battleman13

Loved the original, as it was such a cool concept and filled a much needed gap on the lynx. Admittedly, I need to get rear in gear on finishing it. I struggled early on with getting killed a good bit, and never revisited. I need to do that. I ended up doing something similar with Super Mario 64 as a kid. Never gave it a fair shake. Barely got to the second floor of the castle. Wrote it off. All these years later, I try again and wow... I missed out on a great great game! I won't do that with these games. So I will dig out my copy of Wyvern Tales (safely tucked away in my filing cabinet) and get to playing on my lynx! This announcement was the push I need to finally grab a Jaguar console (despite already owning several CIB JAG games and a Jaguar Game Drive flash cart....). To ebay I go! I realize this game will take some time yet, but I eagerly look forward to it!

Picked up a US Model 1 Sega CD on eBay. $180... "untested" (so someone, at some point, had a failed repair). Came with the proper OEM sega DC power adapter. Someone was in there for sure, as the shield over the CD wasn't put back on right, and there as a solder blob bridging legs on one of the IC's on the power input / AV board. The fuse is blown and it was a replacement (not factory), I temporarily jumped it after measuring voltage in / out of it. I have it powering on, but apart from an initial light up of the Ready / Access lights it just sits on the initial BIOS screen. No music, no animation. From the research I've done, it could be anything from bad caps, an issue with the sega genesis unit, trace issues, or the CD drive not being "attached" to the motherboard (issues with the ribbon connecting them). The model 1 genesis I have attached to it works fine. I have other model 2 genesis units I can try? I suppose I can start with a new fuse, and recapping everything but I'm thinking that's not it. I'm wondering if I have a failed BIOS chip and or issues with traces / that CD drive ribbon. No caps look visibly leaked, and the boards look overall pretty clean. Could that solder blob have caused it? It was on IC2 on the power / AV board. Two legs were bridged, cleaned up rather easy with just some flux and a clean knife edge tip. Anyone got good experience with the model 1 sega CD? Hoping to get this one working, it's got the rarer JVC transport in it.

Excited to cross Wyvern Tales off this list soon! I did get in on the most recent pre order There are quite a bit of titles I haven't played though. I was going through and doing reviews for the lynx game review thread, based upon games that were never reviewed yet. I suppose I should also consider Lynx games I've never tried before!

I had a very similar thing going on when games would boot up on my own Lynx 2 units with the BV screen. Ben believes it to be a ram / Suzy issue.... and he was quite nice enough about it as well, to even offer a replacement screen though he was 99% sure the issue wasn't with the screen. I'm half tempted to fire up that game on my BV modded lynx 2 and see if I have the same results. I have a half baked theory that these pixels are "normal", just not highly visibly on the original units due to the poor screen quality, lower resolution, and contrast issues.... maybe I'm completely wrong though and you do happen to have two different units with the same graphical artificating issues. It's quite possible it is, as Ben says, a ram / suzy problem

The beauty of the lynx 2 is that you can bypass nearly everything that is finicky, and everything that you can bypass isn't necessary for operation. The ole "5V trick". On a lynx 1 it would be C39, and on a Lynx 2 it would be C41. Simply have a game inserted (or short out pins 31 and 33 on the cart slot) and then supply that capacitor with 5V 1A to the legs, respecting polarity. If your lynx is in working condition, it will work now. If it doesn't work after doing the 5V trick, tracing through the power stage and recapping the unit won't make a difference (save for replacing the two big power caps... that you should do no matter what). So if you can't get the unit working using the 5V trick, I wouldn't worry about anything else. Replace the two largest caps on the board, and then work on getting the game to run with the 5V trick applied. If that trick doesn't work, it means you have damage to either one of the two custom CPU's or damage to the ram chips. As well, it could mean you have a dirty / damaged cart slot. Check to make sure the pins aren't bent or out of place, try a different game if you have one as I have run into the rare game or two that just wouldn't boot be it they the contacts are dirty and sometimes the cart just outright won't work at all (which is why I prefer to jump pins 31 and 33 on the cart slot, eliminates yet another variable). The flex membrane can give you issues, but you've trimmed the very edge of yours... so you should be good there. You could have a bad screen, but that is somewhat rare and if it was JUST a bad screen you'd still get sound. Try chips challenge if you have access to it, or crystal mines. They both play sound right away. The power socket should be replaced, the console 5 kit comes with one. But it's not your issue here. Console 5 also mentions replacing the part at R74 with a 30 ohm resistor. Supposedly slightly raises voltages a few tenths of a volt, and that helps wake up some picky lynx units.

If you pumped 5V 1A directly into the legs of C41 (and had polarity correct) you should have had a game running. I like to do this with a game like chips challenge, that plays sound almost right away. Lets you know if the game is "playing blind" so to speak. Meaning the game is running, sound coming out of the speaker (which keys you in to the game running) but nothing on the display. Lets you know at least "most things" are working OK. If you are not getting sound or video, with 5V going in to C41 then you likely have damaged one of the two custom Lynx CPU's or the two ram chips.

