SEGA Master System

[pbj]

Not entirely sure where this thread is going, but here’s the latest unneeded purchase.

[lilshawn]

don't forget about your free built-in games!

snail maze is harder than it looks.

[pbj]

This one has Hang-On / Safari Hunt built in, but it turns out Snail Maze is still there!  My eight year old mind was blown the first time I saw Snail Maze.

Also turns out that any LCD shutter frame glasses with a headphone jack plug will work, which is great because you can get adult sized, sealed ones meant for PC for less than $20.



Much like the PC Engine, you're truly better off buying a $20 Everdrive and moving on with life but we all know that's not an option.  Most Master System games used custom chips with mappers built into the ROM.  There's a handful of exceptions with an external mapper that will work fine with standard EPROMs, and the cheap ones are After Burner and Monopoly.  I feel bad destroying copies of After Burner but meh.  Monopoly will be converted over to Phantasy Star with the quality of life improvements.

 

[pbj]

I'm generally not a believer in doing cap kits on things that are working, but I felt like the image could be improved.  100uF capacitors had to be ordered, but I had enough 47uF and 10uF laying around.  There's apparently also a 1uF capacitor on the board.  What does a 1uF capacitor even do?



Anyway, cleaned up some.  I'll chunk the 100uFs in there when they show up from China.

 

(Here's the capacitor map, stolen from Console5 with the values added at the bottom)

[danny_galaga]

Nice. Yeah I'm amazed people just replace all the caps straight away. Someone I know who does lots of monitor repairs said quite often the new caps are lower quality than the old ones that were still working. He just replaced as required. 1 microfarad might be a timing circuit with a high value resistor?

You've inspired me to hook up my MS. I have a 3 way switcher connected to my tv but only my 2600 is connected to it 😄

[pbj]

I’ve got… 11 consoles hooked up to my CRT.  I mostly just leave them in attract mode.  They bring me peace during meetings.  I gaze over at them and my bean bag and ponder my direction in life.

Anyway, here’s the dumbest purchase in the history of humanity.  These can be converted to anything ever released, though.

[danny_galaga]

  These can be converted to anything ever released, though.

Monopoly UK edition, Monopoly Australia edition, Monopoly Luxembourg edition...

😄

On a slightly more serious note, nice idea having them in attract mode during meetings. Do you have an n64 going so you can tweek Mario's face?

[pbj]

Go buy me a box of all those weird Australian games you got for years after they gave up on it in the US.  I keep looking at them on eBay but I feel like they’re fishing for suckers.

Anyway, I’ve been successful on 2 out of 3 attempts to convert Monopoly to Phantasy Star.

The guide on Reddit and YouTube have you desoldering the mapper chip and bending out five pins.  After I spent over an hour per cartridge desoldering that damned thing, I took a closer look at the pcb.  2 of the pins are floating, 2 have an easily cut trace, and 1 has a bigger trace that takes some effort but can be done.  Far, far easier than removing and replacing that custom chip.

It ain’t pretty but it’s working fine on my Master System.  Not booting on my Chinese sms -> genesis converter.  Makes me wonder if they got the circuit slightly wrong or something.  Not too many 512kB games out there…

[pbj]

Got the 3rd one working.  A particularly insidious solder bridge on two pins on the mapper.  Anyway, time to hot glue these rat nest wires down to the PCB and then put the cartridge on a shelf to collect dust.

 

Printed a new insert…

[pbj]

The power of mailing labels and clear packing tape...



Cartridge template is attached.  I got it off some guy on Reddit and made a couple tweaks.  The game name font seems to be Modern No. 216 Thin with -2pt character spacing. 

[pbj]

I probably shouldn’t post this, but despite what you may read about After Burner PCBs needing modifications, they are suitable for a 27C040 eprom with zero alterations.

So here’s a game none of us ever played but is worth playing.  And you can jump off the stairs!  A simple rom edit and checksum tweak has me going with infinite lives.

[danny_galaga]

Nice work 🙂

[RandyT]

The guide on Reddit and YouTube have you desoldering the mapper chip and bending out five pins.  After I spent over an hour per cartridge desoldering that damned thing, I took a closer look at the pcb.  2 of the pins are floating, 2 have an easily cut trace, and 1 has a bigger trace that takes some effort but can be done.  Far, far easier than removing and replacing that custom chip.

The method we used to use in old C64 days when we needed to do something like that was to clip the leg of the chip with a fine-nosed set of clippers, right tight to the pcb.  Then carefully bend up the leg and solder to that.  No need to cut traces, and if done carefully, it can be reversed if necessary.

[pbj]

Nice work 🙂

Yes, now go find me a box of weird PAL games.  Thanks.

[danny_galaga]

Isn't Brazil where it's at for weird and wonderful SMS stuff?

[pbj]

Yeah, but also Australia and England.

 

[danny_galaga]

I guess we are just much more exciting countries 😃