32X problem. 60% carts not loading

[Mordan]

Hello.

I bought a boxed 32X on ebay.

It loads and plays fine Kolibri and Star Wars

It does not load Chaotix

and freeze at the entry screen Fifa, Virtua Racing, Doom.

As a passthrough, it works fine for bomberman but it screws Jurassic the lost world.

I have cleaned the dirty pins of the cart and 32X, but no changes.

what should I do?

[Mordan]

in passthrough, SoR 3 freeze with a RED SCREEN OF DEATH. I hate this ebay seller. he is a crook.
probotector gets pixel atomized
vectorman does not load.
there is definitely something wrong. Can I fix it?

[nissling]

Open up the 32X och look, it's maybe something there. It can be wery dirty inside a 32X.

Do you have another 32X that works with theese games? It can be something wrong with the games too. Good luck! :)

[TmEE]

A pain maker in 32X are also not so secure ribbon cables... take them out, and put back in... it usually helps too.

[Mordan]

Open up the 32X och look, it's maybe something there. It can be wery dirty inside a 32X.

Do you have another 32X that works with theese games? It can be something wrong with the games too. Good luck! :)

unfortunately it is the first 32X in my life. So I cannot cross check. The probability of having 4 games out of 6 being screwed is nearly null. It must be the 32X. Also the passthrough does work with many MD games? How would you explain that?

I know this seller being a crook. I bought him around the same time 3 boxed N64 controllers. 2 had loose sticks, no inserts, and the green controller didn't come with a box. I also bought him Fantasia for megadrive and he sent me a destroyed paper insert, not the one shown on the picture.
ack!

I opened the 32X. Only the top. Seems pretty clean inside.

TmEe, have you heard a UK 32X not working on the continent? Because I have a French and a Belgian megadrive on which I tested the 32X. Moreover the power adapter of the 32X is plugged in an continent adapter. (i live in Belgium)
Can I power the 32X with a simple Megadrive power adaptor? ( So I won't have to use the continent adapter)
I'm going to try that.

[Mordan]

A pain maker in 32X are also not so secure ribbon cables... take them out, and put back in... it usually helps too.

Ok i just did a clean set up, with shields and good power adaptors.
only one official controller.

I managed to load doom after hitting downwards the cart and the mushroom.

the game would freeeze when I press start.

power off.

power on.

I go in the options and tries to put the music off

the screen freezes.

culprit is probably some audio capabilities that are used only by some games (Q sound maybe?). Seems its use is not doing it any good to my setup.

Can anything be done about that?

[Mordan]

never mind.

after some serious hitting and swearing, I finally made to work all games.

SoR3 goes through fine now.

hmmm.

[Tanegashima]

There is dirt or a loose connection then, your hitting may only be a temporary solution...so good luck.

[Ace]

From what I've experienced, certain models of the Genesis/MegaDrive have problems with the 32X when no Sega CD is present. I had a Model 2 Genesis that would crash every time my Sega CD wasn't plugged in and I had a 32X game running. Of course, you don't NEED to have a Sega CD in order to get the 32X properly working. Sega made a piece that you stick inside the Sega CD expansion slot to stabilize the Genesis. I don't have a picture of it, but it's a small piece of plastic that has a 64-pin connector like the cartridge slot in the Genesis and plugs into the Sega CD slot. Mordan, do you happen to have such a thing? What model is your Genesis/MegaDrive? If you have a model that I know doesn't have problems without the piece or a Sega CD present, you need to open up your 32X and reseat the ribbon cables.

[Tanegashima]

From what I've experienced, certain models of the Genesis/MegaDrive have problems with the 32X when no Sega CD is present. I had a Model 2 Genesis that would crash every time my Sega CD wasn't plugged in and I had a 32X game running. Of course, you don't NEED to have a Sega CD in order to get the 32X properly working. Sega made a piece that you stick inside the Sega CD expansion slot to stabilize the Genesis. I don't have a picture of it, but it's a small piece of plastic that has a 64-pin connector like the cartridge slot in the Genesis and plugs into the Sega CD slot. Mordan, do you happen to have such a thing? What model is your Genesis/MegaDrive? If you have a model that I know doesn't have problems without the piece or a Sega CD present, you need to open up your 32X and reseat the ribbon cables.

I bought my 32X in the box and it had this device. It looks like a cartridge slot with a plastic clip that fits around the expansion port...I had no idea what is was for but I did use it...interesting.

[Mordan]

Mordan, do you happen to have such a thing? What model is your Genesis/MegaDrive? If you have a model that I know doesn't have problems without the piece or a Sega CD present, you need to open up your 32X and reseat the ribbon cables.

thx for your answer.

I have the

Mega Drive 2
MK-1631-50

and

Mega Drive 32X
MK-84200-50

so either I need to have the mega cd or I have to reseat the ribbon cables.
Do you have pictures of those cables? thx

EDIT: I opened the expansion port of the MDII and I saw the orange plastic cover you wrote about.

[Ace]

The orange plastic cover is just a piece of plastic protecting the expansion slot's contacts. This device is black, with a slot resembling that in the MegaDrive. I'll put up a picture to show you(right now, I'm recharging my camera's batteries, so once the charge is complete, I'll show you what the device really looks like).
One more question: look through the air vents under your MegaDrive. Is there a metallic plate that takes up the entire case, or is there plating, then an empty space with black plastic? The latter(I've experienced this first-hand) hates the 32X unless that device is stuck into the expansion slot.