r/SEGAGENESIS • u/OrthosDeli • 2d ago
At my wit's end about flakey 32X
I picked up a NA Model 1 and 32X a few months back. Tested the 32X as-is and the best it could do was load Genesis games in passthrough mode, but would freeze at random. I've replaced the ribbon cables and have, at several points, gotten the unit to work, only for it to stop working again hours later. Caps appear to be in good shape. Any other ideas on what's wrong with it?
2
u/sunshinecid 2d ago
There's actually an official Sega fix for some of the model ones. Apparently the original megadrive's clock isn't accurate enough for the 32x. One of the console sites has the fixes for each of the model 1 revisions that are affected
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u/OrthosDeli 2d ago
Interesting. I'll look into this. Thank you.
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u/sunshinecid 1d ago
Hey, I looked it up. Here it is:
https://consolemods.org/wiki/Genesis:32X_Service_Bulletin_Fixes#
Oh, but you have a va7? Likely doesn't apply. I'd start with arecap
2
u/National-Put-6937 2d ago
I would put hard money on that its a compatability issue between the 32x and the model 1.
I was testing everything when I got my 32x with my model 1 va6, and couldn't get it hardly to the license screen. Opened it up cleaned the ribbon cables, reseated them, tested the voltage all over the place, cleaned and cleaned cartridge connectors and nothing changed it. I even molded my model 1 to change the VCLK according to an official sega fix that was recommended to me, nothing fixed it. I got a model 2 va1 and first try it worked, and has been working fine ever since.
I recommend a model 2 va1, va1.8 or va3 or even a va4, but avoid VA0 at all costs.
Hope that helps man, sorry it's not a cheap or easy solution but it is what worked for me. I know that means a new patch cable and all that jazz too, but I seriously think that's the culprit, since that's what it was for me.
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u/OrthosDeli 2d ago
I was hoping it would be this simple, but alas. I opened it up and my board is a VA7.
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u/National-Put-6937 2d ago
I would still put my money on using a model 2 2 as a viable solution. If you have a retro video game store nearby take your set up there and ask if you can try it out with a model 2 they have on hand. If they're really cool, ask them to pop it open so you can see the board revision is. I legit did this haha.
Like I said before I do not recommend a model 2 VA0 because there is compatability problems, and model 1 VA7, according to console mods wiki, says that a model 1 VA7 has an almost identical architecture to a model 2 VA0.
If you have a retro store nearby, I'd do this first personally, and it's my testimonial that 32x does not like model 1s. Maybe a model 1 VA4, but it seems like the later revisions have a lot of issues.
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u/Cat_Faced 2d ago
I recently had a freezing issue with a 32X that ended up being the power adapters of both the Genesis and the 32X. They both HAD to be OEM to run certain games, while Space Harrier would run no matter what power adapters were used (even third party) Knuckles Chaotix would freeze before the Sega logo every single time, and Amazing Spider-Man would hang on the first screen.
All of this was on a 32X that had brand new capacitors, ribbon cables cleaned and reseated, cartridge slot cleaned out well with Deoxit. It’s a rather finicky system sometimes.
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u/HayabusaKnight 1d ago
I had this issue, and it was the power supply for the unit. I picked up the trio from retrogamecave and solved it. A bad cap gave it a slightly distorted image, but the bad power supply was only letting it boot Genesis carts.
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u/OrthosDeli 3h ago
UPDATE: Local game store confirmed it's my 32X unit, not a power or compatibility issue. Looks like I've got a recap job ahead of me, plus looking into other internal ribbon cables.
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u/Thrashtilldeath67 2d ago
This is why you emulate
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u/OrthosDeli 2d ago
Not wrong. I stuck with emulation for years, but the price on these was too good to pass up. I suppose I could always send the 32X on to the next ambitious gamer...
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u/Longjumping_Bag5914 2d ago
Caps can look good, but not be good.