eightbit

Yes. She first replaced all of the power components and recapped and still no sound. It turned out to be the power switch: Odd issue. RGB was not working because the SNES2Jag draws +5V operational power from the audio line which was not working, hence the adapter I was using (Humble Bazooka SNES2JAG) was not working. In the end the board had a recap, the power components replaced, power switch replaced and polarity protection diode installed in power intake. It probably only needed the switch to be replaced, but hey, new caps and power components installed I am certainly OK with.

Kinda jumping the gun there buddy. The top right corner of the page has a "submit inquiry" button that allows you to open an order inquiry. Not sure why you are not seeing it but it is the first thing you see when you access the page:

Some people here may know that recently my Jaguar developed an issue where sound would no longer work. It also would no longer output RGB, but would output video over RF. Checking around in the forums here I found a few people that offer Jag repairs and one person (Christa Lee) caught my eye as someone had mentioned Rich Whitehouse had some of his Jag hardware repaired by her. So, I had reached out and the experience was fantastic! Email transactions were informative and professional and the whole process from start to finish was a breeze. And, most importantly, my Jaguar is now fixed and recapped among other future proofing measures. The turn around time was blazing fast and the repair costs were more than reasonable. I told her I would post here to let others know so here it is. I will be utilizing her services again for certain (I actually am doing that next week with another console that needs some work) and I highly recommend the repair services she provides. I've been enjoying my Jaguar all weekend along with the excellent GameDrive (thanks @SainT!) and I am so glad it is fully functional once again. If anyone requires a repair (or mod, upgrade) on a vintage console such as the Jaguar please go ahead and visit Christa's website here: https://soundretro.co/

It was newly formatted FAT32 using GParted. Fresh format and then copied the games over. I used the same process with the good working 32GB microSD card. I have run into this sort of situation with other flash carts and ODE's in the past as well, so now when I run into loading issues my first instinct is to try different media. Initially when I was getting the black screen with Iron Soldier 2 I searched the forums here and found some other posts with people saying the exact same thing so I chalked it up to a compatibility issue. I was quite surprised to see that the game actually DOES work...just not with my first choice of media. I think my point is really that if people are having issues launching titles it may be a good idea to try alt media. The 32GB microSD card model I use that is working great is quite cheap ($7 and change) and these have been pretty reliable.

Now that my Jaguar is repaired and I can actually play around with the GameDrive I have been having a blast most of the day and evening I did discover fairly quickly however that it is pretty picky when it comes to the flash media. Not necessarily with detecting it, but success rate of loading games. Initially I was using a Sandisk ImageMate 32GB microSD card, this one in particular: https://www.walmart.com/ip/SanDisk-32GB-ImageMate-microSDHC-UHS-1-Memory-Card-Up-to-120MB-s-SDSQUA4-032G-Aw6ka/547052541 It worked fine for the most part...I played quite a few games. But, there were some issues that I would have completely chalked up to the GameDrive versus the media. Stuff like Braindead 13 glitching, Dragon's Lair freezing on launch, Iron Solider II going to a black screen (even the cartridge dump). For the heck of it I decided to change the media and use what I normally use, which is this Sandisk model: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08GY9NYRM/ And wouldn't you know that those problems are gone. I have not tested all of the Jag CD games, but the aforementioned titles now work and Iron Soldier plays just fine (both CD and cart dumps). Maybe all of this is common knowledge but I figured I would throw this out there. If you are having issues it might be the media and not the console or the GameDrive. I find it very odd however that both of these cards have similar specs but one works fine over the other. It must be the NAND flash that is used in each.

I know what it is. Don't expect it to work very well. That device is really for launching homebrew and backing up Dreamcast games for use with emulators. It's very very terrible at launching and playing retail games on the Dreamcast itself. So, if you purchased that to be an ODE device, you have the wrong thing.

