Another Sega CD... another Sega CD problem...

[HetmanTancred]

So I decided to buy another Sega CD this time for that Collector's Cards and Games fellow and it just came today. Dude promised all the consoles work. Bullshit.

This Sega CD actually does power on unlike my previous one but it doesn't read jack shit. Android Assault (actual Sega CD game in great condition) froze after the 2nd screen. Now it doesn't read the disc at all. It read about half of the music CD's I inserted but didn't read past the seventh second of track 1 on any of them. Goddammit, why am I so unlucky with Sega CD's? Is there anything I could do besides emailing him and requesting an exchange? If I could salvage this somehow, I'd do it. Post office isn't nearby and its damn hot nowadays...

[Joe Redifer]

It sucks but an exchange or refund is really the only thing you can do.

[HetmanTancred]

Seems like it. I just tried it with a different Genesis and of course no difference whatsoever. I sent the dude an email and he responded saying it was working when he shipped it out. He played Sonic CD and Wheel of Fortune on it. Either he's lying or it got damaged in the shipping or he sent out a different Sega CD. I highly doubt my 32x could be interferring with the CD laser...

[Joe Redifer]

He probably just booted it up, saw the title screen of a game and that was good enough for him. Is there a Sonic CD and/or Wheel of Fortune save file in the back-up memory? Let him know that your dealings with him are being publicly described on the internet.

[HetmanTancred]

With the help of a dude on one of the Genesis newsgroups, I managed to switch drives from my first broken Sega CD to this new one. It works perfectly now. I'm gonna email the dingleberry asking for a partial refund. There were no saves. The internal memory has to be formatted each time I start it up. Pretty sure the battery is dead. Looks like I'll have to replace it. If it is replaceable... anyone got any info on the internal ram?

[nik]

With the help of a dude on one of the Genesis newsgroups, I managed to switch drives from my first broken Sega CD to this new one. It works perfectly now. I'm gonna email the dingleberry asking for a partial refund. There were no saves. The internal memory has to be formatted each time I start it up. Pretty sure the battery is dead. Looks like I'll have to replace it. If it is replaceable... anyone got any info on the internal ram?

If you'll be playing lots of games, or even just Shining Force CD you'll want the RAM cart... you need it just to play the 3rd quest on that game.

Replacing the battery is easy, I'm sure you knew that though... very small memory, kind of a shame.

[HetmanTancred]

Yea I know. And I heard Lunar and Third World War take up the entire save. Ah... if only I them ram carts were cheap and I had cash...

BTW, is the Sega CD battery the same as the Saturn one?

EDIT - it appears that the Sega CD battery is soldered in... haha... I'm screwed :(

[HetmanTancred]

Yes you gotta de-solder and solder in a new battery. I don't have a soldering iron so I'll just have to save up some cash for the ram cart. Plus all that soldering work isn't even worth the 125 blocks.

The dude agreed to a partial refund... without the shipping. I just gave up and said fine fuck it, at least I'm getting something back. It would've been only a 4 dollar difference anyway....

[Joe Redifer]

Sounds cool. I can understand not wanting to refund the shipping.

[HetmanTancred]

Ah apparently I don't need to replace the battery. This dude on newsgroups quotes the Sega CD manual:

"The Sega-CD will retain saved games for up to one month without being
powered on. After that time, saved data may disappear. If that happens,
you'll need to reformat the internal memory. Reformatting will erase any
remaining saved games. After reformatting, leave the Sega-CD powered on
for at least six hours before using its internal memory again."

[Joe Redifer]

Maybe it uses the recharge method like the TurboGrafx did.

[nik]

that kind of sucks, I guess it won't hold your save games for very long!

[Joe Redifer]

I've never had a problem. The TurboGrafx says to turn it on once every two weeks. I've left it off for months and months and months and my files were still there.

[David J.]

I've left my Sega CD systems abandoned for month and whatever saves where on the system where there when I decided to go back and play some more.

[HetmanTancred]

Well my Sega CD was on for 5 hours last night and another 7 during the day. I saved something and it was deleted next time I turned it on. Guess the battery is out of juice and can't be recharged. Oh well. 125 blocks isn't a lot of space in the first place and buying a soldering iron, a battery, de-soldering, and soldering in a new one (for someone who has never soldered anything before) is dangerous and too much of a hassle for 125 blocks of space. I'll try to save up some cash for a backup cart...

[nik]

usually hits about 30 on the epay, just get a loose one