved picture quality.

eddhorse · 13-09-2014 9:05am

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Get an RGB scart cable from ebay. You don't have to mess around tuning it in and you get the benefit of massively improved picture quality.

Yep as recommended from Retr0 the Snes version I purchased from http://www.consolegoods.co.uk works brilliantly. No more tuning.
They have the MegaDrive version also, send them an email.

NiKelly · 13-09-2014 10:48am

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Get an RGB scart cable from ebay. You don't have to mess around tuning it in and you get the benefit of massively improved picture quality.

Thanks!

13-09-2014 10:49am

I had a 17bit Sega once

NiKelly · 23-09-2014 2:16pm

I bought an RGB cable and it still won't work

I don't think this Sega purchase was meant to be!

Retr0gamer · 23-09-2014 2:22pm

You sure you have it in the right socket and you have the TV selecting the right socket? There should be no problem with RGB and even if you don't have RGB it defaults back to composite.

It could be a display issue with the megadrive, might be worth trying on a different TV.

I'm not to sure but maybe you have a cheap brand TV that doesn't support RGB, but I'd expect it will still work as composite.

o1s1n · 23-09-2014 2:25pm

Yeah that's strange, it should work instantly.

Megadrive via scart is the same as any other scart device (DVD player, sky/UPC etc)

Is the video cable into the back of the Megadrive loose?

Tomo.Murphy · 23-09-2014 2:27pm

Did you try a different game in it to see if that's the problem?

o1s1n · 23-09-2014 2:42pm

Tomo.Murphy wrote: »

Did you try a different game in it to see if that's the problem?

Actually that's a good point.

Describe what you mean by 'won't work' OP.

Do you get signal on the AV channels but just a black screen? (that would indicate what Tomo.Murphy is saying)

Are you not getting any signal to the TV AV channels at all?

Retr0gamer · 23-09-2014 2:42pm

Actually the carts might be dirty which means you'll get no picture. Get s Q-tip and give the connectors a rub with alcohol or even just water (remember to use a second q-tip to dry it as well! You'll be surprised how much grime comes off. If the cart is dirty it won't make a connection and won't work.

Mal-Adjusted · 30-09-2014 2:11pm

for anybody who knows anything about the Mega-Drive, what's the better version to get, the I or the II? I wouldn't mind getting one some day (and possibly the ad-ons as well) and want to know which one to get.

Retr0gamer · 30-09-2014 2:15pm

The Megadrive 1 with the hi def graphics on the casing. It has the best sound.

o1s1n · 30-09-2014 2:16pm

The best one to get is the very original release version. It has 'High definition graphics' written along the top.

It doesn't actually have HD graphics

but it has the best sound and picture quality.

It's also missing an additional piracy check at the start so the games boot faster.

CiDeRmAn · 30-09-2014 9:04pm

o1s1n wrote: »

The best one to get is the very original release version. It has 'High definition graphics' written along the top.

It doesn't actually have HD graphics but it has the best sound and picture quality.

I think, back in the olden days, High definition just meant detailed visuals, the visual equivalent of HiFi, or High Fidelity in audio equipment.

Speaking of High Fidelity....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ECyX8A3iP0

or

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7tMy1eA9DQ

Retr0gamer · 30-09-2014 9:08pm

Back in my day high definition was called super VGA and PC games had it since about 1993.

CiDeRmAn · 30-09-2014 9:13pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Back in my day high definition was called super VGA and PC games had it since about 1993.

That's still ok, the MD was out a tad before that.
But I still recall games on PC running in suckass-O-vision, even at that early stage.

Retr0gamer · 30-09-2014 9:25pm

Most PC games were 640x480 at the time which is twice the resolution of the megadrive. By 1993 1024x768 and even 1600x1200 were common place.

CiDeRmAn · 01-10-2014 12:04am

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Most PC games were 640x480 at the time which is twice the resolution of the megadrive. By 1993 1024x768 and even 1600x1200 were common place.

Wow
It would appear I was playing the wrong games.
Certainly Quake was, via software at least, in svga rather than the higher res you mention.
Via my rendition accelerator card it was better though.
Once again, in the likes if 1990 and 91 things on the PC tended to be not as impressive, the MD was more reminiscent of the Amiga, especially with the euro titles that were ported over.

Retr0gamer · 01-10-2014 12:42am

Well you'd need a monster PC to get above 640x480 and a. 2 MB or video card which weren't common or cheap but it was possible.

When the megadrive launched PC was quite a bit ahead of it and the Amiga slightly ahead graphically. Stuff around 91 and 92 were way more advanced than the megadrive could do, stuff like might and magic 3 and ultima underworld

CiDeRmAn · 01-10-2014 7:12am

I didn't jump into PC gaming until 96, so it was MD, GB and SNES before, not to mention 3DO and PS.
And with the wrestling you had to do to get a game working, I was broadly more satisfied with console games.

