A Genesis walked in today for repair

[nathanallan]

The guy who owns it has had it since he was nine years old, and just bought some games from the other site for it and discovered it had problems.

I cleaned it up (it seemed it hadn't been cleaned in all that time, stuff caked on the outside!) and when that was done I saw what was going on-- it had a memory error.

Junk characters on the screen, a killer error. It could have been fixed but we had a similar console up that cost less than the repairs would have.

I asked him what he was going to do with the old console, and since he has had it for so long he wanted to keep it.

I suggested he hang it on the wall, like a framed picture, and he can use the screw holes in the bottom easily. I don't think his wife liked the idea too much.

It's great to hear stories like this, and glad it was a pretty happy ending with him getting a nearly identical unit to the one he had when he was growing up.

Nathan

[Chickybaby]

What kind of memory error causes the junk charecters on the screen and how did you know it was RIP or how would you fix it? Oh, is this something that happens across different consoles or is it genesis specific? Just curious since they are fairly common consoles and I think I have a box of them here that needs to be tested. I'm also interested because if I'm making the carts I should know about the systems and i've seen an error like this before.

I really know nothing on hardware repair. Now all I have to do is figure out why 2 7800s power up and I just get a blank screen. But yeah I'm going through a lot of wear and tear on consoles now. I'm finding dead ones as I buy bigger lots to get donor carts, and am working more, I definitely need to get my butt in gear.:mspac:
Hope I picked your brain enough. Just add it to my bill lol. ;)

[nathanallan]

I didn't know the precise problem with the Genesis, but it's liable to happen to any console that has memory in it. I've seen it in an NES console, as well. It means chips have to be desoldered and new ones put in or at least resoldered. I made a video on youtube about an NES with junk screen playing Star Force (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCLXkkVNUrs).

About your 7800s with black screens, I am not sure. Not really familiar with the 7800 chips to say. "Maria chip" comes to mind.

Most consoles are pretty tough up to the post 16-bit era. This is the first Genesis that has had a memory problem I've seen, though I did have one catch on fire nearly from a short somewhere on the board today. Ironic.

I'll bet 99% of those Genesis decks work. Expect dead reset switches, though.

Nathan

[janken_the_great]

Hair in the pin connector has caused similar issues for me before. In certain situations the hair acts as a wire between pins. The system acts like it is having internal issues. If you take a flat razor with the 45 degree angle ends...you can take just the blade and run along the bottom of the connector in a scooping motion and pull any hair out of it. I use a desk eraser to prop the cart slot open for the job(for genesis anyway). You would be surprised how many gen 1's I have pulled this nastyness out of. Not sure if it is/was the problem just an idea for future reference.

Steve