As @-^CrossBow^- said, burning speed is the key. Burning backups for many years I know this to be true ever since trying to burn the CDI rip of "Skies of Arcadia" for the Dreamcast. That rip will not play right unless burned at 4X or slower. It was then that I had realized the importance of burning at slow speeds to get these backups running properly. Same goes for the SegaCD, although I did get away with burning games at 8X speed and those worked fine depending on the media used (quality media). The .CDI rips (releases by the groups back in the day) did some things to make those Dreamcast games fit on a 700MB CD-R. Sometimes FMV was removed or downsampled and so on. I recall releasing a title or two where I converted the 44KHz audio tracks to 22KHz to make things fit on a CD-R with some games. The things people tried to pull off to get as much of the game into 700MB were actually quite impressive. Now, the .GDI images are pure 1:1 copies of the original games with nothing ripped out, and no cracktro's. Those are ultimately what you would want to play if at all possible today on a Dreamcast obviously. But, as no commercial GD writers or GD-R discs exist for the general public you are limited to either using them in emulators or on a real Dreamcast via some ODE. I use the GDEMU clone in mine and the experience is superb. Because the hurdles mentioned above, trying to burn games to CD-R today is just not worth it unless you don't have the money to buy ODE's. If that is the case you can find an old PC with a slow burner, get some spindles of Verbatim or Memorex CD-R media and go to town. I have moved my Saturn and DC to ODE's and thank goodness for that. The only console I am burning discs for (for now) is the PS1 and trust me as soon as I can obtain a PSIO that will be enough of that as well.

I have no idea about the DC expansion slot SD reader. I use a GDEMU and that was really easily to set up...but again I used a Windows application to do so (GDMenu Card Manager). So I will be of no help to you there. For Saturn, you should be looking for .BIN/.CUE rips. Usually it will be multiple .BIN files and a .CUE file. But, you'll need to find a burning app on Mac that will burn BIN/CUE format. I am not a Mac person so you should ask someone maybe in some Mac forums? Or, alternately, dual boot the Mac with Windows and use Windows to do this stuff. Or, Linux.

+1 for ImgBurn If going the disc route it is imperative also to burn at 8X or less. Don't expect 16X speed or higher burns to work properly or at all. Sadly you'll need an older CD burner as burners made today cannot burn at lower speeds. The same goes for PS1 burns. I tried just the other day to burn Einhander at 16X with my modern PC just to see if this console can handle it, but the cinematics were a choppy mess. Went over to my P4 rig and burned it the same way (same media type) at 8X and it works smooth as butter. I don't think a lot of people realize this at all honestly. One more reason moving over to ODE' s for playing backups is just a more feasible option in today's world.

Find yourself a OPTi MAD16 Pro card. I installed it in my 486 and I have never looked back. I also have a GUS in this machine for other stuff, but I no longer need to use one for effects and one for music. The MAD16 covers it all, not to mention it is a freaking awesome SB16 clone. A quick search found one at a reasonable (for today at least) price...with real Yamaha OPL: https://www.ebay.com/itm/156167227472 If you need the driver floppy image I have attached it to this post. MAD16PRO.IMA

I didn't know this was a thing until this evening. I have been testing my Harmony Encore cart on my recently acquired heavy sixer and everything was working great. From Starpath titles, homebrew, demos, games...until... I tested California Games. Black screen, lost TV signal. Then Winter Games, same thing. It seems the Epyx games will not work at all. I found some older threads here on AA that appear to confirm that some other people with heavy sixers have the same issue with the Epyx titles. Some have issues with River Raid II as well, but that game works fine on mine. I haven't seen any real explanation of why those Epyx games are not working however. Not that it is a huge deal as I can play them on my 7800 with GameDrive (and I have tested the same roms, and they work there), but I am really curious now. What is it with those titles that is so special that they would not run on a heavy sixer? Some people say they work on theirs in some posts I have read, some say that they do not. I wonder if there is something in the rom code that can be modified in order to get these to work in heavy sixers that otherwise would fail launching them?

I guess I have been out of the loop on the development of an affordable GBC DIY build based on FPGA. Here is a review from Lon on Youtube: This looks great and it is finally an affordable FPGA device. I ended up ordering the parts from https://funnyplaying.com/ which ended up at around $83 total shippped. I can't speak for this personally until I get it so don't take this post as a recommendation. But, I will post again when I have it all together and let everyone know how I feel about it. However, looks pretty good!