Retr0gamer · 01-10-2014 9:04am

Well that was true around 1990-1991 were DOS was a bit random about allocating memory meaning some games wouldn't work until you reset the PC a number of times. However once DOS extenders like DOS4GW came along it was very simple and games would load first time with full memory.

Windows 95 actually made things a hell of a lot worse with Direct X. The original version of Direct X installed itself in place of your graphics drivers and made a mess of your PC.

Jack burton · 01-10-2014 9:45am

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Well that was true around 1990-1991 were DOS was a bit random about allocating memory meaning some games wouldn't work until you reset the PC a number of times. However once DOS extenders like DOS4GW came along it was very simple and games would load first time with full memory.

Windows 95 actually made things a hell of a lot worse with Direct X. The original version of Direct X installed itself in place of your graphics drivers and made a mess of your PC.

I remember all this ****! Oh that brings back terrible memories of me trying to play tomb raider 2 and quake 2!

Made me into the man I am today though!

BGOllie · 01-10-2014 10:16am

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

I didn't jump into PC gaming until 96, so it was MD, GB and SNES before, not to mention 3DO and PS.
And with the wrestling you had to do to get a game working, I was broadly more satisfied with console games.

Same here. I think i moved to a PC when the first geForce came out, so around 1999.
didn't see the point of pc before that. I was playing my PS1 and Megadrive and still tinkering and making music with my Amiga up till then.

Retr0gamer · 01-10-2014 10:26am

LongZ wrote: »

Same here. I think i moved to a PC when the first geForce came out, so around 1999.
didn't see the point of pc before that. I was playing my PS1 and Megadrive and still tinkering and making music with my Amiga up till then.

The 90's was the golden era for PC gaming. So much good stuff came out on the system then. The genres on PC just could not be done on the consoles at the time and they really took advantage of the RAM available that consoles didn't have. I fell out of love with PC around 2001 when consoles really took off and it didn't offer much that consoles didn't offer as well but glad to see it making a comeback now. But the 90's were so good. You just don't get RPGs like the first two Fallouts, Ultima Underworld or System Shock 2 anymore. Hopefully the release of Wasteland 2 and the upcoming Project Eternity change that.

BGOllie · 01-10-2014 10:41am

Well, I did play a lot of pc games at my friends though , rpgs and fps alike... and RTS games (remember that rts craze ?) so I don't feel I missed out much but to me all the trouble of install, upgrade, patching, were too much to handle + I just didn't have the money

Once I got my own I replayed a lot of the 'old' games though ... reminds me I found a big box copy of Baldur's Gate at a car boot sale recently

SirLemonhead · 02-10-2014 6:21pm

I don't recall games in 1993 supporting those resolutions, or dos memory allocations being "random". Maybe I'm getting old and forgetful..

CiDeRmAn · 02-10-2014 8:45pm

My favourite games of the PC era I was in were
Mechawarrior 3,
Flight Unlimited/2/3
Battlezone
Interstate 76
Quake/2
Tie Fighter
F1GP2
Tomb Raider (via verite graphics card)

Retr0gamer · 02-10-2014 10:40pm

SirLemonhead wrote: »

I don't recall games in 1993 supporting those resolutions, or dos memory allocations being "random". Maybe I'm getting old and forgetful..

Wolfenstein 3D definitely had weird memory allocation issues for me. It was random if it would start with enough memory to support the digitised speech. Dos4gw sorted that out.

I know the build engine could support 800x600 and that was around 1994. PC games with the right video hardware could do it but not many games supported them until and 95-96... Well I think.

o1s1n · 03-10-2014 9:23am

Have any of you guys retained any old Windows PC hardware, even a windows 95/98 laptop for older stuff?

I know you can play a lot of it via GOG and the likes, but it'd be nice to be using real hardware.

A couple of old laptops networked together would be great fun.

SirLemonhead · 03-10-2014 1:24pm

I still have my 22 year old Dell 386, Gateway 2000 Pentium 1 and Pentium 2 machines as well as various other bits and pieces (more pentium 2 stuff mostly).

Had an 8086 that was given away and an IBM 486 that got recycled (majorly regret that but it was an OEM business PC so it could have been worse)

I also got rid of the monitor for the 386 which I regret.. It was broken but it was only a damaged trim pot inside so it could have been easily fixed. Still works a charm otherwise

Myrddin · 03-10-2014 1:42pm

I remember seeing DS9: The Harbinger on my friends Cryix 686 yonks ago...it was mind blowing in comparison to what consoles were doing at the time

Retr0gamer · 03-10-2014 2:25pm

I have a few old PCs up in the attic I never got rid of. DOS Box can only emulate so much but I think the big difference is sound. All you can really get is SoundBlaster 16 support, soundblaster unfortunately were always god awful soundcards. You can tinker around and get roland and gravis sound support but it never sounds the same. Some of the Gravis and Roland soundtracks are amazing for stuff like the Sierra games and System Shock.