Preordered my copy (a week or two ago actually)! Can't wait for it to come in.

I have hmmm... One nice condition "Japanese Made" Lynx 1 that is midway through refurbishing. I need to finish the power circuit rebuild. Works very well. Already replaced the power caps. One non working Lynx 1... pretty rough shape and missing the battery door and the cart slot cover. Eh. She's pretty much a parts Lynx. Haven't tried too hard to save it yet. One nice, working Lynx 2. I upgraded it with a BennVenn solder in version as I bought my BV kits right before the solderless were announced. One decent shape, non working Lynx 2. Fair shell, lens may be a bit rough but I might be able to polish out the scratches. Clean and not busted up. At least 3 non working motherboards, maybe 4, for Lynx 2. So 2 basically working consoles, one of each model, and likely enough parts to get 2 more working, one of each model. 4 lynxes? Lynxi? What is the plural of Lynx? 4 seems a good number for one man

Thank you for updating, I'm sure it will help someone in the future! Odd that the zenner failed so soon after replacement, but you are luck that failure and the resulting increased voltage into the custom CPU's didn't kill one or both of em.

Ordered my copy! Question about Crystal Mines Burried Treasure... do you have to beat all the original levels to play the new levels? Or how does that work? Level codes published in the manual?

If your applying 5V (stable... and not high amps... 1 amp would probably be enough) directly into the legs of C41 and the machine is not "working" there are two likely culprits. 1) The cart slot and or the cartridge are dirty. A hacky way to check that is to remove and insert the card, with a wee bit of force, about 10 or 15 times. Then test the machine. Cart slots can also have bent, corroded or burned up pins. 2) One or both of the custom CPU's got damaged by over volting when you applied AC / Battery power. Those are 9V power sources that get regulated down to 5V by the power circuit. When components in that circuit fail (and the original parts are often failed by now) they can fail one of two ways. Closed, or open. In one case, the unit simply won't power up. In the other case, 9V is fed into parts that should only get 5V. If it's the 9V into 5V case... those custom CPU chips or the ram chips can be destroyed... essentially making that lynx junk. Unless you want to order proper replacements from Best Electronics in California and have the hot air station and skills to replace those quad flat pack chips. In a healthy lynx 2 (meaning the critical, nearly non replaceable parts are OK) applying 5V to C41 and having a game in the cart slot will have the system auto start and the game load. This bypasses anything beyond the ram chips and the custom CPU's. The only factor here, beyond that, would be a faulty screen, bad power caps, bad or dirty cartridge, or a bad or dirty cartridge slot.

Did you ever try to install a BV screen on this early Lynx 2? Curious if it worked or not.

Cool! I assume we will just order directly through the songbird website?

That's the way I always test a board, 5V directly into the legs of the larger power cap (C39 for lynx 1, C41 for lynx 2). No danger of blowing anything up that way.

Analogue makes a great product, but they have very limited bandwidth to deliver those products. Their SuperNT (FPGA recreation of the Super Nintendo) has been out of stock for over a year IIRC. Their Mega SG (Sega Genesis FPGA system) just sold out and likely won't be back in stock for a long time to come. Analog has the pocket and their turbografx systems coming. The pre orders for the pocket sold out in like 60 seconds, and it was a small quantity. I don't know that you'll be able to order any of the mentioned systems easily in the next 1-2 years. Fixing original hardware may be your only choice.

Finally got one of the lynx units fully finished, the one for my grandfather. Can't wait to deliver it to him sometime soon. A lynx 2 that has full board refurb, benvenn screen upgrade, and a replacement speaker installed as well as a benvenn flashcart. He has no idea new modern screens were adapted to be usable with the lynx, nor that throughout the years homebrew devs have continued creating new content for the lynx. I imagine he will be thrilled! That just leaves... a lot, on the to do list. Including finishing my own personal lnyx 2 as it still needs it's BV screen fitted, and my very clean and nice looking model 1 lynx needs it's power circuit rebuilt and i'll probably keep it's stock screen as it's got to be one of the best original screens I've ever seen. Lastly, a few lynx 2 boards that I need to try to get at least one more working board out of. I have another empty lynx 2 shell that is in nice shape. Might as well try to make another complete unit. I have a BV screen for that one as well, if I ever get it put together. I posted pictures in the facebook atari fans group.

It's actually quite rare that caps are the culprits with a lynx unit that won't "fire" beyond the larger power caps (C39 on Lynx 1, C41 on Lynx 2) More likely, the cartridge slot is dirty or the pins are bent on the slot. If it's just a screen issue, you can easily verify by putting a game in and turning the sound up. If it's only the screen, the unit will "play blind" to borrow an arcade game phrase. You'll hear the sounds and music, you can start and play the game, you just can't see whats going on with the screen. If your not hearing volume, and can't play the game "blind" then it's not likely to be just a screen problem.

