The Blog

Aiwa Sega Mega-CD CSD-GM1 Game Unit in Standalone Mode

Nix McRetro // 6th August 2013 // Hacks, Repairs, Sega

You don’t need no stinkin’ boombox to play Mega Drive games, just a suitable regulated 5 V power supply. My test supply was rated for 2 A on the 5 V rail, but that is the current it can provide, not current it forces into the Game Unit. So you’ve... Continue reading

Super Nintendo / SNES Cartridge Battery Holder Installation

Nix McRetro // 6th August 2013 // Hacks, Nintendo, Repairs

Zip, zap and away! The idea here is simple: replace the soldered cartridge battery with a holder so that the next battery replacement does not require desoldering anything. SNES cartridges that use battery-backed SRAM rely on that battery to preserve their save data while the console is switched off. Just... Continue reading

Aiwa Mega-CD CSD-GM1 Unit-02 Mainboard Cross-Test with Both Game Units

Nix McRetro // 6th August 2013 // Repairs, Sega, YouTube

The revision 2 02-01 mainboard is the only one of my two Aiwa mainboards passing power through to the Game Unit section at the moment, so I’m using it to test both Game Units. That’s right, including the one I borrowed the Mega-CD BIOS chip from and previously fitted with... Continue reading

Aiwa Mega-CD CSD-GM1 02-01 Rev 2 Mainboard Recap

Nix McRetro // 6th August 2013 // Repairs, Sega, YouTube

Back to the revision 2 Aiwa mainboard, silkscreened 02-01. At this point it is the only one of my two CSD-GM1 mainboards passing power through to the Game Unit section, which makes it useful for comparing both Game Units. Came across a few problems on this one, never fear there... Continue reading

Aiwa Sega Mega-CD CSD-GM1 Unit-01 Mainboard: More Capacitors

Nix McRetro // 6th August 2013 // Repairs, Sega, YouTube

Discovered I was shipped a wrong-value capacitor by Element14. Same physical size, but not the same electrical properties! Lucky I decided to use a 16 V-rated replacement or I may have never noticed. Would it have made a difference in the long term, who knows! This is the revision 1... Continue reading