The Blog

Sega TeraDrive WDL-330P Hard Drive Overview

Nix McRetro // 18th July 2013 // Sega, YouTube

Just some poking around at how these hard drives were put together, nothing terribly exciting but figured the internet should have more on these WDL-330P drives. Continue reading

Damaged S-MIX on a SNES SNSP-CPU-02 Mainboard

Nix McRetro // 13th July 2013 // Nintendo, Repairs

Damaged S-MIX on a SNES SNSP-CPU-02 Mainboard

As you can see there is a hole blown through the S-MIX chip at U10. The following repair attempt will proceed in the next few weeks. +---+--+---+ 1OUT |1 +--+ 14| 4OUT -1In |2 13| -4In +1In |3 12| +4In VCC |4 11| VEE +2In |5 10| +3In -2In |6... Continue reading

Super Nintendo Serial UP15971140 PPU1 Trace Repair

Nix McRetro // 11th July 2013 // Nintendo, Repairs, YouTube

Here we go repairing the traces that were corroded away by an unknown liquid - probably many eons ago. Step by step I solder the three broken traces back to their correct connections and bit by bit we restore the SNES to life! Continue reading

Super Nintendo Serial UP17548016 Capacitor Replacement

Nix McRetro // 11th July 2013 // Nintendo, Repairs, YouTube

We are recapping a 1CHIP SNES today and here’s the process I follow and, as a general rule, follow whenever I do some recapping. I personally prefer electrolytic radial to electrolytic SMD. It doesn’t look as pretty, but it should last a little longer than their SMD counterparts. Just look... Continue reading

Tips on Removing SMD Electrolytic Capacitors

Nix McRetro // 11th July 2013 // Repairs, YouTube

Here’s what I do when removing SMD capacitors from boards. So far I’ve had two lifted pads. One was the very first I removed (whoops!) and the latest was on a SNES that had corroded the trace and pad on the main board. You can’t win them all, just hope... Continue reading