Shapey Fiend · 03-10-2014 2:37pm

Anybody know where I might be able to go rooting for old computers in Ireland or are they all in landfills at this stage? I've been hankering after the idea of doing a beige PC build in an old IBM or something. I'm guessing eBay is my old choice?

Tomo.Murphy · 03-10-2014 2:46pm

I've seen some on adverts from time to time. You could try calling some local schools to see if they still have any lying around that they're looking to get rid of. There were still stacks of them in the school I went to when I finished up. Same with the primary school that was beside it. Some of them were still in use!

Star Lord · 03-10-2014 5:38pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

soundblaster unfortunately were always god awful soundcards

When you had only PC Speaker, the Soundblaster sounded like angels licking your eardrums.

I only heard the (Brilliant!) proper music for GODS years later!!!

Retr0gamer · 03-10-2014 6:09pm

Never had a Gravis or MT Roland either. The gravis was expensive and near impossible to find and the MT Roland was the price of a Rolls Royce.

SirLemonhead · 03-10-2014 6:47pm

Yeah me neither.. though I never knew how good they were back in the day. Have an MT-32 for Lucasarts games and a SC-55 for pretty much everything else (mainly Doom and build games)

It's great being able to buy all this cool stuff relatively cheap now

briany · 04-10-2014 7:22pm

Wow, I totally forgot about the fact you used to have to tune console reception in back in the day. Not that hard of a procedure as I recall but it'll make for a good 'back in my day!' tidbit.

o1s1n · 06-10-2014 3:14pm

The TV I first used my Megadrive on (a 19 inch Mitsubishi one) tuning was completely manual.

Each of the 12 (!) channels had a little band selector and scroll wheel for tuning.

You'd to use this white tool thing to flip to the band you wanted, then scroll the wheel to tune anything in.

The scroll wheel had teeth and after a while they'd start to leave imprints on your finger. Painful so it was!

byrdbrayn · 06-10-2014 5:49pm

Lately I've had a hankering for a megaCD, have they held up well or would I just end up spending more than the total cost to get the thing running?

CiDeRmAn · 07-10-2014 1:24am

They are robust enough.
Should cost about 50 or 60 for a working one.
Rage sell them for about that.

o1s1n · 07-10-2014 10:11am

Yeah for such an early gen CD system they've fairly held up well.

Mal-Adjusted · 07-10-2014 10:38am

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

They are robust enough.
Should cost about 50 or 60 for a working one.
Rage sell them for about that.

I know there's 2 or 3 different models of the Mega CD. what would Rage have, or at least what would they have more of?
(Sorry if it seems like i'm asking silly questions

)

Retr0gamer · 07-10-2014 11:08am

They aren't that common so it's what they have at the time really. Mega CD 1 is the one I'd go for. The CD drive is apparently better even is the tray design is more prone to failure.

CiDeRmAn · 07-10-2014 6:44pm

Yeah, the combined Megadrive and Mega CD looks great, the MD2 with it's MCD2 not so much.
The CDX/MultiMega is an all in one unit and is pretty nice, I hace one of those.

o1s1n · 08-10-2014 12:12pm

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

Yeah, the combined Megadrive and Mega CD looks great, the MD2 with it's MCD2 not so much.
The CDX/MultiMega is an all in one unit and is pretty nice, I hace one of those.

Its a shame sega didn't build a Mega CD 2 that sat under the system. Would have been a nice neat little console.

Retr0gamer · 08-10-2014 12:47pm

Flip tops are just cheaper and more reliable. With the Mega CD it was all totally new to them. There's a great story with Tom Kalinske in retrogamer about them testing the near final Mega CD hardware and the units kept bursting into flame. The drives they used were guaranteed for a 5% seek time which is fine for music but for games especially FMV ones with a 90-95% seek time during play they couldn't handle it so the drive was replaced with a much better one in the final moments.

CPSW · 08-10-2014 4:49pm

Hi all

I recently re-located my Mega Drive 2 after it had been buried in the attic for nearly 20 years.

I had no games with it (they must have got dumped years ago!), so purchased a cheap one (Greatest Heavyweights - great boxing game from back in the day) and also a modern wire to connect it to the TV.

It turns on ok and the normal SEGA licensing jargon comes up but it seems to freeze when the SEGA logo comes up.

Anyone any advice, I am thinking it may be a lot of dust etc in the console, any good tips for cleaning?

Thanks in advance for any help!

Retr0gamer · 08-10-2014 6:21pm

Megadrives could survive a nuclear winter and so can the carts. The most likely thing is dirty cart connectors. Give the connectors a good wipe with a q tip with isopropyl alcohol or even water if you haven't got that and then dry it off. Should help. If not it could be a badly treated cart.

Sega mega drive

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