Sega 32X System Buzzing, Humming, Crying Noise.....

[ooXxXoo]

Hey oo, if you don't mind me asking, how much did you pay for that 32X? I've never seen one at the Goodwill stores around here.

It was $15 + local taxes.......Not the best price ever, but it is in good condition aside for the minor buzzing issue, now fixed....

[TmEE]

VA0 is the first revision, VA1 next and so on...

[gamevet]

Sega could have gone cheap almost at the end of the 32X lifetime., or, it could be a very early revision run( and later after, they found a more susitable replacement part) ...

I doubt they'd go cheap on something like that. It probably costed Sega about 10 cents with a bulk order.

[Natural_High]

Bringing back this thread to avoid creating another one!

Hey guys. Some time ago I got hand on a 32x. At the time I didn't have a spare PSU to test it, so I just tried with a MD game, unpowered (I know it's not recommended), and it worked. So, being stupid, I decided to mod it with a region switch, beacause I have Tempo 32x NTSC game (also got a MD with region/hz switches) before really testing the 32x powered. What happened, was that I screwed up by breaking a bit of solder when making sure it wasn't touching anything else. So the result was this:



You can see the missing solder point and connection to the IC right on that spot.

Few days ago I got hold of a universal PSU (1000ma) and decided to try it.
The console seems to work in PAL mode (since it's 0v on that pin, anyway). However it makes a strange noise, more like white noise from a TV. (it's coming from the 32x, not MD).
Now, I don't know if it would make the noise before messing it up, or if it's because I broke that little point. Any ideas? Read that a lot of people were having this same problem, and wasn't because of the PSU. Btw, is it possible to fix it by remaking the path that existed before with a bit of solder, and connect that pin to the 0v source, and maybe applying the switch anyway?

[Natural_High]

UPDATE: tried reducing from 9v @ 1000ma, on the universal PSU connected to the 32x, to 7.5v and the 32x stopped making the strange noise! After all seems it's PSU related. I'm gonna try to find an official Md2/genesis2 PSU and check if it still makes that buzz.

Anyhow, I don't know if it's normal, but when I switch to 60hz playing Sonic & Knuckles the game starts to have some slowdowns. Is it because I'm not using a 1.2A PSU as requested by the console? I have both consoles (32x and MD connected to 1A PSUs)

[Tor Landeel]

I killed a 32x doing the same job. It never recovered (but I made one working out two broken..so that's even!)

[Guntz]

I can just see the irony; after years of abuse and not caring at all from owners of the 32X, numbers grow scarce and then all the prices start shooting up after people realize it's not such a crappy system and discover it's become obscenely rare.

People fawn over the Virtual Boy like it's a misunderstood wonder, as if it was one of the best things Nintendo ever did. Sega 32X? Nope! Nobody cares about it, even though it has much better and far more games than the Virtual Boy ever did and has tons more colors.

[Natural_High]

My 32x seems to be working fine. The noise vanished when I reduced the voltage. Guess I'm gonna try and apply the switch anyway!

What about the slowdowns in S&K at 60hz? Power issues also? Other games I tried, like streets of rage seem to be fine at 60hz...

Btw, believe it or not, I've never had a 32x in my hands unless for the past year or so. It's hard to see one in my area, and I believe, in my country. I consider myself lucky for finding one for about 20€ ~ 20$ without any cables and untested!

[Guntz]

If I might ask, what version of the 32X do you have? Is it a Genesis 32X? Or is a Mega Drive 32X or whatever they call it in Euro-land.

[Natural_High]

PAL version as you can see from the pic above! Just 32x or Mega Drive 32x.

[kool kitty89]

I can just see the irony; after years of abuse and not caring at all from owners of the 32X, numbers grow scarce and then all the prices start shooting up after people realize it's not such a crappy system and discover it's become obscenely rare.

It was rather rare to begin with, and losing the cables is rather common (there's tons of genesis consoles with little or no hook ups or accessories too, but replacements are easier to find).

It's more just an issue in rising collectability and awareness of its existence (AVGN and other retro reviewer/shows come into play as well), it has happened much, much worse with the far more scarce Jaguar (some 230k made vs over 600k).

Of course, the 32x is really rare in Japan and Europe, and JP/PAL specific 32xs go for much more. (especially in Europe where there's more demand)

For popular consoles, there's so much volume, that you'd need a massive push in demand to drive prices up. (hence why most genesis stuff being pretty affordable, though SNES stuff does more often have that massive drive for higher prices -NES stuff less so, in part due to extreme commonality)

Hell, look at with the US version of the Master System II, a nominally inferior model, but significantly more expensive due to rarity and thus collectability. (vs the PAL SMSII that tends to be dirt cheap)

People fawn over the Virtual Boy like it's a misunderstood wonder, as if it was one of the best things Nintendo ever did. Sega 32X? Nope! Nobody cares about it, even though it has much better and far more games than the Virtual Boy ever did and has tons more colors.

Nah, a lot of people think the VB is pretty crap too, it just gets less flak as often because it's Nintendo, and hey, they're still in the console business, so it can't be so bad, riiight???

[TmEE]

from the photos here I see that people have forgotten to remove the 0ohm resistor and that will cause a short circuit between 5V and GND

[omp]

from the photos here I see that people have forgotten to remove the 0ohm resistor and that will cause a short circuit between 5V and GND

I was thinking the same the other night, but that french guide shows leaving it in as "option 2". It should be pissed off but I haven't modded a 32X this way.

[TmEE]

And the guy has signal for switch connected to a 5V line not the selection signal on the photo...

[Natural_High]

from the photos here I see that people have forgotten to remove the 0ohm resistor and that will cause a short circuit between 5V and GND

I always thought about that, but I guess the guide doesn't refer anything about removing it. Have you ever made any mod of this kind on a 32x?