A couple of things for sale: BennVenn El Cheapo SD v2.2 for Gameboy - I purchased this some time ago with the intent of using it with a Super Gameboy. It comes up to the BennVenn intro screen and goes to initialize the microSD save file but freezes there. It might be the microSD I was using, cluster size, or maybe it is not compatible with the Super Gameboy...I have no idea. I didn't have time to investigate and still don't. Take it for $20 shipped and see if it works for you ***SOLD*** Sega Saturn Console with 100 Campaign Box and Controller - The system is in excellent condition, works perfectly and has a brand new Duracell CR-2032 installed. Comes with the original controller, power cable, composite and s-video a/v cable and original 100 Campaign box. The box has seen better days but it is perfectly displayable. $200 shipped takes this. PM!

I've been digging around for you and came across a post here: https://www.forumvancouver.com/threads/the-good-old-bbs-days.7194/ I personally have never heard of this BBS software and it makes sense as the developer was from Canada and it appears the software was in heavy use for BBS's in Vancouver. That said, have you tried asking in the FB group for that area? https://www.facebook.com/groups/2316899757/

Say, Say, Say....Never trade white for black, or vice versa!

I recently came across a nice heavy sixer and two CX-10 joysticks that from the outside look new. However the boards have control issues and I have no idea how to fix them. Directionals have issues (down on one controller, up and right on another IIRC). Its a long shot I know, but does anyone have NOS replacement boards? CX-40 boards will not work btw. PM if you do!

I can say from owning many of Lotharek's devices that they are always top quality. I don't have experience with his Fujinet device but I can imagine it is very well put together. I'll have to give it a try when my wallet permits

It must have only affected very early (launch) models. Mine was certainly painted.

I was about to just buy one since they are pretty cheap (and I probably still will if I don't get any bites) but I figured I might as well ask and see if perhaps someone has a Harmony Cart they are not using and might want to trade it for something. I have random good stuff PM if you have one you would like to trade!

Purchased a really nice white Japanese Sega Saturn from Sir Guntz with a pretty hard to obtain VCD card and it arrived in beautiful condition. I can absolutely recommend this AA member. Thank you again!

Ebay auctions are weird in this way. Sometimes for no obvious reason at all one auction just explodes. I take them with a grain of salt for sure. But, I do know from trying to obtain one of these over the years that I was always most certainly looking at over $100. This seller was actually asking $100 initially for untested. I offered $50, he countered with $75. I accepted at that and figured I would just cross my fingers and hope for the best. I was confused on the joysticks when I got them. Buttons that click? Joysticks that were clicky? Are these bootlegs? "TOP" is not printed on them? But the connector ends are printed Atari...hmm. Well, it took some reading online to realize these were CX-10 joysticks. I never owned these and had no idea. Learned something new in the process! And, definitely not flipping. I got this because I wanted it!

It does work, perfectly. And, I am not so sure if this would have been too much, even not working. I saw this auction end at over $400 and I have to wonder why: https://www.ebay.com/itm/156122483746 Because of the CX-10 controllers? The boxed games? Low SN? People just bidding like crazy? Not that I am flipping this...this is for my personal collection. I never actually owned an Atari heavy sixer. I did own a Sears Tele-Games heavy sixer which I gave to my brother as a gift some years ago, but that's it. Seeing the prices these things command now I said to myself either I will find one locally or not own one. I figured I would just never own one but as luck would have it today was the day

I gave it a wipe down with some Windex...and very carefully as to not wipe off any of the orange pain that remained And, I used some q-tips and got into the grooves a bit. Then blew it off with compressed air. I really only put like 10 minutes into cleaning. This is what it looked like before any cleaning (the FB marketplace listing picture):

I was pretty surprised to find this today locally: It came with two CX-10 joysticks, a set of paddles and Combat. The kid who sold it didn't know if it worked...and didn't know how to hook it up. $75 total which I thought was a good deal. And just when I thought I would never find anything in the wild again

I will certainly follow the AVG cart project as it seems like it has a lot going for it. I don't think honesty you can make any truly "bad" choices with any of these devices. Be it the AVG cart, SDrive Max or Fujinet. Just have to compare and weigh out the options depending on what works for you. We should be so lucky that we even have options at all