Hardware Failure Thread of Inevitable Disaster

[Sarge]

There are about 40 caps in a US Genesis Model 1. I only have a cheap plunger desolder tool, and it absolutely sucked to do it. Didn't even fix my problem, either! I think there's a bad ground connection on my system, the audio crackles like adjusting the volume on old speakers sometimes.

 

[Phantoon]

I need to try to fix my old Genesis. I doubt it's the caps, it started failing quicker than I'd expect for that to be the case. I should open it up and see if there's anything obvious

 

[Yimothy]

a cheap plunger desolder tool

I have one of these, and some of that braided stuff that soaks solder up, and that’s it. It looks like a pig of a job, and one that I could easily screw up and destroy the console in the process. Plus maybe that’s not even the problem. I’m thinking at the moment I might try it, and if my console is stuffed afterwards I’ll get a Mega SG or MiSTer or something.

 

[Sarge]

Yeah, just take your time and you should be fine. It's not complicated, just time-consuming. I was happy that even though it didn't fix my problem, I also didn't nuke the system.

I need some solder braid - I think that might work better in the long haul. What I really want is my former major professor's Hakko desolder station. That thing was amazing.

 

[Phantoon]

I'd really like one of those heated desolder vacuums, but I'm too stingy to actually buy one

 

[Sarge]

Me too. I don't do enough projects to make it worth it... although I bet I'd do more if I had one. I've got a 3DO that needs a recap as well.

 

[Phantoon]

Yeah, same here. If I had real tools I'd do more and get better, but it's not worth it based on what I currently do.

 

[ASandoval]

It seems my PlayStation 2 Slim has decided the only game it's capable of playing is Katamari Damacy.

 

[Kazin]

It seems my PlayStation 2 Slim has decided the only game it's capable of playing is Katamari Damacy.

This is the thread of hardware *disasters*, so disasters only, please. stay on topic

 

[Aleryn]

I wonder if Katamari Damacy might be a CD-ROM game instead of DVD-ROM. A lot of early PS2 games were only CDs and semi broken PS2s can read those and not DVDs.

I'd be surprised though if that were the case since Katamari Damacy has quite a few video files.

 

[Sarge]

I thought that, too, but the ISO is larger than a CD, so apparently not. But it's not much larger, so... maybe it's an issue with it not being able to read the data that is spinning faster on the outer edges of the disc?

 

[ASandoval]

I thought that, too, but the ISO is larger than a CD, so apparently not. But it's not much larger, so... maybe it's an issue with it not being able to read the data that is spinning faster on the outer edges of the disc?

I also suspected the CD issue and checked the back of the KD box to verify it was a DVD ROM (and for the record, PS1 games work just fine as well). I think you might be right however, as KD loads more or less instantaneously, while other games take a moment, the system makes a couple of clicking sounds, (though not full on grinding noises which the laser does when it isn't making proper contact) and then after a minute or so of trying gives the 'Could not read disc' error.

 

[Sarge]

Well, I do know that replacement lasers aren't too bad to obtain. I've swapped one out myself, although it has been a while.

 

[Aleryn]

I wonder what would happen if you tried it with... the PS2 inverted.

 

[Sarge]

Well, nuts. Got to use my VGA monitor with the MiSTer for a bit... and now it won't stay powered on. I don't think it could have been anything MiSTer-related, but who knows? It seems to be working fine through my LCD monitor (still using VGA), so... maybe I just got really unlucky and it decided it was time to fail. Maybe the power supply components have gone bad.

 

[muteKi]

Having seen lots of videos of monitor power supplies failing to work due to bad caps, I would not be surprised.

 

[Sarge]

Well, on the plus side, it inspired me to hook it up to my Trinitron. I've never seen the NES that clear on a "regular" TV. My word. Guess I know what NESRGB owners have been enjoying for a while!

(And honestly, NES composite isn't that bad on a CRT. Really, it isn't!)

 

[Aleryn]

Standard disclaimer when CRT power supplies are mentioned; please treat them like hot death, they will kill you unless given notable time to discharge.

 

[Phantoon]

Yeah, the stuff inside a CRT is really lethal. Make sure you know what you're doing before you open one up.

 

[Sarge]

Standard disclaimer when CRT power supplies are mentioned; please treat them like hot death, they will kill you unless given notable time to discharge.

Absolutely. Even with my engineering background, I'm not comfortable working on CRTs.

 

[ShakeWell]

Speaking of... I had to drop my PVM off with the guy I bought it from over the summer. The tube just isn't turning on. He thinks it's a cold solder joint somewhere and that (for him) it's an easy-peasy fix. Hope to have it back next week.

 

[Sarge]

Wish I knew someone around me that worked on CRTs. While not an amazing monitor, it was still pretty solid - very bright and crisp, and 17" ain't bad.

Good luck with your PVM. I'd love to find one for myself one of these days.

 

[MCBanjoMike]

(And honestly, NES composite isn't that bad on a CRT. Really, it isn't!)

I beg to differ! I have a pretty decent Sony in the basement with s-video input, but my NES looks like garbage running over composite. Might be that I have a particularly bad console, but it's a blurry mess with occasional diagonal lines running through solid color blocks.

 

[Phantoon]

I think it depends on the TV. The NES looked pretty decent on my portable TV but a smeary mess on the big one, ironically.

 

[Sarge]

I'm pretty sure those diagonal lines are composite noise, yeah. I dunno, it looks pretty good on my Trinitron. It's way, waaaaaay better than composite on the Genesis. Now, toss it on my HDTV and it looks like absolute trash unless I run through a RetroTINK.

Actually, now I'm super curious as to what yours looks like compared to mine! Maybe I'm just more tolerant of that composite noise.

I will say, though, that the output from the MiSTer through component looks beautiful.

 

[Aleryn]

In my experience old console video output varies wildly based on their model, television model, cable model, and lord knows what else.

Which Genesis model are you using, Sarge? I know revisions past the Model 2 are all over the place in hardware quality.

 

[Sarge]

Ha, it depends. I've got several Model 1 systems, all of which are TMSS. One still has an EXT port, the others don't. And then I have a Model 2, and that one probably looks the worst through composite.

Funnily enough, though, a stock Genesis can look better than SNES if you're willing to go the SCART-to-component route. That's what I'm currently using.

 

[Aleryn]

That explains a lot; as a kid I had access to a Model 2 and it just looked bad compared to the SNES. Thanks for clearing that up.

 

[Sarge]

Yeah, if you're curious about the different model revisions, you can always check out this thread: https://www.sega-16.com/forum/showt...-good-Genesis-1s-and-Genesis-2s-from-bad-ones

Basically, video quality on the Model 2s is all over the place, as you mentioned. SNES does a really solid job encoding composite. I'm guessing my Model 2 is one of the lousy encoders mentioned, but I've never cracked it open to confirm.

 

[Mr. Sensible]

Consarnit, this Action Replay disc I'm using to softmod my GameCube isn't reading properly about on about 50% of my attempts to boot it. Retail games still boot fine, so I'm not sure whether this is the fault of a cheaply manufactured AR disc, or some component inside the console's laser assembly slowly dying, or a combination of both.