The Blog

Amstrad Sega Mega PC 386SX CPU Replacement Attempt

Nix McRetro // 20th July 2012 // IBM PC, Repairs, Sega

Amstrad Sega Mega PC 386SX CPU Replacement Attempt

The time has come. We wish you a safe journey, AMD 386SX CPU. You have served us well. Armed with a heat gun and flux, work begins on my attempt to create a 50 MHz Amstrad Mega PC. That 50 MHz target needs a little explanation. The original Am386SX does... Continue reading

Sega Mega Drive 2 DC-In Power Socket Repair

Nix McRetro // 18th July 2012 // Repairs, Sega, YouTube

Got a bad feeling about your DC-in power socket on your Mega Drive 2? Disconnect the console from power before opening it and inspect where the DC-in socket connects to the mainboard. In this particular Mega Drive 2 the fault was a cracked solder joint, and resoldering the connection restored... Continue reading

Sega Mega Drive 32X Photos

Nix McRetro // 17th July 2012 // Sega

The Mega Drive 32X. One small step for man. 50,000 polygons for mankind! Sega’s marketing claimed around 50,000 texture-mapped polygons per second. That figure is best treated as a theoretical marketing number rather than real-world game performance, but it certainly sounded impressive in the mid-‘90s. Nice rear. AV in, AV... Continue reading

Sega Mega Drive Arcade Power Sticks and a Green-Screen Mystery

Nix McRetro // 16th July 2012 // Repairs, Sega

Sega Mega Drive Arcade Power Sticks and a Green-Screen Mystery

A rather slow weekend. Most of it was spent looking through what I have and trying to decide what I am willing to part with. I cleaned out a Sega Mega Drive Arcade Power Stick ready to sell. Cleaned up pretty well! Next came a Mega Drive Arcade Power Stick... Continue reading

Learning to Desolder ICs

Nix McRetro // 14th July 2012 // Repairs

Before I attack anything particularly valuable, it seems like a good idea to learn how to desolder multi-pin ICs without completely destroying everything around them. These videos are my practice runs. I was experimenting with heat, flux and removing chips from scrap hardware before moving on to the considerably more... Continue reading