The Blog

Japanese Sega Saturn, VA0 Dreamcast and TeraDrive Power Checks

Nix McRetro // 14th May 2012 // Repairs, Sega

Japanese Sega Saturn, VA0 Dreamcast and TeraDrive Power Checks

Japanese Sega Saturn Today I received my white Japanese Model 2 Sega Saturn from Japan. Look at it. Isn’t it just the cleanest-looking Saturn design you have seen? Well, compared with PAL Saturns at least. I’ve added it to the photo gallery too. It powers on without issue through the... Continue reading

Sega TeraDrive 286 Diagnostics

Nix McRetro // 13th May 2012 // IBM PC, Sega

Figured I should hit the Sega TeraDrive up with some diagnostics and found out some things I didn’t know. 1. The embedded SEGA startup environment appears to be based on PC DOS 3.x, and the version running here reports PC DOS 3.30. This is separate from the IBM DOS J4.0/V... Continue reading

Sega Mega-CD Karaoke Microphone - Faulty

Nix McRetro // 13th May 2012 // Repairs, Sega, YouTube

Well, it appears that the microphone cartridge is faulty. I’ve ordered a 600-ohm BG-58 dynamic microphone cartridge as a possible replacement. At this point it is still an experiment, so I won’t know whether it is electrically and mechanically suitable until it arrives. Hopefully we can restore this thing to... Continue reading

Sega TeraDrive with Windows 2.1, Windows 3.00a and Game Boy

Nix McRetro // 13th May 2012 // IBM PC, Nintendo, Sega

First up, some testing with Windows 2.1. It worked surprisingly well from a single floppy disk. Next came a proof-of-concept Windows 3.00a install. I stripped it down until I could cram the whole thing onto a floppy and, somehow, that worked too. And finally, the end result. Note the change... Continue reading

Sega TeraDrive Demo: Sonic 1 and Sega Menu

Nix McRetro // 10th May 2012 // Sega, YouTube

Above is a demo of the TeraDrive using its VGA output alongside composite video from the Mega Drive side. Interestingly, the Genesis cartridges I tested did not play, while the PAL Mega Drive cartridges I tried did. That should not be taken as a blanket rule for Genesis and PAL... Continue reading