Lynx Casino Well... what can we say? It is what it promises to be? There are several games included such as video poker, slots, black jack, roulette, craps.... The game is there, it's complete, it plays... but it's somewhat boring. If you run out of money, the cashier will always give you another $500. It can be interesting to talk to everyone... once. Maybe. I never could figure whats going on with the background. Are those flowers, or some kinda crazy carpeting? Is the casino outside? Eh. You can't really lose, and there seems to be no real objective or win condition... other than the try to build up your stacks of cash (or coin). Scores: Graphics - 6/10 Sounds - 4/10 Gameplay - 4/10 Difficulty - 3/10 Overall - 4/10 Final Thoughts: It's a time waster game, really. I can't see myself playing it over pretty much any other game on the system.

I only knew of it because my grandfather had one. No one else I knew had one, heard of it, or played one. He had 10 odd games or so as I remember, DOOM being the standout even if it had no music. Cybermorph irritated me. Pinball fantasies was cool. Tempest 2K... eh. Not bad. Checkered flag I dont remeber that much.

The PS1 version had the same blurry text issue. I think that plagued every version that wasnt played on a PC monitor. I dabbled a bit with the DOS version of the game. Spent tons of hours on the PS1 version. It featured proper full state saves. No way would I tolerate losing everything but my money. I dont want to spend hours and hours and hours on each session playing a park till I'm done with it and selling it. On average that was 2 to 3 play sessions on the ps1 days. Not being able to save and pick back up exactly as I left off hurts. The blurry unreadable text is an issue as well, the tips and hints contained in them are vital.

Which 10 games are those? My grandfather had a Jaguar when I was a kid in the late 80s early 90s. He had a lot of atari stuff, big gamer. Playing on his lynx units are why I bought them all these years later, and am working to repair his original lynx units. For a good 5+ years I've debated picking up a Jaguar and it's only going to get more expensive I fear. If the games on the top 10 list interest me, I might just pull the trigger!

I'd buy a set or two as well if still available. Any lynx 2 battery compartment doors?

Figured I contribute to a thread that hasn't seen action in a while, and what better way than with a game not previously reviewed here! Rampage Yet another arcade classic that saw it's way to Atari's Lynx handheld. A fairly simple yet semi addicting game that had numerous ports of varying quality across multiple platforms. The objective is simple, a mutated member of the fauna ecosystem tears into various cities smashing everything in their path(s). Go at it alone, or wreak havoc with up to 3 other players in this version. That's possible thanks to an extra 4th character not present anywhere but the lynx (not even in the arcade original)... cool considering some versions (NES) didn't even all 3 original characters. The graphics are really well done, smooth and colorful. Sound is great as well, some versions of the game don't even have sound... this one has a really nice score showing off what the lynx can do soundwise. It's not terribly challenging once you understand the mechanics, and can get very repetitive. There are only so many really unique "level designs" so after about half an hour of game play those start to get a bit old as well. Go past an hour, and yeah... more of the same. The "close up" draw distance in terms of what can fit on the screen is just a limitation of the lynx in itself. Makes it a bit harder to avoid things like tanks, and often your not sure if there are buildings left on opposing edges of the map. Not a deal breaker though. This version does feature an end that can be reached, and the limited lives makes a difference in terms of gameplay and your desire to "win". The NES version allows unlimited lives, just keep bashing away... the only thing to stop you from reaching the end is if you can be bothered to put that many hours into the game. Puts a damper on your drive to want to finish / play again. Overall an excellent example of an arcade conversion done to basically the best abilities of the lynx, and is surprisingly more playable than you might imagine. Scores: Graphics - 9/10 Sounds - 9/10 Gameplay - 7/10 Difficulty - 5/10 Overall - 7/10 Final Thoughts: It may not be a game you reach for often, but it is a nice little smash em up to waste some time with every now and then. The music is among my favorites on the lynx, behind possibly only Crystal Mines 2. The graphics are really nice as well. Game play is simple, but smooth and solid. Certainly worth a look if you haven't played before! I love the effort, given the restraints, of including music and not only all 3 original monsters... but an all new exclusive 4th character! Well done!

I did manage to get the game (Titan) to do an interesting glitch once, I loaded it up to play on my flash cart and got a phone call like the instant before I actually started playing but the game was loaded. Some 15 to 20 seconds later, the long rectangular enemies were approaching me (I don't think I'd moved at all yet). After defeating those, there were no more enemies for the entire game, and the graphics were a little glitchy on the background. I tried reproducing it, but couldnt.... waiting a good 2-3 min at the start didn't seem to have the same effect again... even advancing a little and then waiting 2-3 min still didn't cause it. I don't remember 100% how it unfolded when the glitch happened.

I play the majority of my games on a bennvenn flash cart on real lynx hardware. while I own a good 30 or more original carts, the flash cart is just more convenient. Plus it gives access to tech demos, freeware and the ability to play things like the programming contest entries on real hardware.